The Viennese critic Edward Hanslick once compared Brahms’ Fourth Symphony to “a dark well”, and declared “the longer we look into it, the more brightly the stars shine back”. Such an observation might be levelled at Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, its convoluted plot drawn from the real-life 14th-century Doge of Genoa. And if said plot proves an obstacle, even after several readings, Grange Park’s vibrant staging will remove any lingering doubts about the work with this reboot of David Pountney’s production for Welsh National Opera, first unveiled in 1997 and revived by Robin Tebbutt.
Of course, it doesn’t help that its knotty plot, where politics and private passions collide with betrayal and reconciliation, has several tangled strands, characters are given multiple names and identities and that the timeframe leaps forward 25 years after the work’s lengthy Prologue. Considering those drawbacks, and the work’s initial failure in 1857, performances are not so rare (think Opera North’s recent staging) even with the dominance of male voices, with roles given to a single tenor and soprano, and two pairs of basses and baritones.
Ralph Koltai’s mostly conceptual designs don’t give much away. A pair of massive rotating walls variously conjure Council Chamber, all burnished stone, and crumbling palace, its fractured side suggesting divisions between the Patricians and the Plebians and, coincidentally, the presence of earthquakes common to Liguria where the action is situated. Scene changes are impressively swift, with those high walls framing a coastal scene with a large rock, all atmospherically lit by Tim Mitchell. If much appears to be abstract, then Sue Willmington’s eye-catching costumes point unequivocally to medieval Italy, with scarlet robes and charcoal grey attire delineating the social and political divide.
Leading the international cast is the baritone Simon Keenlyside as the pirate-turned-Doge whose traversal from buccaneering man of the people to increasingly burdened public figure is finely achieved, his great plea for peace and love “Plebe! Patrizi!” delivered with tremendous authority. If he lacks the required rich Verdian voice, there’s still a lovely warmth to his tone and his stage presence remains as striking as ever. There’s also much to admire with James Cresswell’s Fiesco as Boccanegra’s vengeful enemy to whom he is finally reconciled after discovering that Amelia belongs to them as both daughter and granddaughter. Cresswell’s cavernous tones, which made me smile with every subterranean note, are suitably dark when grieving over the death of his lover Maria (seen transported heaven-wards during the extensive Prologue) and he provides sonorous support in ensemble numbers. British-Irish baritone Jolyon Loy oozed malevolence as the traitorous Paolo Albiani, though his vibrato could be better controlled.
As Amelia, Elin Pritchard is no shrinking violet, and perfectly conveys vulnerability and strength of character, bringing passion and tenderness to the role with poised upper notes combining bone china delicacy and a spun legato. From her opening “Come in quest’ora bruna” though to her “Parla in tuo cor” duet with Adorno, where they persuade each other of their love, she sings with gratifying poise. And Georgian tenor Otar Jorjikia is assured as Adorno, seeming to relish his rage aria “O Inferno” in Act Two bringing bravura to his emphatic manner.
In the pit Italian conductor Gianluca Marciano takes everything in his stride, coaxing expressive playing from the Gascoigne Orchestra and allowing flowing yet fluid tempi. The Grange Park Opera Chorus are on glorious form, especially robust in voting in Boccanegra as the Doge and in the dramatic finale to Act One. If Simon Boccanegra is a “dark well”, this terrific cast and staging (not forgetting the inspired idea from Grange Park’s creator Wasfi Kani) brought it out of the depths to illuminate a work in which “the stars shine back” unequivocally.
David Truslove
Simon Boccanegra
Music: Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto: Francesco Maria Piave and Arrigo Boito, based on a play of the same name by Antonio Garcia Gutiérrez. Sung in Italian with titles in English
Cast and Production Staff:
Simon Boccanegra – Sir Simon Keenleyside; Fiesco – James Cresswell; Amelia – Elin Prichard; Adorno – Otar Jorjikia; Paolo – Jolyon Loy; Pietro – David Shipley; Amelia’s maid – Rosa Sparks; Captain – Sam Utley
Original Director – Sir David Pountney; Revival director: Robin Tebbutt; Original Designs – Ralph Koltai; Costumes – Sue Willmington; Lighting – Tim Mitchell; Grange Park Chorus; The Gascoigne Orchestra; Conductor – Gianluca Marciano
Grange Park Opera, West Horsley, Surrey, 5 June 2025
Top image: Scene from Simon Boccanegra
All photos © Marc Brenner