The opera star appearing in the most productions is the late baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky who appears in the final two productions being streamed. The composer being represented the most is, no surprise, Verdi. In fact, Hvorostovsky singing Verdi received the top vote. That opera (see below for the reveal) is the final streaming production.

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting theplanned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this column early enough on July 19th, you’ll still have time to see the 2015-2016 season production of Puccini’s Turandot that concludes Puccini week.

Here is are selections for Week 71 at the Met:

Monday, July 19 – Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro – 3rd Showing

Conducted by James Levine, starring Renée Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Susanne Mentzer, Dwayne Croft, and Sir Bryn Terfel. This Jonathan Miller production is from the 1998-1999 season.

Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro is based on the 1784 play La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro (translated: “The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro”) by Pierre Beaumarchais. Lorenzo da Ponte wrote the libretto. La Nozze di Figaro had its world premiere in Vienna in 1786.

Figaro and Susanna are getting married. They are in a room made available to them by the Count who plans to seduce the bride-to-be based on an old law that gave permission to lords to have sex with servant girls on their wedding night. When Figaro gets wind of this plan he enlists several people to outwit the Count using disguises, altered identities and more.

Bernard Holland, reviewing for the New York Times, said of this production: “One cannot say enough about the septet ending Act II and the final ensemble of Act IV: episodes in which theater and music merged as they rarely do, and where each player was made exquisitely aware of every other. Mozart operas move on the wheels of their ensembles, and Mr. Miller — with no coups de theatre and many acts of self-effacing care — made them turn.”

Tuesday, July 20 – Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci – 2nd Showing

Both operas conducted by James Levine. Cavalleria Rusticana starring Tatiana Troyanos, Jean Kraft, Plácido Domingo and Vern Shinall. Pagliacci starring Teresa Stratas, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes and Allan Monk. This Franco Zeffirelli production is from the 1977-1978 season.

Perhaps no pairing of one-act operas is more popular than the combination of Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni and Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo. 

Cavalleria Rusticana had its world premiere in Rome in 1890. The opera is based on a short story which later became a play by Giovanni Verga. Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci adapted them both for their libretto.

Mascagni’s opera centers on a love triangle. Turridu, who has returned from military service, goes to see his ex-lover, Lola, before seeing his current lover, Santuzza. Lola is married to Alfio. Santuzza decides to tell Alfio about the infidelity and the two men decide to duel. At the end of the opera, multiple hearts are left broken.

Pagliacci had its world premiere in Milan in 1892. Leoncavallo also wrote the libretto.

The opera tells the story of a married couple, Canio and Nedda, who are performers in a small theatre company on the road. Canio is insanely jealous and that jealousy drives Nedda to seek affection from another man, Silvio. Nedda and Silvio make plans to elope, but their plans are overheard by Tonio, another member of the company. He tells Canio about Nedda’s plans. Looking for revenge, Canio, during a performance of their touring play, makes his personal life mirror the drama in the play.

This was not the first time Domingo had sung the lead tenor roles in both operas on the same night. In fact, with this performance he did so for the 25th time. Previous double-hitters were performed in Vienna, Covent Garden and in San Francisco. These performances also marked the first time James Levine conducted each opera at the Met.

Wednesday, July 21 – Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles – 4th Showing

Conducted by Gianandrea Noseda; starring Diana Damrau, Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecień and Nicolas Testé. This Penny Woolcock production is from the 2015-2016 season.

Les Pêcheurs de Perles (best known to many as The Pearl Fishers) had its world premiere in 1863 in Paris. Bizet’s opera has a libretto written by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré.

The setting is the island of Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) and two men find that their plan to be friends forever regardless of circumstances is threatened when they both fall in love with the same woman. She, too, is conflicted as she has sworn to be a priestess, but finds herself falling in love with the men.

Director Woolcock’s production was new to the Met when it debuted on New Year’s Eve 2015. The production was first staged at the English National Opera in 2010. The last time Les Pêcheurs de Perles had been performed at the Met was 1916.

Thursday, July 22 – Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann – 2nd Showing

Conducted by Yves Abel; starring Erin Morley, Hibla Gerzmava, Kate Lindsey, Christine Rice, Vittorio Grigolo and Thomas Hampson. This revival of the 2009 Bartlett Sher production is from the 2014-2015 season.

Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffman had its world premiere in Paris in 1881. The libretto was written by Jules Barbier and was inspired by three short stories by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman. Offenbach did not live to see this opera performed. He died four months before its premiere.

In the opera Offenbach and Barbier put the author of the stories in the middle of all the action. He’s seeking perfect love and tells a tavern crowd about three fruitless attempts at romance. The first with the daughter of an inventor who turns out to be a doll instead of a human being. The second with a beautiful young woman with a gorgeous voice, but whose singing may lead to her death. The third with a young woman who steals his reflection. Will poor Hoffman ever find love? Or will his writing be his lifelong companion?

In David Shengold’s Opera News review of this production he raved about Grigolo’s performance:

“…Grigolo may have found his most convincing Met part yet. His French is remarkably clear and accurate for an Italian tenor and — though he deployed his full resources at climaxes, often excitingly — Grigolo showed admirable dynamic variety in filling out Offenbach’s higher lines. His soft singing wasn’t exactly Gallic classic voix mixte but he integrated it gracefully into his overall vocalization, clear and attractive save for rather empty low notes. Grigolo paced himself well in this extremely demanding assignment; he tended to be placed near the lip of the stage, but he interacted with colleagues and created an actual character.”

Friday, July 23 – Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment – 3rd Showing

Conducted by Marco Armiliato; starring Natalie Dessay, Felicity Palmer, Juan Diego Flórez and Alessandro Corbelli. This Laurent Pelly production is from the 2007-2008 season.

This two-act comic opera written by Gaetano Donizetti was first performed in 1840 in Paris. The libretto is by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.

La Fille du Régiment tells the story of a young woman, Marie, who was raised by the 21st Regiment after having been found as a baby on a battlefield. The plan is that when she is old enough she will marry one of the men of the Regiment. She falls in love with Tyrolean Tonio. When the Marquise de Berkenfield shows up, it is discovered that she is Marie’s aunt and she wants to take Marie away to raise her as a lady. Will love win out for Marie?

Pelly updated the original Napoleonic war setting to World War I for this production. The end result, according to several critics, was that the “war is hell” concept is undermined by the silliness of the plot.

One of the hallmarks of this opera is the challenge that faces every tenor singing the role of Tonio to hit nine high C’s in the opera’s best known aria, “Ah! mes amis.” Flórez nailed them and, of course, repeated the aria to wild applause from the audience. 

Saturday, July 24 – Verdi’s Il Trovatore – 3rd Showing

Conducted by Marco Armiliato; starring Anna Netrebko, Dolora Zajick, Yonghoon Lee, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Štefan Kocán. This revival of David McVicar’s 2009 production is from the 2014-2015 season. 

Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore is based on the play El trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez published in 1836. The libretto was written by Salvadore Cammarano with additions by Leone Emanuele Badare. The opera had its world premiere in Rome in 1853.

The setting is Zaragoza, the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon, circa 1412. To offer up a quick synopsis here would be a fool’s game to play. Several stories happen simultaneously and sometimes share the same characters. The opera has rarely been hailed for its story, but it certainly ranks as one of Verdi’s finest compositions.

This production of Il Trovatore took place months after Hvorostovsky’s diagnosis of cancer. This was his last production at the Met and as you could tell at the start of the clip above, he was beloved by the audience.

Anthony Tommasini’s review in the New York Times said that positively influenced the performance Hvorostovsky gave on opening night.

“It’s impossible to imagine a singer giving more than Mr. Hvorostovsky did on this night. When your life is actually threatened by a serious illness, you truly are putting everything on the line when you sing.

“Mr. Hvorostovsky gave a gripping performance as Count di Luna. There was little need to take what he has been going through into account. His resplendent voice, with its distinctive mellow character and dusky veneer, sounded not at all compromised. He sang with Verdian lyricism, dramatic subtlety and, when called for, chilling intensity as the complex count, who, in this production, with its Goya-inspired imagery, is the brash leader of the Royalist Aragon troops at a time of bloody civil war in Spain.”

Sunday, July 25 – Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera – 4th Showing

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

Verdi’s opera, translated A Masked Ball, had its premiere in Rome in 1859. Librettist Antonio Somma used the libretto written by Eugène Scribe for the opera, Gustave III, ou Le Ballo masqué, written by Daniel Auber in 1833. 

The opera is based on the real life assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden who was killed while attending a masquerade ball in Stockholm. 

Verdi takes some dramatic liberties which certainly enhances the drama. Riccardo is in love with Amelia. She, however, is the wife of his good friend and confidante, Renato. Riccardo is warned by his friend that there is a plot to kill him at the ball. Paying no attention to the warning, Riccardo instead seeks out Ulrica, a woman accused of being a witch. In disguise he visits Ulrica to have his fortune read. She tells him he will be killed by the next man who shakes his hand. That next man turns out to be Renato. What follows is a story of intrigue, deception, questions of fidelity and, of course, the assassination.

This was a brand new production of Un Ballo in Maschera at the Met. Director Alden was influenced by black and white films and, in particular, film noir for his production.

Karita Matilla was originally announced to sing the role of Amelia. She withdrew approximately six months prior to its staging. Radvanovsky assumed the role.

In his New York Times review, Anthony Tommasini said of Radvanovsky and Hvorostovsky, “She was particularly moving in the scene in which her husband, here the charismatic baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, having discovered her in a rendezvous with the king, tells her to prepare to die. Confronting his wife, Mr. Hvorostovsky shook Ms. Radvanovsky by the shoulders, as if really ready to strangle her. But the next moment he nestled his head next to her face and kissed her, almost pleadingly, singing with his trademark dark sound and supple phrasing, which poignantly brought to life this suffering husband’s love.”

It’s been quite a run of streaming productions. But all good things must come to an end.

Enjoy the operas! Enjoy your week!

Photo: Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Sondra Radvanovsky in Un Ballo in Maschera

The post Week 71 at the Met: The Final Week appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

As you might expect for a series tied to podcasts, most of this week’s productions are from recent seasons. Most of the operas come from 2018-2020. There is one notable exception: the 2014-2015 season production of Verdi’s Macbeth.

Since the Met is re-running productions as the bulk of their weekly streaming schedule, I’m going to mix in interviews with the performers and creators in place of clips to avoid the redundancy of showing the same few clips available. Let me know your thoughts!

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and the planned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this column early enough on May 31st, you’ll still have time to see the 2010-2011 season production of Rossini’s Le Comte Ory that was part of Rare Gems week.

Here is the full line-up of rare gems for Week 64 at the Met:

Monday, May 31 – Puccini’s Turandot – 4th Showing

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; starring Christine Goerke, Eleonora Buratto, Yusif Eyvazov and James Morris. This revival of the 1987 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.”

Tuesday, June 1 – Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila – 3rd Showing

Conducted by Sir Mark Elder; starring Elīna Garanča, Roberto Alagna, Laurent Naouri, Elchin Azizov and Dmitry Belosselskiy. This Darko Tresnjak production is from the 2018-2019 season.

The biblical tale of Samson and Delilah serves as the inspiration for Saint-Saëns’s opera. With a libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire, Samson et Dalila had its world premiere in Weimar in 1877. Franz Liszt, who previously served as the Music Director at Weimar, was instrumental in getting the opera its world premiere there.

When the governor of the Philistines, Abimelech, belittles the Hebrews into believing that they are helpless to his power and that of the temple of Dagon. Everyone believes him except Samson, who leads a rebellion against Abimelech and kills him. He meets Dalila who tells Samson that his accomplishments have wooed her and that she’s in love with him. Though others try to warn him about Dalila, he succumbs to her charms. But is she truly in love with Samson or does she have other ideas in mind?

This production marked the Metropolitan Opera debut of director Tresnjak who is best known for his work on Broadway with such shows as A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder (for which he won a Tony Award) and the musical Anastasia. He directed LA Opera’s award-winning production of John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles.

Wednesday, June 2 – Bizet’s Carmen – 2nd Showing

Conducted by Louis Langrée; starring Aleksandra Kurzak, Clémentine Margaine, Roberto Alagna and Alexander Vinogradov. This revival of Richard Eyre’s 2009 production is from the 2018-2019 season. 

Georges Bizet collaborated with librettists Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy on this immensely popular opera. It was based on Propser Mérimée’s novella of the same name. 

When Carmen was first performed in Paris in 1875 it was considered both shocking and scandalous. 

Set in Seville, Spain, Carmen is a gypsy who has caught everyone’s eye. A soldier, Don José, plays coy and gives her no attention. Her flirtation causes troubles for both when Don José’s girlfriend, Micaëla arrives. Tensions escalate between the two women and after a knight fight, José must arrest Carmen. When she seduces him it sets off a series of events that will not end well for the gypsy woman.

