Simon Boccanegra

Simon, a pirate, gets elected as the Doge over the aristocracy's objections. However, he had a secret affair that produced a baby who disappeared ... and also that lady's dad is really upset with Simon. Lots of grudges, death, the potential for incest -- sorry, but this is an opera and you have to be prepared for all manner of things. However, the bulk of this opera is set twenty years later -- when he's trying to maintain cohesion and rule of law and he discovers his daughter who is, woe!, in love with one of his political rivals.

A grand show -- Italian palazzo grandeur, crown moulding (I'm sorry but this has to be stated because it's so noticeable when there isn't ANY kind of detail in decor), textured beautiful walls -- a step up from some other designs I've seen. The visuals delivered throughout the night: windows that passed the day into the night; smoke and blinding lights (OK this I can give up); quick snazzy and smooth set changes that kept up the momentum. I'm a sucker for big choruses and this production delivered.

Singing was really impressive across the board. Amelia's voice was piercing (damn girl). Fiesco's bass was moving. Adorno was a strong solo and harmonised really nicely with Amelia -- indicating that finally, they are Meant To Be, I guess. Paolo's villainy was a bit lol to me, mostly because the orchestra kept overshadowing him.

The hectic council chamber scene with the "kidnapper" getting cursed was a real highlight. I was in the nosebleeds so I lost detail in the facial expressions but the fear in the crowd madness vibe came through pretty loud and clear.

Story-wise, I enjoyed and appreciated the forgiveness-across-generations arc. And the final scene of Simon dying on the same slab from the opening scene landed for me really well. Ik ben een easy audience.

Less fun was the constant hand-wringing over Maria & Amelia's purity, raised in act one and again in act two at which point I was just like, "ugh guys" -- just made me think of how protecting a woman's chastity has always been a mechanism of controlling us.

The ending ran a liiiiiittle too long, but it was also really warm in the theatre and I was sitting right in between two people who kept coughing (an observation, I know no one WANTS to cough in the theatre); and Paolo just vanishes off to the scaffold with zero ceremony. I think the final scenes were staged wonderfully, with the city all dressed in black -- mourners, little angels of death calling Simon, the gravity of his fate.

Minor gripes aside, I would recommend it. A nice, grand opera. :-)