Right, so it's about Attila. Of course. Sometimes known as The Hun. Certainly a Hun. The story is that the Huns have been sorta ruining people's cities and stuff, and they have a female prisoner, Odabella, whose father they'd killed, and there's also Foresto, her lover, another survivor of this violence, and there's also Ezio, an ambassador of Rome. And long story short, some stuff happens, then there's some violence, the end.
Well, that summary could've gone better, obviously. But you must forgive me, because--sorry to say it--this is not a good opera, and that's largely because of the plot. I mean, the music's okay, it's Verdi, though not his all-time greatest, but I don't think I can adequately express just how choppy and non-productive the story is. It's like when you're watching a dog who just keeps turning in circles trying to find the optimal way to lie down. Why are you doing this? What is this accomplishing? Ezio wants to join Attila but oh no he's actually pro-Rome no he's not yes he is Foresto is angry at Odabella because he thinks she's betrayed him no he's not yes he is they're going to kill Attila no they're not yes they are there's a love triangle no there's really not oh look Attila's being haunted by spirits but only in one scene and FOR GOD'S SAKE SOMEONE JUST STAB SOMEONE ALREADY. But alas, they don't until literally the last minute.
It's not just because this is early Verdi; it post-dates Nabucco, which I thought was great, and comes just before Macbeth which likewise. A better libretto might have saved it, but as it is, I'm sorry to say that it's pretty definitively the worst Verdi opera I've seen. At least it LOOKS good in this production, as Mariinsky Theatre pieces seem to reliably do. The whole cast is game, but I don't know, man. Even the great ones stumble occasionally.
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