The common, Western image of Attila the Hun is hardly a flattering one. Generally, he's thought of as a bloodthirsty, rapacious, murderous monster who led fearsome hordes of warriors in campaigns of merciless conquest and destruction. Attila is not generally remembered as a hapless, lovesick victim. But that's how he winds up in this week's opera, Giuseppe Verdi's Attila.
The performance you can hear this week on World of Opera is by Opera Orchestra of New York, led by Eve Quyeler. It comes to us from Carnegie Hall, complete with an all-star cast: Samuel Ramey as Attila, and Lauren Flanigan as Odabella. The broadcast provides the opera's plot with a fair amount of detail. Here it is in a nutshell:
The performance you can hear this week on World of Opera is by Opera Orchestra of New York, led by Eve Quyeler. It comes to us from Carnegie Hall, complete with an all-star cast: Samuel Ramey as Attila, and Lauren Flanigan as Odabella. The broadcast provides the opera's plot with a fair amount of detail. Here it is in a nutshell:
Act I: Attila has just ransacked much of Western Europe and has moved on to Italy, planning to conquer Rome. He falls in love with a captured Italian warrior-maiden, Odabella, who cozies up to Attila with the intent of killing him later. Odabella's boyfriend Foresto, who's not very bright, thinks she's gone over to the other side. Attila has a bad dream about an old man who bars his way to Rome. The nightmare comes true when the Pope, Leo the Great, shows up and threatens Attila with the Wrath of God. That's all it takes to send the fearsome Hun slinking away with his tail between his legs.
Act II: Foresto decides that Attila must be dealt with harshly. He and his buddy Ezio manage to sneak some poison into Attila's hot toddy. Odabella finds out about this and says, "Nuthin' doin'." She wants to kill Attila herself, so she warns him not to drink it. Foresto, the attempted murderer, is found out. But Attila, still lovesick, agrees to let Odabella punish Foresto herself. Still, Attila is ticked off and decides to sack Rome after all -- after he marries Odabella, that is.
Act III: Foresto, clueless to the bitter end, still hasn't figured out that Odabella is really on his side. (What does she see in this guy, anyway?) Attila surprises Odabella, Foresto and Enzio together and -- being a little smarter than Foresto -- realizes the three are up to no good. But in the meantime, the armies of Rome are pressing an attack on Attila's hordes. In the uproar, Odabella takes a sword that Attila gave her, and unceremoniously runs him through. Foresto decides Odabella is the right girl for him. The two embrace and then run off to join the fray as the curtain falls.
Attila may not be quite so silly as that synopsis makes it out -- though the Grove dictionary does describe the final act as "more than faintly ridiculous." The fact is, Verdi's portrayal of avenging Italian warriors driving alien hordes out of their country was a hot ticket in 19th-century Italy, when the country was trying to unite behind the common goal of evicting foreign rulers, and the opera makes for a lively two hours even today.
