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Close to Perfection
Verdi's 'Simon Boccanegra'
broadcast from New York Metropolitan Opera,
reviewed by MARIA NOCKIN
Giuseppe Verdi composed the first version of Simon Boccanegra after La traviata and Les Vêpres Siciliennes ('The Sicilian Vespers'). It was seen at La Fenice in Venice on 12 March 1857, but it did not become nearly as popular as its predecessors. Verdi, himself, said that it was 'too sad, too desolate', and left it alone for many years. The story comes from Spanish playwright Antonio Garcìa-Gutierrez, as did the material for the libretto of Il trovatore. Francesco Piave, who had written the text for La traviata, fashioned the first Boccanegra libretto but Giuseppe Montanelli, who was in Paris with Verdi, made additions while Piave remained in Italy...
Copyright © 14 February 2010
Maria Nockin,
Arizona USA
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