Margaine made her Met Opera debut in the 2017 revival of this production of Carmen. She had not been announced to open the production, but assumed the part in true understudy form when Sophie Koch took ill. Margaine had been scheduled to take on the role later in the run.

Of her return to the role in this production, Zachary Woolfe in the New York Times said, “Anchoring the performance was the mezzo Clémentine Margaine, arrestingly stern and articulate in the title role. Her voice doesn’t bloom, but it darkly insinuates, like a clarinet. And she portrays a disconcertingly changeable, mordant yet (seemingly genuinely) hopeful Carmen, rising to stony grandeur in the final duet.”

Thursday, June 3 – Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment – 2nd Showing

Conducted by Enrique Mazzola; starring Pretty Yende, Stephanie Blythe, Kathleen Turner, Javier Camarena and Maurizio Muraro. This revival of the 2008 Laurent Pelly production is from the 2018-2019 season.

This two-act comic opera written by Gaetano Donizetti was first performed in 1840 in Paris. The libretto is by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.

La Fille du Régiment tells the story of a young woman, Marie, who was raised by the 21st Regiment after having been found as a baby on a battlefield. The plan is that when she is old enough she will marry one of the men of the Regiment. She falls in love with Tyrolean Tonio. When the Marquise de Berkenfield shows up, it is discovered that she is Marie’s aunt and she wants to take Marie away to raise her as a lady. Will love win out for Marie?

One of the hallmarks of this opera is the challenge that faces every tenor singing the role of Tonio to hit nine high C’s in the opera’s best known aria, “Ah! mes amis.” In this production Camarena did this so effortlessly he was allowed an encore to do a second pass at the aria and another nine high C’s.

While Anthony Tommasini did rave about Camarena’s high C’s, he also thought the chemistry between Yende and Camarena worked well, as he said in his New York Times review:

“Ms. Yende and Mr. Camarena treat the story seriously, without a trace of mugging or winking. They were adorable during scenes of budding romance. Complications ensue when the Marquise of Berkenfield, here the commanding mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, realizes that Marie is the daughter she abandoned at birth to avoid scandal, and hauls her off to teach her ladylike behavior. But young love wins out.”

Friday, June 4 – The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess – 5th Showing

Conducted by David Robertson; starring Angel Blue, Golda Schultz, Latonia Moore, Denyce Graves, Frederick Ballentine, Eric Owens, Alfred Walker and Donovan Singletary. This James Robinson production is from the 2019-2020 season. 

DuBose Heyward’s 1925 novel, Porgy, was the inspiration for a play written by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward. That play served as the inspiration for this opera by George Gershwin with a libretto by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin. Porgy and Bess had its world premiere in 1935 at Boston’s Colonial Theatre.

In the opera, Porgy lives in Charleston’s slums. He’s disabled and spends his time begging. He is enamored with Bess and does everything he can to rescue her from an abusive lover, Crown and a far-too-seductive drug dealer, Sportin’ Life.

If you saw the Broadway version which went by the name The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, that was a truncated version and it was also modified to fit more contemporary times. The Metropolitan Opera production is the full opera as originally written by George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward and Ira Gershwin.

Gershwin’s score features such beloved songs as Summertime, I Loves You Porgy and It Ain’t Necessarily So.

Anthony Tommasini, writing for the New York Times, raved about the production and, in particular, its two stars:

“As Porgy, the magnificent bass-baritone Eric Owens gives one of the finest performances of his distinguished career. His powerful voice, with its earthy textures and resonant sound, is ideal for the role. His sensitivity into the layered feelings and conflicts that drive his character made even the most familiar moments of the music seem startlingly fresh. And, as Bess, the sumptuously voiced soprano Angel Blue is radiant, capturing both the pride and fragility of the character.”

Saturday, June 5 – Verdi’s Macbeth – 3rd Showing

Conducted by Fabio Luisi; starring Anna Netrebko, Joseph Calleja, Željko Lučić and René Pape. This revival of Adrian Noble’s 2007 production is from the 2014-2015 season.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth was the first of his plays to inspire an opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave with additional work by Andrea Maffei. The opera had its world premiere in Florence, Italy in 1847. Verdi re-wroked Macbeth and changed the language from Italian to French. The revised version had its premiere in Paris in 1865.

This is not Shakespeare set to music. Verdi did take much of what Shakespeare wrote about a Scottish general who is told by three witches that he will be the King of Scotland. With the help of his wife, Lady Macbeth, he stops at nothing to do so. However, Verdi couldn’t include the whole play in his opera, nor did he want to. The relationship between Macbeth and Lady MacBeth truly anchors this opera.

This production marked the first time Netrebko had sung the role of Lady Macbeth at the Met. Anthony Tommasini, writing in the New York Times, set up the challenges she was facing:

“…the lead soprano role in Verdi’s Macbeth is not just a daunting challenge. For Ms. Netrebko, who turned 43 last week, it represents a shift from the lyric soprano and bel canto roles with which she made her reputation to vocally weightier repertory. Lady Macbeth is particularly risky and demanding.”

He was more than pleased with the result. “The years that Ms. Netrebko spent singing bel canto heroines paid off here in the skillful way she dispatched the trills and runs that Verdi folds into the vocal lines. One such place is the Act II banquet scene after Macbeth, having murdered King Duncan, has been proclaimed the new monarch. Lady Macbeth sings a drinking song, a brindisi, inviting the guests to join in a toast. Yet there was something eerily malevolent in the way this Lady Macbeth tossed off the song with insistent good cheer. Wearing a ruby red evening gown, her eyes wild, Ms. Netrebko almost willed her guests into having a good time, or else.”

Sunday, June 6 – Philip Glass’s Akhnaten – 5th Showing

Conducted by Karen Kamensek; starring Dísella Lárusdóttir, J’Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Aaron Blake, Will Liverman, Richard Bernstein and Zachary James. This Phelim McDermott production is from the 2019-2020.

Akhnaten is one of Glass’s three biographical operas (the others are Einstein on the Beach and Saturday’s opera, Satyagraha.) The composer also wrote the libretto with the assistance of Shalom Goldman, Robert Israel, Richard Riddell and Jerome Robbins.

Akhnaten was a pharaoh who was controversial for his views on worshipping more than one God. He suggested just worshipping one – the sun. He was husband to Nefertitti and father of Tutankhamun. This opera does not have a linear storyline.

In his New York Times review, Anthony Tommasini praised the leads:

“Wearing gauzy red robes with extravagantly long trains, Mr. Costanzo and Ms. Bridges seem at once otherworldly and achingly real. His ethereal tones combine affectingly with her plush, deep-set voice. Ms. Kamensek, while keeping the orchestra supportive, brings out the restless rhythmic elements that suggest the couple’s intensity.”

I’ve seen this production with Costanzo singing the title role and cannot recommend taking the time to watch Akhnaten highly enough. 

That’s the complete line-up for Week 64 at the Met. Next week the theme is Updated Settings for Classic Operas.

Enjoy your week! Enjoy the operas!

Photo: J’Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo and Dísella Lárusdóttir in Akhnaten. (Photo by Karen Almond/Courtesy Met Opera)

The post Operas Behind the Podcast: Week 64 at the Met appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

For many opera fans little can surpass the mad scene from Lucia di Lammermoor. Of course that opera is part of this week’s programming in a 1982 season production starring the legendary Joan Sutherland. Bellini has a second opera being shown, too. I Puritani from the 2006-2007 season starring Anna Netrebko opens the week.

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and the planned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this column early enough on May 17th, you’ll still have time to see the 2015-2016 season production of Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux that was part of National Council Auditions Alumni week.

Here is the full line-up for Week 62 at the Met:

Monday, May 17 – Bellini’s I Puritani – 3rd Showing

Conducted by Patrick Summers; starring Anna Netrebko, Eric Cutler, Franco Vassallo and John Relyea. This is a revival of the 1976 Sandro Sequi production from the 2006-2007 season. This is an encore presentation.

Vincenzo Bellini’s I Puritani had its world premiere in Paris in 1835. The libretto was written by Carlo Pepoli. This was the composer’s final work. He died eight months after the premiere of this opera.

I Puritani is set in 1650 England. Elvira and Arturo are going to be married. He is a Royalist and she is a Puritan. (Puritanism was a religious reform movement that originated in the late 16th Century and believed that The Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church had too much in common and weren’t rooted in the text of the Bible.) Riccardo, a Puritan, is also in love with Elvira and believes himself to have already been promised her. The three must navigate not just their romantic entanglement, but also the political issues and intrigue surrounding the English Civil War.

This was the Metropolitan Opera’s first production of I Puritani in a decade. By the time this production opened in late 2006, it was the fourth new role for Netrebko that year. The New York Times reported that on opening night the soprano received a lengthy ovation at the the conclusion of the second act mad scene.

Tuesday, May 18 – Mozart’s Idomeneo – 3rd Showing

Conducted by James Levine; starring Nadine Sierra, Elza van den Heever, Alice Coote and Matthew Polenzani. This revival of the 1982 Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production from the 2016-2017 season. This is an encore presentation.

Mozart’s opera had its world premiere in 1781 in Munich and has a libretto by Giambattista Varesco. 

Idomeneo 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!

George Grella, writing in New York Classic Review, said of Nadine Sierra’s performance:

“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.”

Wednesday, May 19 – Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov – 3rd Showing

Conducted by Valery Gergiev; starring Ekaterina Semenchuk, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Oleg Balashov, Evgeny Nikitin, René Pape, Mikhail Petrenko and Vladimir Ognovenko. This Stephen Wadsworth production (taking over from Peter Stein who quit a few months prior to opening) is from the 2010-2011 season. This is an encore presentation.

This opera by Modest Mussorgsky had its world premiere in St. Petersburg in 1874. The libretto, written by the composer, was based on Aleksandr Pushkin’s Boris Godunov. Mussorgky completed an earlier version of the opera in 1869, but it was rejected. He revised the opera and included elements from History of the Russian State by Nikolay Karamzin to gain approval and ultimately a production in 1874.

In the opera, a retired and very reluctant Boris Godunov assumes the throne as Tsar. He is bedeviled by a constant foreboding and hopes his prayers will help him navigate what lies ahead. An old monk named Pimen discusses the murder of Tsarevich Dimitri with Gregory, a novice. Had he lived, Dimitri might have ascended to the throne. Godunov was implicated in his murder years ago. What follows is one man’s pursuit of forgiveness, his being haunted by the Dimitri’s ghost and the Russian people who demand justice.

Anthony Tommasini, writing in the New York Times, spent a considerable amount of his review discussing Pape in the title role.

“With his towering physique and unforced charisma, Mr. Pape looks regal and imposing. Yet with his vacant stare, the haggard intensity in his face, his stringy long hair and his hulking gait, he is already bent over with guilt and doubt. Mr. Pape has vocal charisma as well, and his dark, penetrating voice is ideal for the role. Not knowing Russian, I cannot vouch for the idiomatic quality of his singing. But his enunciation was crisp and natural. And in every language, Mr. Pape makes words matter.

“During the coronation there is a soul-searching moment when Boris removes his crown and voices his remorse to himself. Some great Borises have conveyed the character as beset with internalized torment. Mr. Pape’s anguish is always raw, fitful and on the surface. But the volatility is balanced by the magisterial power he conveys.”

Thursday, May 20 – Bellini’s La Sonnambula – 2nd Showing

Conducted by Evelino Pidò; starring Natalie Dessay, Juan Diego Flórez and Michele Pertusi. This Mary Zimmerman production is from the 2008-2009 season. This is an encore presentation.

Bellini’s opera had its world premiere in 1831 in Milan. The libretto was written by Felice Romani who also collaborated with the composer on Norma.

The original story was set in a 19th century Swiss village where the orphan Amina is engaged to be married to Elvino. Their plans are complicated by the arrival of Rodolfo who believes Amina to be a long-lost love from younger days. The village, however, is haunted by the appearance of a ghost. This turns out to be Amina walking in her sleep. Elvino becomes suspicious about his fiancé’s activities and begins to fall in love with another woman in the village. Can love conquer all including sleepwalking?

This was the first production of La Sonnambula at the Met since 1972. Zimmerman set the story in a New York rehearsal room where the performers are rehearsing a production of the opera set in a Swiss village.

Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times wasn’t a fan of this concept, but he did enjoy the singing.

“It must be said that Ms. Zimmerman has elicited wonderfully sung and mostly affecting performances from her leads, the riveting French coloratura soprano Natalie Dessay as Amina, and the charismatic Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez as Elvino.”

Friday, May 21 – Verdi’s Nabucco – 3rd Showing

Conducted by James Levine; starring Liudmyla Monastyrska, Jamie Barton, Russell Thomas, Plácido Domingo and Dmitry Belosselskiy. This revival of Elijah Moshinsky’s 2001 production is from the 2016-2017 season. This is an encore presentation.

Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco had its world premiere in 1842 at La Scala in Milan. The libretto, by Temistocle Solera, is based on four books from the bible as well as a play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornu. It is believed that a ballet of the play by Antonio Cortese was also an inspiration for this opera.

