Simon Boccanegra

[cahn]

Last night I did something fun -- I ditched the family and watched Vienna State Opera's "livestream" performance of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, the story of the first Doge of Genoa. (It's not truly a livestream because they're considerate enough to stagger the viewing times in a 72-hr period so they're convenient for people who don't live in Vienna.) The real draw was Thomas Hampson in the title role, of course, though all the singers were really quite good. (Though no one equaled his acting.) It was lovely to listen to and watch Hampson (and Simon's character has a lot of drama, including half of Act II and all of Act III being basically a long-drawn-out death scene (spoiler: he is a baritone), which we were prepared for by Paolo, the villain, warning us that he was giving Simon a slow-acting poison, but wow, that was a really slow-acting poison -- anyway, the point being that there was a lot of drama for Hampson to sink his teeth into).


The actual livestream experience was not bad except for the subtitles, which were highly irritating. Wiener Staatsoper has a very odd way of doing them, involving pairing up a mobile device to one's listening device, and it's apparently cued by hearing the actual opera, which has to be turned on high volume?? Anyway, I tried it out and it didn't work at all (it was also as far as I know impossible to test before the opera began). Fortunately I had been warned by online reviews about this, so I had a backup plan with a google translate version of the italian libretto and the Met on Demand player version, which does have good English subtitle support (though obviously not synced so I always had to be messing with it), but seriously, Wiener Staatsoper, I know you expect everyone to know Italian but this is not cool. I would not do this again for an opera where Thomas Hampson wasn't the lead I didn't have the libretto in front of me and/or know it well enough not to need one. (I am still totally planning on watching Keenlyside in La Traviata in September, though, for which I have the score, and embarrassingly enough I probably know all the bits with Germont in them well enough to follow the Italian.)

Simon Boccanegra itself... Thematically, it has all the things I love (and which I am convinced Verdi also loves, because he puts them in all his operas). Parental relationships! Conflict that isn't about romantic love! A noble baritone character! (Simon is really great, up there with Rodrigo in terms of awesomeness, although unlike Rodrigo the entire cast seems to want to kill him rather than bone him.) Characters who make the right choices because of HONOR! Awesome non-romantic duets and trios and scenes with trios singing against chorus! And Verdi has some really wonderful music here. Baritone-bass duet! I have realized I am a complete sucker for emotional baritone-bass duets, and apparently Verdi is too.

All this being said, the libretto is a hot mess for a first-time viewer like myself, and I totally see why it is performed relatively rarely. In Don Carlo, the plot (which in Schiller is quite a bit more complex) and character identifications are simplified down to where it's very easy to follow, but the libretto if anything strengthens the psychological portraits and character interactions and allows the music to further strengthen them. Simon... is exactly the opposite. I was never quite sure of what was going on and how the characters were identifying. For example, Jacopo Fiesco, Simon's lover's father who hates Simon because he is an ex-pirate and also got Fiesco's daughter pregnant (kind of a cool plot for opera, mind you; sort of reminiscent of Traviata, where the sex-judgmental father is clearly in the wrong), shows up as such in the Prologue. In Act 1 he is apparently now pretending to be a member of some other family entirely, the Grimaldis, to escape detection?? Which is to the best of my knowledge never stated, and I actually had no idea why he was randomly in Act I until consulting Wikipedia after the fact. (Fiesco in general is unfortunately treated by the libretto and/or my subtitles situation; I think pretty much every time he shows up after the first time I had no idea why he was there at all.)

The other big issue is that it's so episodic; I mean, now that I've had some time to think about it the forward narrative is more clear to me, but when I watched it, it definitely had this feeling of lurching from one event to the next. Simon's daughter Maria goes missing; we find her (as Amelia Grimaldi) in the next scene. Then Paolo says he will kidnap her! She escapes and arrives safely in the next scene, none the worse for wear. Then Amelia's fiance, Gabriel Adorno, is upset because he thinks Amelia and Simon are uncomfortably close! (He doesn't know that she's Simon's child, for reasons that make no sense.) Then he finds out the truth ten minutes later and is totally OK with it! I mean, I highly approve of jealousy arcs not taking more than ten minutes (Otello, though it has so many things about it I love, is proving a hard slog for me right now because I apparently have a squick for this), but it did mean it was hard on a first watch for me to get a real continuing connection to the characters or their relationships through any sort of arc. The exceptions are Fiesco being angry at Simon -- which means that their reconciliation scene in Act III was one of the most moving parts of the opera to me (see also: bass-baritone duet!) -- and Simon's death taking a whole hour (which is also, as I said before, kind of hilarious).

