I Due Foscari

Since Plácido Domingo has moved from tenor to baritone roles, one of his favorite vehicles has been this 1844 opera by Verdi, which pits a father's love against a demand for justice. Francesco Foscari (Domingo), the elderly doge of Venice, is being pressured to exile his son Jacopo, who is falsely accused of murder. Despite the pleas of Jacopo's wife Lucrezia, the doge feels compelled to enforce the court's decision, and even though the real killer confesses, it comes too late to save Jacopo, who dies on the prison ship. A 2014 Covent Garden production starring Domingo and Francesco Meli as Jacopo has already appeared on disc (VL-9/16), and this 2016 mounting at La Scala in Milan also teams Meli with Domingo, who both again sing superbly, with Meli's tenor ringing out sonorously and Domingo's voice defying his 75 years, even if a few of the lower notes are weak. The other principals are new, but Anna Pirozzi as Lucrezia and Andrea Concetti as Foscari's enemy Loredano are the equals of their London counterparts, while the company's orchestra and chorus perform strongly for conductor Michele Mariotti. On the visual side, Alvis Hermanis's staging is busier than Thaddeus Strassberger's was in the dank, gloomy Covent Garden production, with lots of video projections, moving panels, and even statues (like the St. Mark Lion) roaming the stage, but is not much more effective. In sum, the two Foscaris are fairly equal, and with Domingo headlining, either or both are desirable. Presented in DTS 5.1 on DVD (DTS-HD 5.1 on the Blu-ray release) and PCM stereo, extras include an interview with Domingo. Recommended. (F. Swietek)