Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (2-CD) – Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Barbara Frittoli

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Artists: Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Barbara Frittoli, Ildar Abdrazakov, Stefano Secco, Kostas Smoriginas, Marco Caria, Kaunas State Choir, Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Constantine Orbelian
Number of Discs: 2
Label: Delos
CD Release Date: April 14, 2015

This star-studded release of Giuseppi Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra promises quite the splash. As Verdi was entering his glorious “late period” (Otello and Falstaff), he wrote and re-worked much of Simon Boccanegra, a work he first tackled in 1857. The opera emerged in 1881 as a powerful masterpiece, although one that has been unfairly neglected in comparison with Verdi’s other operatic masterworks.

The glamorous title star Dmitri Hvorostovsky – considered by many the world’s greatest Verdi baritone – here realizes his chance to record what he calls “...one of the most complex, deepest characters in the whole baritone repertoire.”

Joining Hvorostovsky in this studio recording are the kinds of all-star colleagues he deserves: soprano Barbara Frittoli as Amelia, tenor Stefano Secco as Gabriele, bass Ildar Abdrazakov as Fiesco and baritone Marco Caria as Paolo. Constantine Orbelian, “the singer’s dream collaborator” (Opera News), leads the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra and Kaunas State Chorus.

The remarkable beauty of singing and playing alike, as well as the interpretive chemistry between the performers, promise to make this a memorable and must-have recording.

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