Week 10 at the Met

Can you believe we’re already on Week 10 at the Met? Lucky for us they have so many productions filmed. I’ve heard from so many of you who appreciate having these operas to entertain us. This week the opera productions go back as far as 1978 through as recently as the fall of 2019.

As a reminder, each production becomes available at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT on the date listed. The opera will be available for streaming for the next 23 hours at the Met Opera’s website.

Which means if you still want to catch Sunday, May 17th’s production of Verdi’s Nabucco, you have until 6:30 PM EDT/3:30 PM PDT on Monday to do so.

Here are the operas available Week 10 at the Met.

Monday, May 18 – Mozart’s Idomeneo

Conducted by James Levine, starring Nadine Sierra, Elza van den Heever, Alice Coote, and Matthew Polenzani. This is the Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production from the 2016-2017 season.

Mozart’s opera had its world premiere in 1781 in Munich and has a libretto by Giambattista Varesco. It tells the story of Idomeneus, the King of Crete, who in order to survive at sea promises Poseidon he will kill the first man he sees upon being rescued. His son, Idamante, learns that his father is in serious danger and fears he has perished. Mourning his father at the beach, he is overjoyed to see that he has survived. But in doing so becomes the first man his father sees. That’s when the story gets good!

Of Nadine Sierra seen in the clip above, George Grella in New York Classic Review said, “Her voice balanced youthful shine and, just under the surface, deep feeling. She was incandescent all night, singing with great ease and richness, and modulating naturally between moods of loss, love, regret, and pride.”

Tuesday, May 19 – Wagner’s Lohengrin

Conducted by James Levine, starring Eva Marton, Leonie Rysanek, Peter Hofmann, Leif Roar, and John Macurdy. This is the August Everding production from the 1985-1986 season.

In John Rockwell‘s New York Times review of this production he praised Eva Marton as Elsa saying, “Eva Marton, who last year sang the villainous Ortrud in this production, returned for her first Elsa with the company, and she was really superb. The best singing this writer has heard from her has come not in the loud, blasting parts that have won her renown (like Ortrud), but in the controlled, high-soprano utterances of the Empress in Richard Strauss’s Frau ohne Schatten.

“Elsa, too, is not a dramatic soprano part. Miss Marton has a big voice, but it’s not a real trumpet, like Birgit Nilsson’s. Instead, she makes her best impression in ecstatic, lyrical music.”

He also went on to praise James Levine’s conducting and the playing of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

Peter Hoffman, who sang the title role, also performed rock music and in musicals. He starred in the Hamburg production of The Phantom of the Opera and sang the part over 300 times. He’s best known for his roles in Wagnerian opera.

This production was first staged in 1976.

Wednesday, May 20 – Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera

Conducted by Fabio Luisi, starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Kathleen Kim, Stephanie Blythe, Marcelo Álvarez, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. This is the David Alden production from the 2012-2013 season.

Verdi’s opera, translated A Masked Ball, had its premiere in Rome in 1859. This production is set in the early 20th century.

What makes this production particularly appealing is the presence of Russian baritone, Hvorostovsky. I saw him give a recital and he was truly spectacular. Sadly, that is in the past tense. Two and a half years after this production, Hvorostovsky was diagnosed with brain cancer. In 2017 he succumbed to the disease.

Both his voice and his presence were stunning to witness in person. His performance as Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera earned him rave reviews. I recommend watching this production just to hear him sing.

Thursday, May 21 – Puccini’s Turandot

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, starring Christine Goerke, Eleonora Buratto, Yusif Eyvazov, and James Morris. This is the Franco Zeffirelli production from the 2019-2020 season.

Puccini’s opera had its world premiere in 1926 in Milan. The libretto was written by Guiseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. The composer died two years before its premiere and the opera was completed by Franco Alfani.

