Simon Boccanegra has an intricate web of characters and a twisted, knotty plot which is hard to grapple with. Structurally lopsided, Verdi is forced to spend much of the first half of the opera setting up the plot and characters, leaving it until the finale of act one for any real drama to take place. A difficult starting point for any production.
So not Verdi’s most beloved opera, yet the audience were raving in the interval about Grange Park's first offering of the season: David Poutney’s Simon Boccanegra. His traditional production was originally created for Welsh National Opera in 1997, and it has not lost its vibrancy in the past 18 years.
Simon Boccanegra is based on a historical figure. The once pirate Boccanegra was elected head of state in Genua in 1339 and acted as Doge until his death in 1363. In love with Maria, his rival Grimaldi Fiasco’s daughter, she bore him an illegitimate child before dying soon after.
Boccanegra’s daughter lived with him but at some point was lost, only to appear years later as Amelia Grimaldi, now his rival Fiesco’s adopted daughter. Fiesco has taken the pseudonym Andrea Grimaldi and continued to plot against Boccanegra, wanting revenge. One of Boccanegra’s friends, Paulo, is desperate to marry Amelia, but she is in love with another of the Doge’s rivals, Adorno. Are you feeling confused yet in this labyrinth of a plot? And this is merely the prologue and the beginning of act 1…
Verdi’s opera requires a plethora of great singers, and Grange Park certainly delivers the goods. It is a rare evening where there are no weak links, but from the production to the performers, this is a very fine show.
The set is minimal. Two ginormous walls hang from the rafters on tracks that can move and rotate to give any number of settings, one’s surface a cracked, craggy rock face, the other tarnished and translucent. These aid Tim Mitchell’s stunning lighting designs, which create rippling surfaces reminiscent of the coast. This bare set is dressed with Sue Willmington’s sumptuous period costumes, rich hues of terracotta and blue for the people, whilst Amelia and Adorno stand out in jewelled emerald green.
Poutney creates vivid stage pictures. In act 1, we see the body of the dead Maria float heavenward, her tumbling shroud caught by her daughter. We find the Patrician Senators exalted and powerful on stilts in the Council Chamber scene, the final of act 1. The writing is literally on the wall in the third act with Petrarch’s Canzone 128, decrying the Italian nobilty and their addiction to war.
Robin Tebbutt, revival director, has kept the images striking, but the acting in the first half with its large, dramatic gestures feels a little forced at times: poses struck by performers without them quite connecting with emotionally. As the opera rolls along the acting strengthens—a highlight Jolyon Loy’s beginning of act 2 as he plots the Doge’s downfall.
Simon Boccanegra has a score jam-packed with male voices and just one soprano. But if there is to be just one, then what a gift to have Elin Pritchard as Amelia Grimaldi; her creamy voiced versatility brings out all of Verdi’s musical imagination. Her access to delicate heights, coupled with lyrical ardour in the middle range, allows Pritchard to expose the conflict Amelia faces in the role, desperate to retain the love of her father and Adorno, his enemy.
Otar Jorjikia makes light work of the passionate arias and jealous rage of Adorno, a powerful tenor able to deliver. Sir Simon Keenlyside takes the title role, and whilst he lacks the support to give us the traditional Verdi baritone sound, he is a true vocal actor and makes much of the drama in the part. James Creswell’s booming bass is imposing as Fiesco. As always, the Grange Park Chorus are excellent.
Conductor Gianluca Marciano delivers a dynamically paced performance, with great clarity and vibrancy from the orchestra.
Unusual for Wasfi Kani to buy in a production as she usually commissions new, but tonight proves the decision was the right one. Fitting perfectly into the Theatre in the Woods, coupled with the theatre's excellent acoustics, this revival is a treat for audiences.