Search - Verdi: Simon Boccanegra on DVD

Superb performance

C. Harbison | Montague, MA United States | 07/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is surely the most beautiful, touching and carefully thought out recording of this opera ever made. Claudio Abbado does marvels with the orchestra--romantic intensity at its peak. Mattila's voice is ethereal, La Scola's heartfelt singing reminds one of the young Carreras, Guelfi is a soft-toned but immensely affecting Simon, Konstantinov is adequate but does not equal his predecessors. The production is stark (except for a more detailed council chamber scene), the colors (predominantly red and blue) are strong and effective, the filming is excellent, intimate but also distant when necessary. Altogether a tremendously moving account of a very powerful opera. Verdi at his melodic and emotional best."

Mattila the Magician

juhant | 06/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a stunning Boccanegra DVD. Karita Mattila's magical performance as Amelia/Maria turns this once neglected Verdi part into a starring vehicle. Be it for her gorgeously lavish sound (She must have the most beautiful soprano voice in the world) or her phenomenal acting that Gramophone magazine describes as Garbo -like. Seriously, I find Mattila fresher, more vivid and real (by today's standards) than Garbo who may well have been a genius in expressing quiet depressive anxiety in close-ups. Special mention goes to cinematography and the finest picture and sound quality I have yet seen & heard on DVD.A MUST have!"

AH VERDI

GEORGE RANNIE | DENVER, COLORADO United States | 04/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This performance is what opera is about. It just does not get any better than this when it comes to opera--sublime Verdi, fabulous production, the best (in my opinion)Verdi conductor in the whole world, extraordinary cast of singers. This is opera at its glorious best!
If you want to see and hear how exciting opera can be, buy this disc!"

"The center does not hold"

Allen A. Smith | Miami, FL | 01/22/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Kariti Mattila is indeed stunning as Amelia Grimaldi. La Scola's bumbling, eager, and erratic Gabriel is thoroughly appropriate for the operatic character (and for the historical one as well). Jacopo Fiesco and Paolo Albiani are both well-played. But Paolo, a mere henchman, dwarfs Carlo Guelfi's Simon. Simon Boccanegra, in the opera as in history, was a forceful and decisive leader. Guelfi's failing voice and hesitant acting reduce the central character to a bewildered and tired old man. The costumes are dull and historically inaccurate."