Metropolitan Opera:
Makropulos Case (F), Valkyie (SM), Traviata (SE)
Finally, a revival to be excited about: Mattila's spring run of Janacek's classic begins tonight.
Juilliard Opera:
Don Giovanni (F/SuM)
Sold out, but promising if you have tickets.
Manhattan School of Music:
Ghosts of Versailles (F/SuM)
A smaller-than-Met-sized version of Corigliano's opera.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Men in Black
Manon - Metropolitan Opera, 4/3/2012
Netrebko, Beczala, Szot, Pittsinger / Luisi
Laurent Pelly hit upon a kernel of truth in his production of Manon, new to the Met last month via London: her story is, in fact, one of attention and desire -- which in Prevost's original novel she cannot escape even in the distant New World. So this production highlights (as the early-season Don Giovanni did for that legend) the sea of Parisian men in which its heroine swims, and it's not quite wrong to do so. But this stark choice, like the update from Prevost's time to Massenet's, quite squashes the appeal of the actual opera -- that is, its charm.
It's not just the men themselves -- clad, as they might have been in Massenet's late 19th century, uniformly in black and white, drifting in civilizedly threatening bands across and around the lovers' stage in the initial acts -- but the similarly stripped-down decor around them. Colors and frills are largely absent, the settings rendered in shades of white and not-quite-offensively geometrical shapes that suggest modern materials and construction... The road to Le Havre might well be a concrete boardwalk.
Pelly wishes, according to last month's program interview, to make some point about the harsh and inflexible sexual mores and perspectives of Massenet's late 19th century, but this physical expression reminds us of that era's full spectrum of proto-modern features. While the full degree of starkness represented by the production is more than a bit stylized, it reminds us that the engineered world we associate with 20th century "modernity" had its roots in the previous era -- industrialization, urbanization, quick technological advance and the attendant transformation of everything from war to social mores and organization and characteristic conflicts. Nor is this incompatible with Manon's story, which turns on desire as compulsion, a familiar modern/modernist trope -- also the core of the opera's more recognizably proto-modern contemporary Carmen.
But it's not Massenet's opera that looks forward -- it's Puccini's Manon Lescaut, perhaps that composer's most profound piece of dramaturgy. This slightly later Italian take is hyper-focused on the dynamics of jealousy, desire, and compulsion -- even disposing of the civilizational context altogether for a much starker ending than its predecessor's. Massenet went the other way.
For the characteristic European 19th century reaction to the proto-modern life that was growing explosively within it was not celebration but denial, opposition, flight -- first within, with the early Romantic discovery of subjectivity, and then to more and more elaborately civilized worlds, real and imagined. And so Manon Lescaut, a creature of the early 18th century (written long before the Revolution was even a rumor), is resurrected by Massenet in the 19th to give him access to her era. Her Paris is not Haussmann's rationalization but the previous medieval-derived scramble; her social milieu is not the monochrome by which, in Massenet's day, besieged conventionality clothed itself in the style of its new and apparently implacable rival, but the riotous color of its own past glory and full decadent confidence -- as cruel as any age, but more arbitrarily than organizedly so.
This context reveals Manon's character as clearly as any of her actions. She does not particularly insist, nor follow any straight compulsive line, but meanders between private love and the well-elaborated worldly pleasures of her day. Manon thus remains amorally charming, the reminder of and best face on the desirability of those past times' convoluted luxuries. Transplant her to modernity and she becomes, well, Lulu: with pleasures no longer for straightforward enjoyment but compulsory, Berg's (anti)heroine meanders a similar route between street, luxury, gambling den, imprisonment, and ruin no longer able to express or perhaps even remember in her straighter, more sinister world's terms exactly what it is she gets from it all.
* * *
Pelly and his designers erase the curlicues and diversions from Manon's onstage existence and unfortunately much of her story's flavor thereby, but perhaps they were simply building the proper frame for their star. Anna Netrebko starts off well -- giving obvious care to play innocent in the show's first act -- but she is subsequently more gross than delicate, choosing (as has been her norm for at least a decade) force over charm at every turn. It would be more tolerable, I think, if this imbalance were not characteristic of the Gelb era and the leading ladies he has chosen to promote: with Netrebko, Damrau, (formerly) Gheorghiu, and Poplavskaya, bludgeoning seriousness has been up and smiling charm way down, a feature most previously noticeable this season in Faust.
The excellent characterizations of David Pittsinger, Paulo Szot, the bit players, conductor Fabio Luisi, and the orchestra did fill in much that the show otherwise omitted. Tenor Piotr Beczala sang well enough, though without the abandon and fire heard in the last great Met Manon -- 2005, with Fleming and Marcelo Alvarez.
Netrebko, Beczala, Szot, Pittsinger / Luisi
Laurent Pelly hit upon a kernel of truth in his production of Manon, new to the Met last month via London: her story is, in fact, one of attention and desire -- which in Prevost's original novel she cannot escape even in the distant New World. So this production highlights (as the early-season Don Giovanni did for that legend) the sea of Parisian men in which its heroine swims, and it's not quite wrong to do so. But this stark choice, like the update from Prevost's time to Massenet's, quite squashes the appeal of the actual opera -- that is, its charm.
It's not just the men themselves -- clad, as they might have been in Massenet's late 19th century, uniformly in black and white, drifting in civilizedly threatening bands across and around the lovers' stage in the initial acts -- but the similarly stripped-down decor around them. Colors and frills are largely absent, the settings rendered in shades of white and not-quite-offensively geometrical shapes that suggest modern materials and construction... The road to Le Havre might well be a concrete boardwalk.
Pelly wishes, according to last month's program interview, to make some point about the harsh and inflexible sexual mores and perspectives of Massenet's late 19th century, but this physical expression reminds us of that era's full spectrum of proto-modern features. While the full degree of starkness represented by the production is more than a bit stylized, it reminds us that the engineered world we associate with 20th century "modernity" had its roots in the previous era -- industrialization, urbanization, quick technological advance and the attendant transformation of everything from war to social mores and organization and characteristic conflicts. Nor is this incompatible with Manon's story, which turns on desire as compulsion, a familiar modern/modernist trope -- also the core of the opera's more recognizably proto-modern contemporary Carmen.
