The Moshinsky Production

The well-traveled Elijah Moshinsky production of Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra”, a production seen all over the world since its premiere at Covent Garden in 1991.

It strikes me as odd that such an undistinguished production should prove to be so long-lasting, and in such demand by regional companies everywhere.

I suspect that companies, for cost reasons, prefer to rent the Moshinsky production rather than create their own “Boccanegra”. Little more than a few columns, the Moshinsky production is spare and simple, and probably fits into two shipping containers.

Renting the Moshinsky production represents a budgetary concession—most companies do not present “Boccanegra” often enough to warrant having their own productions—more than a judgment about the production’s artistic merit.