'Ernani' in terms of plot and drama is not one of Verdi's best works('Rigoletto' and 'Otello' are his most concise in both areas, with 'La Traviata' and 'Don Carlo' not far off). It does however have some truly fine music and the splendid-drawn character of Silva that does help it to be one of his better early operas.
Seeing this production in full on Youtube- have no idea how long it's going to stay up though depending on whether there are issues with copyright-, my conclusions were that it was a decent production but also an uneven one. The 1982 La Scala, 1983 Met and 2012 Met productions are far superior (all three benefiting especially from the performance of their Don Carlo), but it is much better than the very lacklustre performance with Marco Berti (terrible in the title role) and Susan Neves (uneven as Elvira, disappointing considering how good she was as Abigaille).
While fairly simple and never elaborate as such, it is an attractive production visually, never too dark or too garish. The costumes especially are eye-catching, and the sets are tasteful. Some scenes are sparsely populated but never in an unappealing fashion. The staging is mostly fine, the drama and conflicts are intriguing enough, at least the chorus are not neglected and Silva is vividly drawn.
There is never anything tasteless, nothing is overblown and rarely is static (occasionally so in Act 1, but that's partly the opera's fault) and everything feels relevant to the drama. Ernani and Elvira are a bit bland though, partly because Vargas and Vassileva's acting is not very good here (Vargas rarely is a natural actor, his Lensky being an exception, but for Vassileva this was unusual) and also their characters are not as interesting as Silva or Carlo Act 1 is fairly static dramatically anyway.
Mostly, the production is very good musically. orchestra do play with a taut and vibrant sound with some ravishing tones, and the chorus are also splendid. The conducting is also some of the most spirited and nuanced of any production of 'Ernani' personally seen. The secondary roles are well filled. The four leads are mixed, with Svetla Vassileva's Elvira coming off least in a performance that is the worst seen from her from personal perception.
Her voice always did have issues with pitch and inconsistent tonally, but never so much as here where her high notes are shrill, her voice keeps changing gear and sometimes you can hear the breaks, her runs are laboured and pitching is at times all over the place, especially in her Act 1 aria cabaletta. Her Violetta, Giovanna D'Arco and Alice Ford saw her as a very committed actress, but here she is bland and stand and deliver and with trying-too-hard facial expressions.
Ramon Vargas is a little better, as actually vocally he is very good indeed. He is much better than Marco Berti in the role, which is saying a lot as Vargas as aforementioned actually sounded great and has always been a musical and stylistically flexible singer which is evident here. Where he isn't so good is in the acting, he lacks the character's heroism and comes over as stolid and awkward.
Alexander Vinogradov has a lot of nobility, depth and richness to his dark-toned and never unsteady voice. He is the best actor on stage as well, helped by that his character is the opera's most interesting, sometimes noble and sometimes foreboding, shining particularly in Acts 2 and 4, his big aria is excitingly sung as well..
Ludovic Tezier is surprisingly good as Carlo. Did worry as to whether he would sound too lightweight in a role with quite taxing music, especially in Acts 2 and 3 (his latter aria is one of the Verdi baritone killers), but he brings a beautiful and intelligently phrased vocal production and is an authoritative and never stiff, if not quite sinister enough, actor.
On the whole, uneven but decent. 6/10 Bethany Cox