Set in China, Turandot tells the story of Prince Calaf who has fallen in love with the title princess. She, however, isn’t very interested in him. In order for any man to marry Turandot, he is required to correctly answer three riddles. Should any answer be wrong, the suitor is put to death. Calaf is successful, but Turandot remains opposed to their marriage. He strikes a deal with her that will either lead to their marriage or his death. 

Anthony Tommasini wrote in The New York Times about this production, “Mr. Nézet-Séguin led an exciting and insightful account of Puccini’s Turandot, a revival of Franco Zeffirelli’s glittering, over-the-top and popular 1987 production. The strong cast was headed by the blazing soprano Christine Goerke as Puccini’s icy Princess Turandot, the ardent tenor Yusif Eyvazov as Calaf, and the plush-voiced soprano Eleonora Buratto as Liù. The chorus, during the crowd scenes, sounded superb.”

Friday, May 22 – Mozart’s Don Giovanni – Viewers’ Choice

Conducted by Richard Bonynge, starring Joan Sutherland, James Morris, and Gabriel Bacquier. This is the Herbert Graf production from the 1977-1978 season.

Based on the stories of Don Juan, this opera has a libretto by arguably Mozart’s best collaborator: Lorenzo Da Ponte.

It should come as no surprise that Mozart’s opera is a viewer’s choice selection. It remains one of his most performed operas and has several demanding roles that allow singers to shine. That this production stars Joan Sutherland and James Morris makes it even more compelling, even if film technology is not what we are accustomed to seeing today.

In the New York Times, Harold C. Schonberg said of this production, “This is a Don Giovanni on the highest of today’s standards, and in some respects it ranks with the great one of the past.

Saturday, May 23 – Gounod’s Faust

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, starring Marina Poplavskaya, Jonas Kaufmann, Russell Braun, and René Pape. This is the Des McAnuff production from the 2011-2012 season.

McAnuff, who is best known as the director of Jersey Boys and Ain’t Too Proud on Broadway, chose to set this production before and after the dropping of atom bombs in Japan in World War II.

Critics may have been divided over Des McAnuff’s approach to Faust, but they were unanimous in their praise of tenor Jonas Kaufmann. Audiences were too. His performance generated a lot of emotion from audiences attending this production.

We are all familiar with the idea of selling your soul to the devil. Gounod is one of many composers who was inspired by Goethe’s Faust, Part One. (SF Opera recently made Boito’s Mefistofele available for streaming.)

A little trivia: The Metropolitan Opera’s first production when it opened its doors in 1883 was this opera.

Sunday, May 24 – Massenet’s Manon

Conducted by Fabio Luisi, starring Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczała, and Paulo Szot. This is the Laurent Pelly production from the 2011-2012 season.

A young woman from a small town has an intense desire to lavish herself with all the riches and pleasures life has to offer her. Sounds like a story that could be written today.

Massenet’s opera was composed in 1883 and had its world premiere in January of 1884 in Paris. The libretto is by  Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille. They based the opera on the 1731 Abbé Prévost novel, L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut.

There is always one main reason why this opera gets produced and the same reason that audiences love it. The soprano title role. In this production, Anna Netrebko sings Manon.

Anthony Tommasini, writing in The New York Times made all of this abundantly clear in his review of this production and singled Netrebko out for praise.

“The best parts of Massenet’s score are its inspired arias, especially for Manon. In places Ms. Netrebko’s low-range singing had an earthy, almost breathy quality that seemed Russian in character. But when she needed to, she sang melting phrases with silken legato and shimmering beauty, especially her poignant performance of ‘Adieu, notre petite table’ in Act II. Though she does not have perfect coloratura technique, she ably dispatches the roulades and runs, folding them deftly into extended melodic phrases. And she can send top notes soaring.”

That’s the line-up for Week 10 at the Met. Enjoy the operas! Remember to check back next Monday for Week 11 at the Met.

Photo: The final scene from Turandot with Yusif Eyvazov and Christine Goerke. (Photo by Marty Sohl/Courtesy of the Met Opera)