There are scenes of great power -- Simon and Amelia's reunion; the great council scene with Simon both merciful and terrible (Wikipedia tells me this is an interpolation by Boito to try to fix the original; not surprised); as I mentioned before, because I am a sucker for bass-baritone duets and reconciliation and HONOR my favorite was the Act III duet between Simon and Fiesco (in addition, Hampson's Simon's body language marks him as all but delirious with the poison at this point, and is leaning a lot on Belosselskiy's Fiesco by the end, which appeals to multiple of my tropey interests as well); and then of course Simon's deathbed blessing is spectacular and I expect there wasn't a dry eye in the house. (Mine were suspiciously wet, anyway.) (iberiandoctor: The role of Simon Boccanegra is... really, really darned close to Hampson playing Valjean, up to the having to make the choice to save his daughter's boyfriend part (though Amelia has more agency than Cosette) and deathbed blessing part (seriously, Amelia even says something like "Father, you're going to live, it's too soon, too soon to say goodbye because I love you!"), except he's an ex-pirate rather than an ex-convict, and no one really seems to care about that anyway except Javert Fiesco.)

You'll notice these are all scenes involving Simon. He's the heart of the opera, and Hampson was so enjoyable to watch in all of them. I will say that there were a handful of times, maybe three, that he went for a high note and made it, but it was noticeably ragged, not as beautiful as I've been conditioned to expect from him. His midrange is as beautiful as ever, to my ears. Also the others had great voices -- Marina Rebeka was excellent as Amelia, her voice started out a bit too bright for me but settled down, and she has a lot of filial chemistry with Hampson -- Francesco Meli, the tenor, has a voice that is a bit more bright than I personally like (Kaufmann has spoiled me!) but he was great too -- although I thought it was funny that Dmitry Belosselskiy, the Fiesco (whom I loved; he was my second favorite), was clearly a lot younger than Hampson, given that he's basically Simon's father-in-law, and he was definitely too young to have Rebeka as a granddaughter.

During the curtain call, the principal singers were all holding hands and as they were moving across the stage Hampson unintentionally totally stepped on Rebeka's dress; when he realized this, he grinned and turned it into a (sideways) hug instead. It was super cute. Hampson also remembered to give kudos to the orchestra, which is basically THE most quick way a singer can get to my heart :)

So, yeah, in retrospect I wish I had watched a vid of it beforehand and understood the story, which I think would have helped a lot (besides being busy with Don Carlo, I also had noticed I tend to imprint a bit on the first version I see, and thought perhaps I'd like to imprint on this version -- which did work, I think) but in general it was pretty great.

Comments

[zdenka]

That does sound fun! I'm glad you enjoyed it and that you liked the opera. I've actually never seen it live or on video, only an excerpt or two, but I have a recording that I've listened to many times.

I can see that the time skip and the disguises/name changes would be confusing if they don't explain it! The librettos that I've read explain it somewhat in the character list. Amelia does kind of explain what happened with the kidnapping thing, but it goes by quickly and it's not easy to follow if you don't have a good libretto. The whole thing with how Simon lost young Amelia is kinda confusing too, and I'm honestly still not completely sure I have that sorted out.

(If you ever watch La Forza del Destino, I highly recommend reading the libretto beforehand to get all the false names straight. There are multiple main characters using multiple false names at different times, and I don't want to imagine trying to sort all that out on the fly. :D)

Thomas Hampson is great and I imagine he would make a great Boccanegra! (My CD recording has Piero Cappuccilli as Simon, Mirella Freni as Amelia, and Nicolai Ghiaurov as Fiesco, so no complaints there, but now I'm curious about other singers in those roles.) I like Simon and Fiesco, and I absolutely love the Council Chamber scene. And their first duet is amazing. (I just realized that the version of that duet I listen to most often is from the No Tenors Allowed CD with Hampson and Samuel Ramey, so I have heard Hampson singing (part of) the role.)

I admit I don't really like Adorno. His aria is all about how it would be better for Amelia to be Dead than Dishonored, which makes it hard for me to be sympathetic towards him (especially since he doesn't seem to be making a distinction between rape and her intentionally cheating on him). But he isn't a major figure in the plot, so I can enjoy the pretty singing and otherwise ignore him. :P

Does the poison really take an hour? That doesn't seem like it can be right. I don't know how they staged it, but in my libretto at least, Simon only drinks the poisoned water shortly before his confrontation with Fiesco. I think that would be more like 20 minutes before the end of the opera? So still slow, but not ridiculously slow.