The title character is the King of Babylon. Just as he has assumed control of Jerusalem in a battle with the Israelites, his daughter has fallen in love with Ismaele, who is an Israelite. Her half-sister Abigaille, plots revenge on her sister after the sister has released Israelite prisoners. Nabucco announces he is a god. After he’s struck by lightning the real storms begin brewing.

The composer said of his work, “This is the opera with which my artistic career really begins. And though I had many difficulties to fight against, it is certain that Nabucco was born under a lucky star.”

Though the story is a mix of history, love story and politics. But what most people remember about this particular Verdi opera is the work of the chorus, as evidenced by Zachary Woolfe’s review in the New York Times.

“Nabucco is defined by its choruses, much as Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, at the Met earlier this season, is. The company’s ensemble, under the direction of Donald Palumbo, rose to the occasion with massed yet transparent, shimmering singing.”

Saturday, May 22 – Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor – 2nd Showing

Conducted by Richard Bonynge, starring Joan Sutherland, Alfredo Kraus, Pablo Elvira and Paul Plishka. This Margherita Wallmann production is from the 1982-1983 season. This is an encore presentation.

Sir Walter Scott’s novel The Bride of Lammermoor was the inspiration for Gaetano Donizetti’s opera, Lucia di Lammermoor. Salvadore Cammarano, who collaborated with the composer on seven operas, wrote this libretto. This opera had its world premiere in Naples in 1835.

The opera, set in Scotland in the early 18th century, is a truly tragic love story. Lucia and Edgardo are secretly in love. They keep their love a secret as they are from opposing families. Her brother keeps them from getting married by lying to Lucia about Edgardo having married another woman. So deep is her despair that she turns to murder and ultimately devolves into madness.

Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor is a textbook example of everything opera can do well: great music, the opportunity to hear amazing singing and drama of the highest order.

Joan Sutherland made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1961 in Lucia di Lammermoor. When she performed the role in 1959 at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden it launched her international career. This production marked the last time Sutherland would perform the role at the Met.

Sunday, May 23 – Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades – 2nd Showing

Conducted by Valery Gergiev; starring Galina Gorchakova, Elisabeth Söderström, Plácido Domingo, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Nikolai Putilin. This revival of the 1995 Elijah Moshinsky production is from the 1998-1999 season. This is an encore presentation.

As with his Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky used the work of Alexander Pushkin as the source for his opera, but he made significant changes to the plot from the author’s 1834 novella. Modest Tchaikovsky, the composer’s brother, wrote the libretto. The Queen of Spades had its world premiere in Saint Petersburg in 1890.

A young officer, Ghermann, falls for a girl, Lisa, whom he sees in a park. For him it is love at first sight. Ghermann learns that Lisa’s grandmother is a gambler who knows the secret three cards necessary to win any game. Ghermann wants to learn those three cards so he can gamble, win a lot of money and Lisa’s heart. But things don’t turn out the way he planned.

Anthony Tommasini, in his New York Times review, raved about most of the cast, but singled out Domingo.

“The role of Ghermann, which Mr. Domingo aptly calls the Russian Otello, is his first in that language, not counting some roles from Russian operas he sang in Hebrew during his journeyman days with the Israeli Opera. He worked on his Russian diction with Ghermann-like obsessiveness, and it has paid off. Though mature-looking for Ghermann, he hurls himself into the part with an intensity that is ageless and sings with a power that seems almost dangerous. Yet, the plaintiveness in his lyrical phrases gives this pathetic character an affecting depth.”

That’s the full line-up for Week 62 at the Met. After a week of mad scenes, next week will offer some rare gems amongst the programming at the Metropolitan Opera.

Enjoy the operas! Enjoy your week!

Photo: Joan Sutherland in Lucia di Lammermoor (Photo by Erika Davidson/Courtesy Met Opera)

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With yesterday’s good news that those who are vaccinated can go around without masks with the exception of a few specified areas, it seems like only a matter of time before live events will come roaring back.

The question now is whether or not all the streaming events of the past 15 months will become a relic of the era or a regular part of our cultural experience. Only time will tell.

For now, there are still plenty of great programs available for viewing. Topping our list is MCC Theater’s Miscast 2021 Gala. There are two other gala events, a new musical reading, a vintage classical music concert, new music, a play reading and more.

Here are the Best Bets: May 14th – May 17th.

*TOP PICK* – Miscast 2021 – MCC Theater – May 16th – May 20th

Yesterday we posted a full preview of this event, but here’s what makes this show so entertaining: Broadway stars perform songs separately or with others they would never be cast to sing. For instance, Robert Fairchild sings this song from the musical Sweet Charity in a clip from last year’s “quarantine” edition of Miscast.

This year’s line-up includes Annaleigh Ashford (Sunday in the Park with George), Melissa Barrera (In the Heights), Gavin Creel (Hello, Dolly!), Robin de Jesús (The Boys in the Band), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton), Leslie Grace (In the Heights), Cheyenne Jackson (Finian’s Rainbow), Jai’Len Josey (SpongeBob SquarePants), LaChanze (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical), Idina Menzel (Wicked), Kelli O’Hara (Kiss Me, Kate), Billy Porter (Kinky Boots), Kelly Marie Tran (Raya and the Last Dragon), Aaron Tveit (Moulin Rouge) and Patrick Wilson (The Full Monty).

This is a free event, though donations are encouraged.

PLAY READING: Watch on the Rhine – Broadway’s Best Shows – Now – May 17th

Lillian Hellman’s Watch on the Rhine had its world premiere at the Martin Beck Theater on April 1, 1941. Her play tells the story of a German man, Mueller, married to an American woman, who is involved with anti-fascist causes in Europe. While visiting his wife’s relatives in Washington, D.C., another guest, also staying with the family, blackmails Mueller after discovering Mueller is planning to send money to aid underground operations in Germany.

For this reading as part of Spotlight on Plays, Ellen Burstyn, Alan Cox, Carla Gugino, Mary Beth Peil and Jeremy Shamos star in this reading directed by Sarna Lapine.

Tickets are $18 with the reading available for viewing through Monday at 6:00 PM ET/3:00 PM PT. Proceeds from the reading benefit The Actors Fund.

Trivia: Two years later a film version of Watch on the Rhine was released starring Bette Davis and Paul Lukas (reprising his role from Broadway). The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture. Lukas won for Best Actor.

DANCE: Stephen Petronio Company – The Joyce Theater – Now – May 26th

There are five works being showcased in this new film by the Stephen Petronio Company, the New York-based dance company that was founded in 1984.

Two of the five pieces being performed are set to songs made famous by Elvis Presley: Are You Lonesome Tonight and Love Me Tender.

There are two versions of Are You Lonesome Tonight being performed. Love Me Tender was originally performed in 1993 in a collaboration with artist Cindy Sherman.

New Prayer For Now (Part 1) has its debut in this film. Petronio was inspired by Balm in Gilead and Bridge Over Troubled Water when creating New Prayer…. Monstah Black (who is also a dancer and choreographer in addition to being a musician) composed the music and performs with the Young People’s Chorus of New York City.

The program wraps up with a new version of Group Primary Accumulation by Trisha Brown and Pandemic Portraits, a film by Dancing Camera.

Tickets are $25.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Berlin Philharmonic 1967 – Carnegie Hall – May 14 – May 21st

Herbert von Karajan leads the Berliner Philharmoniker in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Alexis Weissenberg.

This is amongst the most popular concerti in the world. But if Weissenberg’s name isn’t familiar to today’s audiences, this quote from his obituary by Maraglit Fox in the New York Times defines his reputation:

“Mr. Weissenberg possessed a technical prowess rivaled by few other pianists. The ice of his demeanor at the keyboard (he sat, leaned forward and got down to business, playing with scarcely a smile or grimace) was matched by the fire that came off the keys.” (Weissenberg passed away in 2012.)

There is no charge to watch this performance. This is the first of a new series Carnegie Hall Selects featuring performances by artists who played major roles in the 130-year history of the venue.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Jose Llana: Broadway Stories & Songs with Ted Sperling – May 14th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

Broadway star Jose Llana is Ted Sperling‘s guest for Broadway Stories & Songs. Llana has been seen in The King and I, Rent, Street Corner Symphony, Flower Drum Song, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Wonderland on Broadway.

I first saw him in Flower Drum Song at the Mark Taper Forum. I also saw him in the incredible show Here Lies Love at the Public Theater.

He also performed Adam Guettel’s song cycle Saturn Returns (later renamed Myths and Hymns) which is where he and Sperling first worked together.

If you can’t see the show on Friday, there is an encore showing scheduled for May 15th at 2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT. Tickets for either showing are $25. You can watch the show a second time if you buy tickets for the Friday night showing.

JAZZ: Robert Glasper: Everything’s Beautiful – SFJAZZ – May 14th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

This 2018 concert found innovative musician/composer Robert Glasper putting his own spin on works by Miles Davis for his album Everything’s Beautiful. Glasper’s music was featured in Don Cheadle’s film Miles Ahead from 2015.

If you don’t know Glasper or his work, he’s one of the most interesting artists working in jazz today. He’s also collaborated with Erykah Badu, Herbie Hancock, Kendrick Lamar, Ledisi and Jill Scott.

Joining Glasper in this performance are vocalist Bilal; Michael Severson on guitars; Burniss Travis on bass and Justin Tyson on drums.

If you can’t watch Friday night’s showing that is part of SFJAZZ’s Fridays at Five series, there is an encore showing on Saturday, May 15th at 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT. Tickets require either a one-month digital membership for $5 or a $50 annual digital membership.

MUSICAL: Breathe: A New Musical – May 14th – July 9th

Playwright Timothy Allen McDonald (Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka) and novelist Jodi Picoult (The Book of Two Ways) have teamed up for this new musical suite that features interlocking stories of five different couples navigating their way through the Covid pandemic and its impact on their lives.

The songs were written by Doug Besterman (The Big One-Oh!), Zina Goldrich (Ever After), Marcy Heisler (Hollywood Romance), Kate Leonard (Ratatouille: The TiKTok Musical), Douglas Lyons (Peter, Darling), Daniel J. Mertzlufft (Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical), Rebecca Murillo (Credence & Cecilia), Ethan Pakchar (Five Points), Rob Rokicki (The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical) and Sharon Vaughn (My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys).

Appearing in this online musical are Tony Award winners Kelli O’Hara and Brian Stokes Mitchell along with Denée Benton (Hamilton), Rubén J. Carbajal (Hamilton), Max Clayton (Moulin Rouge), Josh Davis (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Colin Donnell (Anything Goes), Matt Doyle (the upcoming revival of Company), Patti Murin (Frozen), T. Oliver Reid (Hadestown), and Daniel Yearwood (Once on This Island).

Tickets are $25 to watch Breathe. If you want to join the official opening night on Friday, May 14th at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT, those tickets are $40 and includes an post-premiere cast party and a download of the music from the show.

CONTEMPORARY SONG CYCLE: Dorothea – CAP UCLA – Debuts May 15th – 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT

Ted Hearne, one of our most fascinating and interesting composes, has created a song cycle inspired by the poetry of Dorothea Lasky.

Lasky is an acclaimed poet who told the LA Review of Books, “I do believe it’s better not to be safe in your poems.” As a composer, Hearne also doesn’t play it safe.

They both are utterly compelling. This combination should double down on that and prove to be very exciting to watch.

Hearne was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his 2018 composition Sound From the Bench. Both Los Angeles Opera and San Francisco Opera performed his opera The Source about Chelsea Manning.

Hearne will be singing vocals in this performance. Joining him are Eliza Bagg on vocals and synths; Ashley Bathgate on cello; Nathan Koci on piano/keyboards; Diana Wade on viola; Ron Wiltrout on drums and Ayanna Woods on bass.   

There is no charge to watch Dorothea. Donations to CAP UCLA are encouraged.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Nadia Sirota, Gabriel Cabezas and Rob Moose – The Phillips Collections – Debuts May 16th – 4:00 PM ET/1:00 PM PT

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Trio Sonata No. 6 in G Major, BWV 530 serves as the foundation for this performance by violist Nadia Sirota, cellist Gabriel Cabezas and violinist Rob Moose.

The concert will begin and end with a movement from the sonata with a third movement at the halfway point.

Interspersed amongst the concert are works by three of today’s most interesting contemporary composers: Marcos Batler, Missy Mazzoli and Nico Muhly.

Sirota is also the music producer for Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s Close Quarters series.

There is no charge to watch this performance, however registration is required. The program will remain available for viewing through May 22nd.

PLAY READING: Sejanus, His Fall – Red Bull Theater – Debuts May 17th – 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT

New York’s Red Bull Theater will present a new adaptation of Ben Johnson’s 17th-century play Sejanus, His Fall on Monday night. The adaptation is by Nathan Winkelstein, who also directs.

The play depicts a power struggle between Tiberius, the Emperor of Rome and Sejanus, his right-hand man. Sejanus covets being the emperor. Tiberius has no desire to make that a possibility. Factions line up behind each man and the power struggle begins with all of our own contemporary issues surrounding politics and power at play.

