La Wally, Opera by A. Catalani
Teatro Filarmonico in Verona hosts a production of Alfredo Catalani's impressive final opera, La Wally. The name of the work refers to a shortened version of the name Walburga, the four-act opera's female protagonist. La Wally was first performed on 20 January 1892 at La Scala in Milan and features a much-admired aria, Ebben? Ne andrò lontana, which the title character performs in the first act.
With a libretto by Luigi Illica – who also wrote for Giacomo Puccini and Pietro Mascagni, among others – the plot for La Wally is taken from a story by Wilhelmine von Hillern, a German novelist, entitled Die Geier-Wally. The novel had been serialised in an Italian-language magazine, La Perseveranza, which may account for why the story appealed as the potential basis for an opera. Catalani was only 37 years old when he scored La Wally and he would die only 18 months after completing it, still a relatively young man by the standards of the day. The opera is a tale of revenge and remorse set in the Alpine Tyrol at the beginning of the 19th century.
The titular character in La Wally is both tomboyish and wilful. She is the daughter of Stromminger, a coarse and sometimes violent man who is in charge of the Tyrolean village where the action plays out. Wally falls in love with a hunter who resides in a neighbouring village. Unfortunately for Wally, the man she is attracted to is the son of a despised family enemy. This results in a series of boasts, intrigue and power games. Tragically, these are not idle threats and the recriminations get seriously out of hand. Will Wally and her lover overcome their families' long-standing enmity, or will they fail to break free of the social constraints they are placed in?
The music in La Wally is well structured and, at times, both moving and rich. Catalani may be less well-known than his contemporary and rival, Puccini, these days but this opera shows off his musical skill superbly. Often audience-goers are left wondering what might have happened in his career had he only lived longer. That said, with plenty of tragic action and carefully crafted plot points, La Wally at Verona's Teatro Filarmonico stands up in its own right regardless of comparisons with any other Italian operas of the late 19th century.