User Reviews

I love opera and Verdi, and would try to see any production I can get my hands on. I Vespri Siciliani was quite an interesting surprise. True, it is not among Verdi's best work from that era unlike Rigoletto, Il Trovatore and my favourite La Traviata, it is overlong, is not as consistent as some of Verdi's other work and the narrative can get overwrought in places.

However, the opera does contain one of Verdi's best and most stirring overtures, while not particularly memorable I do believe in the characters especially the grizzled Guy De Montforte and Arrigo is the one that goes on a journey finding that the man he hates is actually his father, and there is some great music with O Tu Palermo, Merce Dilette Amiche, Coraggio Su Coraggio, Giorno Di Pianto and In Bracchio Alle Douvizie standing out.

This La Scala production is outstanding helped hugely by Riccardo Muti's conducting which is delicate and passionate. The ballet sequence shows this perfectly, I can understand why those mayn't like it so much, but I for one can't get enough of the music or the clever and intricate choreography. The costumes are beautifully tailored and mostly accurate to the setting and the sets are big and appealing.

The performances are excellent, Chris Merritt sings beautifully and is decent as Arrigo but not as good at commanding the stage as much as the rest of the cast. Ferruccio Furlanetto is a compelling Procida with a rich voice and Cheryl Studer is a most excellent Elena, conversely it is the superb performance of Giorgio Zancanaro as Montforte that proves to be the most consistent.

Overall, outstanding production of an imperfect but underrated opera. I also recommend the 1973 RCA Victor Broadcast with Arroyo, Domingo, Milnes and Raimondi. 9/10 Bethany Cox

In 1988 Giorgio Zancanaro, Chris Merritt and Cheryl Studer appeared in Guglielmo Tell at La Scala. This, of course, is the tale of a brave Swiss patriot struggling to save his country from the evil Austrians. The production must have been a success. A year later, the same trio were back at La Scala in I Vespri Siciliani, the story of a brave Sicilian patriot struggling to save his country from the evil French. Both operas were originally staged by Opera Paris but these productions are given in the more usual Italian translation.

The opera gets off to a rollicking start with one of Verdi's best overtures. We get a taste of the stirring, patriotic music that pervades the whole piece. Baritone Giorgio Zancanaro is excellent as the grizzled, Guy de Montford. Zancanara seems much more at home here, playing the evil governor than he was as the saintly Guglielmo. Tenor Chris Merritt impresses as the patriot Arrigo and he is ably supported by Cheryl Studer as Elena. Even so, a certain amount of suspension of belief is necessary when imagining this pair as young lovers.

The title alludes to an uprising that started at Vespers on Easter Monday 1282 when the Sicilians rose against their French oppressors and massacred them. However Verdi's French librettists do not linger for long over the politics of the story. They are more concerned with the conflict between patriotism and filial devotion when Arrigo discovers that he is the son of the evil governor. At this point the narrative becomes a bit overwrought, which perhaps explains why this opera, with its approachable musical score, is rarely performed.

This being a Paris opera, there is a lengthy ballet sequence featuring some of the most boring music that Verdi ever wrote. Future producers of this piece may well consider cutting the ballet and saving twenty minutes or so of the 3 hour 20 minute running time. However, an unexpected bonus of using a French libretto is that the Italian translation uses the more singable tu form rather than the clunky voi form that an original Italian libretto would have used.