Biblical flooding is as old as the ark, but there are contemporary resonances to the story of Noah. During recent years in northern Italy, the River Po has swung wildly between drought and flood, so when the Donizetti Festival in Bergamo presented their hometown hero’s Il diluvio universale in November 2023, directing duo Nicolò Massazza and Jacopo Bedogni – known collectively as Masbedo – used the climate emergency as a hook for their production.

Il diluvio universale premiered on February 28, 1830, at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. This, of course, was during Lent (when staged opera was strictly banned), hence the religious theme and the appellation azione tragico-sacra. It was not a success, probably due to inadequate stage machinery making the final flood a damp squib. Donizetti revised it for Genoa in 1834. Opera Rara chose this revised version when they recorded the work in 2005. In Bergamo, Riccardo Frizza conducted the 1830 version for the first time in modern history, providing a unique opportunity to hear Donizetti’s original thoughts before he pepped up the score with some theatrical cabalettas. However, it’s hard to reconcile the tepid musical invention with the masterpiece that followed later that same year, Anna Bolena, which is in a different league.

Donizetti embellishes the familiar biblical tale of Noah (Noè in Italian), who is here a Cassandra-type figure warning of impending disaster for ages and has built an ark, inciting the ire of the Babylonians. The opera simultaneously presents the tragedy of Sela, a favourite concubine and wife of Cadmo, satrap of Sennáár. She has been converted by Noah and is torn between her new faith and her husband. Enter the scheming Ada, Sela’s confidante, who is really out to replace her in Cadmo’s affections. So it’s really an Aida-like love triangle with Noah reduced to a peripheral character who doesn’t even appear in Act 3. It’s clear we’re not going to get animals marching two by two into the ark (stick to Britten for that).

But the directors peg their production on climate change nonetheless, with giant video screens displaying environmental disasters: floods, polluted rivers, forest fires, melting ice caps and a praying mantis, with the occasional diversion to show close-ups – and we’re talking nostrils here – of the singers. It’s a sledgehammer approach that completely distracts from the action on stage, where Cadmo and his acolytes are swanky toffs, all sharp suits and cocktail parties.

The cast is decent. Nahuel Di Pierro is a resonant Noah and Enea Scala a dastardly Cadmo, but the star turn comes from bright-toned soprano Giuliana Gianfaldoni as Sela, a real discovery. Festival Music Director Riccardo Frizza gets lively playing from the resident orchestra and there is spirited singing from the Chorus of La Scala Academy. One for Donizetti completists.