This is a list of audio and video recordings (discography) of Simon Boccanegra, an Italian opera with music composed by Giuseppe Verdi. The first performance of the work was on 12 March 1857 at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Verdi subsequently revised the work in an edition reworked by the librettist Arrigo Boito, which was first performed on 24 March 1881 at La Scala in Milan. It is this latter version which is the one most frequently performed today.
Audio recordings of the 1857 original version YearCast(Boccanegra, Maria, Adorno, Fiesco)Conductor,Opera House and OrchestraLabelRecordings of Simon Boccanegra from operadis-opera-discography.org.uk 1975Sesto Bruscantini,Josella Ligi,André Turp,Gwynne Howell John Matheson,BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Singers(Recording of a concert performance in the Golders Green Hippodrome on 2 August; broadcast on 1 January 1976)CD: Opera RaraCat: ORCV 302 1999 Vitorio Vitelli,Annalisa Raspagliosi,Warren Mok,Francesco Ellero d'Artegna ,Orchestra Internationale d'Italia(Recording made at performances at the Festival della Valle d'Itria, Martina Franca, 4, 6, 8 August)CD: Dynamic,268/1-2 2024 Germán Enrique Alcántara,Eri Nakamura,Iván Ayón-Rivas,William Thomas Mark Elder,The Hallé, Chorus of Opera North, RNCM Opera Chorus(Studio recording, April 2024, Hallé St Peter's, 2022 edition by Roger Parker)CD: Opera RaraCat: ORC65The 2024 recording of the 1857 version is available as CD/download/streaming. The download version includes a digital booklet with the libretto in Italian and English. The performance uses Roger Parker's 2022 critical edition of the 1857 score.Mark Pullinger, "Setting sail into Verdi: Opera Rara and the 1857 Simon Boccanegra", Gramophone, April 2025, p. 24.
Audio recordings of the 1881 revised version YearCast:(Boccanegra,Amelia (Maria),Gabriele Adorno,Jacobo Fiesco)Conductor,Opera House and OrchestraLabel 1939Lawrence Tibbett,Elisabeth Rethberg,Giovanni Martinelli,Ezio Pinza Ettore Panizza,Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus CD: Myto HistoricalCat: 981H006 1951Paolo Silveri,Antonietta Stella,Carlo Bergonzi,Mario Petri Francesco Molinari-Pradelli,Coro e Orchestra di Roma della RAI CD: Warner FonitCat: 5050467 7906-2 1957Tito Gobbi,Victoria de los Ángeles,Giuseppe Campora,Boris Christoff Gabriele Santini,Teatro dell'Opera di Roma orchestra and chorus CD: EMICat: CDMB 63513(Digitally remastered, 1990) 1958Tito Gobbi,Leyla Gencer,Mirto Picchi,Ferruccio MazzoliMario Rossi,Teatro di San Carlo Orchestra and Chorus, Naples(Recorded live, Naples, 26 December) CD: Hardy ClassicsHCA 6002-2(Also has video version) 1973 Piero Cappuccilli,Katia Ricciarelli,Plácido Domingo,Ruggero Raimondi Gianandrea Gavazzeni,RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Orchestra CD: RCA RecordsCat: RD 70729 1977 Piero Cappuccilli,Mirella Freni,José Carreras,Nicolai Ghiaurov Claudio Abbado,Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala CD: DGCat: 449 752–2 1988 Leo Nucci,Kiri Te Kanawa,Giacomo Aragall,Paata Burchuladze Georg Solti,Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala CD: Decca Cat: 475 70112015Dmitri Hvorostovsky,Barbara Frittoli,Stefano Secco,Ildar AbdrazakovConstantine OrbelianKaunas City Symphony Orchestra and Kaunas State ChoirCD: DelosCat: DE 3457 2024Ludovic Tézier,Martina Rebeka,Francesco Meli,Michele PertusiMichele SpottiChorus and Orchestra of the Teatro di San Carlo, NaplesCD: Prima ClassicCat: PRIMA069Ashley, Tim. Review of 2024 Teatro San Carlo recording. Gramophone, February 2026, p. 86.