But it's not Massenet's opera that looks forward -- it's Puccini's Manon Lescaut, perhaps that composer's most profound piece of dramaturgy. This slightly later Italian take is hyper-focused on the dynamics of jealousy, desire, and compulsion -- even disposing of the civilizational context altogether for a much starker ending than its predecessor's. Massenet went the other way.
For the characteristic European 19th century reaction to the proto-modern life that was growing explosively within it was not celebration but denial, opposition, flight -- first within, with the early Romantic discovery of subjectivity, and then to more and more elaborately civilized worlds, real and imagined. And so Manon Lescaut, a creature of the early 18th century (written long before the Revolution was even a rumor), is resurrected by Massenet in the 19th to give him access to her era. Her Paris is not Haussmann's rationalization but the previous medieval-derived scramble; her social milieu is not the monochrome by which, in Massenet's day, besieged conventionality clothed itself in the style of its new and apparently implacable rival, but the riotous color of its own past glory and full decadent confidence -- as cruel as any age, but more arbitrarily than organizedly so.
This context reveals Manon's character as clearly as any of her actions. She does not particularly insist, nor follow any straight compulsive line, but meanders between private love and the well-elaborated worldly pleasures of her day. Manon thus remains amorally charming, the reminder of and best face on the desirability of those past times' convoluted luxuries. Transplant her to modernity and she becomes, well, Lulu: with pleasures no longer for straightforward enjoyment but compulsory, Berg's (anti)heroine meanders a similar route between street, luxury, gambling den, imprisonment, and ruin no longer able to express or perhaps even remember in her straighter, more sinister world's terms exactly what it is she gets from it all.
Pelly and his designers erase the curlicues and diversions from Manon's onstage existence and unfortunately much of her story's flavor thereby, but perhaps they were simply building the proper frame for their star. Anna Netrebko starts off well -- giving obvious care to play innocent in the show's first act -- but she is subsequently more gross than delicate, choosing (as has been her norm for at least a decade) force over charm at every turn. It would be more tolerable, I think, if this imbalance were not characteristic of the Gelb era and the leading ladies he has chosen to promote: with Netrebko, Damrau, (formerly) Gheorghiu, and Poplavskaya, bludgeoning seriousness has been up and smiling charm way down, a feature most previously noticeable this season in Faust.
The excellent characterizations of David Pittsinger, Paulo Szot, the bit players, conductor Fabio Luisi, and the orchestra did fill in much that the show otherwise omitted. Tenor Piotr Beczala sang well enough, though without the abandon and fire heard in the last great Met Manon -- 2005, with Fleming and Marcelo Alvarez.
Monday, April 09, 2012
The week in NY opera (April 9-15)
The blog's feed has not, as one correspondent inquired, been acting up -- only a continued and unfortunate irregularity in my ability to post. I'm writing up Manon now.
Metropolitan Opera
Macbeth (M), Traviata (T/SM), Manon (W/SE), Valkyrie (F)
Macbeth I found only middling, and I'm not sure there's enough to fill a review. The appallingly stupid Willy Decker Traviata production should be avoided no matter the cast. Meanwhile Pelly's new-ish Manon production, somewhat interestingly, repackages some of Decker's tropes in a less offensive though still not entirely appropriate way. (More on this later.) Reports that some of the staging has been tightened up for Rheingold suggest similar nips and tucks for this Valkyrie, though as a production it's unlikely to much top last season's serviceable incarnation.
Gerald W. Lynch Theater (59th St. between 10th&11th Aves.)
Gotham Chamber Opera Il Sogno di Scipione (W/F/SuM)
A tenth-anniversary revival of the company's very first production: Christopher Alden's staging of this one-act Mozart rarity.
Metropolitan Opera
Macbeth (M), Traviata (T/SM), Manon (W/SE), Valkyrie (F)
Macbeth I found only middling, and I'm not sure there's enough to fill a review. The appallingly stupid Willy Decker Traviata production should be avoided no matter the cast. Meanwhile Pelly's new-ish Manon production, somewhat interestingly, repackages some of Decker's tropes in a less offensive though still not entirely appropriate way. (More on this later.) Reports that some of the staging has been tightened up for Rheingold suggest similar nips and tucks for this Valkyrie, though as a production it's unlikely to much top last season's serviceable incarnation.
Gerald W. Lynch Theater (59th St. between 10th&11th Aves.)
Gotham Chamber Opera Il Sogno di Scipione (W/F/SuM)
A tenth-anniversary revival of the company's very first production: Christopher Alden's staging of this one-act Mozart rarity.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Weekend note
A correspondent sent me this review of Saturday's matinee Macbeth:
I won Met lotto for the matinee performance this afternoon and it's pretty good. Maybe the best cast ever for this particular opera production. Hampson is better in this part than Alvarez and Lucic. Has more lyrical and musical delivery than his predecessors and he played Macbeth as a politician that's out of his depth, which I think is right, (as opposed to the way most actors like to do that part which is as "Dr. Evil".)
Nadja Michael is an ideal Lady Macbeth -- loud, high, not afraid to do those ugly chest notes. She's a natural Ice Queen and loves it.
Groissbeck was a very good and sensitive Banquo. Pittas made the most of his part. Also, clarinet sounded good, will check out who it is when I go to the Traviata dress in a couple of weeks.
This afternoon was Hampson's 25th anniversary singing at the Met and Gelb gave him the original portrait of T.H. as Count that hung in the Ponelle production of Figaro.
The week in NY opera (March 26-April 1)
Metropolitan Opera:
Manon (M/SE), Elisir (T/SM), Macbeth (Th)
Another slow week after tonight's Manon premiere.
Morgan Library:
Oropesa and Mulligan duo recital (Sunday 5pm)
Young soprano Lisette Oropesa and young baritone Brian Mulligan perform in this last event in the venue's George London Foundation recital series. Two rather different voices I like for rather different characteristics.
