Last Updated on January 29, 2025
An exuberant production of an early Verdi comic opera
This opera, almost resulting in the composer abandoning his career as a composer, was Verdi’s second work. While his debut, ‘Oberto’ is also seldom staged today, the tragic opera was a great success in its time. Un Giorno di Regno, commissioned by the impresario Merelli and premiered on September 5, 1840, at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, was such a disaster that the premiere was the only performance. There are a number of reasons why the young Verdi himself might not have been comfortable with the work. His wife and both his children had died recently. Verdi was unhappy with all of the librettos he was offered – Un giorno di regno (also known as Il finto Stanislao) was the best option. And, Verdi was given just two months to write the work.
Un Giorno di Regno though has plenty to commend it musically. Although the style is closer to Rossini or Donizetti than to the Verdi of Traviata or Aida, it has some glorious duets and fine, if virtuosic arias. And, Christopher Alden’s contemporisation works brilliantly, perhaps partly because this isn’t a work where the audience will be lamenting the production by comparing it to an earlier staging. It just isn’t performed that often.
Originally set in 18th-century Poland, the plot of Un Giorno di Regno revolves around mistaken identities and romantic entanglements. The central figure is the Cavaliere di Belfiore, who has been asked by King Stanislaus of Poland to impersonate the monarch while the real king is away. The overture at Garsington is transformed into what seems like the title sequence of a James Bond film with the chorus appearing and posing with revolvers and the Cavaliere di Belfiore (Joshua Hopkins) himself changing from his ‘security’ role into the ‘King’, complete with purple velvet robes, ostentatious crown, orb and sceptre, thick reading glasses and a curly moustache. In the castle of Baron Kelbar we meet the wealthy but elderly Treasurer, La Rocca (Grant Doyle) and the Baron (Henry Waddington), plotting a wedding between La Rocca and the Baron’s daughter Guilietta (Madison Leonard) The two older men are louche, La Rocca in particular wearing emerald brocade. It’s all about money for them, the planned marriage makes business sense.
Next, the Marchesa del Poggia (Christine Rice) appears, an operatic ab-fab character, trying to work out how to get her lover (Belfiore) to commit to marriage. Guilietta appears, a rebellious young woman, standing next to a ‘Not My King’ poster and trying her best to put together the DIY bomb she ordered from Amazon to escape her father’s wedding plans for her.
Her own love interest is the young, handsome Edoardo di Sanval, Rocca’s penniless nephew (played by Oliver Sewell). Of course, it all ends happily and the right couples get married – but not without a few mishaps, food fights and karaoke numbers along the way.
Vocally all of the soloists were excellent. Oliver Sewell and Madison Leonard were a fantastic pairing, vocally well-matched, with Leonard’s crystalline coloratura complemented by the lyrical tenor notes from Sewell. Grant Doyle and Henry Waddington were at their best in the ‘buffa’ duets, articulate, perfectly in time and well balanced. Joshua Hopkins’ warm, rich timbre and smooth, expressive phrasing was delightful while Christine Rice as the Marchesa owned her character, acting and singing impeccably (especially as she’d appeared the night before in A Midsummer Night’s Dream). The chorus too was vocally impeccable and clearly enjoyed joining in the fun, while the spirited playing from the Philharmonia conducted by Chris Hopkins (replacing Tobias Ringborg) carried the music along brilliantly.
If the score was beautifully executed, it’s Alden’s exuberant production of Un Giorno di Regno brought to life with sets by Charles Edwards, brilliant costumes from Sue Wilmington, lighting by Ben Pickersgill and some fabulous videography from Illuminos, that is most memorable. While contemporisations that push boundaries don’t always work, in this little-known work, the cultural references to the Polish football team, the TV commentary from Forte News (always Forte, always in 4/4), the karaoke with surtitles that somehow morphed into well-known pop songs and the Eurotrash costumes all seemed entirely appropriate.
Remaining performances 12 July – 22 July 2024
Garsington Opera
Wormsley Estate,
Stokenchurch,
Buckinghamshire,
HP14 3YG
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