La Pietra del Paragone [The Touchstone]

by Gioachino Rossini (1792 - 1868). Libretto: Luigi Romanelli
First performance: La Scala Milan; September 1812

CHARACTERS

Place: A Country Villa

Time: 'The Present' (1812)/Eighteenth Century

Czech Chamber Chorus & Czech Chamber soloists

Conductor & Harpsichord: Alessandro de Marchi

The libretto by la Scala's resident poet was tailor made for Rossini, who was making his debut in Italy's most important opera house, and for his cast; Luigi Romanelli manoeuvred brilliantly to suit the star contralto Marietta Marcolini, who wanted to appear in soldier's dress, and he provided Rossini with a witty comedy, distinguished by its topical references to journalistic conditions in Milan, and more unexpectedly, by its reserves of human feeling. It inspired Rossini with a new quality of music, and was performed fifty-three times during the season.

Count Asdrubale has not decided which of three widows he wishes to marry, since he cannot be sure whether any of them is motivated by love or merely by a longing for his money.

Act I

A garden. Asdrubale's guests and his gardeners admire his wisdom, but observe that he seems in no hurry to choose a wife. They ignore the poet Pacuvio when he tries to read them his new poem, as do Fabrizio and the Baroness. Donna Fulvia is less rude: intending to marry the Count for his money, she promises to look after Pacuvio. The journalist Macrobio tries to offer his services to the Cavalier Giocondo but is firmly rejected. When Clarice thinks aloud about the way the Count claims he doesn't love her, her words are echoed by the Count himself (duet dirmi, oh dio! non t'amo'). For a moment, she believes that he does love her; the Count, however, dare not trust his own feelings ('Se di certo io non sapessi). They fence with one another (duet, 'Conte mio'). Donna Fulvia has brought a rose to present to the Count. First, Pacuvio insists on reading her his poem (Ombretta sdegnosa del Missipipi' [sic]). She presents her rose and Pacuvio recites some more verses to explain its overblown state. Asdrubale determines to test the women using a 'pietra del paragone'. The Count and Giocondo attack Macrobio, but Clarice intervenes to point out that none of the men acts reasonably (quartet, 'Voi volete, e non volete'). As prearranged, Fabrizio hands the Count a piece of paper and he pretends to make light of some bad news. Macrobio refuses to publish Pacuvio's new poem. When everyone learns that Count Asdrubale has lost his fortune, the Baroness and Fulvia congratulate themselves that they got away before marriage. Wearing a disguise, the Count pretends to be his own creditor, bent on sequestering his assets, which will all be sealed. The Baroness, Fulvia, Pacuvio and Macrobio abandon the Count to Clarice, who accepts the responsibility happily. All react with amazement to the news that the Count does not owe any money after all (finale, 'Qual chi dorme e in sogno crede').

Act 2

The Baroness and Fulvia determine to exact revenge for what happened; Macrobio and Pacuvio apologise to the Count. The Baroness forces Macrobio to challenge the Count to a duel. The Count invites everyone to come hunting. Pacuvio fails to shoot anything as a storm blows up. Giocondo is wracked by jealousy at the thought of Clarice in another's arms. Clarice explains that she loves the Count but Giocondo is welcome to keep hoping that her affections will change ('Sperar se vuoi'). The Count overhears and misunderstands. Macrobio teases them by discussing the plot of his poem, which echoes their situation (trio, 'Su queste piante incisi').

Clarice also decides to play the 'touchstone' trick. She pretends that her long-lost twin brother Captain Lucindo is coming to see her. Fulvia forces Pacuvio to fight a duel on her behalf. Giocondo also challenges Macrobio to a duel, but first he and the Count pretend they will fight for the right to kill Macrobio. The Count explains that the laws of hospitality oblige him to yield this right to his guest, Giocondo. Having forced Macrobio to admit he is an idiot, they spare him,(trio 'Prima fra voi coll'armi'). Clarice appears, disguised in military uniform as her brother, Lucindo, and is welcomed by the troops. She announces that she is returning to the Italy she left as a child, for the sake of the soldiers ('Se per voi le care io torno'). Fulvia and the Baroness are both attracted to this military figure. Lucindo announces that he has come to take the unhappy Clarice away. This at last forces the Count to disclose his feelings ('Ah! se destarti in seno'). Clarice reveals her identity, which astonishes everyone ('Voi Clarice?') and delights the Count, who swears to respect women from now on. During the course of the finale, Macrobio and Pacuvio refuse to rush into marriage with the other widows; Clarice and the Count forgive each other and celebrate their happiness.

La pietra del paragone is the best, the funniest and the most serious of Rossini's early comic operas. Its unusually literate text offers opportunities for apt characterisation, of the three different types of widow, of the sinisterly available, unscrupulous journalist Macrobio, of the appalling poet Pacuvio. At the opera's centre stands Asdrubale, the cynic who reforms, as though Cosifan tutte's Don Alfonso learnt that some women are indeed phoenixes. This involves a touching journey from experience to innocence. It was probably only an accident that gave Rossini a bass as the hero, while the tenor was relegated to second place as his chum, the worthy but unsuccessful lover (whose presentation is not entirely free of irony). Rossini makes the most of this vocal donnée, just as he does of the fact that the heroine is a contralto. For once, this opera is about grown-ups, its closest parallel with Lehar's Merry Widow. The scenes for the central couple cover much emotional and stylistic ground, from sentimentality to barbed fencing via real intimacy. Rossini marks each stage with differentiated orchestration, melodies and rhythms: the pace of the music slows and cellos or horns suddenly suggest the darker implications of their dialogue. Asdrubale himself begins as a partial echo, invisible, disembodied and genderless, in the delicious horn-accompanied duet with Clarice in Act I; he then battles with his own prejudices before resolving, in a rather savage cabaletta, to be pitiless. When ultimately he repents, in 'Ah! se destarti in seno', Rossini throws in a passage of Mozartian seriousness, reminding us not of Cosi so much as of that other trial opera, The Magic Flute, before the music erupts in suitably frivolous roulades.