Simon Boccanegra
I saw this opera in the movie theatre yesterday. The Metropolitan opera now shows operas in HD in movie theatres once a month. Peter Gelb started this program when he became general manager a few years ago. This is the first time that I went. My favorite singer, Placido Domingo, who usually sings tenor, was singing the title role, which is for a baritone. He was absolutely brilliant! It's unbelievable that he can do that age age 69. It was almost four hours of singing and acting in costume. And Placido is a brilliant actor. The cast included bass James Morris, who has been singing with Placido since 1965! He was good, but clearly is past his prime. Marcello Giordani sung the tenor roles, which Placido has also sung, and was very good aside from some intonation problems. Adrienne Pieczonka was glorious in the soprano role, which is the only female in the cast. Baritone Stephen Gaertner was also brilliant as the villain. The conductor was the Met's longtime music director James Levine. He was clearly weakened by his bout with kidney cancer last year as he sat on the stool to conduct. Most conductors stand the whole time. He even nodded off to sleep between the scenes in Act I! He did wake up in time for the second scene though! The interesting thing about seeing the opera in the movie theatre is that they show what goes on backstage in between acts and the host Renee Fleming interviews the singers. It was neat to watch them change the sets. This is something that you would not get to see at the opera house. Overall, it was a wonderful experience. The opera was very moving and almost brought tears to my eyes when Boccanegra died at the end. This is in part thanks to Placido's wonderful singing and acting. I will definitely be going to see more operas in the movie theatre!