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The Rehearsal Studio (Free subscription) | 27/10/2008
The 2008–09 season of the San Francisco Opera is beginning to feel a bit like a seminar in an undergraduate humanities program. We began with a production of Giuseppe Verdi's Simon Boccanegra , which offered up a tragic perspective on republicanism as practiced in fourteenth-century Genoa. We then moved on to the cultural studies (featuring a major sidebar on the sociology of mothers-in-law) of Stewart...
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Out West Arts (Free subscription) | 28/09/2008
Hvorostovsky et al Photo: Terrence McCarthy/SFO 2008 I just woke up from San Francisco Opera’s final performance of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra and while I know I’m very late to this party, I thought I’d make a few comments. I would generally agree with what seems to have been the consensus about this run – it was very well sung, but burdened with a banal, poorly directed staging. The cast mostly
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Civic Center (Free subscription) | 23/09/2008
It's too bad that mainstream critics have to review the opening night performances at the San Francisco Opera because invariably operas get much better (and occasionally worse) during their month-long run. A case in point is the current production of Verdi's "Simon Boccanegra," which I've seen in three different performances now, starting with the drunken, dreadful opening night crowd and returning...
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New York Times (Free subscription) | 16/09/2008
Dmitri Hvorostovsky may not be a classic Verdi baritone, but his singing in the title role of “Simon Boccanegra” displayed an exquisite lyricism and haunting beauty.
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San Fransisco Chronicle (Free subscription) | 08/09/2008
Technically, guests of the San Francisco Opera Ball gathered in the city by the bay, but they may have felt as if they'd gathered under a Tuscan sun for the 86th season-opening gala. Verdi's tragic "Simon Boccanegra" set a sartorial and geographic theme,...
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Civic Center (Free subscription) | 07/09/2008
The San Francisco Opera Company opened its 86th season on Friday night with Verdi's "Simon Boccanegra" and a line of valet parkers on Van Ness... ...who were actually running to their proffered vehicles. "Simon Boccanegra" is probably my favorite Verdi opera, along with "Don Carlo." Both operas are heavily involved in questions of politics, ethics, and the intersection of the personal and the public....
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The Rehearsal Studio (Free subscription) | 03/09/2008
In preparing my listening skills for the opening of Giuseppe Verdi 's Simon Boccanegra to launch the new San Francisco Opera season, I stumbled across a "family resemblance" that struck me as too good to be accidental. In the second scene of the first act, a crowd of angry protesters gathered in the street outside the Ducal palace bursts into the council chamber; and, for the life of me, I could swear...
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The Independent (Free subscription) | 07/05/2008
When does a revival of Simon Boccanegra effectively turn into a new production? When the staging, the sets and costumes were conceived for Verdi's first version of 1857, and revised, as was the opera, for the definitive later version of 1881. Verdi's revision was one of the most startling instances of creative transformation in the history of the genre. The addition of the great Council Chamber Scene...
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Exhibitionist (Free subscription) | 04/04/2008
By Jeremy Eichler Globe Staff / April 4, 2008 The Boston Symphony Orchestra continues its recent tradition of presenting opera in concert next season with three performances of Verdi's "Simon Boccanegra" conducted by music director James Levine. It is one...
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San Fransisco Chronicle (Free subscription) | 16/01/2008
Simon Boccanegra (Giuseppe Verdi) - Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Barbara Frittoli/Tamar Iveri, Marcus Haddock, Vitalij Kowaljow, Patrick Carfizzi; Donald Runnicles, conductor; David Edwards, director; Elijah Moshinsky, production; Michael Yeargan, set designer; Peter...