Manon (M/SE), Elisir (T/SM), Macbeth (Th)
Another slow week after tonight's Manon premiere.
Morgan Library:
Oropesa and Mulligan duo recital (Sunday 5pm)
Young soprano Lisette Oropesa and young baritone Brian Mulligan perform in this last event in the venue's George London Foundation recital series. Two rather different voices I like for rather different characteristics.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Met Council Finals 2012
After a year of leaving the pleasure to correspondents, I attended Sunday's edition of the Met's annual 30-and-below singers' competition myself. The program is above, comments follow below.
Anthony Clark Evans (27, baritone, Kentucky) has a coherent and ingratiating baritone voice that could be used to good effect. I found his actual use thereof, however, less than engaging all around. A project.
Lauren Snouffer (23, soprano, Texas) was a terrific contrast to Evans, making much more lively work of her selections -- even the introductory recit of the Mozart. Unfortunately it occurred to me rather early on that hers is the exact sort of voice that doesn't win Met Finals. Everything works, is pleasant to hear, and includes even a real trill... it's just not a big/juicy tone, but a more idiosyncratic instrument of the type that Gelb seems to hire from Eastern Europe and not America.
Did Matthew Grills (25, tenor, Connecticut) win because he nailed "Ah! mes amis"? Oh, probably. But it was the best version I've heard at one of these audition events. Besides the Cs he has a nice sense of phrase, a pleasant lyric tenor sound (though grainier than, say, Polenzani, that's not really a fair comparison for most), and good comfort on stage. Good prospect.
Margaret Mezzacappa (24, mezzo, Ohio) has a spaciously-scaled instrument, the blessing of AVA, and well-schooled ideas on phrasing and the like. Unfortunately at this point she also has a broader and more pronounced vibrato than many will be comfortable hearing -- including me. Her slow Gounod selection really brought this issue to the fore, and though the Handel made a better impression, her current sound is her current sound.
Michael Sumuel (26, bass-baritone, Texas) had not only a more bassy but a more defined and impressively outlined sound than the other men... and yet it somehow didn't make the impact one felt it should have. If it fills out, watch out.
Heldentenor Kevin Ray (26, New York) -- wait, a heldentenor!? Yes, he really sang Siegmund's sword bit and Max's aria -- and not badly, either. Putting him after Sumuel did him no favors, for though Ray has an unsurprisingly growly heldentenor timbre, he doesn't have the full chest underpinnings one might expect as accompaniment. That said, given that next season's Siegmunds are being sung by a guy (Simon O'Neill) who actually sounded pretty bad at his Met Finals appearance (yes, I understand he's improved since), Ray is in a pretty good place at 26.
Janai Brugger (29, soprano, Illinois), to put it simply, has exactly the sort of voice that does win Met Council Finals. School of Fleming (in the best way) lyric soprano instrument with star written all over it. Most promising (perhaps only to my idiosyncratic ear, though) for her big-house future were the hints of underlying muscle in her (nevertheless) lovely high note production.
Will Liverman (23, baritone, Virginia) used his lyric baritone well, though it did seem pushed to its limits at the climaxes of the Adams. In fact, much of the time he had it seeming more impressive than Evans' and Sumuel's instruments... which I'm pretty sure is not actually the case.
Andrey Nemzer (29, countertenor, Russia) was quite impressive... for a countertenor. Most interesting to me was his not-infrequent interjection of "chest tones" (that is, I believe, non-falsetto sounds) to liven up the inherently limited color palette of the countertenor voice. I do think that the two-aria format is rather biased in favor of countertenors, though, as that's about the point where the fatigue of the aforementioned limited sound-color sets in.
I thought Brugger the obvious standout, and I wouldn't have minded picking any of the others as well besides Evans and Mezzacappa. The judges, of course, picked Brugger, Nemzer, Grills... and Evans and Mezzacappa. The Met does love its projects. I myself would much rather hear Snouffer again than either of these.
The question, I suppose, is about the future, and I doubt any of the participants -- official "winners" or no -- will lack for opportunities. How big will Brugger get? Well, the recent past had two similarly spectacular lyric-soprano sonic successes: Latonia Moore (2000) and Susanna Phillips (2005). Moore has had a nice career since that win, but real stardom has not -- for whatever reason (perhaps a move into heavier roles?) -- yet been her lot. Had I known about her surprise Met debut as Aida, I'd certainly have seen it myself, but Maury does offer a thorough report... perhaps the broadcast is to be a launching pad. Phillips, meanwhile, has stuck to the lyric repertoire, won the 2010 Beverly Sills award (the Met stamp of approval) and is the Met's only Donna Anna next season. (She's also still only about a year older than Brugger, so my sense that the Met took a while to hire her -- she debuted three-and-a-half years ago -- is probably off.) It's a much more crowded field than the dramatic coloratura specialty in which Angela Meade could go from Finals to cover debut to lead in nearly-successive seasons, though, so those wanting to hear more Brugger may have to be patient.
Monday, March 19, 2012
The week in NY opera (March 19-25)
Metropolitan Opera
Macbeth (T/SM), Elisir (W/SE)
Slow week at the Met as the house readies its new Manon and next month's full Ring(s).
New York City Opera
Cosi (T/Th/SE)
Christopher Alden's production continues its one-week run at the Gerald Lynch Theater (59th between 10th and 11th).
Alice Tully Hall
Schade/Pisaroni duo recital (Sunday 5pm)
Mozart and Romantic lieder and duets, accompanied by Justus Zeyen.
OT
Murray Perahia recital (Sunday 3pm)
From Bach to Chopin at Avery Fisher.
Monday, March 12, 2012
The week in NY opera (March 12-18)
A less drab week than has been recently on offer.
