Simon Boccanegra

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).

( Irritating subtitles, wonderful themes and tropes, confusing libretto. )