Simon Boccanegra review – Opera North's staging of Verdi's knotty score is a brooding triumph
No stranger to those, Opera North has taken Boccanegra as the latest candidate for 'concert staging' treatment, after its success with Wagner in recent years. This performance at Royal Festival Hall was the finale of a tour that has already stopped off at concert halls across the north and midlands. Directed by PJ Harris, the opera's dark doings in Genoa played out across the three 'rooms' of a subtly lit metal frame stretching across the front of the stage, with marble columns, plinths and benches for a touch of civic pomp and banners for rival political factions hanging overhead. In a gesture Basevi would presumably have appreciated, characters wore election-style rosettes to show which side they were on. The 25 years that elapse between the opera's lengthy prologue and its first act saw one character's parka switched for a different vintage anorak and Simon Boccanegra's sailor peacoat swapped for a political leader's shirt and tie. But we were otherwise rooted in a historical no man's land of ill-fitting suits.
Some principals inevitably fared better in this bare-bones set-up than others and the opera's tell-don't-show approach demands real singing actors even in a full staging. Alongside energetic vocal performances from baritones Mandla Mndebele and Opera North stalwart Richard Mosley Evans as the tireless plotters Paolo Albiani and Pietro and Andrés Presno's hefty, heartfelt tenor contributions as political rebel turned romantic Gabriele Adorno, the scenes between Roland Wood's sensitive Boccanegra and his long-lost daughter Maria (Sara Cortolezzis, in a promising Opera North debut) stood out as compelling and poignant. They were amply supported by the other stars of this show: Opera North's excellent chorus – which poured down the aisles of the auditorium for an inspired, immersive take on the ever-powerful council chamber scene – and, above all, the orchestra. Onstage throughout with principal guest conductor Antony Hermus, the musicians served up a vivid and intensely committed performance, the strings a gripping, vital dramatic motor.
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The Guardian
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- The Guardian
10 of the best secret gardens in Europe's major cities
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The Guardian
an hour ago
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The Independent
an hour ago
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I'm freaking out – I just found out my girlfriend is on OnlyFans
Dear Vix, I'm freaking out – because I just found out my girlfriend is on OnlyFans. One of my mates found her account and told me about it in the pub. I've never felt so embarrassed. He didn't say he'd seen anything particularly sordid – apparently it's all quite tame – but that's not the point. The point is that she's on there at all! We haven't been together very long – just a couple of months – but I can't believe she didn't confess to being on there. What happened to honesty? I've told her that her being on OnlyFans i s breaking my boundaries – that I have every right to demand she comes off it, or I'll leave her. I can't handle her being on there. Let's face it – nobody wants their partner selling themselves online. It only cheapens anything we do together in private. And what would my friends and family say if they found out? Shocked and Disgusted Dear Shocked and Disgusted, I'm going to be quite blunt, here. While I empathise with your pain and shock – and there's a betrayal element here, too, because she didn't tell you herself (though I would ask whether she has to tell you after just a few months) – I really don't think it's your choice as to whether or not she decides to quit OnlyFans. And I'm going to add a moniker to your sign-off that I don't think you'll like: Shocked, Disgusted – and Shaming. Your language about your girlfriend comes across as very shaming, to me (particularly the word 'confess'). Did you know that according to experts, the number one killer in a relationship is contempt? I sense a lot of contempt coming from you – and a lot of judgement. Your partner is an independent woman who has every right to decide what she does with her body – and how she makes her money. Plenty of high-profile women have spoken out, recently, to share their decisions to use the platform as a way to keep control over their finances. Many women, celebrities or not, have talked openly about the fact that they've spent most of their lives feeling like commodities for men – their bodies so often looked at, dissected and touched – without permission – that they resort to thinking, 'f*** it – I'll do it myself'. And I understand that. Don't you? Last year, Lily Allen joined OnlyFans to share pictures of her feet, captioning her profile with the phrase: 'Just dipping my toes in'. She's said it earns her more than having her music on Spotify. Kate Nash also joined the platform to sell pictures of her bum, saying her decision to join OnlyFans was about 'agency' and to raise awareness of the dire situation many artists face: rising costs of travel, accommodation, food, promotion and crew. And while you're entitled to feel your feelings about your girlfriend, you aren't entitled to demand she leave the platform just because you don't like it. If it's a dealbreaker for you, then you might have to walk away. While we're on the subject of 'dealbreakers', I just want to point out something I've noticed for a while: the number of people who tell their partners what they want them to do (or not do) – and wrongly call it 'boundaries'. It's not a 'boundary' for your girlfriend to quit OnlyFans. Boundaries are for you. They're not for other people. You can't place a dealbreaker on someone else and call it a 'boundary' – because it's not a boundary, it's a rule. And you can't control other people – you can only control your responses to other people. As for what your friends and family would say – well, aren't you an adult? Do you always listen to the opinions of others? Do their prejudices dictate how you live your life? If I was your girlfriend, I would want to hear how you feel about this – and I would seek to reassure you – but I wouldn't be very cool with your condemnation. Or your judgement, or your family's judgement. It would probably make me want to run a mile, to be honest. What I would advise is that you think hard about why it bothers you so much. It's okay that it bothers you, but only you can work out how much – and really unpick why. What does it tell you about your opinions of women? And do you think you can stay in the relationship, if she decides she wants to stay on the platform? But you can't work out any of this until you talk about it with her. So I'd start there.