Metropolitan Opera:
Elisir (M/F), Khovanshchina (T/SM), Don Giovanni (W/SE), Macbeth (Th)
National Council Finals (Sunday 3pm)
Damrau, Florez, Kwiecien, and Corbelli continue their month of Elisir, while Finley and Terfel's Don Giovanni and Mussorgsky's apology for old Russian death-cult fundamentalism both wrap up this week. The nominal novelty is German soprano Nadja Michael's debut in Macbeth (with Thomas Hampson), but most longtime Met-watchers will perhaps more savor Sunday's Council Finals and its chance to see future stars (or lesser lights) in a rather earlier stage of development.
New York City Opera:
Cosi Fan Tutte (Sunday 1:30pm)
No longer at Lincoln Center, NYCO appears somewhat nearby at the Gerald Lynch Theater (59th between 10th and 11th). This Cosi runs for a week in a Christopher Alden production.
Carnegie Hall:
American Symphony Orchestra Notre Dame (Sunday 2pm)
Perhaps having run out of rarities people have actually heard of, Botstein presents a concert version here of Franz Schmidt's late-late-late-Romantic opera on Victor Hugo's novel.
Metropolitan Opera:
Elisir (M/F), Khovanshchina (T/SM), Don Giovanni (W/SE), Macbeth (Th)
National Council Finals (Sunday 3pm)
Damrau, Florez, Kwiecien, and Corbelli continue their month of Elisir, while Finley and Terfel's Don Giovanni and Mussorgsky's apology for old Russian death-cult fundamentalism both wrap up this week. The nominal novelty is German soprano Nadja Michael's debut in Macbeth (with Thomas Hampson), but most longtime Met-watchers will perhaps more savor Sunday's Council Finals and its chance to see future stars (or lesser lights) in a rather earlier stage of development.
New York City Opera:
Cosi Fan Tutte (Sunday 1:30pm)
No longer at Lincoln Center, NYCO appears somewhat nearby at the Gerald Lynch Theater (59th between 10th and 11th). This Cosi runs for a week in a Christopher Alden production.
Carnegie Hall:
American Symphony Orchestra Notre Dame (Sunday 2pm)
Perhaps having run out of rarities people have actually heard of, Botstein presents a concert version here of Franz Schmidt's late-late-late-Romantic opera on Victor Hugo's novel.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Looking forward: the 2012-13 Met season announcement, annotated
As in previous years, operas are listed in order of first appearance. Some one-off cast combinations are omitted.
L'Elisir d'Amore (new Bartlett Sher production)
Netrebko, Polenzani, Kwiecien, Maestri / Benini (opening night through October)
Netrebko, Polenzani, Kwiecien, TBA / Benini (late January through early February)
Anna Netrebko gets a second consecutive opening night. Nemorino is an excellent part for Matthew Polenzani, but I don't expect this to be any more satisfying for non-Netrebko fans than her previous shot (when her voice was better suited to such parts) at Donizetti comedy. I'd grade Bartlett Sher as one-for-three at the Met so far (Hoffmann yes, Barber and Comte Ory no), but his misses are at least inoffensive.
Turandot
Guleghina, Gerzmava, Berti, Morris / Ettinger (September through early October)
Theorin, Kizart, Giordani, Morris / Ettinger (October 30 through early November)
Theorin, Gerzmava, Fraccaro, Ramey / Ettinger (January)
An interesting pair of Lius, and Maria Guleghina seems to be herself again after an atrocious Turandot run several seasons ago, but the tenor lineup isn't exactly exciting.
Carmen
Royal, Rachvelishvili, Lee, Ketelsen / Mariotti (September 28 through October)
Scherbachenko, Rachvelishvili, Richards, Rhodes / Mariotti (February through March 1)
Young old-school mezzo Anita Rachvelishvili gets two runs, the first with excellent young Korean tenor Yonghoon Lee and the second with debutant Andrew Richards, who may have commented on this blog at some point... A much more appetizing revival than the Turandot.
Il Trovatore
Giannattasio, Zajick, TBA, Vassallo, Robinson / Callegari (September 29 through early October)
Radvanovsky, Zajick, TBA, Vassallo, Robinson / Callegari (October)
Racette, Blythe, Berti, Markov, Stamboglis / Callegari (January)
Wasn't Anja Harteros supposed to be in this? Not that the sopranos are objectionable -- it's the men who are eyebrow-raising. It seems absurd to announce this show with no leading tenor attached, and it's hard to imagine the same Franco Vassallo who previously couldn't make an impact as Belcore now turning in a commanding di Luna. Angela Meade has a single performance as Leonora on January 16.
Otello
Fleming, Botha, Fabiano, Struckmann / Bychkov (October)
Stoyanova, Cura, Dolgov, Hampson / Domingo (March)
Fall run: revival of a classic 2008 cast, not to be missed.
Spring run: bizarre in nearly every way, significant train-wreck possibility.
The Tempest (new Robert Lepage production)
Luna, Leonard, Davies, Shrader, Oke, Burden, Spence, Keenlyside / Adès (October-November)
I know nothing about this piece, but I'm pretty sure it can't be as irritating an attempt at unwriting the original Shakespeare as this season's Enchanted Island was.
Le Nozze di Figaro
Kovalevska, Erdmann, Schäfer, Finley, Abdrazakov / Robertson (October-November)
Very promising cast for this revival, though Mojca Erdmann is again in a part that's perhaps not quite high enough for her voice to shine.
Un Ballo in Maschera (new David Alden production)
Mattila, Kim, Zajick, Álvarez, Hvorostovsky / Luisi (November)
Mattila, Kim, Blythe, Álvarez, Hvorostovsky / Luisi (November-December)
I was hoping for this show with Radvanovsky and Calleja. No complaint -- obviously -- about Mattila, but as much as I enjoy Alvarez's artistry... Many will surely complain about Hvorostovsky lacking vocal weight, but if his concert with Radvanovsky was any indication, he can bring enough of his own particular electricity to make it a largely-incidental matter. Whether Alden's production will be helpful, incidental, or ruinous is another matter.
La Clemenza di Tito
Crowe, Frittoli, Garanca, Lindsey, Filianoti, Gradus / Bicket (November-December)
It's Garanca, not Lindsey, as Sesto. Not sure this is for the best.
