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Saturday, January 26, 2013

VERDIANA: VERDI A GENOVA -- "SIMON BOCCANEGRA" -- tenor role: Gabriele Adorno, a Genoese gentleman -- role created by Carlo Negrini

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"Simon Boccanegra" is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on a play  by Antonio García Gutiérrez.

It was first performed at Teatro La Fenice, Venice on 12 March 1857.

Given the difficulties with the original plot, a revised version, with text changes by Arrigo Boito, was first performed at La Scala, Milan on 24 March 1881.

It is this version, with its Council Chamber scene as the finale to Act 1, that is usually given today.
 

After its 1857 premiere, Simon Boccanegra was performed in Malta in 1860, Madrid and Lisbon in 1861, and Buenos Aires in 1862.

But the opera was revised, and it is this later version — unveiled in 1881 in Milan, and given in Vienna and Paris in 1882 and 1883, respectively — that has become part of the standard operatic repertory.

 

A concert performance of the original (1857) version — possibly its first hearing in 100 years — took place in London in 1975.

 

This was broadcast the next year and issued on CD.

 

The original was also performed by the Royal Opera, London in 1997 and by New York Grand Opera in 1999, the latter being its first New York performance.


Roles

RoleVoice typePremiere cast
12 March 1857[4]
(Conductor: — )
Revised version
Premiere cast
24 March 1881[4]
(Conductor: Franco Faccio)[5]
Simon Boccanegra, a corsair,
later the first Doge of Genoa
baritoneLeone GiraldoniVictor Maurel
Maria Boccanegra, his daughter,
known as Amelia Grimaldi
sopranoLuigia BendazziAnna d'Angeri
Jacopo Fiesco, a Genoese nobleman,
known as Andrea Grimaldi
bassGiuseppe EcheverriaEdouard de Reszke
Gabriele Adorno, a Genoese gentlemantenorCarlo NegriniFrancesco Tamagno
Paolo Albiani, a goldsmith and the
Doge’s favourite courtier
baritoneGiacomo VercelliniFederico Salvati
Pietro, a Genoese popular leader
and courtier
bassAndrea BelliniGiovanni Bianco
Captain of the CrossbowmentenorAngelo Fiorentini
Amelia’s maidmezzo-sopranoFernanda Capelli
Soldiers, sailors, people, senators, the Doge’s court, prisoners – Chorus

Synopsis

Time: The middle of the 14th century.
Place: In and around Genoa.

Prologue

Paolo, the leader of the Plebian party, persuades Pietro to support the nomination of Simon Boccanegra for doge of Genoa. Boccanegra arrives and agrees to stand, thinking that Fiesco would then allow him to wed his daughter, Maria, who is being held prisoner in her father's gloomy palace because she bore Boccanegra an illegitimate child. Pietro rallies support for Boccanegra. Fiesco enters, stricken with grief over his daughter's death (Il lacerato spirito – "The tortured soul of a sad father"), but he does not reveal this to Boccanegra who accosts Fiesco and begs his forgiveness. Fiesco promises clemency only if Boccanegra lets Fiesco have his granddaughter. Boccanegra explains he cannot because the child has vanished. As the people hail Simon as the new Doge, he finds the body of his beloved.

