Arrigo Boito (1842-1918)
Nerone, Tragedy in Four Acts (1866-1916, unfinished, start date uncertain)
Libretto by the composer
Nerone – Rafael Rojas (tenor)
Simon Magus – Lucio Gallo (baritone)
Fanučl – Brett Polegato (baritone)
Rubria – Alessandra Volpe (mezzo-soprano)
Asteria – Svetlana Aksenova (soprano)
Prague Philharmonic Choir, Wiener Symphoniker/Dirk Kaftan
Olivier Tambosi – Stage Director
rec. live, July/August 2021, Bregenzer Festspiele, Bregenz, Austria
Reviewed in Stereo
C MAJOR Blu-ray 761304 [149]
Arrigo Boito finished work on his second opera, Nerone, two years before he died. It was originally planned in five acts, but there exists virtually nothing of the fifth. Arturo Toscanini had to edit the entire score to prepare it for production in 1924. He added no music because Boito had said that he had left the opera in four acts on account of its excessive length. Toscanini, a friend of Boito, was familiar with the score: he had watched the composer struggle with its composition over many years.
Boito, mainly known for his three libretti for Verdi’s operas, had determined that he would create a libretto and a score of exceptional quality. To do so, he embarked on a multi-year study of the life of Nero and the history of Imperial Rome at and around Nero’s time. He researched accounts of the life of Simon Magus, who appears briefly in the Acts of the Apostles. Wishing to assign himself importance equal to the apostles in Christianity, he attempted to buy the power of the Holy Spirit from them; the term “simony” comes from his name. As the legend has it, in competition with St Peter, he claimed that he could fly, and threw himself from a high tower. Simon Magus has an important part in the opera.
Nero has gone down in history as a depraved monster but modern historians have tended to regard the sensational assertions of Tacitus and Suetonius as somewhat unreliable, given their known dislike of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of which Nero was the last member. They particularly disliked Nero’s penchant for his own public performance – singing, poetry recitals and so on. Aristocrats regarded such behaviour as lacking the necessary gravitas expected of Roman administrators, especially the emperor. They were also unhappily aware of Nero’s popularity with the common people, which was well attested, as was his popularity in the Eastern provinces of the empire.
Boito spent some fifty years researching and composing this opera. Its musical style is rather removed from his Mefistofele. That opera was premiered in 1868, over forty years before Boito stopped work on Nerone, so the change in style is not surprising. There is little by way of arioso; it is largely parlando, short breathed snippets. The famous choral prologue and epilogue of Mefistofele are echoed only in the choral finale of Nerone’s first act. The music is heavily influenced by Wagner and the Verismo style; notable melody is absent.
Of the characters, only Nero, Simon Magus and Tigellinus are known to have actually lived. Nero’s mother Agrippina (whom he had murdered by the Praetorian Guard), is present only as a non-singing corpse. The time is thirty or so years after Christ’s death; Christianity’s ascent to become the empire’s dominant religion took another three hundred years.
The sets have been created in the modern minimalist style. The interior of a Roman building is represented by neon columns placed on a rotating stage. In the fourth act, the devastation caused by the great fire of year 64 is represented by jumbled architecture and furniture. The costumes are pretty much the same for all the male characters, initially a sort of chequered ‘mourning’ toga for the aristocrats, replaced at one point by green dresses, and a brown covering for Simon Magus in the later acts. Tigellinus, the Praetorian prefect, dons imitation armour at one point.
The booklet contains a rather basic plot description. A much more detailed synopsis appears at the end of this review. Boito left a libretto for the fifth act but no music. That is why the opera has a distinctly truncated effect: the fate of Nero, Asteria and Fanučl is left unresolved. That is a pity, because the score contains music of power and grandeur, and delicacy when called for. It is short on typical Italian operatic arias and obvious melody, but repeated listening reveals the thematic structure.
The performances captured here are excellent. All the principals sing very well indeed. Miklós Sebestyén as Tigellinus is particularly effective, as is Rafael Rojas as Nerone (he died earlier this year at just 59, apparently as a result of Covid). The female principals are well taken, although neither of them can be said to have a particularly beautiful voice; vibrato comes to the fore when under pressure. The chorus is appropriately powerful, and the orchestra play superbly, as one might expect in Vienna. Sonically, the production is excellent, as is the set lighting. As I mentioned, the sets are minimalist in the current manner, and some degree of imagination is required of the viewer, but at least there are no ultra-modern idiocies.