Aida
Monastyrska, Borodina, Berti, Mastromarino, Kocán, Sebestyén / Luisi (November)
He, Borodina, Berti, Mastromarino, Kocán, Sebestyén / Luisi (December)
Monastyrska, Borodina, Alagna, Gagnidze, Kocán, Sebestyén / Luisi (December)
He, Borodina, Alagna, Gagnidze, Kocán, Sebestyén / Luisi (December)
Many different parts around Olga Borodina's Amneris. I suppose Fabio Luisi's appearance in this war-horse means he's serious about the Met commitment.
Don Giovanni
Phillips, Bell, Siurina, Castronovo, Abdrazakov, Schrott, Soar, Aceto / Gardner (late November through December)
After a spate of more baritonal Dons, Ildar Abdrazakov brings his bassy charisma to the part. Erwin Schrott, whom I've elsewhere found lacking in the humane element, is an interesting and perhaps inspired choice for Leporello. Exciting to see Susanna Phillips get a big Mozart part here again.
Les Troyens
Voigt, Graham, Cargill, Giordani, Cutler, Croft, Youn / Luisi (December-January)
It seems that Susan Graham has been waiting forever for this revival -- and in fact it will have been almost a decade since that magic first run with Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson's great Met triumph as Didon. Not sure what vocal form the other principals will show, but I think I'll miss Matthew Polenzani's utterly perfect Iopas this time...
The Barber of Seville (abridged holiday version)
Leonard, Shrader, Pogossov, Del Carlo, Bisch / Abel (December-January)
As usual for these holiday shows, the casting is pretty good.
Maria Stuarda (new David McVicar production)
van den Heever, DiDonato, Meli, Hopkins, Rose / Benini (New Year's Eve through January)
Finally, a big Joyce DiDonato bel canto vehicle -- and with the heralded debut of soprano Elza van den Heever to boot. McVicar's Anna Bolena was tasteful and literal and dull, but his promise of a "freer" physical production for this Donizetti installment is a good sign.
La Rondine
Opolais, Christy, Filianoti, Brenciu, Croft / Marin (January)
Kristine Opolais was supposed to have debut in last season's Boheme (as Musetta), but didn't for whatever reason. There's good music in this opera, but I'm not sure it will be half as interesting without the meta-angle that Angela Gheorghiu brought to its last run. Incidentally, Ion Marin hasn't conducted at the Met since 1993.
Le Comte Ory
Machaidze, Deshayes, Resmark, Flórez, Gunn, Ulivieri / Benini (January-February)
The least appealing Florez vehicle to date gets a revival with the impressive but perhaps miscast Nino Machaidze and no Joyce DiDonato.
Rigoletto (new Michael Mayer production)
Damrau, Volkova, Beczala, Lucic, Kocán / Mariotti (late January through February)
Oropesa, Herrera, Grigolo, Gagnidze, Iori / Armiliato (April through May 1)
I don't think the first cast can work (excellent singing, poor fit-to-part), and Vittorio Grigolo's unbearable and overhyped debut has me quite wary of the otherwise-promising spring lineup. As for the new Las Vegas-set production, who knows?
Parsifal (new François Girard production)
Dalayman, Kaufmann, Mattei, Nikitin, Pape / Gatti (February-March)
Dalayman, Kaufmann, Mattei, Nikitin, Pape / Fisch (March)
When the most doubtful part of a cast is Jonas Kaufmann (who wasn't that great in his last Wagner outing here), you've got one heck of a promising show. This is Girard's first big-house/standard-rep show; he of course directed the film 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould.
Don Carlo
Radvanovsky, Smirnova, Vargas, Hvorostovsky, Furlanetto, Halfvarson / Maazel (February-March)
A fantastic cast that perhaps should have been the premiere lineup.
Francesca da Rimini
Westbroek, Giordani, Brubaker, Delavan / Armiliato (March)
Mark Delavan returns! Not sure how well the rest will go.
La Traviata
Damrau, Pirgu, Domingo / Nézet-Séguin (March-April)
Promising young tenor (Saimir Pirgu) and the season's only scheduled appearances by great conductorial hope Yannick Nézet-Séguin, but it's already past time for Gelb to kill this insultingly stupid & bathetic Willy Decker nonsense under the rubric of having many and rapid new productions. Violetta and papa Germont allow a range of voices, but Diana Damrau and Placido Domingo nevertheless aren't the most obvious choices for these either...
Faust
Poplavskaya, Boulianne, Beczala, Markov, Relyea / Altinoglu (March-April)
Another good tenor, but the rest isn't inspiring. I really liked Marina Poplavskaya's Elisabetta, but her utter humorlessness is a terrible fit for Marguerite.
Giulio Cesare
Dessay, Coote, Bardon, Daniels, Dumaux, Loconsolo / Bicket (April-May)
Dessay's Cleopatra worth the rest? Depends.
Dialogues des Carmélites
Leonard, Racette, Morley, Bishop, Palmer, Appleby / Langrée (May)
This show always works, but I'm not sure Louis Langree is the man to conduct it.
The Ring
Voigt, Morris, Delavan / Luisi (Cycle 1)
Dalayman, Morris, Delavan / Luisi (Cycle 2)
Voigt, Cleveman, Grimsley / Luisi (Cycle 3)
Mark Delavan's Met return is in fact rather huge, with two Ring cycles. The casting as a whole is a bit less starry than this year's, but the staging kinks may have been worked out by 2013.
L'Elisir d'Amore (new Bartlett Sher production)
Netrebko, Polenzani, Kwiecien, Maestri / Benini (opening night through October)
Netrebko, Polenzani, Kwiecien, TBA / Benini (late January through early February)
Anna Netrebko gets a second consecutive opening night. Nemorino is an excellent part for Matthew Polenzani, but I don't expect this to be any more satisfying for non-Netrebko fans than her previous shot (when her voice was better suited to such parts) at Donizetti comedy. I'd grade Bartlett Sher as one-for-three at the Met so far (Hoffmann yes, Barber and Comte Ory no), but his misses are at least inoffensive.