Oh, and the scene in the last act when the torches are going out is chilling. I imagine it must be even better to watch it.

I don't always manage to comment, but I've been really enjoying reading your opera reactions!

[cahn]

:) <3 I'm so glad that you are enjoying these posts -- I worry a little that all this Opera All The Time is boring to everyone :) (But omg, VERDI!!)

I did understand the kidnapping thing -- it went by awfully fast, though, as you say :) Maybe you can explain Fiesco to me, though -- Because of Wikipedia, I now understand why he was hanging out with the Grimaldis, but I'm still confused as to what he was doing the rest of the time. Wikipedia tells me Paolo imprisoned him in Act II?... why?... Then he also randomly gets out of prison in Act III? I think I may have missed something here in the subtitles.

My understanding of young Amelia was that Simon sent her away as a child because he couldn't raise a baby on a ship, and the woman who was looking after her died (and presumably stopped sending Simon progress reports, which I imagine is how he realized something was wrong), and Amelia/Maria didn't know what to do and wandered around for a while, and finally the Grimaldis were searching around for an orphan who was about the same age as Amelia-who-died, and found Maria as a suitable candidate. But maybe I am missing something here too?

Thomas Hampson is amazing. I really love his voice (which is reminiscent to me of a more oratorio-baroque-focused voice (or a Broadway musical voice :) ), though I know that's not his thing, but it was a useful entry point for me, as sometimes I don't react well to more conventional Verdi voices) but his acting, which is the Best, is also very important to me. He's awfully nice to look at, too, which doesn't hurt at all :) Do you have Spotify? There's a recording of him as Simon on it which I like a lot (I may have been listening to "M'ardon le tempia and resulting duet a Lot today... :) I love the whole duet, but I especially have a lot of feelings about the part of the duet where Fiesco is all "Haha, vengeance!!" while at the same time Simon's like, "Oh yay, finally you'll forgive me!" until Fiesco has to stop and say, "Wait a moment... what?") -- Oh hey, look, youtube has this recording! That being said, I went and listened to some of the Cappuccilli/Freni/Ghiaurov you recommended and WHOA, it is amazing.

I went back and checked, and it was near the end of Act II that he drinks the poison, not the middle, so I was wrong, not an hour (maybe 30-40 minutes?) -- he drinks the poison after Adorno and Amelia have their duet and Simon and Amelia have their duet, before he goes to sleep and Adorno thinks about killing him. ("Perfin l'onda del fonte è amara al labbro / Dell'uom che regna...") But I felt like a lot happened in between that and when he actually died -- Adorno tries to kill him, Amelia stops him, he learns Simon's her dad, there's a whole uprising that gets put down?? and the Fiesco scene is pretty long, too... :)

Yeah, Adorno was not the greatest. It didn't bother me so much, since I, uh, tend not to pay as much attention to the tenor love interests in general, but I did get a little weirded out about Simon naming Adorno his successor. (Though Wikipedia tells me that the historical Adorno was deposed, lol.)

[zdenka]

I have a book of the libretti of all the Verdi operas (in the original Italian or French, so I have to translate to figure out what's going on), but for some reason it doesn't always exactly match the final performing version. So, with that caveat:

I think Fiesco is arrested at the end of Act I because he was part of the popular uprising/conspiracy against Simon? The libretto doesn't say, but both he and Gabriele are in prison at the beginning of Act II, so it would make sense.

At the beginning of Act II, Paolo secretly has Fiesco and Gabriele brought out of prison and tells them to assassinate Simon. Fiesco refuses because it would be dishonorable, so Paolo sends him back to prison again (but Gabriele agrees so he gets to stay, and then everything else happens with him and Amelia and Simon).

It's not entirely clear why Fiesco is (officially) released at the beginning of Act III, but I think maybe Simon is being merciful and generally releasing people? Fiesco and Gabriele's (original) side lost and Simon is in control again.

As to what Fiesco was doing the rest of the time . . . hanging out under the name of Andrea, lurking, and fomenting conspiracies, I guess? His side was out of power (this is a Guelphs vs. Ghibellines thing, which I always find confusing), so he wouldn't have been safe to stay openly in Genoa.

