Roland Shaw Orchestra

OPERA REVIEW - VERDI'S SIMON BOCCANEGRA - ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA: THE COLISEUM ...

The curtain rises on a back-street bar with black saloon car outside where leather-jacketed Boccanegra lies in wait for patrician capo Jacopo Fiesco in what seems to be a Mafioso feud.

Fast forward 25 years and Boccanegra is chief executive of Genoa, in spectacles and grey suit, presiding over a council chamber furnished with stackable chairs, handy for throwing when tempers rise.

Fiesco, whose daughter bore a child by Boccanegra, has been exiled but then Boccanegra rediscovers his long-lost daughter Amelia.

Tchnerniakov, whose controversial Eugene Onegin was seen at Covent Garden last year, brings out the excitement of Verdi’s historical drama, backed by the driving pace of the orchestra under Edward Gardner. Bruno Caproni is a powerful Boccanegra and Brindley Sherratt a dark, brooding Fiesco. Rena Harms’s Amelia is a troubled adolescent dressed as a Goth. Peter Auty as her lover Gabriele Adorno, in biking leathers, hits the heroic high notes.

Things go directorially awry as Boccanegra’s henchman Paolo (Roland Wood) plots revenge against his leader by poisoning a glass of water. Instead of drinking the water, as in the libretto, Boccanegra ludicrously dons a clown’s paper hat and seems to fall apart from stress.

The aged Fiesco reappears in the final scene holding an asthma inhaler to his face while Boccanegra stumbles off stage to die.

Tchnerniakov reduces grand drama to a confused muddle. Pietro Mascagni’s first work Cavalleria Rusticana proved an all-time hit in 1889. For his second, Mascagni eschewed the Sicilian blood and guts of Cavalleria for a gentle romance set in Alsace.

Director Annilese Miskimmon and designer Nicky Shaw have set L’amico Fritz in a Fifties office with a pool of shorthand typists in Mad Men-style costumes and a boardroom from which Fritz (Eric Margiore) runs his property empire providing starter homes for young couples.

The retro production has the naïve charm of a Doris Day film, the score is attractive and the cast is strong but the feather-light plot is about as satisfying as candyfloss.

In contrast, although the plot of L’elisir d’amore is light, you really care whether Nemorino (Stephen Costello) wins the love of Adina, played by Danielle de Niese.

Unearthed In The Atomic Attic: Themes For Secret Agents - The ...

My blogs are all about sharing obscure and sometimes odd recordings. I have three blogs to enjoy now. Blogs that feature introductions to vintage & unique gospel recordings, atomic age pop and lounge/strange music.

My gospel blog, The Good, Bad & Ugly Gospel Record Barn focuses mainly on area artists (Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky) who recorded on labels such as Jewel, Rite and Queen City label.

In general, I will not be posting entire albums and or samples at all if I find the recording on CD or by the download.

If an artist is still working, I will usually refrain from posting a sample. I do my best to locate information on the artist.

I realize relatives and friends may find posts of people they knew or know. I hope you will be pleased with what you read.

Remember, the worst fate for any artist, I believe, is to be completely forgotten. I don't blog 100s of records I find, including local acts, because the recordings are simply lackluster. I think that it is better to be remembered for something crazy, than for nothing at all.

George London, of gods and demons

Burt Bacharach, song by song, the ultimate Burt Bacharach reference for fans, serious record collectors, and music critics

Movie/TV Soundtracks and Original Cast Recordings Price and Reference Guide

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It Wasn't All Velvet, An Autobiography