I Due Foscari [Blu-ray]

SUPERB!!
Much has been written about the plot of I Due Foscari: "Nothing actually happens. There is no moment of decision, no moral dilemma ... When we first see the main characters, they are sad. Then they are sadder. Then they're dead. Slow curtain. The end." (Berger, Verdi With A Vengeance) But the same writers note that the music is fantastic: the baritone part (Francesco Foscari, the Doge of Venice) is "...a tour de force for a great baritone"; the tenor role of Jacopo is " easily one of the most lyrical and least strident Verdi ever wrote".(id)

What I experienced, gentle reader, was one of the most electrifying performance of ANY opera I have ever seen. The intensity of the performers was maintained in chorus and orchestra from start to finish. As far as the individual singers are concerned ...

I think that I will buy any recording in which Roberto De Biasio sings; he was absolutely "on" from his first note to his last. Comments I have heard about how well he did...

Verdi rarity is given full justice
My main concern is that in this series of Customer Reviews only one (1) really applies to this performance, the other nine (9) are written for an entirely different performance. This is entirely Amazon's fault and none of the quotations, correct or false really apply.
The one review that applies is by a gentleman named J.Gleason Sr. and I agree with him. I am not going to duplicate him.
Just would like to emphasize that this is the latest DVD version of this neglected Verdi opus. It's stupendously produced, directed and performed with authenticity, excellence and love worthy of the 200th birthday of the great Italian master whose worst opera is better than many composers' best.

Strong production of an untypical Verdi
Composed in 1844 during the composer's 'galley years', I Due Foscari has very little dramatic drive and is largely tied to the conventions of the number opera, but somehow Verdi still manages to overcome those limitations. In some ways the structure and lack of drama makes this an untypical Verdi opera, but at the same time it demonstrates his characteristic attention to detail and his unerring ability to find exactly the right tone that best meets the dramatic requirements of the work. It might take you right until the end of Act III to realise just how masterfully that has been achieved, but this fine 2009 production from the Teatro Regio di Parma gives the work its best possible presentation.

Based on a work by Lord Byron, 'The Two Foscari', there's very little dramatic development in a story that is little more than a murder trial where we get to see neither the murder nor the trial. The accused however is the son of the Doge, so there's a great deal of conflict between...

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