At Cultural Attaché we believe firmly in direct, one-on-one conversations before we post any interview. However, when the person you are interviewing is singing the demanding role of Brünnhilde in Die Walküre, we’ll make an exception. After all, soprano Christine Goerke isn’t just taking on a role she’s been performing since 2015, she’s doing so in a wildly unique production of the opera’s third act on Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl. Gustavo Dudamel will be leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the performance.

Yuval Sharon, the innovative director behind Invisible Cities, Sweet Land and productions of The Magic Flute and La bohème that upended long-held traditions, is directing this production. As you’ll see, it’s also not going to be a traditional approach to this second opera in Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle and it’s going to require a lot of rehearsal time.

So we agreed to ask Goerke about this production via e-mail so she could rest her voice. Goerke, who has also sung roles in Wagner’s Parsifal and Lohengrin, has appeared throughout the world in Elektra, Turandot, Ariadna auf Naxos, Falstaff and many more. We knew she was a tremendously talented singer. What we didn’t know was how great a sense of humor she has. As you’ll see in this interview.

What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. All emphasis built into her answers are hers.

Very shortly after we posted our BEST BETS for the week on social media, you re-posted and said you were “Very excited about this!” What has you so excited about this particular concert?

There are so many reasons to be excited about this event.  First of all, it’s Die Walküre and any opportunity I get to sing Brünnhilde is reason enough to be excited! It’s also my first opportunity to work with Maestro Dudamel, not to mention that it’s been a minute since I’ve been on stage at the Hollywood Bowl. 

I will say, however, that this isn’t just a concert. This is a fully staged “experience.” It is a way to approach the storytelling that I have never experienced in opera, and I would imagine it’s something that most of the audience will never have experienced either.  It’s *exciting*! (Did I mention – “exciting”?!? LOL!)  

Yuval Sharon has proven himself to be one of our most imaginative directors. What does he have in store for this production and what do you think will make it unique?”

Yuval is absolutely one of our most imaginative and innovative directors. I think that often when people hear that a work that they know and love is being “re-imagined” there is trepidation. I get it. But in working with someone like Yuval, who doesn’t just have an incredibly strong vision for a different presentation of something that you think you know, but also has immense knowledge and love of the work, that has given all of us an incredible glimpse into the new direction in which he is taking our art form. 

His production of Act 3 of Die Walküre takes place in a world that Wotan has created. It is a digital world and we can truly see this when things start to fall apart (I’ll let you all join us at the performance and see exactly what that means!) The singers are all working in costume with a green screen. 

We are essentially offering two performances which are going on at the same time. Different cameras will be picking up different parts of the story/staging and adding the stage elements to the digital offering (which the audience can view at the same time on the screens placed around the Hollywood Bowl). We will all be on the stage interacting with each other in ways that perhaps you won’t see on the screens at all times. It is definitely some hardcore multi-tasking for us, but it is worth it and we’re all loving it.

This is not the first time you have worked with Sharon. What resonates most about your collaborations with him?

Collaborating with Yuval is really quite remarkable. He’s warm and genuine to work with as a director and he comes armed with an immense amount of knowledge. He knows exactly what he wants, but he is willing to listen to the people in front of him and take their thoughts and needs into account. Often his innovative ideas can be a bit jarring (and I mean this as a compliment), but if you allow yourself to step in and go along for the ride it’s a hell of a lot of fun!

How do you think Sharon takes Wagner’s theory of Gesamtkunstwerk (a total work of art) into the 21st century and how does it apply to this concert?

It’s interesting…Wagner was so specific as to what he envisioned for his Ring Cycle. He was a great dramaturg. He wrote of fantastical beasts and journeys and epic sagas. I truly believe that we are simply moving through that journey and every day, with every new way to tell stories – here through a digital medium – we continue that storytelling journey. It is ever-evolving with whatever new technology and innovation that we are able to offer to it and we are speaking to people in a way that is perhaps more relatable to what we now know and are able to create. I believe this invites more people in to what has, at times, seemed elitist. 

You began singing Brünnhilde in productions in 2015. Though the pandemic interrupted your schedule, how has your relationship to this character and her music evolved since those first performances with the Canadian Opera company?”

