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
Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden/Antonio
Pappano 
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