Turandot
Guleghina, Gerzmava, Berti, Morris / Ettinger (September through early October)
Theorin, Kizart, Giordani, Morris / Ettinger (October 30 through early November)
Theorin, Gerzmava, Fraccaro, Ramey / Ettinger (January)
An interesting pair of Lius, and Maria Guleghina seems to be herself again after an atrocious Turandot run several seasons ago, but the tenor lineup isn't exactly exciting.
Carmen
Royal, Rachvelishvili, Lee, Ketelsen / Mariotti (September 28 through October)
Scherbachenko, Rachvelishvili, Richards, Rhodes / Mariotti (February through March 1)
Young old-school mezzo Anita Rachvelishvili gets two runs, the first with excellent young Korean tenor Yonghoon Lee and the second with debutant Andrew Richards, who may have commented on this blog at some point... A much more appetizing revival than the Turandot.
Il Trovatore
Giannattasio, Zajick, TBA, Vassallo, Robinson / Callegari (September 29 through early October)
Radvanovsky, Zajick, TBA, Vassallo, Robinson / Callegari (October)
Racette, Blythe, Berti, Markov, Stamboglis / Callegari (January)
Wasn't Anja Harteros supposed to be in this? Not that the sopranos are objectionable -- it's the men who are eyebrow-raising. It seems absurd to announce this show with no leading tenor attached, and it's hard to imagine the same Franco Vassallo who previously couldn't make an impact as Belcore now turning in a commanding di Luna. Angela Meade has a single performance as Leonora on January 16.
Otello
Fleming, Botha, Fabiano, Struckmann / Bychkov (October)
Stoyanova, Cura, Dolgov, Hampson / Domingo (March)
Fall run: revival of a classic 2008 cast, not to be missed.
Spring run: bizarre in nearly every way, significant train-wreck possibility.
The Tempest (new Robert Lepage production)
Luna, Leonard, Davies, Shrader, Oke, Burden, Spence, Keenlyside / Adès (October-November)
I know nothing about this piece, but I'm pretty sure it can't be as irritating an attempt at unwriting the original Shakespeare as this season's Enchanted Island was.
Le Nozze di Figaro
Kovalevska, Erdmann, Schäfer, Finley, Abdrazakov / Robertson (October-November)
Very promising cast for this revival, though Mojca Erdmann is again in a part that's perhaps not quite high enough for her voice to shine.
Un Ballo in Maschera (new David Alden production)
Mattila, Kim, Zajick, Álvarez, Hvorostovsky / Luisi (November)
Mattila, Kim, Blythe, Álvarez, Hvorostovsky / Luisi (November-December)
I was hoping for this show with Radvanovsky and Calleja. No complaint -- obviously -- about Mattila, but as much as I enjoy Alvarez's artistry... Many will surely complain about Hvorostovsky lacking vocal weight, but if his concert with Radvanovsky was any indication, he can bring enough of his own particular electricity to make it a largely-incidental matter. Whether Alden's production will be helpful, incidental, or ruinous is another matter.
La Clemenza di Tito
Crowe, Frittoli, Garanca, Lindsey, Filianoti, Gradus / Bicket (November-December)
It's Garanca, not Lindsey, as Sesto. Not sure this is for the best.
Aida
Monastyrska, Borodina, Berti, Mastromarino, Kocán, Sebestyén / Luisi (November)
He, Borodina, Berti, Mastromarino, Kocán, Sebestyén / Luisi (December)
Monastyrska, Borodina, Alagna, Gagnidze, Kocán, Sebestyén / Luisi (December)
He, Borodina, Alagna, Gagnidze, Kocán, Sebestyén / Luisi (December)
Many different parts around Olga Borodina's Amneris. I suppose Fabio Luisi's appearance in this war-horse means he's serious about the Met commitment.
Don Giovanni
Phillips, Bell, Siurina, Castronovo, Abdrazakov, Schrott, Soar, Aceto / Gardner (late November through December)
After a spate of more baritonal Dons, Ildar Abdrazakov brings his bassy charisma to the part. Erwin Schrott, whom I've elsewhere found lacking in the humane element, is an interesting and perhaps inspired choice for Leporello. Exciting to see Susanna Phillips get a big Mozart part here again.
Les Troyens
Voigt, Graham, Cargill, Giordani, Cutler, Croft, Youn / Luisi (December-January)
It seems that Susan Graham has been waiting forever for this revival -- and in fact it will have been almost a decade since that magic first run with Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson's great Met triumph as Didon. Not sure what vocal form the other principals will show, but I think I'll miss Matthew Polenzani's utterly perfect Iopas this time...
The Barber of Seville (abridged holiday version)
Leonard, Shrader, Pogossov, Del Carlo, Bisch / Abel (December-January)
As usual for these holiday shows, the casting is pretty good.
Maria Stuarda (new David McVicar production)
van den Heever, DiDonato, Meli, Hopkins, Rose / Benini (New Year's Eve through January)
Finally, a big Joyce DiDonato bel canto vehicle -- and with the heralded debut of soprano Elza van den Heever to boot. McVicar's Anna Bolena was tasteful and literal and dull, but his promise of a "freer" physical production for this Donizetti installment is a good sign.
La Rondine
Opolais, Christy, Filianoti, Brenciu, Croft / Marin (January)
Kristine Opolais was supposed to have debut in last season's Boheme (as Musetta), but didn't for whatever reason. There's good music in this opera, but I'm not sure it will be half as interesting without the meta-angle that Angela Gheorghiu brought to its last run. Incidentally, Ion Marin hasn't conducted at the Met since 1993.
Le Comte Ory
Machaidze, Deshayes, Resmark, Flórez, Gunn, Ulivieri / Benini (January-February)
The least appealing Florez vehicle to date gets a revival with the impressive but perhaps miscast Nino Machaidze and no Joyce DiDonato.
