This is a video of a new production by del Monaco at the Metropolitan in November 1995. It was at the time savaged in the pages of Opera, the magazine’s critic being particularly hard on the staging. It is difficult to refute the charge of crass incompetence levelled against the production, which is conventional to a fault in terms of the sets (Michael Scott) – grand and overburdened with dark hues and not a glimpse of the Ligurian coast – while del Monaco evinces little or no interest in the subtleties of one of Verdi’s most subtle dramas. The contrast with Covent Garden’s imaginative, evocative 1991 production could hardly be starker. Michael Yeargan’s Veronese-like decor houses a staging by Elijah Moshinsky (finely costumed by Peter J. Hall) that, while traditional, wholly avoids the commonplace of its rival, finding interesting answers to each situation. Thus the singers are motivated to give of their very best – unlike their Met counterparts.
There’s one exception to that stricture – the compelling, beautifully, intensely sung Doge of Chernov, whose eyes tell us throughout of the character’s many torments of the mind and heart. Apparently, in the opera house, he was placed too far upstage to make his mark. That, of course, is obviated on the screen. While Agache for Solti is quite Chernov’s equal in dramatic terms and sings with confidence, he does have an occasional pitch problem that is worrying on repetition. Domingo is, of course, Domingo, but his huge presence and heroic singing do tend to give undue prominence to Gabriele and in close-up he looks unacceptably mature. Robert Lloyd gives his all in acting out Fiesco’s implacable hatred of the plebeian Boccanegra who has seduced his daughter, but his singing, for all its authority, now lacks depth of tone, particularly by comparison with the immense, Italianate tones and towering presence of Scandiuzzi.
Saddest of all is the decline in Dame Kiri’s Amelia. For Solti she remains almost as moving and fine-grained as when she first ravished all senses in the part many years ago; for Levine the voice no longer responds to its owner’s demands on it and she no longer looks quite credible in the part. Pola’s conventional Paolo is no match for Alan Opie’s well-thought-through assumption.
Levine produces rich and disciplined singing and playing from his Met charges but Solti, though not ideal, has a better grasp of the score’s overall structure, and the Covent Garden components are not overwhelmed by comparison with their New York coevals. Large’s video direction is exemplary on both occasions; so are the sound and picture. The Decca must remain the recommendation in spite of Chernov’s excellent contribution on DG.'