Andrea Chénier

Live from ROH 1985 Giordanos Andrea Chenier is one of the greatest of verismo operas full of heartstopping big tunes and powerful emotional situations If it is not as wellknown as it should be it is because in summary it sounds a little too like Puccinis Tosca there is a tussle between political opponents over a woman an attempt to save a condemned man a tenor aria about writing poetry on the eve of execution The difference is that Gerard Giorgio Zancanaro is not a villain like Scarpia he is an idealist whom the French Revolution has betrayed as much as it has his rival the poet Chenier Placido Domingo His temptation to abuse his power to seduce the virtuous Maddalena Anna TomowaSintow is a momentary one though its consequences are terrible There is a streak of postWagnerian decadence in much of thisMaddalena is at least as much in love with death as she is with Chenier and the final love duet has a deeply sinister aspect From Amazoncouk