Participating in the reading are: Shirine Babb (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Grantham Coleman (The Great Society), Keith David (Seven Guitars), Manoel Felciano (To Kill a Mockingbird), Denis O’Hare (Assassins), Matthew Rauch (Junk), Liv Rooth (To Kill a Mockingbird), Laila Robins (Heartbreak House), Stephen Spinella (Angels in America), Emily Swallow (High Fidelity), Raphael Nash Thompson (The Red Letter Plays), Tamara Tunie (Radio Golf) and James Udom (The Rolling Stone).

Tickets are pay what you can with proceeds going to Red Bull Theater.

CONCERT/GALA: Stand Up, Stand Strong – Covenant House – May 17th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

Sara Bareilles, Stephanie J. Block, Jon Bon Jovi, Zach Braff, Terron Brooks, Rachel Brosnahan, Stephen Colbert, Charlie Day, Darius De Haas, Ariana DeBose, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Morgan Freeman, Jon Hamm, Adrianna Hicks, James Monroe Iglehart, Capathia Jenkins, Jewel, Jeremy Jordan, Amanda Kloots, Ames McNamara, Laurie Metcalf, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Abby Mueller, Alex Newell, Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, Kelli O’Hara, Laura Osnes, Dolly Parton, Jo Ellen Pellman, Ben Platt, Jason Ralph, Ryan Reynolds, Chita Rivera, Robin Roberts, Aliza Russell, Keala Settle, Tony Shalhoub, Meryl Streep, Ana Villafañe, Dionne Warwick, Marlon Wayans, Frank Wildhorn, Vanessa Williams, Daniel Yearwood and more will join co-hosts Audra McDonald and John Dickerson for this annual fundraiser for Covenant House.

The organization provides shelter for homeless youth living on the streets. They have helped more than one million youth since their inception more than 40 years ago.

This gala fundraiser will offer music, stories and more. There is no charge to watch the show, however donations are encouraged. For a list of the many ways you can watch Stand Up, Stand Strong, please go here.

VOCALS/STORIES: Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party – May 17th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

Though Jim Caruso has multiple guests for this Monday’s 58th episode of Pajama Cast Party, I can sum up the reason to tune into this particular episode with two words: Marilyn Maye.

That’s the official list of Best Bets: May 14th – May 17th. Here are also a few reminders:

Lincoln Center Theater’s Tales from the Wings, which we previewed here, will remain available through Monday, May 17th. This is a must for theater fans.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic debuts Chamber Music: Piazzolla in their Filmed at the Ford series. You can find details here.

This weekend’s offering from the Metropolitan Opera include the documentary The Audition on Friday; Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia from the 2014-2015 season on Saturday and Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux from the 2015-2016 season on Sunday.

Sunday will also be the finals of the National Council Auditions at the Met at 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT.

Monday begins Week 62 at the Met where the theme is Unhinged Mad Scenes. The first production being streamed is the 2006-2007 season production of Bellini’s I Puritani with Anna Netrebko.

There are just two weeks left to see Sutton Foster’s Bring Me to Light. You can find details in our preview here.

There you have a jam-packed list of Best Bets: May 14th – May 17th.

Enjoy your weekend and enjoy the shows!

Photo: Renée Elise Goldsberry (Photo by Justin Bettman/Courtesy MCC Theater)

The post Best Bets: May 14th – May 17th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

You know that means two operas by Puccini are certain to be included…and you probably know what they are. There are also works by Cilea, Giordano, Lehár (and you know which one that is, too); Massenet (I’m guessing you’ll know which one that is) and Verdi (chances are you can figure this one out.) You’ll have to keep reading to see how you did.

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and the planned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this early enough on April 26th, you’ll still have time to see the 2018-2019 season production of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites which concludes Moral Authority week. It’s not set in Paris, but it does take place in France.

Here is the full line-up for Week 59 at the Met:

Monday, April 26 – Puccini’s La Bohème

Conducted by Marco Armiliato; starring Sonya Yoncheva, Susanna Phillips, Michael Fabiano, Lucas Meachem, Alexey Lavrov, Matthew Rose and Paul Plishka. This revival of Franco Zefferelli’s 1963 production from the 2017-2018 season. This is an encore presentation of the production made available last year on July 6th.

Easily one of the most popular operas in the world, Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème had its world premiere in Turin, Italy in 1896. The libretto is by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. The opera is based on Henri Murger’s 1851 novel, Scènes de la vie de bohème.

The story centers on four friends who are unable to pay their rent. Successfully getting out of a potentially bad situation with their landlord, all but one go out on the town. Rodolfo stays home and meets a young woman named Mimi. They fall in love, but Mimi’s weakness may be a sign of something far more life-threatening than they know. (If this sounds like the musical Rent, it is because La Bohème served as Jonathan Larson’s inspiration for that musical.)

This production had multiple casts during this season’s performances. Yoncheva was the third person to sing Mimi (following Angel Blue and Anita Hartig). Phillips was the second woman to sing the role of Musetta. Fabiano was the fourth person to sing the role of Rodolfo (following Dmytro Popov, Jean-Francois Borras and Russell Thomas).

Tuesday, April 27 – Lehár’s The Merry Widow

Conducted by Sir Andrew Davis; starring Renée Fleming, Kelli O’Hara, Nathan Gunn, Alek Shrader and Thomas Allen. This Susan Stroman production is from the 2014-2015 season. This is an encore presentation of the production made available last year on April 23rd, October 20th and December 26th. 

Franz Lehár’s opera had its world premiere in 1905 in Vienna. The libretto is based on Henri Meilhac’s 1861 comedy, L’attaché d’ambassade (The Embassy Attaché). Viktor Léon and Leo Stein wrote the libretto. 

When Hanna Glawari, a young woman, becomes a widow, the Ambassador wants her to re-marry someone who lives in their province of Pontevedro so her wealth can remain in the country. The last thing he wants is for her to fall for a Frenchman. Meanwhile his own wife, Valencienne, is having an affair with Camille, Count de Rosillon – a Frenchman. 

Hanna claims to soon be marrying Camille, hoping to preserve Valencienne’s reputation. Circling all of this is Count Danilo, Hanna’s ex who refuses to marry her for her money. When she announces her engagement to Camille, Danilo is forced to reconcile his feelings.

This was the first Metropolitan Opera production directed by a Broadway veteran and wth five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (The Producers). Also appearing at the Met for the first time is Tony Award winner Kelli O’Hara (The King and I). 

Of O’Hara, Anthony Tommasini wrote in his New York Times review, “Ms. O’Hara’s ardent fans (put me in the front ranks of that group) will be delighted with the chance to hear her sing without the amplification requisite on Broadway. She is a vocalist with operatic training. And her tender voice carries nicely in the house — certainly as well as that of the gifted young tenor Alek Shrader, who sounded a little pinched as Camille in his scenes with her.”

Wednesday, April 28 – Giordano’s Andrea Chénier

Conducted by James Levine; starring Maria Guleghina, Wendy White, Stephanie Blythe, Luciano Pavarotti and Juan Pons. This Nicholas Joël production is from the 1996-1997 season. This is an encore presentation of the production made available earlier this year on March 13th.

Giordano’s opera had its world premiere in Milan in 1896. It features a libretto by Luigi Illica and is inspired by the life of the poet André Chénier who was executed during the French Revolution.

A love triangle is ultimately at the center of this opera. Chénier says one too many things in the presence of Maddalena, Countess di Coigny’s daughter, about the imbalance between the French government and the poverty that has trapped so many of his countrymen. This is just prior to the French Revolution.

Half a decade later, Carlo Gérard, who was a footman to the now executed King Louis XVI and was influenced by Chénier’s talk, is now a leading political figure. The poet, however, is not in their good graces. This interrupts his plans to meet a young woman with whom he has been corresponding. That turns out to be Maddalena. Though she and Chénier are in love, Gérard also has his eyes on her. Politics and passion collide leading to the poet’s execution.

Bernard Holland was not a fan of this production when he reviewed it for the New York Times. He did, however, seem to be impressed by how Pavarotti was handling this role so late in his career.

“This is an opera that can be celebrated more for its parts than its whole. Luciano Pavarotti has the principal one. Six decades have drained a lot of the color from his voice, but in the title role he holds up admirably well. The points of vocal stress are handled gingerly but they are handled. A 61-year-old tenor must by nature be a master of disguise; and so Mr. Pavarotti directs most of our attention to his powers of articulation, almost to the point of excess.”

Thursday, April 29 – Massenet’s Manon

Conducted by Maurizio Benini; starring Lisette Oropesa, Michael Fabiano and Artur Ruciński. This is a revival of the 2011-2012 Laurent Pelly production from the 2019-2020 season. This is an encore presentation of the production made available last year on June 25th and earlier this year on January 23rd.

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.

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. But life doesn’t always work out the way we want. Sounds like a story that could be written today.

The main attraction of any production of Manon is the performance of the soprano singing the title role. Oropesa certainly didn’t disappoint the critics.

Joshua Barone, writing for the New York Times, said of Oropesa’s performance, “With a voice by turns brightly crystalline and arrestingly powerful, she persuasively inhabits the role of this chameleon coquette. When she blows a kiss at a crowd of men in Laurent Pelly’s often stylized production, their heads whip backward, as if feeling a sudden gust of wind. The audience can’t avoid catching a bit of the gale, too.

“Ms. Oropesa’s performance, her first at the Met since winning its Beverly Sills Artist Award as well as the prestigious Richard Tucker Award this spring, is alone worth the price of admission.”

Friday, April 30 – Verdi’s La Traviata 

Conducted by James Levine; starring Ileana Cotrubas, Plácido Domingo and Cornell MacNeil. This Colin Graham production is from the 1980-1981 season. This is an encore presentation of the production made available last year on July 14th.

Alexandre Dumas fils (the son of the author of The Three Musketeers) wrote the play, La Dame aux camélias on which Verdi’s opera is based. Francesco Maria Piave wrote the libretto for La Traviatawhich had its world premiere in Venice in 1853.

In the opera, Violetta, who is in declining health, throws an opulent party. At this party she is introduced to Alfredo by her lover, Baron Douphol. When signs of failing health get noticed by Alfredo, he encourages her to give up her lavish lifestyle. He also admits his great love for Violetta. A love triangle is now in play. From there the opera tells the story of a woman who sacrifices everything to live life on the edge.

This production had its share of backstage drama. John Dexter had been hired to direct the production, but soprano Ileana Cotrubas did not like his plans for the production and abruptly quit. When the Met replaced Dexter with Colin Graham, she returned to the production.

Drama aside, Donal Henahan, writing in the New York Times, said of her performance, “It is unlikely that there is a better Violetta now on the world’s stages than Ileana Cotrubas. In her first Metropolitan appearance as the pathetic courtesan, she gave a transfixing performance.”

Saturday, May 1 – Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur

Conducted by Gianandrea Noseda; starring Anna Netrebko, Anita Rachvelishvili, Piotr Beczała and Ambrogio Maestri. This David McVicar production is from the 2018-2019 season. This is an encore presentation of the production made available last year on April 18th and earlier this year on January 4th and March 10th.

Francesco Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur had its world premiere in Milan in 1902. It features a libretto by Arturo Colautti. The opera is based on the 1849 Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé play Adrienne Lecouvreur. 

At the center of this opera is a love triangle. The title character is a beloved actress who has many possible suitors. She is in love with the Count of Saxony, Maurizio. He, though smitten with Adriana, is trying to fully break ties with his ex-lover, the Princesse de Bouillon. Insecurities and jealousies lead all three down a path that will ultimately end in murder.

Anthony Tommasini, writing in his New York Times review, said of this production, “The strongest scenes in the opera, involving the three principals, leapt off the stage on Monday, especially the confrontation between Adriana and the princess in Act II, when they discover that they both love Maurizio. Ms. Netrebko and Ms. Rachvelishvili sang ferociously as they hurled accusatory phrases at each other. Yet each found moments in the music to suggest the womanly longing that consumes them.”

Sunday, May 2 – Puccini’s La Rondine

Conducted by Marco Armiliato; starring Angela Gheorghiu, Lisette Oropesa, Roberto Alagna, Marius Brenciu and Samuel Ramey. This Nicholas Joël production is from the 2008-2009 season. This is an encore presentation of the production made available last year on April 15th and September 21st.

Puccini’s La Rondine had its world premiere in Monaco in 1917. The libretto, based on a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and Heinz Reichert, was written by Giuseppe Adami.

Multiple people collide in this opera about love. Magda is Rombaldo’s kept mistress. While entertaining friends, including the poet Prunier, she realizes how much she misses being in love. Prunier is in love with Lisette, who is Magda’s maid. A young man enters their group, Ruggero, who falls in love with Magda. Could he possibly provide the true love she so desperately desires? Who will end with whom and will they all live happily ever after?