About Amelia/Maria, I agree with your understanding. The thing that confuses me is the way Simon describes it to Fiesco. Simon came back to the house and found the old woman dead.

Fiesco: And your daughter?
Simon: She wept for three days, wandered for three days. Then she disappeared, and I have searched for her in vain.

Presumably the wandering and weeping and disappearing all happened before Simon came back and found all this -- I just found it confusing, because he sounds like he's describing something he saw. I guess someone who was there told him? Except if whoever it was saw a little girl wandering around and crying, wouldn't they do something or ask what was wrong? And if they were like, dunno who this kid is but her caretaker is dead, why don't I leave her with these convenient nuns, wouldn't they have been able to tell Simon that? It might just be that it's weirdly phrased.

Oooh, thanks for the link! I've listened to the Fiesco-Simon duet through the end, and I'll listen to more of it later.

I was wrong, I also misremembered when the poisoning took place! That is kind of a long-acting poison, come to think of it. Especially since he's poisoned at the end of Act II, and he and Gabriele go out and fight a battle between Acts II and III! Yeah, I got nothing.

I am also laughing at Adorno. He did seem kind of wishy-washy! Though to be fair, I can't blame the historical figure for what his operatic counterpart did.

I might not manage to reply to all the posts, but I will never get bored of people talking about opera!

[cahn]

Ahhhh, thank you, all of that makes a lot more sense! (I found a libretto in Italian online but my Italian is not really good enough to figure out what's going on, even with google translate to help.) Yeah, I guess maybe Verdi's audience would have known intimately about all the Guelph/Ghibelline stuff, but I don't :)

Oh, right, I did see that about Amelia and didn't even think about how Simon would have possibly known that! Hee.

Yes, I thought it was kind of unbelievable that Simon managed to fight a whole battle while dying of poison! Though Hampson played Simon as clearly feeling (physically) awful by the end of the battle -- he really looked like he was about to collapse.

[zdenka]

By the way, if you ever want a bit of opera translated or summarized, feel free to ask! I translate opera sometimes just for fun, so it wouldn't be an imposition (and if I don't have time just then, I'll tell you). I can do Italian, French, and German in that order of ability. My grammar is a bit weak sometimes, but I can usually get the gist of it.

[cahn]

Oh lovely, thanks! My French is decent (at least decent enough to figure out opera, lol), but my Italian is not great -- good enough to figure out bits and pieces with the help of google translate, but not enough to decipher complicated plots :) And my German is nonexistent! (though at some point, maybe when I've finished Verdi, I will have to venture into German opera besides Zauberflote...)

[iberiandoctor]

ooh, thank you for reporting back! I confess to being a little cross-eyed from what sounds like a very complicated plot and staging, but this does sound like a production I would LOVE. Complicated parental relationships! Bass-baritone duets involving HONOUR and RECONCILIATION! And best of all, a moving deathbed scene (I always well up at the Valjean death) and a complex protagonist/sympathetic antagonist relationship at which there's actual reconciliation and an enemies-to-loversfriends arc without anyone needing to fling themselves off a bridge! I need to go find a good video of it!

unlike Rodrigo the entire cast seems to want to kill him rather than bone him

OK, I admit it, I snickered at this like a 12-year-old. But seriously, who could be immune to Hampson's complex, sexy, gorgeously-acted and gorgeously-sung Rodrigo (with his open white shirt of sexiness)? That said, Hampson's sexy, sexy-father-in-law-reconciling, scoundrelly ex-pirate definitely sounds like something I need in my life :)))

[cahn]

Haha, it wasn't quite as confusing as the post made it sound -- I also don't do well at explaining complex plots in general :) And the staging was fine -- minimal, but with a great big cup of poison so you couldn't possibly miss it :) But yes! Lots of very lovely tropey thematic things -- I think you would like it too. Amazon shows that there is a production extant of Hampson and Furlanetto (!!) -- which now I am super coveting, but I've been spending a lot on opera recently, haha.

Hee, yes, noooo one is immune to Hampson's Rodrigo! Hampson didn't play Simon as particularly scoundrelly -- in fact, his Simon is really, heartbreakingly, sweet. (Think Hampson's Rodrigo, but older and wiser and ready for peace rather than saving Flanders <33 )

[iberiandoctor]

I was going to say, I love this version of the Reconciliation Duet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL34fXhjaiI Carlo Colombara and Renato Brunson, the latter looking like a dead ringer for a slowly-dying Valjean, but then I found this! Hampson & Polgár László in rehearsals in Budapest, 2010. Essentially: MY HEART.

