Simon Boccanegra 14 years old

Strong traditional production with a few modern touches

Coming just before the mature final works, Verdi's Simon Boccanegra - along with Un Ballo in Maschera, Les Vêpres Siciliennes, La Forza del Destino and Don Carlos - occupy a strange but fascinating hinterland in the career of the composer. Each of the operas, influenced by Verdi's political involvement in the Risorgimento for the reunification of Italy during the period, are very much concerned with the exercise of power, but they all rely on typically operatic conventions of bel canto and French Grand Opéra in their use of personal tragedies and unlikely twists of fate to highlight the human feelings and weaknesses that lie behind their historical dramas. Written in 1859, but revised by the composer in 1881, Piave's libretto given an uncredited reworking by Arrigo Boito, Simon Boccanegra is consequently one of the more interesting works from this period, certainly from a musical standpoint. Live from Teatro all Scala, Milan 2010.

Credits

Simon Boccanegra Cast

Name	Character
Plácido Domingo He was 69, now 83 years old	as Simon Boccanegra
Daniel Barenboim He was 67, now 81 years old	as Conductor

Simon Boccanegra Crew

Name	Department
Giuseppe Verdi as Original Music Composer. He was 196 (87) years old when He died	Sound
Francesco Maria Piave as Writer. He was 199 (65) years old when He died	Writing
Arrigo Boito as Writer. He was 168 (76) years old when He died	Writing