La Stupenda

Sometimes Rossini wrote good operas poorly; sometimes he wrote bad operas well. The mind of a genius and the soul of a hack confronted him like matched pistols, and under the guns, he once wrote 28 operas in ten years. But now and then while on vacation from himself, Gioacchino Rossini wrote a great opera, and at such times there was no one like him The glory of this man." wrote Stendhal in 1823. "is only limited by the limits of civilization itself; and he is not yet 32." That same year Rossini pushed civilization's limits back an inch or two with a chef-d'oeuvre called Semiramide, a Golden Age work of such immense demands that in the past 50 years even opera's stars have seldom dared to sing it.

For years after its debut in 1823 Semiramide was considered Rossini's crowning triumph. Written at fever pitch in just 33 days, it shines with bel canto flourishes-fluid melodies, runs, cadenzas, arpeggios--and a soprano role that is one of the most difficult in all opera. "Semiramide," says La Scala's artistic director. "is Norma's grandmother." Much of the dramatic singing is in the most difficult vocal range, and the coloratura passages are burdened with drama. With the coloratura parts too dramatic and the dramatic parts too coloratura, it is simply too difficult; Paris saw it last in 1874, La Scala in 1881, New York in 1895.

Last week La Scala saw it again In the impossible title role was the only soprano now living who could hope to get away with it--Australian Coloratura Joan Sutherland. The purity of her voice, its limpid icy strength all along the scale, and its' perfect intonation, seemed just right for the role, even though Sutherland's history of solid. woodenness onstage suggested trouble with Semiramide's dark libretto (Semiramide falls in love with her Hametesque son before discovering his identity; the son kills her. mistaking her for an interloping lover). But Sutherland was unconcerned. Said the breezy diva-"I love playing the role of a wicked woman for a change instead of the insipid virgins that are my usual fate.''

La Scala was packed for the revival and though Semiramide's faintly ridiculous drama was a 20th century disappointment the crowd went home satisfied In a breathtaking display of virtuosity Sutherland hurtled her voice through the complex and difficult runs, taking triple trills [long legato passages with casual ease embracing two long arias with fiery perfection Onstage, she was a better actress than she had been before. Her characterization of Semiramide was marred only by her old trouble in pronouncing Italian--she could not be understood. But the La Scala audience was grateful to both Rossmi and Sutherland. After the final curtain, it gave La Stupenda 28 curtain calls

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