OK let me consider shelling out for the Amazon! Will report back.

[cahn]

ahahaha I have managed to convert you to "M'ardon le tempia"! YES! (seriously, though, what an amazing duet)

OMG those videos. I love them. Colombara! There's an audio recording with Hampson and Colombara (whom I had never heard before, he is wonderful!) -- youtube has this recording!

The rehearsal is especially great, my HEART. My favorite bit is 5:20 and the, oh, 40 seconds following, which is also my favorite part of the duet in general -- I don't know if you can follow the Italian at all, but Fiesco is going around singing "Haha, vengeance!" and Simon is replying "omg, now we can have peace and reconcile YAY!" (even if you can't follow the Italian, you can hear it in the music) and finally Fiesco is all, what are you saying? "Che dice?" and Simon says, "Well, you told me once that you would forgive me..." and Fiesco says, "Me?" (Io?) and Simon goes on to say, "...if I gave you my daughter who was lost, and she has come back to me in Amelia Grimaldi!" and it's the most thrilling line ever *starry-eyed* but anyway, it's hilarious in that video because clearly Hampson and Laszlo have talked about Fiesco saying "Io?" being a funny line (I think it's hilarious too, in a character-building sort of way), and when he says "Io?" he grins at Hampson and Hampson puts his finger to his temple like, "Fiesco! Dude! You're losing your memory!" AUGH I have ALL THE FEELINGS. (I also love how Hampson is sometimes lip-syncing Fiesco's line. AWWWW singers rehearsing, it is the best!)

Oh, gosh, I didn't mean to hint you should go for it, lol. I am sure I will eventually end up getting it (probably for my birthday which is coming up, my sister needs something to get me anyway) because, HAMPSON AND FURLANETTO, omg. It's just that it won't be immediate-gratification like the Hampson Don Carlo was for me :)

(The only thing I really know about Furlanetto is that he played Philip in the first Don Carlo I watched, on Met Player -- OH WAIT here's a bit from his scene with Keenlyside -- this is basically why I am kind of obsessed with Philip and also Rodrigo & Philip, ha. Furlanetto has immediately gone onto my short list, with Hampson and Kaufmann, of people whose voices I adore but also who act incredibly well.) ETA: Keenlyside is also on that list, although I have a slightly more conflicted relationship with his voice :)

[iberiandoctor]

I am trying as a non-Italian speaker to follow the Italian (the online libretto sites seem not to have English translations!), but I can vaguely appreciate the gist of things, and I adore, SO MUCH, how Hampson and Laszlo were riffing off each other in the rehearsal vid, and as you say Hampson is lip-syncing Fiesco’s line bc I guess that’s how singers in duets indeed get familiar with the other person’s rhythm? Anyway, I’m glad this vid induced heart-clutching in you, but really it would induce that in anyone <3

(I love the pointing, and how expressive Hampson is with his hands; I also love how in rehearsals and concerts you can see the singers’ real personalities overlay that of their characters!)

Ooh, Furlanetto! Now that;s proper father-in-law age-appropriate casting ;) Keenlyside is actually really growing on me, and that is a lovely impassioned Rodrigo/Philip dynamic. I’m totally here to talk about your obsession with them!

[cahn]

I knooooow, I cannot find a proper English translation anywhere. I might ask zdenka if she can do bits and pieces of it, at least :) Hee, I figured Hampson was just lip-syncing Fiesco's line because it's a great part! (I wonder how often singers get singer part envy? "Gosh, if only I were a bass I would so love to sing that...")

RODRIGO & PHILIP. I just have a lot of feelings about these two, mostly based on this scene, and even a lot based on just Furlanetto -- he plays Philip as such a complicated character, who is angry with Rodrigo for speaking to him quite that frankly (I was legit scared when the orchestra booms in at "La pace dei sepolcri!" (The peace of the sepulchre!) and Filippo just looms over Rodrigo!) but also seems to think there is something in what he is saying, but also believes what he's saying, but who also is a bit paranoid, and who also is vulnerable concerning his son and especially his wife. I don't even think all of that is in the libretto (I don't think the libretto/music necessarily thinks Filippo thinks Rodrigo might be right) but...