Gheorghiu and Alagna were the hottest couple in opera when this production happened. They first met in 1992 while performing in La Bohème together. They were married four years later while also doing a production of the same opera. In late 2009 they separated. They reconciled two months later, but did end up divorcing in 2013.

But the chemistry was still very much alive in this production. Anthony Tomassini wrote in the New York Times:

“…in this sensitive staging, thanks to the expressive performances of Ms. Gheorghiu and Mr. Alagna, this excess of Italianate emotion just makes La Rondine more appealing.”

Well you’ve made it to the first weekend in May and the end of Week 59 at the Met. Au revoir à la semaine prochaine! Profite de ta semaine! Profitez des opéras!

Photo: Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu in La Rondine (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

The post City of Light: Week 59 at the Met appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

The week begins and ends with two different operas telling the story of Cinderella – both of which star Joyce DiDonato as the title character. There’s also the first-time streaming of the Met’s 1986-1987 season production of Puccini’s Turandot with Eva Marton, Leona Mitchell, Plácido Domingo and Paul Plishka. (Wait until you read what Donal Henahan had to say about this production!)

Since the Met is re-running productions as the bulk of their weekly streaming schedule, I’m going to mix in interviews with the performers and creators in place of clips to avoid the redundancy of showing the same few clips available. Let me know your thoughts!

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and the planned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this early enough on April 12th, you’ll still have time to see the 2017-2018 season production of Verdi’s Luisa Miller which concludes From Page to Stage week.

Here is the full line-up for Week 57 at the Met:

Monday, April 12 – Massenet’s Cendrillon

Conducted by Bertrand de Billy; starring Kathleen Kim, Joyce DiDonato, Alice Coote and Stephanie Blythe. This Laurent Pelly production is from the 2017-2018. This is an encore presentation of the production previously made available on June 27th, September 10th and December 22nd.

Charles Perrault’s 1698 version of the Cinderella fairy tale serves as the inspiration for Massenet’s opera. Henry Caïn wrote the libretto. The world premiere of Cendrillon took place in 1899 in Paris.

You may recall that The Royal Opera made its production of Cendrillon available for streaming in late May. This is the same production with Joyce DiDonato and Alice Coote playing the roles of “Cendrillon” and “Prince Charming.”

Zachary Woolfe, in his New York Times review, praised DiDonato for the child-like wonder she brings to the role. 

“Ms. DiDonato does sincerity better than anyone since Ms. von Stade. At 49, she can still step on stage and, with modest gestures and mellow sound, persuade you she’s a put-upon girl. She experiences the story with an open face and endearing ingenuousness, a sense of wonder that never turns saccharine. In soft-grained passages, she is often simply lovely.”

Tuesday, April 13 – Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta / Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle

Conducted by Valery Gergiev; starring Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczała in Iolanta; Nadja Michael and Mikhail Petrenko in Bluebeard’s Castle. This Mariusz Trelinsk production is from the 2014-2015 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on June 9th and November 9th.

Iolanta was the last opera composed by Tchaikovsky. It featured a libretto by his brother Modesto and is based on a Danish play. The opera had its world premiere in 1892 in Saint Petersburg. It was on a program that also included The Nutcracker.

Set in France in the 15th century, Iolanta tells the story of the title character who is blind, but doesn’t know she is blind. Her father, King Rene, brings a doctor who believe he can cure her blindness, but only if she is made aware of it. The King refuses to take that chance. However, when a Count visits and falls in love with Iolanta, he reveals her condition to her. Furious the King vows to execute the Count. What will Iolanta do? What can she do?

This marked the first time Iolanta was performed at the Metropolitan Opera. The second half of the program was Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle.

The Hungarian composer wrote the opera in 1911 and made modifications in 1912 and 1917 before its world premiere in Budapest in 1918. The libretto was written by Béla Balázs based on a French folktale written by Charles Perrault.

Bluebeard’s Castle tells the story of Bluebeard who arrives at his castle with Judith who insists on their being more light in the castle. Bluebeard initially resists, but relents and one-by-one seven doors are opened throughout the castle. What Judith finds as each room gets opened leads to a startling conclusion for the unsuspecting woman.

These two operas are not commonly performed on the same program. Director Trelinsk explained his reasoning to the New York Times in an interview prior to opening night of his productions.

“Judith continues the story of Iolanta. We feel that the happy ending is not an end at all — that often, our addictions are stronger than us. There’s the classic repetition compulsion, where many years later you realize you have to leave normal life in order to relive your childhood trauma.”

Wednesday, April 14 – Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte

Conducted by James Levine; starring Golda Schultz, Kathryn Lewek, Charles Castronovo, Markus Werba, Christian Van Horn and René Pape. This revival of the 2004 Julie Taymor production is from the 2017-2018 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on June 28th, October 1st and March 4th.

Mozart’s opera premiered in September 1791 in Vienna a mere two months before the composer died. It features a libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder.

Prince Tamino is asked by the Queen of the Night to free her daughter Pamina from Sarastro. Tamino, however, is impressed with Sarastro and the way his community lives in the world and wants to be a part of it. Both alone and together Tamino and Pamina endure multiple tests. If they succeed, what will happen to them? To the Queen of the Night?

Anyone who has seen Taymor’s work for such shows as Juan Darién and The Lion King knows that she regularly employs puppets and wildly inventive staging. 

Alex Ross, writing for The New Yorker about the original 2004 production said, “The Met stage has never been so alive with movement, so charged with color, so brilliant to the eye. The outward effect is of a shimmering cultural kaleidoscope, with all manner of mystical and folk traditions blending together. Behind the surface lies a melancholy sense that history has never permitted such a synthesis—that Mozart’s theme of love and power united is nothing more than a fever dream. But Taymor allows the Enlightenment fantasy to play out to the end.”

Thursday, April 15 – Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel

Conducted by Thomas Fulton; starring Judith Blegen, Frederica von Stade, Jean Kraft, Rosalind Elias and Michael Devlin. This revival of Nathaniel Merrill’s 1967 production is from the 1982-1983 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously available on August 23rd.

The Grimm brother’s fairly tale about a brother and sister who are lured to a house with sweets and candies only to find a witch who wants to eat the duo is the basis for this opera that had its debut in 1893 in Weimar. Richard Strauss conducted the premiere. A second production the next year in Hamburg was conducted by Gustav Mahler. Adelheid Wette, Humpderdink’s sister, wrote the libretto.

Hansel and Gretel has the distinction of finding much of its popularity not just through opera houses, but on the radio. It was the first opera broadcast on the radio in Europe when a 1923 Covent Garden production was heard over the airwaves. Eight years later in 1931, it became the first ever opera broadcast in its entirety by the Metropolitan Opera.

The opera is commonly seen and heard during the Christmas season. An odd choice, but librettist Adelheid Wette did soften some of the harsher elements found in the original Grimm tales for her brother’s opera.

Friday, April 16 – Dvořák’s Rusalka

Conducted by Mark Elder; starring Kristine Opolais, Katarina Dalayman, Jamie Barton, Brandon Jovanovich and Eric Owens. This Mary Zimmerman production is from the from the 2016-2017 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously available on July 31st.

Rusalka was Antonín Dvořák’s ninth opera and was based on fairytales. Poet Jaroslav Kvapil wrote the libretto. Rusalka had its world premiere in Prague in 1901.

In essence, this is the same story told in Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid. A water sprite, Rusalka, tells her father she has fallen in love with a human prince and wants to join him in his world. He asks her to see a witch who gives her a potion to join the prince, but there are conditions: Rusalka will no longer be able to speak and she loses the opportunity to be immortal. More importantly, if the Prince does not stay in love with her, he will die and Rusalka will be damned for all eternity. This is definitely not a Disney version of the story.

Zimmerman’s production was a certified hit. The director won a Tony Award for her production of Metamorphoses and critics raved about both the look and approach to Dvořák’s dark opera. She didn’t shy away from the darker aspects of the story.

Saturday, April 17 – Puccini’s Turandot FIRST SHOWING

Conducted by James Levine; starring Eva Marton, Leona Mitchell, Plácido Domingo and Paul Plishka. This Franco Zeffirelli production is from the 1986-1987 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. 

I’m normally loathe to print harsh comments from reviews of these productions. However, sometimes the comments are so entertaining, I have to make an exception.

If you’ve been reading Cultural Attaché’s opera previews, you know my fondness for the late Donal Henahan of the New York Times. He certainly didn’t mince words in his review of this production:

“Two decades have elapsed since the Metropolitan Opera opened its new house at Lincoln Center with a production of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra so ornately designed and overbearingly directed by Franco Zeffirelli that the night went down as an unforgettable fiasco. Since then, Mr. Zeffirelli has gone from excess to excess, most recently giving the Met such glittering shows as his inflated Boheme and his elephantine Tosca, both of which seem to delight Met audiences with their extravagance. In fact, Mr. Zeffirelli’s is one of the great excess stories of our time.

“The newest Zeffirelli, his Turandot, had its premiere Thursday evening and proved to be one of the few operas in the standard repertory that precisely suit his massive style. Turandot can be something more than a gelid fairy tale held together by gaudy pageantry, but Mr. Zeffirelli chooses here to stress razzle-dazzle rather than any emotional substance. As a result, this version of Puccini’s last, unfinished opera has the emotional impact of a night at the Ice Capades.”

Sunday, April 18 – Rossini’s La Cenerentola

Conducted by Fabio Luisi; starring Joyce DiDonato, Juan Diego Flórez, Pietro Spagnoli, Alessandro Corbelli and Luca Pisaroni. This revival of Cesare Lievi’s 1997 production is from the 2013-2014 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously available on April 26th.

Gioachino Rossini’s opera of the Cinderella story is based on Charles Perrault’s Cendrillon. The libertto, by Jacopo Ferretti, was based on two previous libretti for operas based on the same story: Charles-Guillaume Étienne’s libretto for Nicolas Isouard’s 1810 opera Cendrillon and Francesco Fiorini’s libretto for Stefano Pavesi’s 1814 opera, Agatina o La virtú premiata. La Cenerentola had its world premiere in 1817 in Rome.

The story is exactly what you expect. After being relegated to chores around the house by her Stepmother and her Stepsisters, Cinderella dreams of going to the Prince’s ball. They mock her before leaving themselves for the event. Cinderella’s fairy godmother appears to make her dream a reality, but only if she returns by midnight.

Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times saw Javier Camarena performing the role of the prince and focused much of his review on the fact that Camarena took over the first three performances for Flórez who was ill. As much as he loved Camarena’s performance, he was also enamored with DiDonato:

“La Cenerentola,” Rossini’s version of the Cinderella fairy tale, is Cinderella’s show. The Metropolitan Opera has a dazzling, plucky and endearingly poignant Cinderella in the superb American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who triumphed Monday night when the company’s 1997 production, which gives this 1817 classic a 1930s look, returned to the repertory.”

That’s it for Week 57 at the Met. I hope you enjoyed the fairy tales being told this week.

At press time I don’t know what the theme will be for Week 58. Enjoy the operas! Enjoy your week!

Photo: A scene from Turandot. (Courtesy Met Opera Archives)

The post Once Upon a Time: Week 57 at the Met appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Amongst the authors whose work inspired the seven operas being streamed are Goethe, Nikolai Gogol, Victor Hugo, Alexander Pushkin, Friedrich Schiller and William Shakespeare.

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and the planned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this column early enough on April 5th, you might still have time to catch the 2016-2017 season production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde that concludes a week celebrating Love Triangles. And if you’ve never seen this production, I strongly recommend it.

Here is the full line-up for Week 56 at the Met:

Monday, April 5 – Gounod’s Faust

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; starring Marina Poplavskaya, Jonas Kaufmann, Russell Braun and René Pape. This Des McAnuff production is from the 2011-2012 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on May 23rd, November 17th and January 27th.

Charles Gounod’s Faust had its world premiere in Paris in 1859. The libretto was written by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré who used both Carré’s play Faust et Marguerite and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust, Part One as inspiration.

This oft-told story is about a man who sacrifices his soul to the devil, Méphistophélès, in order to maintain his youth and the love of Marguerite. 

But you know what happens when you make a deal with the devil…it’s not going to end well.

McAnuff made his Metropolitan Opera debut with this production. He is best known as the director of Jersey Boys and Ain’t Too Proud on Broadway. In his Faust he 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, 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.

Tuesday, April 6 – Verdi’s Rigoletto

Conducted by James Levine; starring Christiane Eda-Pierre, Isola Jones, Luciano Pavarotti, Louis Quilico and Ara Berberian. This revival of John Dexter’s 1977 production is from the 1981-1982 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on August 12th and December 30th.

Victor Hugo, the author of Les Míserables, was also a playwright and it was his play, Le roi s’amuse, that served as the inspiration for Giuseppe Verdi’s opera. Francesco Maria Piave, who regularly collaborated with the composer, wrote the libretto. The opera had its world premiere in Venice, Italy in 1851.

The title character is a jester who serves the Duke of Mantua. The Duke is a seductive man who, upon learning that the woman with whom Rigoletto lives is his daughter and not his wife, makes the young woman, Gilda, his next target. Curses, assassination plots and more leave this clown without much to smile about. 