Video recordings of the 1881 revised version YearCast:(Boccanegra,Amelia (Maria),Gabriele Adorno,Jacopo Fiesco)Conductor,Opera House and OrchestraLabel 1958Tito Gobbi,Leyla Gencer,Mirto Picchi,Ferruccio MazzoliMario Rossi,Teatro di San Carlo Orchestra and Chorus, Naples(Recorded live, Naples, 26 December) VHS Video, PAL only:Hardy ClassicsCat: HCA 60002-2(Also has audio version) 1976Piero Cappuccilli,Katia Ricciarelli,Giorgio Merighi,Nicolai GhiaurovOliviero De Fabritiis,NHK Symphony Orchestra and Union of Japan Professional Choruses, Tokyo(Recorded live, Tokyo, October)DVD: Premiere Opera 5173; VAI 4484 1984Sherrill Milnes,Anna Tomowa-Sintow,Vasile Moldoveanu,Paul PlishkaJames Levine,Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus(Production: Tito Capobianco; recorded live, Metropolitan Opera House, 29 December)DVD: Pioneer Classics PIBC 2010; DG 073 4403John Steane, "The underdog can't always win the day - and in this case the Met is superior", Gramophone, October 2008, p. 113.Streaming video:Met Opera on DemandMet Opera (29 December 1984), Met Opera on Demand. 1995 Vladimir Chernov,Kiri Te Kanawa,Plácido Domingo,Robert Lloyd James Levine,Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus(Production: Giancarlo del Monaco; recorded live, Metropolitan Opera House, 26 January) DVD: DG 00440 073 0319Streaming video:Met Opera on DemandMet Opera (26 January 1995), Met Opera on Demand. 2007Roberto Frontali,Carmen Giannattasio,Giuseppe Gipali,Giacomo PrestiaMichele Mariotti,Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale, Bologna(Stage director: Giorgio Fiorato; recorded live)DVD: ArtHaus MusikCat: 101 307 2010Plácido Domingo,Adrianne Pieczonka,Marcello Giordani,James MorrisJames Levine,Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus(Production: Giancarlo del Monaco; recorded live, Metropolitan Opera House, 6 February)DVD: SonyCat: 780664HD video: Met Opera on DemandMet Opera (6 February 2010), Met Opera on Demand. 2010Plácido Domingo,Marina Poplavskaya,Joseph Calleja,Ferruccio FurlanettoAntonio Pappano,Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus(Stage director: Elijah Moshinsky; recorded live, July)DVD: EMI ClassicsCat: 917825-9Royal Opera, 2010 DVD review: Mike Ashman, "Who Let the Doge Out?", Gramophone, February 2011, p. 95. 2018Ludovic Tézier,Maria Agresta,Francesco Demuro,Mika KaresFabio Luisi,Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus(Director: Calixto Bieito; recorded live, Opéra Bastille)HD video: Paris Opera PlayParis Opera (2018), Paris Opera Play.2019Luca Salsi,Marina Rebeka,Charles Castronovo,René PapeValery Gergiev,Wiener Philharmoniker(Stage director: Andreas Kriegenburg; recorded live, Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg Festival)HD video: UnitelCat: 802704Ken Meltzer, Review of 2019 Salzburg video, Fanfare, January/February 2021.David Shengold, Review of 2019 Salzburg video, Opera, May 2021, pp. 642–643.2020Christian Gerhaher,Jennifer Rowley,Otar Jorjikia,Christof FischesserFabio Luisi,Philharmonia Zurich, Chorus of Zurich Opera(Stage director: Andreas Homoki; recorded live, December)Blu-ray: Accentus MusicZurich Opera, 2020, Blu-ray: .Cat: ACC10510Hugo Shirley, Review of 2020 Zurich Opera video, Gramophone, October 2021, pp. 96–97.
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