Rigoletto (new Michael Mayer production)
Damrau, Volkova, Beczala, Lucic, Kocán / Mariotti (late January through February)
Oropesa, Herrera, Grigolo, Gagnidze, Iori / Armiliato (April through May 1)
I don't think the first cast can work (excellent singing, poor fit-to-part), and Vittorio Grigolo's unbearable and overhyped debut has me quite wary of the otherwise-promising spring lineup. As for the new Las Vegas-set production, who knows?
Parsifal (new François Girard production)
Dalayman, Kaufmann, Mattei, Nikitin, Pape / Gatti (February-March)
Dalayman, Kaufmann, Mattei, Nikitin, Pape / Fisch (March)
When the most doubtful part of a cast is Jonas Kaufmann (who wasn't that great in his last Wagner outing here), you've got one heck of a promising show. This is Girard's first big-house/standard-rep show; he of course directed the film 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould.
Don Carlo
Radvanovsky, Smirnova, Vargas, Hvorostovsky, Furlanetto, Halfvarson / Maazel (February-March)
A fantastic cast that perhaps should have been the premiere lineup.
Francesca da Rimini
Westbroek, Giordani, Brubaker, Delavan / Armiliato (March)
Mark Delavan returns! Not sure how well the rest will go.
La Traviata
Damrau, Pirgu, Domingo / Nézet-Séguin (March-April)
Promising young tenor (Saimir Pirgu) and the season's only scheduled appearances by great conductorial hope Yannick Nézet-Séguin, but it's already past time for Gelb to kill this insultingly stupid & bathetic Willy Decker nonsense under the rubric of having many and rapid new productions. Violetta and papa Germont allow a range of voices, but Diana Damrau and Placido Domingo nevertheless aren't the most obvious choices for these either...
Faust
Poplavskaya, Boulianne, Beczala, Markov, Relyea / Altinoglu (March-April)
Another good tenor, but the rest isn't inspiring. I really liked Marina Poplavskaya's Elisabetta, but her utter humorlessness is a terrible fit for Marguerite.
Giulio Cesare
Dessay, Coote, Bardon, Daniels, Dumaux, Loconsolo / Bicket (April-May)
Dessay's Cleopatra worth the rest? Depends.
Dialogues des Carmélites
Leonard, Racette, Morley, Bishop, Palmer, Appleby / Langrée (May)
This show always works, but I'm not sure Louis Langree is the man to conduct it.
The Ring
Voigt, Morris, Delavan / Luisi (Cycle 1)
Dalayman, Morris, Delavan / Luisi (Cycle 2)
Voigt, Cleveman, Grimsley / Luisi (Cycle 3)
Mark Delavan's Met return is in fact rather huge, with two Ring cycles. The casting as a whole is a bit less starry than this year's, but the staging kinks may have been worked out by 2013.
Back
After some rather distracting upheaval in my life, posting to the blog will resume immediately. To begin: a post looking forward (the next Met season), and a post looking backward (all unreviewed shows I've seen in 2012).
Monday, January 30, 2012
The week in NY opera (Jan. 30-Feb. 5)
Last week in New York opera was rather eventful, with of course the premiere of the last installment of the Lepage Ring at the Met. This week turns more bel canto...
Metropolitan Opera
Enchanted Island (M), Götterdämmerung (T/F), Anna Bolena (W/SM), Ernani (Th), Barber (SE)
Five different shows this week. Enchanted Island ends its run tonight, while Ernani -- with a starry cast -- returns for the first time this season. Twilight features Deborah Voigt again tomorrow and Katarina Dalayman (excellent in 2009) on Friday. Meanwhile Anna Bolena and Barber return from the fall, the former with Anna Netrebko again (Angela Meade, who did well, is in Ernani) and the latter with Diana Damrau.
I'm of course seeing Twilight, but this revival of Verdi's deliriously and infectiously fatalistic early masterpiece Ernani is the show I've been most looking forward to this season.
Carnegie Hall
Susan Graham recital (W)
Europa Galante concert (Th)
Graham sings mostly German and French songs connected to Ophelia, Mignon, and other classic Romantic figures, while Europa Galante showcases another mezzo -- Vivica Genaux -- in a mostly-Vivaldi event.
Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theater (Juilliard School)
Rossini double-bill (F/SuM)
Juilliard Opera offers two one-act Rossini operas: La cambiale di matrimonio and La scala di seta.
Metropolitan Opera
Enchanted Island (M), Götterdämmerung (T/F), Anna Bolena (W/SM), Ernani (Th), Barber (SE)
Five different shows this week. Enchanted Island ends its run tonight, while Ernani -- with a starry cast -- returns for the first time this season. Twilight features Deborah Voigt again tomorrow and Katarina Dalayman (excellent in 2009) on Friday. Meanwhile Anna Bolena and Barber return from the fall, the former with Anna Netrebko again (Angela Meade, who did well, is in Ernani) and the latter with Diana Damrau.
I'm of course seeing Twilight, but this revival of Verdi's deliriously and infectiously fatalistic early masterpiece Ernani is the show I've been most looking forward to this season.
Carnegie Hall
Susan Graham recital (W)
Europa Galante concert (Th)
Graham sings mostly German and French songs connected to Ophelia, Mignon, and other classic Romantic figures, while Europa Galante showcases another mezzo -- Vivica Genaux -- in a mostly-Vivaldi event.
Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theater (Juilliard School)
Rossini double-bill (F/SuM)
Juilliard Opera offers two one-act Rossini operas: La cambiale di matrimonio and La scala di seta.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Belated anniversary 1
In December, this blog had its seventh anniversary. I had some thoughts on the subject, but I think I'll save them for the next birthday proper. Nevertheless, a year (December-December) of the more interesting posts here:
On the baloney brutality of Willy Decker's Traviata
On Meyerbeer's L'Africane
On Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades and Russian Francophilia
On Schubert's Edenic Die schöne Müllerin
On Strauss' Capriccio
On Lully's Atys
Review: Siegfried
On Angela Gheorghiu and Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur
Monday, January 16, 2012
The week in NY opera (January 16-22)
Metropolitan Opera:
Faust (M/Th), Enchanted Island (T*/SM), Tosca (W/SE)
Aleksandrs Antonenko brings his forceful tenor to Tosca.