For most opera fans, Pavarotti’s appearance in this production was the selling point. But for New York Times critic Edward Rothstein, he found something, or rather, someone else to admire.

“Though Luciano Pavarotti as the Duke may attract the most attention, Louis Quilico, as Rigoletto, was at the center of the drama; his passions and fears could be heard in his voice as well as seen in his face and body. His ‘La ra, la ra, la la’ seemed sobbed out by a jester who has lived too long and seen too much.”

Wednesday, April 7 – Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin

Conducted by Robin Ticciati; starring Anna Netrebko, Elena Maximova, Alexey Dolgov, Peter Mattei and Štefan Kocán. This revival of the 2013-2014 Deborah Warner production is from the 2016-2017 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously available on August 19th.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was inspired by Alexander Pushkin’s verse novel of the same name for this opera that had its world premiere in Moscow in 1879. The composer co-wrote the libretto (using much of Pushkin’s text as written) with Konstantin Shilovsky.

Onegin is a rather selfish man. Tatyana expresses her love for him, but he rejects her saying he isn’t suited to marriage. By the time he comes to regret the way he treated her, he has also come to regret the actions that lead to a duel that killed his best friend.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky had been announced to sing the title role in this production. Due to ongoing treatments for cancer, he had to withdraw from the production. When this production opened Mariusz Kwiecien sang the role. Ten days prior to this performance that is being shown, Peter Mattei assumed the role. Exactly seven months after this performance, Hvorostovsky passed away.

Thursday, April 8 – Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini

Conducted by James Levine; starring Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo and Cornell MacNeil. This Piero Faggioni production is from the 1983-1984 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously available on August 18th and December 17th.

Riccardo Zandonai is not the best known of composers nor are his works regularly performed. Francesca da Ramini is his most popular work. The opera had its world premiere in Turin in 1914. The libretto was written by Tito Ricordi. Gabriele d’Annunzio’s play Francesca da Rimini was the source material that inspired this opera.

The title character, Francesca, is set to marry Giovanni (who is known by his nickname, Gianciotto.) When she is introduced to his brother, Paolo, she believes this man to be her groom. He falls in love with her, but has conspired to take Francesca away from his brother. Sibling rivalry significantly intensifies when Gianciotto’s youngest brother, Malatestino, gets involved.

The only clip I could find is, unfortunately, the finale. So if you don’t know the opera and don’t want to see how it ends, I’d advise you bypass this clip.

This production marked the first time Zandonai’s opera had been performed at the Metropolitan Opera in 66 years. It also marked the debut of Piero Faggioni.

Donal Henahan, my favorite of all New York Times opera critics had fun with this one. In particular he sharpened his pen for his comments about Scotto’s performance:

“To succeed even on its own modest level, the work needs a Francesca of irresistible stage presence and a voice to match. Renata Scotto is at a point in her career where the voice is colorless and often downright shrill. Her acting powers were stretched beyond their limits by a heavily padded scenario and heavy-handed direction by Piero Faggioni in his Met debut. The problem was not that she indulged in silent-movie histrionics, which cannot and should not be avoided in a period production of this sort, but that she seemed to have only half a dozen poses to draw upon. Her idea of showing desire for Paolo did not extend much beyond kneading her loins and clutching her thighs, which she did at tiresome length.”

Friday, April 9 – Shostakovich’s The Nose

Conducted by Pavel Smelkov; starring Andrey Popov, Alexander Lewis and Paulo Szot. This William Kentridge production is from the 2013-2014 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously available on July 1st.

Dmitri Shostakovich’s satirical The Nose was the composer’s first opera. It had its debut in Leningrad in 1930. The libretto was by Shostakovich, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Georgy Ionin and Alexander Preis. It is based on a novel by Nikolai Gogol.

The premise is rather simple. The nose of a Saint Petersburg official leaves his face to go off and explore life by itself. The man goes in search of his missing nose and finds it suddenly much bigger and assuming a position of power over him.

The Nose was not performed in Russian again after its premiere until 1974. This was the Metropolitan Opera’s first production of the opera. It also marked the Met Opera debut of tenor Paulo Szot as the man with the missing nose. In addition to his opera career, Szot appeared on Broadway in the 2008 revival of South Pacific and won a Tony Award for his performance.

Saturday, April 10 – Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette

Conducted by Plácido Domingo; starring Anna Netrebko, Roberto Alagna, Nathan Gunn and Robert Lloyd. This revival of Guy Joosten’s 2005 production is from the 2007-2008 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously available on July 23rd and November 7th.

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet served as the inspiration for this five-act opera by Charles Gounod that had its world premiere in Paris in 1867. The libretto was written by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré.

The opera closely follows Shakespeare’s play about two star-crossed lovers from warring families. Their love only inflames the animosity between the Montagues and the Capulets. No matter what the young lovers do to be together, fate always seems to find a way to make their love impossible. When that happens, tragedy follows.

In her review for the New York Times, Anne Midgette said of the two leads: 

“You are not going to hear much better singing than this today. True, Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna can both be faulted. She is a little wild, flinging herself into roles and about the stage (especially, on Tuesday, at her first entrance); he has a certain emotional bluntness, and a certain monochrome tone. So much for the obligatory criticism. The bottom line is that Ms. Netrebko produced a luscious sound that you wanted to bathe in forever, especially in her first-act duet with Mr. Alagna. The ultimate measure for a singer should be, Is this a sound you want to listen to? The answer here was yes.”

Sunday, April 11 – Verdi’s Luisa Miller

Conducted by Bertrand de Billy; starring Sonya Yoncheva, Olesya Petrova, Piotr Beczała, Plácido Domingo, Alexander Vinogradov and Dmitry Belosselskiy. This revival of the 2002 Elijah Moshinsky production is from the 2017-2018 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously available on May 2nd and August 26th.

Luisa Miller was Verdi’s 15th opera. As with Don Carlo, the composer turned to Friedrich Schiller for inspiration. His work, Kabale und Liebe, was the basis for Salvadore Cammarano’s libretto. The opera had its world premiere in 1849 in Naples, Italy.

Like many a young woman, Luisa Miller’s father is not thrilled with her choice of boyfriends. Carlo, the man she loves, is not quite who he seems to be. Enter Wurm, who knows the truth about Carlo and who does everything he can to ruin their relationship because he, too, is in love with Luisa.

Domingo announced that his performance of Luisa’s father in this production would make the 149th role he had portrayed in his career. This was part of his career shift after switching from singing tenor roles to baritone roles.

Conductor de Billy was brought in after James Levine was fired from the Metropolitan Opera after an investigation into in appropriate sexual behavior.

The first opera Domingo and Levine collaborated on at the Met was a 1971 production of Luisa Miller. This production was the Met’s first of this Verdi work in over a decade.

That’s it for Week 56 at the Met. Next week the theme is Once Upon a Time. Can you guess what will be shown?

Enjoy your week and enjoy the operas!

Photo: Paulo Szot in The Nose (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

The post From Page to Stage: Week 56 at the Met appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Two productions stand out to me this week. The first is the third streaming of the 2016-2017 season production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde with Stuart Skelton and Nina Stemme. This happens to be my favorite opera, but this production is powerful. The second highlight is the first-ever streaming of the 2012-2013 season production of Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore.

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and the planned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this column early enough on March 29th, you might still have time to catch the 2019-2020 season production of Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer that concludes a week celebrating Myths and Legends.

Here is the line-up for Week 55 at the Met:

Monday, March 29 – Bellini’s Norma

Conducted by Carlo Rizzi; starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce DiDonato, Joseph Calleja and Matthew Rose. This David McVicar production is from the 2017- 2018 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on April 5th, September 20th and January 20th.

Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma had its world premiere in Milan in 1831. The libretto was written by Felice Romani based on Alexandre Soumet’s play Norma, ou L’infanticide (Norma, or The Infanticide).

The opera is set during Roman occupation of Gaul. Norma, the Druid high priestess, has been abandoned by the Roman consul, Pollione, the father of her two children. He has fallen in love with his wife’s friend, Adalgisa. Norma is devastated when she learns of his betrayal and his plans to marry Adalgisa. This leaves Norma in the position of having to figure out what to do with her children and whether or not to exact revenge on Pollione. 

Maria Callas made Norma a signature role for her after she first performed in a 1948 production at Teatro Comunale di Firenze. She sang the part in 89 performances. The role is considered the Mount Everest of opera. 

James Jorden examined what makes this role so challenging in a 2017 article for the New York Times that ran just before this production opened. You can read that story here.

Tuesday, March 30 – Strauss’s Capriccio

Conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, starring Renée Fleming, Sarah Connolly, Joseph Kaiser, Russell Braun, Morten Frank Larsen and Peter Rose. This revival of the 1998 John Cox production is from the 2010-2011 season. This is an encore presentation of the production made available on May 7th and January 15th.

As the Countess, Fleming must make one decision that resonates in a second way. Does she prefer words or music? And by extension, does she prefer the poet or the composer that make up the love triangle in this opera.

When Fleming decided to do the role of the Countess in this opera by Strauss in 2011, it was the first time she had performed the full opera at the Met. Anthony Tomassini of the New York Times was impressed:

“The role suits her ideally at this stage of her career, and she sang splendidly. The performance over all, sensitively conducted by Andrew Davis and featuring a winning cast, made an excellent case for this Strauss curiosity, his final opera, which had its premiere in Munich in 1942 in the midst of World War II.”

Wednesday, March 31 – Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux

Conducted by Maurizio Benini; starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Elīna Garanča, Matthew Polenzani and Mariusz Kwiecień.  This David McVicar production is from the 2015-2016 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on April 29th and October 17th.

Roberto Devereux had its world premiere in Naples in 1837. François Ancelot’s Elisabeth d’Angleterre was the main inspiration for Salvadore Cammarano’s libretto. It is believed he also used Jacques Lescéne des Maisons’ Historie secrete des amours d’Elisabeth et du comte d’Essex as inspiration as well.

This opera tells the story of the title character who is the Earl of Essex. Queen Elizabeth I is secretly in love with him. In the very late 16th century (1599 to be exact), she sends him with an army to quash an uprising in Ireland. He is unsuccessful and, despite instructions to do otherwise, he returns to England. He is deemed to be a deserter. This being opera, it isn’t just a political tale nor one of history. There are conflicted relationships that ultimately lead to tragedy.

This was the Metropolitan Opera’s first production of Roberto Devereux. When Radvanovsky sang in this production, she had also performed the two previous Donizetti operas in this informal trilogy in the same season at the Met.

This is how the audience responded on opening night to Radvanovsky’s accomplishment as reported by Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times:

“The applause and bravos for the soprano Sondra Radvanovsky were so frenzied at the end of Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux at the Metropolitan Opera on Thursday night that she looked overwhelmed, almost a little frightened.The audience members knew, it seemed, that they had just witnessed an emotionally vulnerable and vocally daring performance, a milestone in the career of an essential artist.”

Thursday, April 1 – Verdi’s Il Trovatore

Conducted by James Levine; starring Éva Marton, Dolora Zajick, Luciano Pavarotti and Sherrill Milnes. This Fabrizio Melano production is from the 1988-1989 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on July 7th and January 1st.

Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore is based on the play El trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez published in 1836. The libretto was written by Salvadore Cammarano with additions by Leone Emanuele Badare. The opera had its world premiere in Rome in 1853.

The setting is Zaragoza, the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon, circa 1412. To offer up a quick synopsis here would be a fool’s game to play. Several stories happen simultaneously and sometimes share the same characters. The opera has rarely been hailed for its story, but it certainly ranks as one of Verdi’s finest compositions.

When this production first opened that season at the Metropolitan Opera, Joan Sutherland sang the role of Leonora and Richard Bonynge was conducting. Pavarotti sang the role of Manrico throughout.

While critics were not so keen on Melano’s direction, Donal Henahan, writing for the New York Times, liked much of Pavarotti’s performance.

“Mr. Pavarotti was in good vocal health, immediately making ears prick up with his offstage song in the duel scene. Later, his ‘Ah, si, ben mio’ was meltingly ardent and unmistakably the work of a genuine lyric tenor. In the opera’s most famous aria, ‘Di quella pira,’ his voice simply lacked the bite and thrust required for this showpiece of the Italian robust tenor.”

Friday, April 2 – Massenet’s Werther

Conducted by Alain Altinoglu; starring Lisette Oropesa, Sophie Koch, Jonas Kaufmann and David Bižić. This Richard Eyre production is from the 2013-2014 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available May 11th and September 13th.

Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther was the inspiration for this opera which had its world premiere in 1892 in Vienna. It is not the first opera inspired by Goethe’s novel: Rodolphe Kreutzer wrote one in 1792 as did Vincenzo Pucitta in 1802.

Werther tells the story of a young man who spends some of his time writing poetry and imagining life as he thinks it should be. He falls in love with the daughter of a man who manages a large estate. Things don’t always measure up to his ideal of the world and the title character contemplates suicide. That’s just the first half.

