It was on the 17th of January, 1901 that Pietro Mascagni’s opera piece, Le Maschere or The Masks, was intended to make its first appearance in seven Italian playhouses. Unfortunately, due to a tenor falling ill in Naples, it was only able to debut in six, creating an enduring record.
Contrary to expectations, the audience was far from satisfied with Mascagni’s work, dealing a significant blow to his reputation as a composer. The adverse reactions he received via post – deeply personal criticisms, malicious remarks about his family and offspring, ruthlessly negative comments and slurs, and wishes that he should refrain from penning any more music – deeply affected Mascagni.
Complicating matters was the previous success of his 1890 realist masterpiece, Cavalleria Rusticana. His attempt to match its triumph fell short, much to the disappointment of the audience who yearned for similar fare. Instead, his creative exploration took him in a variety of directions.
With Le Maschere, Mascagni attempted to return to holistic and amusing opera, viewing it through the prism of Italian slapstick theatre, commedia dell’arte. He believed opera had become overly solemn and aimed to bring balance back.
Stefano Ricci’s production of Le Maschere at the Wexford Festival Opera (where he serves as both the director and designer) is the first of this year’s “theatre within theatre” themed pieces. The ceremonial start featured all the characters of commedia dell’arte lined up in costume, with Peter McCamley, in a dutiful, crisp white uniform, imbuing life into the spoken character, Giocadio.
The sprawling, grandly stark backdrop signifies a wellness centre, an establishment where unconventional Commedia dell’arte masks can be changed as required. When the actors enter the stage to switch their outfits, larger placards are displayed, identifying participants by title as they vocalise. The peculiar thing is that, even after all this, it’s challenging to ascertain who is actual who.
That’s the classic conundrum with opera narratives, where we find ourselves occasionally perusing overviews of the plot, yet remain perplexed about the proceedings. This issue is gracefully lampooned by Michael Frayn in his work, Pocket Playhouse.
Le Maschere is filled with verbose text and elaborative music but lacks any substantial command over character development or plotline. The participants vocalise and flaunt with minimal impact. The Wexford show comprises notable choreography by Stellario Di Blasi featuring four performers – Andrea Carozzi, Andrea Carlotta Pelaia, Miryam Tomè, and Charles Riddiford. Some performers get to flaunt their high notes, yet most of it fails to captivate the audience.
Much of the music showcases an irregular neoclassical style. It’s heavily intricate and generates an atmosphere of fruitless discourse. The alternative approach includes a generic expression of late-romantic sentimentality.
The most impressive vocal prowess and relatable character depiction are provided by two sopranos – Ioana Constantin Pipilea with her perceptive and vibrant Colombina, and Lavinia Bini with her fuller, warmer Rosaura. The charmingly rich baritone Giorgio Caoduro entertains with the stuttering role of Tartaglia. Interestingly, Mascagni overlooks the fact that stuttering individuals do not stutter while singing, and thus disposes of Tartaglia’s stutter as a contingent result of the mysteriously destabilising powder that the entire evening oddly relies on.
Francesco Cilluffo leads the Wexford Festival Orchestra with zest and discretion, albeit with brief periods of instability caused by the excessively complicated nuances in the composition.
Wexford’s brave attempt to bring life to the challenging Le Maschere didn’t quite deliver, unlike their triumphant performance of Mascagni’s Guglielmo Ratcliff in 2015. The Wexford Festival Opera will be staging Le Maschere on the 23rd, 26th, and 31st of October.