Ohhhh Brünnhilde…This character has been and always will be so close to my heart. She is an incredibly fully-formed character like no other that I’ve been able to portray. When I first took her on at the Canadian Opera Company in 2015, I was a little terrified. I would have been insane not to have been! I think it’s fair to say that the first time we do any role we don’t get to the root of it. In fact, I feel like the ones that are really and truly worthwhile are the ones that are constantly teaching us something new every time we come back to them.   

Brünnhilde begins her journey in Die Walküre as a naive and somewhat “know-it-all” teen; righteous and indignant.  She then finds fear and disappointment as the person she loves most, her father, falls from his pedestal. She goes on in Siegfried to find love again, but then finds betrayal in Götterdammerung, as well as her own internal strength, integrity and power.   

It all sounds incredibly grand, but when you take it down to bare bones we have all been that know-it-all teen who has no idea what the world has in store for them. We have all seen a parent that we have on a pedestal of perfection become fallible in our eyes. We have all fallen in love, been betrayed and hopefully, found our inner strength and worth, allowing us to accomplish great things.

Those things in all of our lives are ever-evolving. That is what I hope I can bring to this character and it changes every single time I have the honor of portraying her.  

At what point can you tell if the production of the Ring Cycle in which you’ve agreed to appear will be a good one or not?

As far as I am concerned, every production of a Ring can be great … though we all admittedly might prefer one over another.   

As someone who has seen only one Ring Cycle and was frankly scarred by it, what would you say is the reason to give the entire work another try? It should be noted that hearing you sing the Immolation Scene with the LA Philharmonic in concert went a long way towards doing so.

First, I’m heartbroken to hear that you were scarred by a Ring Cycle! I think it’s the coolest story in all of opera. Look, at times it is difficult to divorce yourself from say… a costume… or a set… or the lighting… or even the premise for the storytelling in which the director is asking you to immerse yourself.   

In the end the text, the music, the interpersonal relationships on stage, they don’t change. There is an incredible intimacy in a grand saga here. It offers an insanely wide span of emotional depth and, let’s face it, visceral volume*. (See This Is Spinal Tap “the numbers go up to 11”)  

In its simplest form? It’s a story of a wildly dysfunctional family. I have a funny feeling that we can all relate to that on some level!

In an interview with Alex Ross for Pitchfork, writer Cat Zhang says, “The anarchist Emma Goldman allegedly remarked that Wagner’s music helped women release ‘the pent-up, stifled and hidden emotions of their souls.'” Assuming she made that remark, was Emma Goldman right? What does his music help you do?”

Oh Emma. These days very few women have those soulful emotions pent-up, stifled OR hidden. This just gives us a fabulous soundtrack with which to let them fly. 

I hope that the next time I have a conversation with Christine Goerke, it will be in person. And I can’t wait to see Sunday’s concert!

All photos by Arielle Doneson/Courtesy Opus 3 Artists

The post Soprano Christine Goerke Revisits Brünnhilde appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

The productions being shown this week feature a mix of openly gay performers (Jamie Barton, Michael Fabiano, David Portillo, Patricia Racette), a conductor (Yannick Nézet-Séguin), a director (David McVicar) and two openly gay composers (Thomas Adés and Benjamin Britten).

Being streamed for the first time is the 1996-1997 season production of Britten’s Billy Budd. You’ll find that opera on Saturday, June 26th.

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 June 14thth, you’ll still have time to see the 2017-2018 season production of Verdi’s Luisa Miller that was part of Happy Father’s Day week.

Here is the full line-up for Week 67 at the Met:

Monday, June 21 – Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel – 4th Showing (Strongly Recommended)

Conducted by Thomas Adès; starring Audrey Luna, Amanda Echalaz, Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan, Alice Coote, Christine Rice, Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser, Frédéric Antoun, David Portillo, David Adam Moore, Rod Gilfry, Kevin Burdette, Christian Van Horn and John Tomlinson. This Tom Cairns production was from the 2017-2018 season.

British composer Adés’s opera, based on the Luis Buñuel film from 1962, had its world premiere in Salzburg in 2016. Tom Cairns, who directed this production, wrote the libretto.

The Exterminating Angel depicts an elaborate dinner party where all the attendees suddenly and mysteriously cannot leave the room. As the hours turn into days, they lose any sense of privilege and pretense and are reduced to more animalistic tendencies.

