Giuseppe VERDI (1813–1901)
Simon Boccanegra (revised version of 1881)
Simon Boccanegra – Placido Domingo
Amelia Grimaldi – Marina Poplavskaya
Fiesco – Ferruccio Furlanetto
Gabriele Adorno – Joseph Calleja
Paolo – Jonathan Summers
Pietro – Lukas Jakobski
Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden/Antonio Pappano
Elijah Moshinsky (Stage Director)
rec. live, Royal Opera House, London, July 2010
Region Code: 0, Sound Formats: PCM Stereo. DTS 5.1
EMI CLASSICS 9178259 [2 DVDs: 171:00]
This DVD captures one of the most celebrated events of the 2009-10 operatic
year. Placido Domingo, the superstar tenor towards the end of an illustrious
career, announced that, as his voice darkened, he would move to singing roles
in the baritone repertoire. The role that he chose was one of Verdi’s greatest
protagonists, Simon Boccanegra, the world-weary Doge of Genoa. Domingo sang
it in four different productions at the Berlin Staatsoper, Milan’s La Scala,
the New York Met and the Royal Opera House in London. We have here the memento
of his London performances, to my knowledge the only one of the four that
will receive a DVD release.
Domingo’s interpretation was greeted with mostly rave reviews by critics across
the world and the London press fell over themselves to lavish praise on his
Covent Garden performance. I was one of those lucky enough to get a ticket
and the air of anticipation and excitement surrounding the event was such
as I have rarely experienced at the Royal Opera House. What I experienced
in the theatre was undoubtedly a first-rank evening, but I had doubts at the
time which still linger now.
In an interview, included as an extra on the DVD, director Elijah Moshinsky,
who here returned to manage this revival of his own production, said of Domingo
that “He will not sing it as a baritone, and he will not sing it as a tenor:
he will sing it as Placido Domingo.” Quite so, but the world’s music press
seem largely to have accepted this unquestioningly as a good thing: I was
far less convinced. Domingo undoubtedly has stature, presence and gravitas
on stage and I would still travel a long way to see him perform, but the fact
remains that the role of Boccanegra is written for a baritone, something which
Domingo simply is not. Verdi knew what he was doing in crafting the role,
giving it a particular colour which is especially important in the opera’s
many ensembles. Whatever you think of Domingo’s performance you can’t deny
that the sound-world of the opera is entirely different without a baritone
in the title role.
There are some places where it certainly works very well, nowhere more so
than in the recognition duet of Act I. In this, one of Verdi’s most moving
scenes, Domingo convinces utterly as a jaded ruler whose heart is melted by
finding the daughter he believed he had lost. The golden hue of his voice
here sounds burnished with age and he is most moving in his portrayal of an
old man who finds happiness too late. The death scene in the final act also
carries real stature, convincing in its pathos. The trio at the end of Act
II sounds good too, though the blend with his colleagues is rather too sharp.
The problems elsewhere are rather serious, however. He leads the Council Scene
well, even though he sounds tired at times, but he cannot anchor the great
ensemble with the authority and dominance that a lower voice would bring and,
damagingly, the curse lacks weight, sounding too much like a breathy rant
in places. The most serious problems come in the great duets with Fiesco at
the beginning and end of the opera. In the Prologue Domingo sounds unstable
with even a hint of a wobble and the voice clearly lacks the warmth and vigour
it once had. Put next to a great bass like Ferruccio Furlanetto, Domingo sounds
desiccated and threadbare: put bluntly, Furlanetto sings him off the stage!
The same is true in the last act, though he is finer as the old Doge than
as the young corsair. All of this meant that, for me, Domingo’s performance
was definitely worth hearing and is interesting as a curiosity, but this DVD
preserves an unrepeatable one-off, a version of this work that we couldn’t
hear again and that, if I’m being honest, I’m not sure I would want to.
For me it was the rest of the cast that made the evening really special. As
mentioned before, Furlanetto’s Fiescho is one of the great interpretations
of the role, standing comparison with any on disc. The authority, grandeur
and sheer presence that he brings to the old patrician have to be heard to
be believed and EMI have done us all a service by preserving it here. Next
to this old hand comes Marina Poplavskaya’s debut in the role of Amelia. Her
dark voice sounds, to me, too large to convey the innocence that the likes
of Freni or te Kanawa bring to the role, but she contributes something very
special and she has the ability to ride high over the big ensemble in the
Council Scene. Perhaps most arresting of all is Joseph Calleja’s performance
as Gabriele Adorno. His is a hugely exciting voice with its own distinctive
colour, bright and majestic but never forced, with a Mediterranean warmth
that draws the ear in the great trio of Act 2. He also sings with a caution-to-the-winds
intensity that reminds me of the young Carreras so that his aria and duet
in Act 2 are among the highlights of the set. Jonathan Summers’ Paolo is blackly
malevolent with a voice of insidious velvet, and ROH Young Artist, Lukas Jakobski,
brings tone and depth to the small role of Pietro.
Moshinsky’s classic production looks great in 16:9 wide-screen and the picture
quality is miles better than it had been for Decca’s 1991 DVD of the same
production. The sets are open and suggestive while costumes are quietly sumptuous;
they create the Genoese world without limiting the imagination. Pappano draws
marvellous sounds from the ROH orchestra, warm and broad in the opening bars
of the Prologue, shimmering like gossamer at the start of Act 1 and sounding
exciting without being hard-driven in the Council scene. The 5.1 surround
sound is also very good and the camera-work is fine, though some rather too
specific focusing limits the effect of the crowd storming into the Council
Chamber.
On balance, then, I enjoyed this DVD but it’s not a first choice. It must
primarily be for committed fans of Domingo or for those who love the Covent
Garden production. Most listeners would probably get more from the DVD from
the Met starring Vladimir Chernov as a Doge of authority with a great supporting
cast of Kiri te Kanawa, Robert Lloyd and Domingo in the tenor role of Adorno.
Alternatively, if you’re not bothered about pictures, Abbado’s unbeatable
CD set on Deutsche Grammophon is self-recommending.
Simon Thompson
See
also review by Robert Farr
Not a first choice. Primarily for committed fans of Domingo or those who love
the Covent Garden production.