My late, lamented colleague, Michael Oliver, would have exulted at the prospect of reviewing this hardly-ever-heard example of verismo, a genre (like so many others) of which he made a speciality. Ponchielli’s last opera appears never to have been recorded before, and has received few performances, even in Italy, after its comparatively successful première at La Scala in 1885.

Based on a drama by Victor Hugo (source of so many 19th-century libretti), it is far from being the best plotted of operas. Taking place in 1638 France, dominated by Cardinal Richelieu, it concerns that favourite Romantic figure of the good-hearted demi-mondaine, the Marion of the title, who is greatly loved by the youthful, unhappy Didier, who has no idea of her courtesan past in Paris. Eventually he learns about it and of her numerous lovers, among them the devil-may-care Severny (who eventually goes to the stake with Didier, as a punishment for duelling, outlawed by the Cardinal) and the Scarpia-like Laffemas. As with Tosca and Scarpia, Marion agrees to give herself to him to save Didier, all to no avail.

Largely eschewing the melodramatic gestures and invigorating energy of Gioconda, Ponchielli shows the influence of the school of his French contemporaries in his light, elegant scoring and through the presence of a peripheral, travesty character, Lelio, sung by a mezzo. The work is lop-sided in that the longest, most emotion-laden Act is the fourth and last. There Marion and Didier have finely shaped solos, then a lengthy duet of recrimination with an original structure. Act 1 has a warm romance for the heroine followed by a love duet. All the other characters have solos suited to their characters, Lelio’s appropriately light and catchy. There is rather too much anonymous infilling, but enough of merit to make the opera worthinvestigating, especially to those sated by the regular repertory.

The performance is a good advertisement for the work. Denia Mazzola-Gavazzeni, widow of the conductor Gianandrea Gavazzeni, pulls out all the stops in portraying Marion’s predicament, exploiting to the full a dark chest-register and an exciting top. Casanova has a forward, Italianate production and an attractive manner, with a deal of sensitivity, to make the most ofthe lovelorn Didier. Jenis’s mellow baritone is ideal for Severny. The Italian bass, Carlo Cigni, is a welcome find in an area sparsely populated these days, and he gives a suitably saturnine account of Laffemas’ machinations.

Friedemann Layer presides over all with a refined ear for the keen scoring and for keeping the drama on the move. He is particularly good in the concertato (large ensemble) that closes Act 3. The recording, though a shade confined, is adequate enough for anyone to enjoy thiswelcome newcomer to the catalogue.