By Martin Bernheimer [Financial Times, 20 February 2007]

Simon Boccanegra returned to the Met on Monday in the handsome, ultratraditional production staged a dozen years ago by Giancarlo del Monaco and designed by Michael Scott (David Kneuss currently holds the book). The convoluted masterpiece cast its spell in spite of first nighters who interrupted the music to applaud the scenery, the diva’s entrance and numerous false cadences.