In his New York Times review of this production, Anthony Tomassini said:

“To be a great Werther, a tenor must somehow be charismatic yet detached, vocally impassioned yet ethereal. Mr. Kaufmann is ideal in the role. He sings with dark colorings, melting warmth, virile intensity and powerful top notes. There is a trademark dusky covering to his sound that lends a veiled quality to Mr. Kaufmann’s Werther and suits the psychology of the character.”

Saturday, April 3 – Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore FIRST SHOWING

Conducted by Maurizio Benini; starring Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecień and Ambrogio Maestri. This Bartlett Sher production is from the 2012-2013 season.

Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore had its world premiere in Milan in 1832. The libretto by Felice Romani. L’Elisir d’Amore was inspired by Eugène Scribe’s libretto for Daniel Auber’s Le philtre.

In this opera, Adina and Nemorino are the couple at the center of the story. Nemorino is madly in love with Adina, but she toys with his love. In an act of desperation he purchases an “elixir” that he believes will make her fall in love with him. He pretends not to love her anymore which leads, of course, to the planning of their wedding. But will it take place? It’s a comic opera, of course it will!

In his New York Times review, Anthony Tommasini said this production was a much-needed upgrade from the Met’s previous production:

“What mattered on Monday was that the Met, having junked its 1991 production of Elisir, a cutesy show with cartoonish sets, now has a handsome and insightful new staging. The cast, which also stars the tenor Matthew Polenzani as Nemorino, the poor villager who pines for Adina, is terrific. Maurizio Benini conducts a stylish and zesty performance. And Mr. Sher delves beneath the surface of this frothy, tuneful opera to highlight its tale of two young people incapable of facing their mutual attraction.”

Sunday, April 4 – Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Conducted by Simon Rattle; starring Nina Stemme, Ekaterina Gubanova, Stuart Skelton, Evgeny Nikitin and René Pape. This Mariusz Trelinski production is from the 2016-2017 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on March 23rd and October 5th.

Richard Wagner wrote the music and the libretto for Tristan and Isolde. Gottfried von Strassburg’s novel, Tristan, from the 12th century, serves as his inspiration. The opera had its world premiere in Munich in 1865.

It is a bit of oversimplifying to say that the story in Tristan und Isolde is about two lovers whose passion for each other is so strong, it can only truly thrive in the afterlife. But frankly, in a nutshell, that’s the essential premise. But don’t be mistaken, this is pure drama and glorious music.

Anyone who saw Nina Stemme in Richard Strauss’s Elektra that has streamed a few times know how fully-committed she is to the characters she sings.

Anthony Tommasini, writing in the New York Times, hailed her performance:

“Her Isolde is just as outstanding. Her voice has enormous carrying power without any forcing. Gleaming, focused top notes slice through the orchestra. As Isolde went through swings of thwarted fury, yearning and despair, Ms. Stemme altered the colorings of her sound, from steely rawness to melting warmth. And it is not often you hear a Wagnerian soprano who takes care to sing with rhythmic fidelity and crisp diction.”

Those are the productions available during Week 55 at the Met. I’m not sure what next week has in store – yet! Enjoy the operas and enjoy your week!

Photo: Stuart Skelton and Nina Stemme in Tristan und Isolde (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

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So what did you choose? All of the productions are from the 21st century. The earliest from 2007 and the most recent just last year. Amongst the performers showcased this week are Anthony Roth Costanzo, Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Jonas Kaufmann and Anna Netrebko. Productions by David McVicar and Bartlett Sher proved most popular (each has two productions being shown this week).

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and the planned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this column early enough on March 15th, you might still have time to catch the 2017-2018 season production of Tosca by Giacomo Puccini that concludes a week celebrating Verismo Passions.

Here are your selections for Week 53 at the Met:

Monday, March 15 – Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann

Conducted by James Levine; starring Anna Netrebko, Kathleen Kim, Ekaterina Gubanova, Kate Lindsey, Joseph Calleja and Alan Held. This Bartlett Sher production is from the 2009-2010 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously made available on April 22nd.

Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffman had its world premiere in Paris in 1881. The libretto was written by Jules Barbier and was inspired by three short stories by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman. Offenbach did not live to see this opera performed. He died four months before its premiere.

In the opera Offenbach and Barbier put the author of the stories in the middle of all the action. He’s seeking perfect love and tells a tavern crowd about three fruitless attempts at romance. The first with the daughter of an inventor who turns out to be a doll instead of a human being. The second with a beautiful young woman with a gorgeous voice, but whose singing may lead to her death. The third with a young woman who steals his reflection. Will poor Hoffman ever find love? Or will his writing be his lifelong companion?

Anthony Tommasini, in his New York Times review, laid out some of the challenges this production faced and also what it achieved in spite of them:

“As conceived, this production was to have featured the tenor Rolando Villazón as the poet, wild-eyed dreamer and delusional lover Hoffmann. When Mr. Villazón, in the midst of a vocal crisis, pulled out last spring, the young Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja, who had never sung this daunting role, accepted the assignment. On Thursday he gave his all, singing with ardor, stamina and poignant vocal colorings and winning a rousing ovation. There were technically shaky elements to his performance, and his focused, quick vibrato revealed every slight inaccuracy of pitch. Still, the insecurity actually befitted Mr. Calleja’s take on the character, laid bare emotionally. 

“The soprano Anna Netrebko may have disappointed her fans by deciding not to sing all four of Hoffmann’s love interests, as originally planned. But she was vocally lustrous, charismatic and wrenching as Antonia, the sickly and frustrated singer who has been warned that singing will lead to her death. She also made a captivating and tart Stella, the prima donna Hoffmann is smitten with.”

Tuesday, March 16 – Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West

Conducted by Marco Armiliato; starring Eva-Maria Westbroek, Jonas Kaufmann and Željko Lučić. This revival of the 1991 Giancarlo del Monaco production is from the 2018-2019 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously made available on July 26th.

Giacomo Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West had its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in 1910. It was Puccini’s follow-up to Madama Butterfly. Like that work, this was also inspired by a play by David Belasco. The Girl of the Golden West was adapted by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarini.

Set during the Gold Rush era in California, Sherriff Rance is told by a Wells Fargo agent, Ashby, that he is chasing a bandit named Ramerrez. Minnie is the owner of the bar where Rance’s unrequited love for Minnie remains just that. A stranger arrives and successfully flirts with Minnie. He identifies himself as Johnson, but in reality he is the bandit Ramerrez. Can he avoid recognition and capture? Will their love save the day?

This production marked Kaufmann’s return to the Metropolitan Opera after a four-and-a-half-year absence from their stages. He had previously been announced in three productions during that time, but withdrew from each one. Skeptics wondered if he would actually appear in this one. He did. And though not in top form, he still received praise from Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times:

“The dusky colorings of Mr. Kaufmann’s voice gave his singing of this Italianate music a Germanic cast, but that quality made his Johnson seem, intriguingly, more of an outsider. He brought melting richness and dramatic nuances to his performance, supported by the sensitive conducting of Marco Armiliato.”

Wednesday, March 17 – Donizetti’s Anna Bolena

Conducted by Marco Armiliato; starring Anna Netrebko, Ekaterina Gubanova, Tamara Mumford, Stephen Costello and Ildar Abdrazakov. This David McVicar production is from the 2011-2012 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on April 27th and October 15th.

Anna Bolena has its premiere in Milan in Milan in 1830. The libretto is based on two works: Ippolito Pindemonte’s Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli’s Anna Bolena. Donizetti’s librettist was Felice Romani.

Donizetti wrote four operas about the Tudor period. The three most popular operas are being performed in consecutive order (and the order of their composition) this week. The lesser-known fourth opera (which was actually the first opera) is Il castello di Kenilworth. Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux‘s leading female characters are referred to as the “three Donizetti Queens.”

In Anna Bolena, Henry VIII has fallen in love with Jane Seymour who is Queen Anna’s lady-in-waiting. Though King Henry had demanded Anna separate from Lord Percy to marry him, he now must find a way to make it possible for him to leave her and marry Jane. He contrives a meeting between Lord Percy and Anna in order to set her up for treason and ultimately execution.

This production was the first time the Metropolitan Opera performed Anna Bolena in all its history. It was, however, the second time Netrebko had performed the role having sung it in Vienna earlier that year. Anthony Tommasini, writing for the New York Times, raved about Netrebko’s performance:

“Ms. Netrebko sang an elegantly sad aria with lustrous warmth, aching vulnerability and floating high notes. When the audience broke into prolonged applause and bravos, Ms. Netrebko seemed to break character and smile a couple of times, though her look could have been taken as appropriate to the dramatic moment, since the delusional Anna is lost in reverie about happy days with her former lover.”

Thursday, March 18 – Philip Glass’s Akhnaten

Conducted by Karen Kamensek; starring Dísella Lárusdóttir, J’Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Aaron Blake, Will Liverman, Richard Bernstein and Zachary James. This Phelim McDermott production is from the 2019-2020. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on June 20th, November 14th and February 12th.

Akhnaten is one of Glass’s three biographical operas (the others are Einstein on the Beach and Saturday’s opera, Satyagraha.) The composer also wrote the libretto with the assistance of Shalom Goldman, Robert Israel, Richard Riddell and Jerome Robbins.

Akhnaten was a pharaoh who was controversial for his views on worshipping more than one God. He suggested just worshipping one – the sun. He was husband to Nefertitti and father of Tutankhamun. This opera does not have a linear storyline.

In his New York Times review, Anthony Tommasini praised the leads:

“Wearing gauzy red robes with extravagantly long trains, Mr. Costanzo and Ms. Bridges seem at once otherworldly and achingly real. His ethereal tones combine affectingly with her plush, deep-set voice. Ms. Kamensek, while keeping the orchestra supportive, brings out the restless rhythmic elements that suggest the couple’s intensity.”

I’ve seen this production with Costanzo singing the title role and cannot recommend taking the time to watch Akhnaten highly enough. 

Friday, March 19 – Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Conducted by Maurizio Benini; starring Joyce DiDonato, Juan Diego Flórez, Peter Mattei, John Del Carlo and John Relyea. This Bartlett Sher production is from the 2006-2007 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on March 31st and October 19th.

Gioachino Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) had its world premiere in 1816 in Rome. The opera is based on the new 1775 comedy by Beaumarchais of the same name. The libretto was written by Cesare Sterbini.

In this comedic opera, Count Almaviva is in love with the delightful Rosina. As he’s a Count, he wants to make sure her love is true and anchored in her passion for him, not the fact that he’s a Count. 

In order to be sure, he pretends to be student with no money. Regardless of his efforts, Bartolo, who serves as Rosina’s guardian, will make sure no one will woo Rosina and win. Bartolo, however, doesn’t know that Almaviva has a secret weapon, a cunning man named Figaro who is…the barber.

This production marked the debut of Tony Award-winner (and 9-time nominee) Bartlett Sher at the Metropolitan Opera. In Anthony Tommasini’s review in the New York Times he hailed Sher’s production:

“For the inventive, breezy new production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Metropolitan Opera, which opened on Friday night and boasts a winning cast, the director Bartlett Sher, making his Met debut, has embraced the opera’s atmosphere of intrigue and subterfuge. Michael Yeargan’s set is an abstract matrix of movable doors, stairwells and potted orange trees that characters lurk behind as they listen in on conversations. Yet this is in no way an updated production. The costume designer, Catherine Zuber, has dressed the characters in colorful and sexy period garb with comic touches, like the disheveled, curly red wig worn by Rosina, the young heroine. 

“If not updated, the opera is freshened up by Mr. Sher, bringing his perspective as an acclaimed theater director best known to New Yorkers for The Light in the Piazza.”

Saturday, March 20 – Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin

Conducted by Valery Gergiev; starring Renée Fleming, Ramón Vargas and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. This revival of Robert Carsen’s 1997 production is from the 2006-2007 season.This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on March 22nd, November 30th and February 24th

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was inspired by Alexander Pushkin’s verse novel of the same name for this opera that had its world premiere in Moscow in 1879. The composer co-wrote the libretto (using much of Pushkin’s text as written) with Konstantin Shilovsky.

Onegin is a rather selfish man. Tatyana expresses her love for him, but he rejects her saying he isn’t suited to marriage. By the time he comes to regret the way he treated her, he has also come to regret the actions that lead to a duel that killed his best friend.

Anthony Tommasini, in his New York Times review raved, “You will seldom see better acting in opera then the scenes between Ms. Fleming and Mr. Hvorostovsky. With his white mane, commanding physique and earthy voice, Mr. Hvorostovsky projects charisma naturally, making him perfect for this diffident character.

“Everything and everyone seems to come to Onegin, which accounts for his passivity. In the scene in which he gently chastises Tatiana for having sent him a rash love letter, his paternalistic arrogance, as projected by Mr. Hvorostovsky, would have been infuriating had it not seemed so tragically clueless.”

