Verdi: Simon Boccanegra Dmitri Hvorostovsky

• Giuseppe Verdi (1803-1901): Prologue:
• 1 Preludio - Prologue: Che dicesti? (Paolo, Pietro, Chorus) 07:00
• 2 Prologue: L'atra magion vedete? (Paolo, Pietro, Chorus) 03:01
• 3 Prologue: A te l'estremo addio (Fiesco, Chorus) 05:09
• 4 Prologue: Suona ogni labbro il mio nome (Simon, Fiesco) 06:15
• 5 Prologue: Oh de' Fieschi implacata (Simon, Fiesco, Paolo, Pietro, Chorus) 04:05
• Act I:
• 6 Act I: Preludio 02:20
• 7 Act I: Come in quest'ora bruna (Amelia) 03:43
• 8 Act I: Cielo di stelle orbato (A Voice/Gabriele, Amelia) 02:38
• 9 Act I: Vieni a mirar la cerula marina tremolante (Amelia, Gabriele, Maid, Pietro) 04:47
• 10 Act I: Propizio ei giunge! (Gabriele, Andrea) 05:01
• 11 Act I: Signor (Paolo, Doge, Amelia) 03:19
• 12 Act I: Orfanella il tetto umile (Amelia, Doge) 05:36
• 13 Act I: Figlia! a tal nome io palpito (Doge/Simon, Amelia) 03:09
• 14 Act I: Che rispose? (Doge, Paolo, Pietro) 01:18
• 15 Act I: Messeri, il re di Tartaria vi porge (Doge, Paolo, Pietro, Gabriele, Chorus) 07:31
• 16 Act I: Amelia! (Doge, Amelia, Chorus) 00:57
• 17 Act I: Amelia, di' come tu fosti rapita (Amelia, Doge, Gabriele, Chorus) 02:47
• 18 Act I: Plebe! Patrizi! Popolo dalla storia feroce (Doge) 01:02
• 19 Act I: Piango su voi (Doge, Amelia, Pietro, Paolo, Fiesco, Gabriele, Chorus) 04:06
• 20 Act I: Ecco la spada (Doge, Gabriele, Paolo) 04:33
• Act II:
• 21 Act II: Quei due vedesti? (Pietro, Paolo) 02:37
• 22 Act II: Prigioniero in qual loco m'adduci? (Fiesco, Paolo) 01:37
• 23 Act II: Udisti? (Paolo, Garbiele) 01:35
• 24 Act II: Sento avvampar nell'anima (Gabriele) 01:47
• 25 Act II: Cielo pietoso, rendila (Gabriele) 02:24
• 26 Act II: Tu qui? (Gabriele, Amelia) 04:18
• 27 Act II: Figlia! (Doge, Amelia) 05:07
• 28 Act II: Oh! Amelia ami un nemico! (Gabriele, Amelia, Doge) 03:11
• 29 Act II: Perdon, Amelia (Gabriele, Amelia, Doge) 03:19
• 30 Act II: All'armi, all'armi, O Liguri (Amelia, Gabriele, Doge, Chorus) 01:27
• Act III:
• 31 Act III: Evviva il Doge! (Capitano, Fiesco, Paolo, Chorus) 05:55
• 32 Act III: M'ardon le tempia (Doge, Fiesco) 04:33
• 33 Act III: Come fantasima (Doge, Fiesco) 01:56
• 34 Act III: Piango, perche mi parla (Fiesco, Doge) 03:10
• 35 Act III: Chi veggo! (Doge, Maria, Gabriele, Fiesco) 02:21
• 36 Act III: Gran Dio, li benedici (Doge, Maria, Gabriele, Fiesco, Chorus) 06:20
• Total Runtime 02:09:54

Info for Verdi: Simon Boccanegra

The Delos label's first-ever full-length Italian opera recording, this star-studded current release of Giuseppi Verdi's Simon Boccanegra promises quite the splash among today's opera fans. 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 (Lithuania) and Kaunas State Chorus.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone (Simon Boccanegra)
Marco Caria, baritone (Paolo)
Kostas Smoriginas, baritone (Pietro)
Ildar Abdrazakov, bass (Fiesco)
Barbara Frittoli, soprano (Maria/Amelia)
Stefano Secco, tenor (Gabriele Adorno)
Eglė Šidlauskaitė, mezzo-soprano (Ancilla)
Kęstutis Alčauskis, tenor (Capitano)
Kaunas State Choir
Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra
Constantine Orbelian, conductor

Dmitri Hvorostovsky
was born and studied in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. In 1989, he won the prestigious Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. From the start, audiences were bowled over by his cultivated voice, innate sense of musical line and natural legato. After his Western operatic debut at the Nice Opera in Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame, his career exploded to take in regular engagements at the world’s major opera houses and appearances at renowned international festivals, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, New York’s Metropolitan Opera, the Paris Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the Teatro alla Scala Milan, the Vienna State Opera, and the Chicago Lyric Opera.

A celebrated recitalist in demand in every corner of the globe — from the Far East to the Middle East, from Australia to South America — Hvorostovsky has appeared at such venues as Wigmore Hall, London; Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh; Carnegie Hall, New York; the Teatro alla Scala, Milan; the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, Moscow; the Liceu, Barcelona; the Suntory Hall, Tokyo; and the Musikverein, Vienna. The singer regularly performs in concert with top orchestras like the New York Philharmonic and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, and conductors, including James Levine, Bernard Haitink, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Yuri Termikanov and Valery Gergiev.

Dmitri retains a strong musical and personal contact with Russia. He became the first opera singer to give a solo concert with orchestra and chorus on Red Square in Moscow; this concert was televised in over 25 countries. Dmitri has gone on to sing a number of prestigious concerts in Moscow as a part of his own special series, ‘Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Friends.’ He has invited such celebrated artists as Renée Fleming, Sumi Jo and Sondra Radvonosky. In 2005 he gave an historic tour throughout the cities of Russia at the invitation of President Putin, singing to crowds of hundreds of thousands of people to commemorate the soldiers of the Second World War. Dmitri now tours the cities of Russia and Eastern Europe on an annual basis.

Constantine Orbelian, Conductor
The brilliant pianist and conductor Constantine Orbelian is the first American ever to become music director of an ensemble in Russia. His appointment in 1991 as Music Director of the celebrated Moscow Chamber Orchestra was a breakthrough event, and came in the midst of Orbelian's successful career as a concert pianist. In September, 2000, Orbelian was named Permanent Guest Conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic, putting him in a unique leadership position with not only Moscow's outstanding chamber orchestra but also its most illustrious symphony orchestra. In January, 2004 President Putin awarded Orbelian the coveted title 'Honored Artist of Russia,' a title never before bestowed on a non-Russian citizen.

Booklet for Verdi: Simon Boccanegra