Verdi’s classic opera Simon Boccanegra making its Hong Kong debut
The upheavals of love and politics are at the heart of Verdi’s beloved work, presented here by Italian company Teatro Regio Torino under the baton of Roberto Abbado in a revival of its landmark 1979 staging
“VIVA VERDI!” proclaimed the slogans, daubed on walls, or shouted out at meetings and demonstrations during the turbulent years in the middle of the 19th century in Italy.
And while anyone arrested could claim that they were simply declaring their love of opera, in truth they were passing on a dangerous (and for a long time illegal) message that it was time for unification and independence.
Because as well as spelling out the surname of one of the most popular composers the world had ever seen, the letters stood for “Vittorio Emanuele Re D’Italia” and called for the young king Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia to rule the whole of Italy, and divest the Austrian empire to the north and the Pope in the centre of their powers and lands.
SEE ALSO: From circus to Shakespeare – Hong Kong Arts Festival 2016 line-up announced
Giuseppe Verdi the composer was as passionate as any of his compatriots that the country should be united. Not only did he give his name to the struggle, and later (after a first Italian parliament met in Turin in 1861) agree to be a Member of Parliament, but he also fired his popular opera full of melodies and messages to support the cause.
And perhaps the most moving political opera of all was Simon Boccanegra, being performed in Hong Kong for the first time next month, part of the Arts Festival.
Excitingly, it is being performed by Turin’s fabulous opera theatre company Teatro Regio Torino, and will be conducted by Roberto Abbado, the nephew of the conductor Claudio Abbado, who made one of the best acclaimed recordings of the opera, with La Scala, in 1979.