I shall write more after the weekend, when I've enjoyed the luxury of a second performance.
A review by bullet points.
A thoroughly enjoyable evening, where everything seemed to work. Naturally, not perfect, but if I nitpicked the fine details, I would diminish my appreciation of a compelling story, and descriptive music performed by top class musicians.
I was surprised at how much I liked a traditional, dated, staid production. There are numerous ways it could have been done entirely differently but I thought it worked as a frame within which the principals did their thing.
The music is beginning to wash over me. I am struggling to become familiar with this work, which hasn't got the instant appeal - for me - of several of Verdi's other works. I couldn't say for certain how the orchestra under Tony Pappano rated, but it sounded good to me, at times - when the music painted a picture - quite exquisite. (Get back to me in the 3rd week of July when I shall blog more about the actual opera itself).
Vocally, Joseph Calleja was outstanding. From the first moment, his voice hit my 'T' spot; frequently I gasped as I heard yet another sound of beauty. I thought the love duet with Marina Poplavskaya was especially poignant. I've kind of liked Joseph for a good few years, and have a couple of CDs, but I've never really heard him in a role that has made me go wow! This time, yes, definitely, wow! I want more!
I'm a big Ferruccio Furlanetto fan, partly as a result of him being the sole stand-out in 2008 (in the other production). A very understated low-key performance, perhaps all the more powerful for being so.
I am tremendously fond of Marina Poplavskaya, although I can also see why some people don't like her. I was a bit surprised when the unpleasant vicious woman sitting next to me (of whom, more anon) described her as being 'screechy'. I just wouldn't go with that. Perhaps uneven is better.
At the Insight evening, she had reflected that her first outing as Elizabetta hadn't been a total success. I thought it took courage to admit that, although perhaps made easier by the knowledge that eighteen months it won widespread acclaim. I think her Amelia is better than her first Elizabetta, and I look forward to seeing future outings of it. That isn't intended as a euphemistic criticism, far from it, I enjoyed her portrayal , and although I don't think she could ever be accused of being absolutely true to pitch, there is something attractive in that.
However, even though the other principals were enticing and thrilling in their own right, I would not have booked for so many performances, and I doubt there would have been the media attention without Himself, Plácido Domingo, well-known tenor singing the baritone role of Simon Boccanegra. I've heard him on two live broadcasts to cinema, but that isn't the same as live.
You know, there are people on the internet who criticise Plácido for being Plácido. I really do get weary of this. I know everyone's taste differ, and everyone's entitled to express that. But when he gets criticised for not obeying the arbitrary precedent of some random now-dead singer, I don't really care.
When people purse their lips and pronounce prissily that a tenor singing Boccanegra was not what Verdi had intended, I think maybe, just maybe, Verdi would have wished to hear Plácido Domingo, no ordinary tenor, singing the role. Not as the definitive textbook example - he's not singing it as a baritone, but as a tenor - but for its own sake. (And in any case, it seems the naysayers would rather hear a theoretical performance from a longtime retired or even dead baritone. I prefer actual real live performances in my presence than some trainspotter's list of what might possibly be. Call me fussy).
Anyway! I thought he started slowly. I don't especially like the Prologue, although I see it as necessary dramaturgically, and if I'd had to judge after that I would have found it hard to say what the fuss was about. But once he'd warmed up!
One of the many virtues of Plácido is his musicality. It's hard to cite instances of where that was apparent, because it isn't overt and clunky, but instead imbues the entire performance and overall interpretation. I think what I like most about his voice is the complexities of undertones and overtones, and a very distinct timbre. It has actually changed very little (from recordings) from forty-odd years ago. But singing this baritone role, albeit as a tenor, but with a more baritonal colouring, doesn't actually showcase his voice at his brilliant best.
The absolute highlight of the performance was Plácido's dramatic portrayal of the Doge and most particularly in the final act, when he was superbly abetted by a strong Furlanetto performance. When Placido entered as the dying SB, frail and on crutches, a fleeting thought passed through my mind "Tee hee he's practising to be Rigoletto in the ROH production", but I soon got over that.
Another fleeting memory was the poignant and delightfully melodramatic final act from Cyrano de Bergerac, and, of course there are similarities, how can there not be. But this was a singular portrayal and incredibly moving. Perhaps too much for me fully to appreciate as a one-off. Fortunately, this will be shown on BBC TV on 10 July, and therefore, whetehr formally or informally, will be preserved for posterity and for all to see, one way or another.
After the performance I went to the Stage Door along with many other people. I knew Plácido had gone, he was off to Vienna for Wednesday's Parsifal, but well, whatever, I still hung around. Joseph Calleja came out and of course was surrounded by adoring fans. I hung back, because I do. Then he spotted me and exclaimed "Now I recognise you!" causing me to blush like a school-girl. I think maybe one or two people may have wondered about the context. Yeah, like I'm going to explain on the internet! I am most definitely a Joseph Calleja fan!
PS This blogpost ought to be adorned with pictures for some reason I can't upload them due to the antiquated and restricted functionality of the PC I am currently using, which is not my home laptop.