I think one of my bits of kryptonite, also, is this loyalty lord/liege relationship and tensions within it, and this one is so fascinating to me -- Keenlyside and Furlanetto play this as something where the two of them are always extremely conscious of the fact that Rodrigo owes fealty to Filippo, and everything about Furlanetto's very powerful bass voice and acting shows the power Filippo has over Rodrigo -- but that doesn't stop Rodrigo from speaking truth even when Filippo is gesturing to him to stop (okay, he does briefly forget there, which I also love, that he gets so passionate about it), and I *love* the bit where Keenlyside sinks to his knees after Filippo brushes him off and tries to resign his sword to Filippo (and Filippo doesn't take it).

Then there's the Hampson/Salminem version of that scene that we've talked about -- I feel like Hampson makes this more complex in that everything I said before about their relationship is still in play, but because Hampson's an older, less direct Rodrigo, he also adds into the lord/liege relationship this sense of being a courtier and also more of an equal to Filippo in terms of age and knowledge, while still being subordinate to him. And then of course as we've said, there's the bit where Filippo is definitely doing the questionable touching thing and Hampson has such a hilariously unsettled look every time he does -- so now I do kinda ship them in a really messed up dubcon kind of way.

I love both of these -- there's something about the raw power in the direct Keenlyside/Furlanetto confrontation that really appeals to me -- and of course I also love the complexity Hampson brings to it. (I must admit I don't find Salminem quite as compelling as Furlanetto, although he's just fine of course!)

Simon Keenlyside! Keenlyside was my first opera baritone crush and I still love him a lot. I think he is a tremendous musician and actor (and on the shallow side, quite hot too! ;) ). The only thing is, I fell in love with his voice doing Mozart, which I think forces him to tame the richness of his voice a little, and when he does Verdi it becomes this much richer and broader voice (? don't know the right singing term) that I don't like nearly as much (though it's still beautiful and I'm sure others enjoy it more). Here are some Mozart links <3

Hai gia vinta la causa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzErPt-GKtk
Papagena! (check out his leap at 5:50, I can't believe he can actually sing through that): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PCRhnmNhNY
La ci darem la mano (the way he does that "Andiam" I CAN'T EVEN, also how he takes her hand at the end): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfti-KQoxXM


I love his acting, though I feel like his acting and Hampson's are SO different. I am not sure I can articulate the difference, though! I think maybe Hampson has extreme facial expressiveness, and Keenlyside has extreme large-scale body acting ability? Like when Hampson acts I feel like I can tell exactly what thoughts the character is thinking, and when Keenlyside acts he IS the character, if that makes any sense?

Oh and here's an audio link to a Billy Budd aria, which, I have no idea if you can stand Britten at all, but I feel like it highlights what his voice is capable of,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WdGSryj5RQ

[zdenka]

Thank you for those links! I enjoyed them too.

[iberiandoctor]

I’m very glad ;) I think I’m somewhat overly smitten with Hampson and seem to be hunting down All the Things featuring him, alas! But I’m gratified other people are enjoying ;)

[(Anonymous)]

How did I not comment on this originally? :D

It took me a while to really fall in love with this opera. I heard a recording first, as a teen (presumably the Abbado one), saw the ROH staging from like '91 also as a teen but it didn't grab me at the time (now I love it), and then I saw it with Milnes from the Met and noted it was pretty good, but the breakthrough was this Vienna staging from 2016 with Dima. Absolutely heartbreaking. The plot is still overly complicated but the music, the emotions... the dominance of baritones and basses, exactly my jam. So I have hunted down every Domingo-free version since :D

Also: Simon might just be the opera character with the second highest HP (no one tops Tristan). That poison takes forever. And a few hours presuambly pass between Act II and Act III (I always think Act III happens around dawn - it's still dark because it's winter or something).

Fiesco is a Dramatic Bitch and I love him. That reconciliation duet... my heart.

[cahn]

:D I haven't seen the ROH staging, but I think I should :D I looooove the Abbado recording. But yeah this Vienna staging is awesome. And the music is AWESOME. And the reconciliation duet is seriously one of my favorite things ever <33333333

lololololol on this first watch I kept going, "...why isn't he dead yet? He's STILL NOT DEAD! He just went out to fight a battle?? WTF."

I know I haven't been posting about opera recently... I have been watching!! just at sort of a glacial pace because I was trying to finish up fanciulla del west and apparently it takes me foreeeeever to watch Puccini unless Hampson or Milnes is in the cast, lol. I finally watched that AMAZING Met Ballo with Dima, it was sooooo good. I'll write it up at some point!)

