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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Simon Boccanegra is probably my favourite Verdi opera, aside from the incomparable Falstaff. The plot is convoluted, as usual, but it has many more serious overtones than Verdi's other librettos. No other great opera composer attempted to put a statesman on stage as an opera's principal character (unless you count Tito in Mozart's 'La Clemenza'), and Verdi succeeded brilliantly. The music is among the most beautiful and finely crafted that Verdi ever wrote, perhaps a little more subdued than usual. But what it lacks in overt passion it gains in intensity. Another reason for this work's greatness is the fact that Verdi revised the piece after he had become acquainted with Boito (librettist of Otello and Falstaff) and thus reworked parts of the score before embarking on Otello, notably the great Act Two finale, which clearly foreshadows elements of Otello in both its musical language, intensity and drama. Listen out for the wonderfully dramatic, almost Shakespearian, use of the chorus in this scene and throughout the work. The ending of the work is particularly moving, with great solemn chords in the orchestra funereally sounding out under a tolling bell, evoking the steady swell of the Mediterranean at night. Quite outstanding.
Undoubtedly it's a great work, and this recording is one of the best Verdi performances available. Freni conveys both beauty and passion through her dedicated reading. But then all the singers are wonderful, especially Ghiaurov and Carreras (in superlative form) but one singer holds the whole vocal performance together: Cappuccilli, perhaps the most impressive Simon on record since Tito Gobi. Abbado, predictably, conducts a wonderful studio performance recorded shortly after a successful stage production. Hence the entire enterprise gives the impression of a true theatrical experience. The sound, while not as detailed or spacious as modern DDD perhaps, is good and clear, the balance between voice and orchestra being just about right. The Scala orchestra has Verdi in its blood, and it shows. This recording is practically perfect in every way. Magnificent music, tremendous performances, a terrific story, superb conducting...why hesitate? It should be in every Verdian's collection.
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Simon Boccanagra is one of the less well-known of Verdi's mature works. It was first premiered in 1857 when it was a failure, but was heavily revised in 1881. It's remarkable for it's preponderance of low voices - two baritones and two basses in the principal roles, and with only one major part for the female voice. It's an opera set in a man's world of state politics and private intrigue, and it's evident from the amount of trouble Verdi took over it that he was attached to this opera. This performance is propably one of the great Verdi recordings. Piero Cappuccilli in the title role shows remarkable breath-control and nuance, and the other principals is very fine too. The conductor Claudio Abbado gives one of his most dedicated and focused performances - the whole set has a strength of purpose that's higly unusual. Very well recorded and remastered, with libretto in four languages.
Format:Audio CD
This is one of the rare recordings when you can sit back and just enjoy. There is not a single weak point. Everything is ideal - singers, orchestra, conductor, sound quality.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Superb
This album brought home to me what my father has always been telling me: Verdi is the greatest opera composer. The music from Simon Boccanegra grabs me right from the start. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Robert Nichols
Stunning music sung with such passion
This is a great opera: it's also an outstanding recording - IMHO far and away the best yet made. Wonderfully dramatic and melodic - a classic
Published on 27 May 2010 by Justin Lusty
My Great Introduction
I bought this recording because I was about to see a live satellite viewing at my local cinema of Simon Boccanegra from The Met. Read more
Published on 27 Mar 2010 by Sandford
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