Simon Boccanegra

This 2010 performance from Milan's Teatro alla Scalla is a fine rendition of Giuseppe Verdi's 1857 opera (presented in the repertory standard 1881 revision), authoritatively conducted by Daniel Barenboim, and gloriously sung by Plácido Domingo in the title role. Marked by a complicated libretto, Simon Boccanegra is a dark, tragic work about a 14th-century corsair raised to rule Venice but haunted by an affair with a nobleman's daughter that ended in the woman's death and the disappearance of their child. After a quarter-century in power, Boccanegra's past overwhelms him when he finds his long-lost daughter, Amelia, and she becomes the linchpin of a dispute among suitors that leads to conspiracies against him, leading to his eventual demise by poison. Although the lead is written for a baritone, Domingo's famed tenor voice can manage the lower-range demands. The supporting cast—including Anja Harteros as Amelia; Ferruccio Furlanetto as Boccanegra's political rival, Fiesco; and Fabio Sartori as Amelia's lover, Gabriele—is also strong. Although the sets are simple and the lighting rather stark, the costumes are lavish and the staging by Federico Tiezzi is solid. With superb sound—Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and PCM stereo on Blu-ray—this mounting of one of Verdi's lesser-known but nevertheless powerful works is easily recommended. (F. Swietek)