Jim Westhead
Other Cast and Production Staff
Tigellinus – Miklós Sebestyén (bass-baritone)
Gobrias – Taylen Reinhard (tenor)
Dositčo – Ilya Kutyukhin (baritone)
Cerinto / Pčrside – Katrin Wundsam (mezzo-soprano)
Voce di donna – Shira Patchornik (soprano)
Frank Philipp Schlössmann – Set Designer
Gesine Völlm – Costume Designer
Davy Cunningham – Lighting Designer
Lukáš Vasilek - Chorus Master
Tiziano Mancini – Video Director
Video Details
Filmed in HD - Mastered from an HD source
Picture format: 1080i, 16:9
Sound formats: a) PCM Stereo, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region Code A, B, C
Sung in Italian, with subtitles in English, German, Korean
Detailed Synopsis
This synopsis is based on the following publication:
Guido M. Gatti and Theodore Baker, “Boito’s Nero”, The Musical Quarterly vol. 10(4), October 1924, Oxford University Press, pp. 596-621,
https://www.jstor.org/stable/738477
Act 1
The set is the Appian Way, amongst the tombs, and Simon Magus is digging a grave. Tigellinus is standing nearby, looking into the distance. Suddenly, Nero bursts in on the scene, clutching a funerary urn containing the ashes of his mother. A procession crosses the stage singing “Playing the cither, he forgets the empire”, and then as they exit “Nero – Orestes, the matricide”. Nero implores Simon Magus to save him from the terrors of his imagination as a matricide. Nero lies prone on the grave, prior to the internment. Suddenly, Asteria enters. She is in love with Nero and has snakes entwined around her neck. Nero takes her for Erinys, a goddess of vengeance, who punishes people for crimes against the natural order, and flees in terror with Tigellinus in tow. Simon Magus apprehends Asteria and she makes herself known and reveals her love for Nero. They sing a duet of sorts, which is largely parlando in style, and does not develop any aria-like length. She speaks of how she longs for Nero, and how she follows him around, and asks what Simon Magus can do to help her. He tells her to be with him at sunrise the following day, then he leaves. She is left grovelling on the ground.
Now enters Rubria, a Christian woman who is still performing her duties as a Vestal Virgin. She has come to lay flowers on a tomb. Fanučl, a leading Christian, appears, and Simon Magus tries to buy the secret of the Holy Spirit (Simony). Tigellinus and Nero reappear, and a procession passes singing the praises of Nero. Only when Nero realises that the song they are singing is one of his own compositions does his courage return, and the act ends in a jubilant though relatively short chorus.
Act 2
A subterranean temple of Simon Magus, who is standing at the altar raising a goblet. Blood gushes forth and a dense cloud of smoke engulfs the scene. In awe, the faithful pray, whereas in asides Simon, Gobrias and Dositčo make mocking comments – clearly the “service” carried out by Simon and his acolytes is a sham, designed to fool the gullible. Nero is in an antechamber, playing the cither and singing. Asteria is made to climb to the altar; she is told that she will encounter Nero and her love will be rewarded. A highly polished shield is positioned so that Nero can see it. Magus conjures a brilliant flash of light that illuminates Asteria, so that Nero sees her reflected image. He is terrified, thinking that the image, and subsequently Asteria herself, is Erinys, come to punish him for his matricide. However, his terror soon turns to lust, and he approaches Asteria and kisses her. He immediately become aware of the deception, and seizes a hammer and attacks various idol statues, whilst calling his Praetorian Guard to find and seize Simon Magus. He is brought before Nero, who orders him to prove that he can fly, as he has claimed before. Asteria is condemned to be thrown into a pit of snakes., and despite her pleas, she is dragged away. Nero then mounts the altar and begins to sing, accompanying himself on the cither.
Act 3
A Roman garden in which Christians hold their meetings. Fanučl is proclaiming a version of the Sermon on the Mount. The chorus sings in a hushed religious atmosphere joined by Rubria. Her recitative eventually leads to a joyous climax, in which the worshippers twine garlands of flowers.
Upon this scene of perfect peace, blooded and lacerated Asteria breaks in. She has escaped the pit and has rushed to the Christians to warn them that Simon Magus is about to seek them out. Asteria is offered a cup of blessed wine, which she drinks and then dashes off, as if pursued by an evil spirit. Remaining alone with Fanučl, Rubria endeavours to awaken him from an ecstatic trance, so that he may face the coming storm. He merely stares at her and exhorts her to confess her sins. Simon Magus and Gobrias enter, dressed as beggars in disguise. Simon urges Fanučl to sell him the secrets of the Christian faith, so that he may fly from a high building, in accordance with Nero’s demand. Fanučl refuses, and Simon orders the Praetorian Guard to arrest him. Fanučl exhorts his followers not to intervene, and the rest of the act is devoted to his urgings to the Christians to live peacefully. Rubria implores him for a kiss, which he refuses, and he is led away by the guards.
Act 4 (in two scenes)
The Oppidum (Entrance area) of the Circus Maximus in Rome. Amidst much frenetic activity, the crowd is awaiting the scenes of torture by the method of the Dirci – those condemned are bound to the horns of a bull, prior to being the target of archers. Nero demands that the bulls, ropes, torches and archers be in readiness for the acts of torture. Tigellinus tells Nero that, in order to expedite his flight from captivity, Simon Magus is planning to set fire to the city. Nero is unconcerned, saying that the city will rise again under his direction. A train of Christians headed by Fanučl enters. They have been sentenced to death by torture. Rubria, using her status as a Vestal, has the authority to free the prisoners, but Simon Magus rips off her disguise, and Nero orders that she be placed amongst the Christians awaiting execution. Cries from the crowd indicate that a fire has started in the city, and soon the oppidum is engulfed in flames. Simon Magus is flung from the oppidum tower to his death.
The curtain rises on the second scene – the spoliarium, a crypt reserved for the reception of the dead from the Circus Maximus. Asteria and Fanučl enter, passing by the shattered body of Simon Magus and the dying Rubria. She revives and, as Fanučl bends over her, she whispers her confession. Fanučl pronounces a benediction. Asteria looks around her in the hope of finding an escape route, and sees a door, so she and Fanučl make an escape as the vault collapses in the oncoming flames.
