Margaret of Anjou, the widow of Henry VI, is more familiar to us as the embittered old crone in Shakespeare's Richard III. In the opera she's relatively young and beautiful, and loved by the tenor, a married man. The action takes place in Scotland where Margaret's forces are being pursued by Richard's. The tenor's dilemma is whether to follow his strong inclination to remain the Queen's lover or to return to his loving wife, Isaura, who, unknown to him, has followed him to Scotland in disguise.
The opera is called a melodramma semiseria, which is appropriate partly because from the very first bars of the Overture it's clear that we can't be expected to take it seriously, and partly because another principal role is that of the comical army surgeon, Michele, who in the nick of time summons a doughty troop of Highlanders to thwart Richard, who at that point has the rest of the cast at his mercy.
The first notes – 'diddly-diddly um-pom-pom' – may well deter the listener from going further, especially as the fatuous motif is heard six times more, plus twice in the minor and several times Opera Meyerbeer 748 referentially in crescendo. But that would be a pity.
The singing and orchestration are good, and the semiseria element stimulates invention and interest: Isaura's plaintive aria and hopeful cabaletta are combined with a buffo subtext for Michele, and in the cottage scene of Act 2 the tension of Richard's unsocial visit is partly diffused, partly increased, by Michele's prevarications, a surreal situation along the lines of Richard III-meets- Benny Hill. Margherita has a gentle and rather beautiful solo. Particularly charming are the choruses that come just before, slightly suggestive of the villagers in Cavalleria rusticana.
Daniela Barcellona as Isaura has a rich contralto that takes flight in the final solo, surprisingly snatched from the eponymous soprano.
She, Annick Massis, is a great find, pure and warm in tone, and accomplished in technique.
Bruce Ford gives special pleasure in his cantabile aria 'Tu, che le vie segrete'. Fabio Previati plays Michele effectively, singing well and keeping the patter on its toes without too much clowning.
Alastair Miles's Carlo, potentially the most interesting character, is admirably fluent in passagework but rather lacking in colour and bite.
Chorus and orchestra are in good form, David Parry helping to bring out the best in them, as in Meyerbeer, too.