THEn the scene there is a father, the Doge of Genoa, who believes his daughter Maria is missing, a key figure in this story full of revelations, twists, hatred, fights, betrayals, loves (with final catharsis). But he is not the only father figure to hover in this new production of the Simon Boccanegra by Giuseppe Verdi, on stage at the Teatro alla Scala for seven performances from 1st to 24th February. He’s on the podium Lorenzo Viotti, son of another conductor: Marcelluswho died prematurely in 2005. And the direction is by Daniele Abbado, firstborn of Claudio, whose tenth anniversary of death is celebrated this year.
“Courage and Freedom”
Lorenzo Viotti (photo Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala).
«I heard the Simon for the first time at five years old, directed by my father. Today I am 33, and he has always followed me »remembers Viotti, who has already performed two (French) operas on the Piermarini stage: Romeo and Juliette in 2020 and Thais in 2022. «I needed time and maturity to face – right here – such an important title. It requires courage and total freedom.” “Right here”, she specifies, because Verdi had conceived this work (taken from a novel by Antonio García Gutiérrezwith the libretto by Francesco Maria Piave) for La Fenice in Venice in 1857, where it proved to be a flop, and only at La Scala in 1881, with the contribution of Arrigo Boito, achieved deserved consecration.
“Rare harmony”
«I was 13 years old when I attended my father’s edition (the historic one from 1971 directed by Strehler, ed)» says Abbado, who also signs the scenes with Angelo Linzalata (the lights of Alessandro Carletti. «When I returned home I immediately ran to get the booklet to understand certain passages that I had missed. The first time they offered me the directorship I refused, but then – almost a year ago – Lorenzo and I talked and understood that there was a harmony between us that was frankly quite rare. Simon Boccanegra presents narrative difficulties, there is a certain elusiveness in the story. For this reason – which I consider his political and spiritual testament – Verdi requires from the spectator, in addition to a human and spiritual involvement, an effort of imagination ».
Greens and the sea
Lorenzo Viotti and Daniele Abbado (photo Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala).
«It is a perfect work in its imperfection» adds the costume designer Nana Cecchi, which explains why the action was “transported” from the mid-14th century of the libretto to the late 19th-early 20th century. «The themes are universal and work very well in an era between Verdi’s and before the upheavals of the Great War. For me, Simon’s soul is the sea, and it was precisely the mysteries of the sea that inspired me.”
«Verdi lived in Genoa for a few years, and perhaps he was nostalgic for those views» he intervenes Luca Salsiwho plays the protagonist (“A role that makes any baritone tremble”) and which is now at home at La Scala, a practically fixed presence on 7 December, from Tosca to Macbeth to the Don Carlo.
Eleonora & Charles
Luca Salsi and Charles Castronovo with Daniele Abbado (photo Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala).
In the part of Amelia/Maria there is Eleonora Buratto, the soprano from Mantua making her Verdi debut on the stage of La Scala after the good performances in The elixir of love by Donizetti, Les contes d’Hoffmann of Offenbach and the That’s what they all do by Mozart. All eyes on another debut, in this case an absolute debut: in Gabriele Adorno’s key role there is the tenor Charles Castronovo (American with Sicilian father). Who confesses: “I’ve dreamed of singing here since I was 16.” and today he is 48…
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