Verdi: Simon Boccanegra.(Opera Review)

Prokina; Pasquetto, Rendall, Sidhom, Miles, Borowski; London Philharmonic, Elder. Glyndebourne, 1998. Kultur DVD D2043, 143 mins.

There is still not a clear-cut Boccanegra recommendation in video terms, but this release is good news on the musical side. Mark Elder's conducting proves him to be a true Verdian, and listeners who can overlook a production that is not so much wrong-headed as pointless will be rewarded with a truly fine performance of the score. Elder conducts in paragraphs, even chapters. The final trio of Act II is full of energy and determination, but it also has a sense of the importance of events. Tempos in the early scenes are not drawn out, leaving room for a stunning, slow, doom-like apparition of Fiesco in Act III. Elder has even found a tiny, shivery accent in the violins and violas that tells us the exact moment Simon's life leaves his body. Best of all is Elder's work in the first scene of Act I. So brilliantly sustained is the musical argument here that the Glyndebourne audience allows the whole scene to proceed without applause.

Musically, the other good news is the Fiesco of Alastair Miles, one of the best on recordings, noble and steady of phrase. He doesn't peak in the Prologue with "Il lacerato spirito" (in tandem with Elder, shaped into a single form that leads all the way to "Prega per me"). He also offers a sublime "Vieni a me," and he really pours on the ...