Verdi Simon Boccanegra opera to a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and later revised by Arrigo Boito. Directed 2019 by Andreas Kriegenburg at the Salzburg Festival. Stars Luca Salsi (Simon Boccanegra), Marina Rebeka (Amelia Grimaldi), René Pape (Jacopo Fiesco), Charles Castronovo (Gabriele Adorno), André Heyboer (Paolo Albiani), Antonio di Matteo (Pietro), Long Long (Captain), and Marianne Sattmann (Amelia’s Maid). Valery Gergiev conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Ernst Raffelsberger). Set design by Harald B. Thor; costume design by Tanja Hofmann; lighting design by Andreas Grüter; video design by Peter Venus; dramatic advisor was Julia Weinreich. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B-
This opera has a complicated libretto. Thanks to Unitel/C Major for an excellent synopsis in the keepcase booklet. I hope the screenshots below will help you keep track of who is who if you watch this title.
First below is Simon Boccanegra played by Luca Salsi. He’s a plebeian and a corsair (naval mercenary or pirate for Genoa). He made the mistake of having a child out of wedlock with Maria, the daughter of the patrician knight Jacopo Fiesco:
And next we meet Jacopo Fiesco (René Pape) grieving for the death of Maria:
And here’s Paolo Albiani played by André Heyboer. He’s a plebeian who is jealous of the patrician families. He helps Boccanegra get elected as Doge of Genoa. But later he turns villain and traitor to Boccanegra (over a woman):
This opera has a lot of characters and a big chorus part. It will fill up a typical opera stage. But this show is staged at the Salzburg Big Festival House (Großes Festspielhaus), which completely swallows up the intimate scenes in Boccanegra. Below is the important early scene in the story where Fiesco refuses to make peace with Boccanegra. One of the greatest opera orchestras in the world is playing and the singers are fine. But this staging is a real problem even if you know the libretto by heart:
Director Kriegenburg has moved the story to modern times. Below the plebeian citizens of Genoa are striving to elect Boccanegra as the new Doge over their phones:
This one is really baffling. Servants introduce the patrician maiden Amelia using a mosaic of tablets:
Here’s the intimate scene where we learn of the love between Amelia (Marina Rebeka) and Gabriele Adorno (Charles Castronovo):
Finally the lovers find their way to each other across the vast stage. I never got used to the ugly outfit Tanja Hofmann condemns Amelia to wear:
While the lovers pour out their hearts to each other, bodyguards stand by and Paolo snorts cocaine on the Bösendorfer. Give me break!
From the dramatic scene where Boccanegra and Amelia discover they are long-lost father and daughter:
How this intimate scene looked to the Salzburg audience:
With a quarter-turn of the revolving set, we have the famous Council Chamber scene:
This image reminds me of historic photos of Benito Mossulini:
Below the famous scene where Boccanegra forces Paolo to curse himself:
Boccanegra as peace-maker for both nations and famiies:
Print critics were generally kind to this production live. Mark Mandel, writing in the October 2020 Opera News, page 44, says this was at the time the best Simon Boccanegra in video. He praises all the singers and says the Vienna Phil under Gergiev “shimmers in the orchestral seascapes and surges out between vocal passages, expressive and beautiful.” At the time, this was the only “modern-times” version of the opera in video. The Homoki/Fabio Luisi modern version at Zürich came out a few months later. It does a grand job of presenting this opera on a human scale with excellence musical and technical values.
Now to a grade. Because of the weakness in the staging illustrated above, I give this a B.
Here are official trailers:
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