Sunday, March 21 – Handel’s Agrippina

Conducted by Harry Bicket; starring Brenda Rae, Joyce DiDonato, Kate Lindsey, Iestyn Davies, Duncan Rock and Matthew Rose. This David McVicar production is from the 2019-2020 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on August 8th and October 27th.

George Frideric Handel’s Agrippina has a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani. The opera had its world premiere in 1709 in Venice at the Teatro S Giovanni Grisostomo which was owned by Grimani.

Agrippina is the Roman empress who is fixated on the idea of having her highly unqualified son, Nerone, take over the throne. To do that, she will stop at nothing to get her husband, Claudio, to cede it to him.

Though McVicar’s production was first staged in Brussels in 2000, this marked the first ever Metropolitan Opera production of Agrippina. Conductor Harry Bicket lead from the harpsichord and audiences and critics were enthralled.

Zachary Woolfe, in his review for the New York Times said, “Three centuries on, Agrippina remains bracing in its bitterness, with few glimmers of hope or virtue in the cynical darkness. But it’s irresistible in its intelligence — and in the shamelessness it depicts with such clear yet understanding eyes.”

Those are your choices for Week 53 at the Met. At the moment I have no idea what Week 54 has in store for us all. So enjoy the operas you’ve selected and enjoy your week.

Photo: Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Renée Fleming in Eugene Onegin. (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

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Both are by composer Umberto Giordano: a 1996-1997 season production of the little-seen Fedora and a production of Andrea Chénier from earlier in the same season.

Verismo refers to a sense of realism in the arts and applies primarily to 19th century Italian operas. So crack open your favorite bottle of chianti and settle in for a week of Italian operas by Cilea, Leoncavallo, Mascagni, Puccini and Zandonai joining the two operas by Giordano.

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and the planned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this column early enough on March 8th, you might still have time to catch the 1983-1984 season production of La Forza del Destino by Giuseppe Verdi that concludes a week celebrating women’s history month at the Met. (Plus it gives you another Italian opera!)

Here is the full line-up of Week 52 at the Met:

Monday, March 8 – Puccini’s Manon Lescaut

Conducted by James Levine; starring Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo and Pablo Elvira. This Gian Carlo Menotti production is from the 1979-1980 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously available on May 27th.

Puccini’s Manon Lescaut was based on Abbé Prévost’s 1731 novel, Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux, et de Manon Lescaut. The libretto is by Luigi Illica, Marco Praga and Domenico Oliva. Manon Lescaut had its world premiere in Turin in 1893.

This is another opera about an ill-fated couple. Manon is taken by her brother to live in a convent. A local student, Des Grieux, feels it is love at first sight and persuades Manon to run away with him. Poverty doesn’t suit her, nor does a life of having everything she wants when she leaves Des Grieux for Geronte, the man her brother had chosen as a possible husband. Passion cannot be denied, but doesn’t mean Manon and Des Grieux will live happily ever after.

Harold C. Schonberg raved about both lead performances in his review for the New York Times.

“Renata Scott sang the title role and it was a typical Scotto performance. She understood the character dramatically and vocally and her acting was always convincing…Domingo cemented the point that he is probably the best all-around tenor active in the world today.”

Tuesday, March 9 – Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci

Cavalleria Rusticana: Conducted by Fabio Luisi; starring Eva-Maria Westbroek, Jane Bunnell, Marcelo Álvarez and George Gagnidze.

Pagliacci: Conducted by Fabio Luisi; starring Patricia Racette, Marcelo Álvarez, George Gagnidze and Lucas Meachem.

Both operas were David McVicar productions from the 2014-2015 season. This is an encore presentation of these two one-act operas that was previously available on May 10th and January 8th.

Perhaps no pairing of one-act operas is more popular than the combination of Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni and Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo. 

Cavalleria Rusticana had its world premiere in Rome in 1890. The opera is based on a short story which later became a play by Giovanni Verga. Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci adapted them both for their libretto.

Mascagni’s opera centers on a love triangle. Turridu, who has returned from military service, goes to see his ex-lover, Lola, before seeing his current lover, Santuzza. Lola is married to Alfio. Santuzza decides to tell Alfio about the infidelity and the two men decide to duel. At the end of the opera, multiple hearts are left broken.

Pagliacci had its world premiere in Milan in 1892. Leoncavallo also wrote the libretto.

The opera tells the story of a married couple, Canio and Nedda, who are performers in a small theatre company on the road. Canio is insanely jealous and that jealousy drives Nedda to seek affection from another man, Silvio. Nedda and Silvio make plans to elope, but their plans are overheard by Tonio, another member of the company. He tells Canio about Nedda’s plans. Looking for revenge, Canio, during a performance of their touring play, makes his personal life mirror the drama in the play.

For those relatively new to opera, these two one-act productions are easy ways to explore the art form. There is well-known music, but there is more. Pagliacci is not just a commonly performed opera, it is also one that is referenced in countless films and television shows. But don’t count out Cavalleria Rusticana. If you’ve seen either Raging Bull or The Godfather III, you’ll recognize this opera, too.

There was controversy surrounding these two productions when David McVicar’s productions replaced the long-performed productions by Franco Zeffirelli. Alex Ross, writing for The New Yorker, made the case for the new productions as a way for the Met Opera to continue to grow and evolve.

“If the Met were to offer nothing but fixed stagings of a fixed canon, it would succumb to terminal atrophy. Not that Europe is so far ahead: all those antic deconstructions are a defense against the boredom of an overfamiliar repertory. The really radical move would be to focus on new opera, as every company did before 1900.”

Wednesday, March 10 – Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur

Conducted by Gianandrea Noseda; starring Anna Netrebko, Anita Rachvelishvili, Piotr Beczała and Ambrogio Maestri. This David McVicar production is from the 2018-2019 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously available on April 18th and January 4th.

Francesco Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur had its world premiere in Milan in 1902. It features a libretto by Arturo Colautti. The opera is based on the 1849 Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé play Adrienne Lecouvreur. 

At the center of this opera is a love triangle. The title character is a beloved actress who has many possible suitors. She is in love with the Count of Saxony, Maurizio. He, though smitten with Adriana, is trying to fully break ties with his ex-lover, the Princesse de Bouillon. Insecurities and jealousies lead all three down a path that will ultimately end in murder.

Anthony Tommasini, writing in his New York Times review, said of this production, “The strongest scenes in the opera, involving the three principals, leapt off the stage on Monday, especially the confrontation between Adriana and the princess in Act II, when they discover that they both love Maurizio. Ms. Netrebko and Ms. Rachvelishvili sang ferociously as they hurled accusatory phrases at each other. Yet each found moments in the music to suggest the womanly longing that consumes them.”

Thursday, March 11 – Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini

Conducted by Marco Armiliato; starring Eva-Maria Westbroek, Marcello Giordani and Mark Delavan. This is David Kneuss’s re-working of the 1984 Piero Faggioni production from the 2012-2013 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously available on July 9th.

Riccardo Zandonai is not the best known of composers nor are his works regularly performed. Francesca da Ramini is his most popular work. The opera had its world premiere in Turin in 1914. The libretto was written by Tito Ricordi. Gabriele d’Annunzio’s play Francesca da Rimini was the source material that inspired this opera.

The title character, Francesca, is set to marry Giovanni (who is known by his nickname, Gianciotto.) When she is introduced to his brother, Paolo, she believes this man to be her groom. He falls in love with her, but has conspired to take Francesca away from his brother. Sibling rivalry significantly intensifies when Gianciotto’s youngest brother, Malatestino, gets involved.

This production marked the first time in over a quarter century since the Met had performed Francesa da Rimini. Steve Smith, writing for the New York Times said of Zandonai’s music, “…his musical language, though grounded in Italian lyricism, bears traces of Tristan und Isolde, Pelléas et Mélisande and Der Rosenkavalier.” But he concluded his review with two words, “Still – why?”

Friday, March 12 – Giordano’s Fedora FIRST SHOWING

Conducted by Roberto Abbado; starring Mirella Freni, Ainhoa Arteta, Plácido Domingo, Dwayne Croft, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet. This Beppe De Tomasi production is from the 1996-1997 season.

Umberto Giordano was on the podium leading the orchestra in the world premiere of Fedora in Milan in 1898. The libretto, written by Arturo Colautti, is based on a 1882 play of the same name by Victorien Sardou.

After Count Vladimir betrays his fiancé Princess Fedora, he is killed and it is believed Count Loris Ipanov is responsible. Fedora plans her revenge. She travels to Paris and while at a party Ipanov declares his love for her. How will she reconcile his newly-announced passion for her with her suspicions he murdered her husband-to-be?

Yes you read that cast list correctly. Classical pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet appears in this production in a non-singing role. But the highlight for most people in the audience was another opportunity to see legendary soprano Freni.

In his review for the New York Times, Anthony Tomassini talked about the response she got upon her first entrance on opening night.

“When Ms. Freni appeared, she was greeted by a round of applause that forced the conductor Roberto Abbado to stop the performance. Now 61, she could be making her last appearances at the Met. Her voice remains full, rich and intensely expressive. There are signs of wear, but the sense of line, varied colorings, and enveloping resonance of her singing harken to a tradition that may disappear with her retirement.”

She did return to the Metropolitan Opera stage in 2005 for a celebration of her 40th anniversary of her Met debut and the 50th anniversary of her career.

Saturday, March 13 – Giordano’s Andrea Chénier FIRST SHOWING

Conducted by James Levine; starring Maria Guleghina, Wendy White, Stephanie Blythe, Luciano Pavarotti and Juan Pons. This Nicholas Joël production is from the 1996-1997 season.

Giordano’s opera had its world premiere in Milan in 1896. It features a libretto by Luigi Illica and is inspired by the life of the poet André Chénier who was executed during the French Revolution.

A love triangle is ultimately at the center of this opera. Chénier says one too many things in the presence of Maddalena, Countess di Coigny’s daughter, about the imbalance between the French government and the poverty that has trapped so many of his countrymen. This is just prior to the French Revolution.

Half a decade later, Carlo Gérard, who was a footman to the now executed King Louis XVI and was influenced by Chénier’s talk, is now a leading political figure. The poet, however, is not in their good graces. This interrupts his plans to meet a young woman with whom he has been corresponding. That turns out to be Maddalena. Though she and Chénier are in love, Gérard also has his eyes on her. Politics and passion collide leading to the poet’s execution.

Bernard Holland was not a fan of this production when he reviewed it for the New York Times. He did, however, seem to be impressed by how Pavarotti was handling this role so late in his career.

“This is an opera that can be celebrated more for its parts than its whole. Luciano Pavarotti has the principal one. Six decades have drained a lot of the color from his voice, but in the title role he holds up admirably well. The points of vocal stress are handled gingerly but they are handled. A 61-year-old tenor must by nature be a master of disguise; and so Mr. Pavarotti directs most of our attention to his powers of articulation, almost to the point of excess.”

Sunday, March 14 – Puccini’s Tosca

Conducted by Emmanuel Villaume; starring Sonya Yoncheva, Vittorio Grigolo and Željko Lučić. This David McVicar production is from the 2017-2018 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously available on April 21st and September 25th.

It is quite likely that Puccini’s Tosca was the first opera to premiere in 1900. Its first performance was on January 14 in Rome. Based on Victorien Sardou’s 1887 play of the same name, Tosca‘s libretto was written by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.

The setting for Tosca is Rome in 1800. The Napoleonic wars were raging and political unrest was omnipresent. The opera takes place over the course of slightly less than 24 hours. Floria Tosca is the object of Chief of Police Baron Scarpia’s lust. He uses suspicions that her lover, Mario Cavaradossi, aided a political prisoner who has escaped as an opportunity to get him out of his way which will leave Tosca for himself. After capturing Cavaradossi, Scarpia says that if Tosca doesn’t become his lover, he will have Cavaradossi killed.

This 2018 production of Tosca was a troubled one. The two announced stars pulled out of appearing. Two conductors, for very different reasons, also left the production. This McVicar production was new and it replaced the previous production by Luc Bondy that sharply divided Met Opera audiences. Bondy’s production had replaced the beloved production by Franco Zeffirelli. Yoncheva and Grigolo sang these roles for the first time.

Anthony Tommasini, in his New York Times review had mixed feelings about the two leads.

“Jumping in for Kristine Opolais and Jonas Kaufmann, who canceled, Ms. Yoncheva and Mr. Grigolo were both singing their roles for the first time, and they looked wonderfully youthful as Puccini’s lovers, the opera diva Floria Tosca and the painter Mario Cavaradossi. They saved the day and gave compelling performances, but their greenness came through, in different ways.”

I’ll leave it up to you if you want to read how, in Tommasini’s mind, that greenness impacted the performance he attended.

That ends not just Week 52 at the Met, but our first full year of streaming productions. How will they launch their second year? Time will tell.

In the meantime, enjoy the operas and enjoy your week.

Photo: Eva-Maria Westbroek and Marcello Giordani in Francesca da Rimini (Photo by Marty Sohl/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

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