Giordano: Marina album review – a fascinating resurrection of an unsung early opera

Buratto/De Tommaso/Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali/Milletarì(Decca)The long-lost score, finally premiered 138 years after it was written, brims with melodic promise despite its dramatic shortcomings It was a bold move by the 21-year-old Umberto Giordano to enter the 1888 one-act opera competition won by Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. Marina, set in Montenegro during an unspecified conflict with Serbia, came sixth, the score languishing until 2026, when it received its belated premiere at Milan’s Teatro dal Verme. This recording reveals a composer with a keen ear for musical colour even if the opera is no masterpiece. When Marina, a Montenegrin, takes in Giorgio, a wounded Serb, the inevitable conflict with her brother and her bullish suitor precipitates a typical verismo catastrophe. After a militaristic opening, Marina takes centre stage with an aching ballad of lost opportunity. Her scene with the injured Giorgio follows abruptly, redeemed by Giordano’s knack for trotting out appealing melodies. It’s not the most sophisticated writing but it comes straight from the heart. There’s a drinking song that sounds like a crib from Verdi’s Otello and a patriotic Montenegrin