Close But No Cigar?
Long before The Mikado (1885), L'Italiana in Algeri (1813), or Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782), there was Baldassarre Galuppi's "L'Inimico delle Donne" (1771), a comic opera about two Italians shipwrecked in the imaginary Chinese kingdom of Kibinchinka. Prince Zon-Zon is a confirmed woman-hater, suspected by his courtier of not being quite a Man but compelled by the ancient customs of his realm to select a bride this month. By chance, a Italian woman Agnesina, who hates all men, arrives in Zon-Zon's palace with her scheming uncle Geminiano. Inevitably, the Prince and the Italiana will turn out to be a match made in ... no, not heaven, but with the spurious approval of the God Kanagá. The libretto, by Giovanni Bertati, makes effective whackiness out of the culture clash.
There are three (3!) operas by Galuppi currently available on DVD! That in itself is something of a marvel, since it wasn't long ago that Galuppi was utterly forgotten. "L'Inimico dell...
Rare but influential comic opera
Born on the island of Burano in the Venetian Republic, Baldassare Galuppi (1706 - 1785) is another case of a composer who was highly popular and successful in his own lifetime, but whose work soon fell into obscurity after his death. After a spell in London at the Kings Theatre, Galuppi, nonetheless served two terms as maestra di capella at St Marks in Venice, spent several years in Russia in-between as court composer for Catherine the Great, and left behind over a hundred operas, few of which have ever been revived. L'inimico delle donne is therefore a welcome opportunity to hear performed one of the later works for which Galuppi was celebrated in his day, the opera buffa, a style that left behind a certain amount of influence that can be seen in the works of Haydn and Mozart.
Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail certainly comes to mind often in L'inimico delle donne when
Agensina is shipwrecked on the oriental land of Kibin-kan-ka with her father, escaping from rich...
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