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Verdi, Simon Boccanegra: Soloists,  Orquestra Simfònica y Cor del Gran Teatre del Liceu, Conductor: Paolo Carignani, Gran Teatre del Liceu de Barcelona 2 and 3. 1.2009 (JMI)

New production  from The Liceu and Opera Geneva

Director: José Luis Gómez
Sets: Carl Fillion
Costumes: Alejandro Andújar
Lighting: Albert Faura

Cast:

Simon Boccanegra: Anthony Michaels-Moore/Alberto Gazale
Amelia Grimaldi: Krassimira Stoyanova/Barbara Haveman
Jacopo Fiesco: Giacomo Prestia/Stefano Palatchi
Gabriele Adorno. Stefano Secco/Aquiles Machado
Paolo Albiani: Marco Vratogna/Carlos Bergasa
Pietro: Pavel Kudinov

In its revised version of 1881, Simon Boccanegra is one of the Verdi operas that enjoys great recognition from musicologists worldwide but despite this, it is not one of the most popular of his works. Why this anomaly? Once again, the answer has to do with the huge vocal difficulties that have to be overcome to perform this work.  Verdi baritones are a real rarity nowadays, although it is obviously necessary to recognize that they have never been common. Simon Boccanegra himself is the great protagonist of this opera, although Verdi did not give him any arias as such, but wrote the great Council Scene for him instead. This can only be compared with the final scene of I Due Foscari in terms of musical quality and is an excellent opportunity to shine for any  great singer. An added problem in this opera is that not only is an  important bass needed, but also a fine  soprano and a great lyric tenor:  all are very difficult to find which explains why this opera is rarely as successful as one might expect. The lack of these great voices  occurred the Teatro Real Madrid, in Santander, Seville and Valencia, and repeated itself on this occasion at Barcelona’s Liceu.

If a survey were made today of the outstanding protagonists for this opera the votes would surely be divided among Leo Nucci and Carlos Alvarez. The Liceu has been very conscious of this situation and therefore booked Carlos Alvarez, but unfortunately he has not yet recovered from his health problems. His cancellation was disappointing, as was Leo Nucci’s cancellation of his projected appearance in I Due Foscari a month previously. Without Alvarez, the possibility of the opera being a great success became distinctly remote.

The new production has stage direction by the Catalan Jose Luis Gómez, whose opera productions are actually fairly scarce. He tries to base this  one entirely at  the heart of the drama, offering a minimalist production without any further deep or philosophical thought. At the same time, he moves the action to modern times, complete with a strange mixture of epochs in the costumes. Overall, the production  does not offer much to interest the audience, and skates uneasily over the surface of the plot

The set itself consists of a modestly sized cube of walls or mirrors, leaving a large part of the stage empty and dark. The cube’s walls are opened and closed and have the disadvantage of projecting the light on to the audience and of reflecting the figure of the conductor onto the  stage. The cube is also located towards the back of the stage, which does not help the voice projection.  All in all, this  production is less than convincing.

The best thing about these performances came from Paolo Carignani’s conducting. His reading of the score was  convincing, letting the singers breathe, maintaining emotional  tension and accentuating the dramatic quality of the work. Under his baton the Liceu Orquestra  sounded a great deal better than they have done  on other recent occasions and both the Liceu Chorus and the Intermezzo Choir were really very good.

Anthony Michaels-Moore had to face a triple difficulty beginning with the daunting task of replacing Carlos Alvarez. Secondly, he was tackling  one of the most complex characters in operatic history, which he did with authenticity. Finally however, he had to fight with some kind of health problem, which was particularly evident during the first part of the opera. He was a decent protagonist, but not quite up to the demands of the role. In the second cast we had Alberto Gazale who was surprisingly good, with some reservations. His baritone is quite suited to Simon and his singing was more nuanced than I was expecting. He is not a dream protagonist, but he was better than Michaels-Moore in vocal terms, although I preferred the British singer as an artist.

Amelia Grimaldi was Bulgarian soprano Krassimira Stoyanova, who was well-suited to the vocal demands of the character. She sang with good taste and wonderful technique, but once again she showed her limited ability to communicate with the audience. In general, I found her singing and acting to be below the standard of her Luisa Miller of a few months ago, and in particular found some the high notes less than bright.

Barbara Haveman from Holland delivered a performance full of life and credibility as Amelia. She offered a most determined interpretation, more so than is usual in this rather passive character, although she insisted on showing off her voice at every opportunity which was not always necessary. Her voice is actually very pleasant and is perfectly projected,  and on some occasions proved that she is able to produce beautiful piani.

Neil Shicoff should have sung the role of Gabriele Adorno, but he also had cancelled. Stefano Secco replaced him and was a remarkable Adorno. He is a good singer with a beautiful voice and good homogeneity of between registers. Although he is probably at his limit in this role, where a a heavier voice is needed at particular points. Aquiles Machado played this role in the second cast, but his voice sounded forced at too many moments and the high notes show signs of fatigue.

Giacomo Prestia was once again Jacopo Fiesco and offered his usual solid performance, outstanding at the bottom of the tessitura, tighter in the middle and showing a worrying vibrato in the upper reaches. The Catalan singer Stefano Palatchi was a surprisingly good Fiesco in Act I, much better than I had expected but lost ground in the second half, where his performance was distinctly poor.  Marco Vratogna was a convincing Paolo Albiani, as was Carlos Bergasa in the second cast and Pavel Kudinov was a good Pietro.

There was a full house as usual. The reception was warmer on the second day when the audience was very appreciative of Barbara Haveman’s performance. Paolo Carignani, Stefano Secco, Alberto Gazale and Stoyanova also received warm receptions.

José M Irurzun

Picture © Antoni Bofill

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