Performance History
After its 1857 premiere, Simon Boccanegra was performed in Malta in 1860, Madrid and Lisbon in 1861, and Buenos Aires in 1862. But the opera was revised, and it is this later version — unveiled in 1881 in Milan, and given in Vienna and Paris in 1882 and 1883, respectively — that has become part of the standard operatic repertory. A concert performance of the original (1857) version — possibly its first hearing in 100 years — took place in London in 1975. This was broadcast the next year and issued on CD. The original was also performed by the Royal Opera, London in 1997 and by New York Grand Opera in 1999, the latter being its first New York performance.
Read more about this topic: Simon Boccanegra
Famous quotes containing the words performance and/or history:
“When a book, any sort of book, reaches a certain intensity of artistic performance it becomes literature. That intensity may be a matter of style, situation, character, emotional tone, or idea, or half a dozen other things. It may also be a perfection of control over the movement of a story similar to the control a great pitcher has over the ball.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)
“Don’t you realize that this is a new empire? Why, folks, there’s never been anything like this since creation. Creation, huh, that took six days, this was done in one. History made in an hour. Why it’s a miracle out of the Old Testament!”
—Howard Estabrook (1884–1978)