Verdi: I due Foscari (Milan, 1988)

Cast: Renato Bruson (Francesco), Alberto Cupido (Jacopo), Linda Roark-Strummer (Lucrezia), Luigi Roni (Loredano), Renato Cazzaniga (Barbarigo), Monica Tagliasacchi (Pisana), Aldo Bottion (Fante); Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro alla Scala, Gianandrea Gavazzeni (conductor), Pier Luigi Pizzi (director and designer), Tonino del Colle (video director)

Recorded at Teatro alla Scala Milano 1988

Issued on DVD by Opus Arte in 2004 [OA LS3007 D, NTSC/all regions, menus in English, optional subtitles in English]

Technical details
Aspect ratio 4:3
Dolby Digital stereo

Running time: 115 minutes

Sung in Italian
Had this recording been readily available well before the Naples release with Nucci, it would have been more highly regarded. Its sole advantage over the performance of 2000 is the striking production Pizzi brings to La Scala: a striking fusion of archaic elements with a modern concept based on a great stairway.

Bruson is vocally acceptable in his role as the burdened Doge. However, he seems too often at his limit and overacts to compensate. Cupido is at least two stages too light to persuade as the Doge's son. Roark-Strummer manages the notes but little more. The supporting cast is solid if unexceptional, while the chorus is weaker than is expected from that house. Gavazzeni holds the forces together.

The video is fine if not up to the best modern standards but audio is constricted. In all, the production is worth seeing, but the other DVD edition serves Verdi better, helping one to ignore the improbabilities of the libretto and the relative simplicity of the score.
 
Related website:
BBC Opus Arte: www.opusarte.com/
Michael Richter, 23 December 2004
mrichter@cpl.net
 
See also Michael Richter's Introduction to the DVD, for a list of other reviews see the DVD Project page.