Act 1

Scene 1: Twenty-five years later

The Doge has exiled many of his political opponents and confiscated their property. In the Grimaldi castle, Fiesco, to avoid discovery, is using the name Andrea Grimaldi, plotting with Boccanegra's enemies to overthrow him. Unknowingly, years earlier, the Grimaldis had adopted Boccanegra's child (and Fiesco's granddaughter) after discovering the orphan in a convent. They called her Amelia, hoping that she would be the heir to their family's fortune, their sons having been exiled. Amelia awaits her lover, Gabriele Adorno (Aria:Come in quest'ora bruna – "How in the morning light / The sea and stars shine brightly"). He arrives, and she warns him of the dangers of political conspiracy. Word arrives that the Doge is coming. Amelia, fearing that a forced marriage to Paolo is to be arranged, urges Adorno to ask her father for permission to marry. Fiesco agrees and reveals that Amelia is actually a penniless foundling. When Adorno says that he does not care, Fiesco blesses the marriage. Boccanegra enters. He pardons Amelia's exiled brothers, but she refuses to marry Paolo. When she tells Boccanegra that she was adopted, the two compare pictures in their lockets and realizes that she is his long-lost daughter. Finally reunited, they are overcome with joy. When Paolo enters, Boccanegra denies permission for the arranged marriage. Furious, Paolo decides to kidnap Amelia.
Scene 2: The senate is in session
The Doge is interrupted by the sounds of a mob demanding Boccanegra's head. He orders the doors opened, and the crowd bursts in, chasing Adorno. Adorno confesses to killing Lorenzino for the attempted kidnapping of Amelia, ordered by an unknown high-ranking official. Adorno guesses it must be Boccanegra and is about to attack him when Amelia rushes in and stops the fight (Aria: Nell'ora soave – "At that sweet hour which invites ecstacy / I was walking alone by the sea"). Boccanegra has Adorno arrested for the night (Aria: Plebe! Patrizi! Popolo! – "Plebians! Patricians! Inheritors / Of a fierce history"). Discerning that Paolo is the actual man responsible, he makes everyone, including Paolo, utter a curse on the real kidnapper.

Act 2

Paolo and Fiesco discuss plans to murder Boccanegra, but Fiesco refuses. Paolo next tells Adorno that Amelia is the Doge's mistress, hoping Adorno will murder Boccanegra. Just before Amelia enters, Adorno's anger and jealousy prompts an angry outburst (Aria: Sento avvampar nell'anima – "I feel a furious jealousy / Setting my soul on fire"). Amelia enters, and Adorno accuses her of infidelity. She claims only to love Adorno, but does not explain that Boccanegra is her father for Adorno's family was killed by the Doge. Adorno hides as Boccanegra enters. Amelia vows to Boccanegra that she would die for Adorno. Boccanegra agrees to pardon him. He drinks from a poisoned glass of wine, which Paolo has previously placed on the table, and falls asleep. Adorno tries to kill him, but Amelia stops him. Boccanegra wakes and reveals that Amelia is his daughter. Adorno begs for forgiveness (Aria: Perdon, Amelia... Indomito – "Forgive me, Amelia... A wild, / Jealous love was mine") and he promises to fight for the Doge.

Act 3

Paolo is condemned to death for leading the uprising against the Doge. Fiesco is released from prison. Paolo tells Fiesco that he has poisoned Boccanegra. Fiesco confronts Boccanegra, who is now dying. Boccanegra recognizes his old enemy, but is happy to tell him that Amelia is his granddaughter. Fiesco feels great remorse and tells Boccanegra about the poison. Adorno and Amelia, newly married, find her father and grandfather have reconciled. Boccanegra asks that Adorno be named his successor, and after the Doge dies, Fiesco proclaims it so.

