* Notes *
The 2026-2027 season of San Francisco Opera opened last night with what should have been the fourth performance of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra Maestra Eun Sun Kim and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra sounded absolutely gorgeous, proving the point of the latter’s recent strike. There is no opera without music, no matter how much the art form is considered to be theater.
The Eurotrash production is from Hamburg State Opera. The concept is that the story is told in flashback in the moments of Boccanegra’s death. So there is much unnatural, awkward movement of walking backward or being flung slowly apart in spirals. There is a false mirror that the singers or Boccanegra’s body doubles can appear upstage in. One can only imagine how confusing this all was to those new to opera, as the direction was an obstruction to the narrative rather than elucidating the text.
There is a meteor in the ceiling (pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) that is moved in the successive scenes further down into the one room where this opera seems to take place. To be honest, I enjoyed the production very much as it is absurd and unintentionally funny. However, the lull between set changes made the drama much less propulsive.
The orchestra sounded great under Music Director Kim, and it was lovely to hear Verdi’s music. This piece is not often done, and I did wonder if I could get myself to one of the remaining two performances to read the score. The brass was particularly clear and brilliant.
The singing was all splendid. Baritone Aleksey Bogdanov was quite villainous as Paolo Albiani. Tenor Joshua Guerrero was bright and sweet as Gabriele Adorno and he sang well with soprano Eleonora Buratto as Amelia/Maria. Buratto has a silvery-toned incisiveness, with lovely hight notes but her low register is less secure.
Bass-baritone Christian Van Horn is authoritative und unyielding as Jacopo Fiesco, his voice is strong, with some gravel in the texture in his deepest depths. Amartuvshin Enkhbat continues to impress as a Verdi baritone, his Boccanegra has a lot of different shades and colors. His voice is also robust and plush, never sounding strained in the least.
* Tattling *
The General Director did address the audience, but the remarks were much briefer than for most opening night performances. There were no flower garlands or singing of the National Anthem.
There was an elderly man in Row J Seat 4 that spoke at full volume before and during the opera, regardless if the orchestra was playing or if soloists were in the middle of an aria. He would read the supertitles aloud very loudly, despite being hushed by his companion. Thankfully they did not return after intermission.
It seemed nearly everyone I know that covers opera was in the press room, so it was a joy to catch up a little with various people.
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