[alcanis_ivennil]

I wasn't logged in thanks for the reminder :D

The ROH (the old one, with Agache) is really nice. The costumes! The sets are elegant and not as cluttered as some other traditional productions. Also: Kiri! and Alan Opie (I like a good Paolo who can sing).

Oh yes please write up that Ballo :D

Also I painted Simone: https://www.deviantart.com/opera-fanart/art/Simon-Boccanegra-829656671

[cahn]

Ohhhhhh that is a wonderful painting of Simone, I love it :DDDDD The colors are amazing! Love that cloak. Noooo, don't drink it!!

(I don't have an account on deviantart, not having any sort of art talent myself, otherwise I'd comment on there!)

Ooooh, okay, I'll try to look up the ROH one. HUGE fan of Simon B as you know and very excited to have another one to watch :D

Yeah, I just finished the Ballo a couple of days ago, that one went really fast (once I'd finished the Puccini) because SO GOOD. I'll try to write it up soon :)

[alcanis_ivennil]

I'll probably work on him a bit more but I need felt tip pens in several reddish shades :D For detail.

I love floor-length robes/dresses because drawing legs is Hard XD I'm always up for drawing more Simone tho :D Mostly pencil because painting takes time. Any scene ideas?

Oooh also I recently saw a production from Hungary on YT which had a ridiculously hot Paolo.

https://66.media.tumblr.com/5aa5c4cb796b86ad6982c2e5ed6bde4b/5bd9f7cfd8dff2b3-f8/s500x750/1c17807497af320e35b630eaa55687e731c7078f.png (in blue. he was also very touchy ;) forbidden ship)

[cahn]

Ohh, yeah, the more detail the better :D It's so cool that you know how to do that stuff!!

ahahaha, I am always up for Simone and Fiesco, either getting all mad at each other or all heartbroken at each other or cuddling :D But if Simone by himself, maybe like when he's singing the beginning of M'ardon le tempia? Or when he's going out to fight with the torches and the swords but right after Adorno has gone so we're not distracted by loser tenor

ok that is a suuuuper hot Paolo :D

[alcanis_ivennil]

I'll try some ideas :D

Loser tenor should be yeeted off a cliff.

I like how most Paolos look like an incel but this one? This one Fucks.

One thing I don't get is why Simone doesn't attend his daughter's wedding. It presumably didn't start until the rebellion ended and it seems Simone just went "okay everyone's pardoned EXCEPT THAT BITCH PAOLO" so he didn't spent that much time on judgement. Also isn't it like, dawn? Priest was surely very happy when a horny tenor and soprano woke him up "morning we want to get married stat".

Or maybe Simone *was* at the wedding and started to feel all feverish and sneaked outside for some fresh air?

[cahn]

TENORS! Why always such losers, tenors. (Except for my darling Alvaro who is the exception who proves the rule.)

HEE I never tahought about the wedding! You'd expect Fiesco would be there too, no? Being friends with both the bride and groom? I figured they eloped somehow...? lol yeah maybe they found a night owl priest or something?? Man that opera is full of weird holes.

[alcanis_ivennil]

Fiesco is just being let out of jail at the beginning of Act 3 so he couldn't be there :D

[cahn]

Oh haha right. Though I could also see him planning to disguise himself and going, since that seems to be kind of this thing, only he forgot about it because he got distracted by VENGEANCE! (I seriously love that bit where he's all VENGEANCE! and Simone is like "Yay peace!" "VEN-- what?")

[alcanis_ivennil]

Fiesco: *yells in Bass*
Simone: dude can you maybe chill

[cahn]

Simone: see this is why Maria and I eloped, we couldn't take the drama

[alcanis_ivennil]

Also Fiesco can't just walk up to him and be like "sup we need to talk", he waits until the perfect Dramatic Entrance Moment and then proceeds to tell him how Doomed he is.

[cahn]

LOL yeah, Fiesco always has to do everything in The Most Dramatic Way

gotta love Furlanetto, he really leaned into that part of the character <3

[alcanis_ivennil]

Furlanetto is perfect Dramatic Bitch(TM). So was Ghiaurov.

Robert Lloyd also but he's a lot more gentle once he mellows out (the way he caresses Simone's hair??? send help)

And then there is Mika Kares, frustrated gay tsundere who really just wants to cuddle XD