Recordings

1881 Revised version

YearCast
(Boccanegra, Maria, Adorno, Fiesco)
Conductor,
Opera House and Orchestra
Label[6]
1939Lawrence Tibbett,
Elisabeth Rethberg,
Giovanni Martinelli,
Ezio Pinza
Ettore Panizza,
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus
Audio CD: Myto Historical
Cat: 981H006
1951Paolo Silveri,
Antonietta Stella,
Carlo Bergonzi,
Mario Petri
Francesco Molinari-Pradelli,
Coro e Orchestra di Roma della RAI
Audio CD: Warner Fonit
Cat: 5050467 7906-2
1957Tito Gobbi,
Victoria de los Ángeles,
Giuseppe Campora,
Boris Christoff
Gabriele Santini,
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma orchestra and chorus
Audio CD: EMI
Cat: CDMB 63513
(Digitally remastered, 1990)
1958Tito Gobbi,
Leyla Gencer,
Mirto Picchi,
Ferruccio Mazzoli
Mario Rossi,
Teatro San Carlo Orchestra and Chorus, Naples
(Video recording of a performance at Naples and audio recording of its soundtrack, 26 December)
VHS Video, PAL only: Hardy Classics
Cat: HCA 60002-2
Audio CD: Hardy Classics
HCA 6002-2
1973Piero Cappuccilli,
Katia Ricciarelli,
Plácido Domingo,
Ruggero Raimondi
Gianandrea Gavazzeni,
RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Orchestra
Audio CD: RCA Records
Cat: RD 70729
1976Piero Cappuccilli,
Katia Ricciarelli,
Giorgio Merighi,
Nicolai Ghiaurov
Oliviero de Fabritiis,
NHK Symphony Orchestra and Union of Japan Professional Choruses, Tokyo
(Recording of a performance in Tokyo, October)
DVD: Premiere Opera Ltd
5173;
Video Artists International
Cat: VAI 4484
1977Piero Cappuccilli,
Mirella Freni,
José Carreras,
Nicolai Ghiaurov
Claudio Abbado,
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala
Audio CD: DG
Cat: 449 752-2
1984Sherrill Milnes,
Anna Tomowa-Sintow,
Vasile Moldoveanu,
Paul Plishka
James Levine,
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
(Video recording of a performance at the Met, 29 December)
DVD: Pioneer Classics
Cat: PIBC 2010;
Deutsche Grammophon
Cat: 073 4403
1988Leo Nucci,
Kiri te Kanawa,
Giacomo Aragall,
Paata Burchuladze
Sir Georg Solti,
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala
Audio CD: Decca
Cat: 475 7011
1995Vladimir Chernov,
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa,
Plácido Domingo,
Robert Lloyd
James Levine,
Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus
DVD: Deutsche Grammophon
Cat: 00440 073 0319
2010Placido Domingo,
Adrianne Pieczonka,
Marcello Giordani,
James Morris
James Levine,
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, New York
(Recording of live performance at the Metropolitan Opera, January/February)
DVD: Sony
Cat: 780664

[edit] 1857 Original version

YearCast
(Boccanegra, Maria, Adorno, Fiesco)
Conductor,
Opera House and Orchestra
Label[6]
1975Sesto Bruscantini,
Josella Ligi,
Andre Turp,
Gwynne Howell
John Matheson,
BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Singers
(Recording of a concert performance in the Golders Green Hippodrome on 2 August; broadcast on 1 January 1976)
Audio CD: Opera Rara
Cat: ORCV 302
1999Vitorio Vitelli,
Annalisa Raspagliosi,
Warren Mok,
Francesco Ellero d'Artegna
Renato Palumbo,
Orchestra Internationale d'Italia
(Recording made at performances at the Festival della Valle d'Itria, Martina Franca, 4, 6, 8 August)
Audio CD: Dynamic,
268/1-2

References

Notes
^ Loewenberg, (1978) p. ?
^ It has subsequently been issued on CD by Opera Rara.
^ a b List of singers taken from Budden, p. 244
  1. ^ Budden, p. 267
  2. ^ a b Recordings of Simon Boccanegra from operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
REFERENCES
 
Budden, Julian, The Operas of Verdi, Volume 2
From ‘’Il Trovatore’’ to ‘’La Forza del destino’’. London: Cassell, 1984. ISBN 978-0-19-520068-3 (hardcover) ISBN 978-0-19-520450-6 (paperback).
De Van, Gilles (trans. Gilda Roberts), Verdi’s Theater: Creating Drama Through Music. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1998 ISBN 0-226-14369-4 (hardback), ISBN 0-226-14370-8
Loewenberg, Alfred, Annals of Opera, 1597 to 1940. London, John Calder, 1978 ISBN 0-7145-3657-1 ISBN 0-7145-3657-1
Phillips-Matz, Mary Jane, ‘’Verdi: A Biography’’, London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1993 ISBN 0-19-313204-4
Werfel, Franz and Stefan, Paul, Verdi: The Man and His Letters, New York, Vienna House 1973 ISBN 0-8443-0088-8

[edit] External links


     

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