Early rarely performed Verdi, dating from 1844, two years after his first 'hit' Nabucco and seven years before the 'middle period' opened with Rigoletto. Set in the 15th century.
I was going to write a long and considered blogpost on this, but doing so might deprive me of the will to live. I recorded this off the TV. What a waste of half a video tape.
Gorgeous Verdi tunes played, as far as I can tell, rather sensitively by the orchestra of La Scala under the baton of Riccardo Muti. Just a shame about the screeching and squawking coming from the stage.
Worst of all is the shockingly bad Francisco Casanova in the role of Jacopo but Dimitra Theodossiu
as Lucrezia is scarcely any better. The normally reliable, if dull, Leo Nucci is less then reliable here.
I would like to hear it with a decent cast - Opera Nights, describing it generally considered to be the best of Verdi's early operas
recommends and in due course I think I might acquire this, because the caterwauling of the principals makes the version I have an physically painful experience.
Onwards through the alphabet, the next being early Puccini...
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