* Tuesday's (starred) Enchanted Island is the one just before this Saturday's matinee moviecast, which means that the camera equipment and lights will be out in force. Do not sit in side orchestra, front orchestra, or side parterre -- the house is not interested in optimizing patron experience on these nights, but in making the eventual broadcast go well.
Carnegie Hall:
Megan Hart/Elliot Madore recital (Monday 5:30PM)
Mireille Asselin/José Rubio recital (Wednesday 5:30PM)
The Song Continues... Annual Recital (Th)
American Symphony concert (F)
Most of the interest this week is in the events of "The Song Continues...", which include the above duo recitals by young singers, masterclasses by Marilyn Horne, Renee Fleming, and Graham Johnson, and Friday's concluding mixed recital with, among others, guest star Joyce DiDonato. Friday's ASO concert is mostly non-operatic vocal material by Stravinsky, but it does include his short neo-classical opera Mavra.
Metropolitan Museum of Art:
Thomas Hampson recital (Sunday 7PM)
A program of American songs to coincide with the opening of the (other) Met's New American Wing.
Faust (M/Th), Enchanted Island (T*/SM), Tosca (W/SE)
Aleksandrs Antonenko brings his forceful tenor to Tosca.
* Tuesday's (starred) Enchanted Island is the one just before this Saturday's matinee moviecast, which means that the camera equipment and lights will be out in force. Do not sit in side orchestra, front orchestra, or side parterre -- the house is not interested in optimizing patron experience on these nights, but in making the eventual broadcast go well.
Carnegie Hall:
Megan Hart/Elliot Madore recital (Monday 5:30PM)
Mireille Asselin/José Rubio recital (Wednesday 5:30PM)
The Song Continues... Annual Recital (Th)
American Symphony concert (F)
Most of the interest this week is in the events of "The Song Continues...", which include the above duo recitals by young singers, masterclasses by Marilyn Horne, Renee Fleming, and Graham Johnson, and Friday's concluding mixed recital with, among others, guest star Joyce DiDonato. Friday's ASO concert is mostly non-operatic vocal material by Stravinsky, but it does include his short neo-classical opera Mavra.
Metropolitan Museum of Art:
Thomas Hampson recital (Sunday 7PM)
A program of American songs to coincide with the opening of the (other) Met's New American Wing.
Monday, January 09, 2012
The week in NY opera (January 9-15)
The calendar is slowly, slowly coming out of holiday slowness.
Metropolitan Opera:
Faust (M/F), Tosca (T/SM), Enchanted Island (Th/SE)
Although Calleja dropped out ill after the first intermission of his first scheduled Faust, he's again on the calendar this week. Tosca -- with Racette, Alagna, Gagnidze, and new conductor Mikko Franck -- starts its season tomorrow. My own bit of illness has kept me from writing up a full Enchanted Island post, but for now I'll just say it's terrible theater with some good singing.
Carnegie Hall:
Met Orchestra concert (Sunday 3pm)
Not exactly opera, though there's a fair amount of singing: Mahler songs on the first half and Barber and Herrmann opera excerpts in the second. Renee Fleming seems reasonably well suited to the latter and not at all to the former. Perhaps more interesting is the one-off return of former Met Orchestra principal clarinet Steve Williamson, who was poached by the Chicago Symphony before this season. Williamson's remarkable way with a romantic phrase made the much-discussed departure of his predecessor Ricardo Morales (to Philly) a change rather than a loss. Now, though the Met's other excellent clarinet principal Anthony McGill (also soloing in this program) remains, the orchestra is no longer two-deep in the same way, and events like the first-cast run of Faust -- without McGill -- are less for it. (If last week is any indication, McGill may be playing in these latter Fausts.)
Metropolitan Opera:
Faust (M/F), Tosca (T/SM), Enchanted Island (Th/SE)
Although Calleja dropped out ill after the first intermission of his first scheduled Faust, he's again on the calendar this week. Tosca -- with Racette, Alagna, Gagnidze, and new conductor Mikko Franck -- starts its season tomorrow. My own bit of illness has kept me from writing up a full Enchanted Island post, but for now I'll just say it's terrible theater with some good singing.
Carnegie Hall:
Met Orchestra concert (Sunday 3pm)
Not exactly opera, though there's a fair amount of singing: Mahler songs on the first half and Barber and Herrmann opera excerpts in the second. Renee Fleming seems reasonably well suited to the latter and not at all to the former. Perhaps more interesting is the one-off return of former Met Orchestra principal clarinet Steve Williamson, who was poached by the Chicago Symphony before this season. Williamson's remarkable way with a romantic phrase made the much-discussed departure of his predecessor Ricardo Morales (to Philly) a change rather than a loss. Now, though the Met's other excellent clarinet principal Anthony McGill (also soloing in this program) remains, the orchestra is no longer two-deep in the same way, and events like the first-cast run of Faust -- without McGill -- are less for it. (If last week is any indication, McGill may be playing in these latter Fausts.)
Monday, January 02, 2012
The week in NY opera (January 2-8)
Metropolitan Opera:
Fille (M/F), Hansel&Gretel (T/SM), Enchanted Island (W/SE), Faust (Th)
Although there aren't any new shows this week, there are two notable turns: first, Wednesday's first regular (non-holiday, non-gala) chance to see The Enchanted Island, and second, Thursday's debut of the season's third Faust cast. Joseph Calleja, Ferruccio Furlanetto, and Kate Lindsey are exciting additions to the latter who might perhaps offset Marina Poplavskaya's excessively humorless Marguerite.
Fille (M/F), Hansel&Gretel (T/SM), Enchanted Island (W/SE), Faust (Th)
Although there aren't any new shows this week, there are two notable turns: first, Wednesday's first regular (non-holiday, non-gala) chance to see The Enchanted Island, and second, Thursday's debut of the season's third Faust cast. Joseph Calleja, Ferruccio Furlanetto, and Kate Lindsey are exciting additions to the latter who might perhaps offset Marina Poplavskaya's excessively humorless Marguerite.
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