If you’ve seen the composer’s The Tempest you know that Adés is one of our most compelling and intriguing composers. 

Feel free to check out Anthony Tomassini’s review in the New York Times. I’ll just give you the last sentence from his review: “If you go to a single production this season, make it this one.” I’ve seen it and wholeheartedly agree.

Tuesday, June 22 – Dvořák’s Rusalka – 3rd Showing

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.

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 Metamorphosesand 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.

Wednesday, June 23 – Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda – 4th Showing

Conducted by Maurizio Benini; starring Elza van den Heever, Joyce DiDonato, Matthew Polenzani, Joshua Hopkins and Matthew Rose. This David McVicar production is from the 2012-2013 season.

Mary, Queen of Scots, is the central figure in this opera written by Donizetti that had its world premiere in Milan in 1835. The libretto Guiseppe Bardari, was based on Friedrich von Schiller’s play, Mary Stuart, from 1800. 

Elisabetta, the Queen of England, has her cousin, Maria Stuarda, the Queen of Scotland, in prison. Elisabetta is in love with the Earl of Leicester, Roberto, but he wants to help Maria with whom he is in love. His suggestion to Maria that a reconciliation take place between the two cousins only leads to greater animosity and ultimately Maria’s execution.

Of DiDonato’s performance in the title role, Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times said:

“Ms. DiDonato’s performance will be pointed to as a model of singing in which all components of the art form — technique, sound, color, nuance, diction — come together in service to expression and eloquence.”

Thursday, June 24 – Puccini’s Tosca – 2nd Showing

Conducted by Riccardo Frizza; starring Patricia Racette, Roberto Alagna and George Gagnidze. This revival of Luc Bondy’s 2009 production is from the 2013-2014 season.

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 (Verrett) is the object of Chief of Police Baron Scarpia’s (MacNeil) lust. He uses suspicions that her lover, Mario Cavaradossi (Pavarotti), 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.

Met Opera fans and critics were bitterly disappointed when Bondy’s production replaced the beloved long-standing production by Franco Zeffirelli. Perhaps in an effort to woo over their patrons, the Met revived that production every year since its debut leading up to this revival. Whether it become more embraced or simply tolerated, is in the eye of the ticket holders. Let us know what you think of this production.

Friday, June 25 –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.”

Saturday, June 26 – Britten’s Billy Budd – FIRST SHOWING

Conducted by Steuart Bedford; starring Philip Langridge, Dwayne Croft and James Morris. This revival of the 1978 John Dexter production is from the 1996-1997 season.

Herman Melville’s short novel, Billy Budd, left unfinished by the author and published in 1924 (33 years after Melville’s death), serves as the inspiration for Benjamin Britten’s opera. 

Billy Budd, the opera, had its world premiere in London in 1951. Novelist E.M. Forster (A Passage to India) and Eric Crozier wrote the libretto. Billy Budd is a rare opera in that it features no female roles. Even the chorus is all-male.

The opera tells the story of a young sailor who is newly recruited to join the HMS Indomitable. He possess great beauty and charm. The Master-at-Arms, Claggart, finds himself inexplicably drawn to the young man. Uneasy with the feelings Budd instills him, Claggart seeks to do everything he can to destroy him.

In his New York Times review, Anthony Tommasini pointed out the challenges of playing the title character and praised Croft for his performance.

“Hardly anyone in the opera refers to Billy without calling him a ‘beauty.’ The old seaman Dansker, with fatherly affection, even calls him ‘baby.’ So looking right in the role is critical, and Mr. Croft did, youthful and limber, with tousled blond hair.

“Yet Billy cannot be self-consciously sexual. He is innocent of his own attractiveness, painfully awkward and encumbered with a bad stammer. Mr. Croft movingly captured these qualities through his affecting portrayal and warm, robust singing. Matters of rhythm and phrasing were handled with musicianly skill. Since his debut in 1990, Mr. Croft has been increasingly important to the Met. Billy Budd may be his finest work yet.”

Sunday, June 27 – Verdi’s La Traviata – 2nd Showing

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti; starring Sonya Yoncheva, Michael Fabiano and Thomas Hampson. This is a revival of the 2011 Willy Decker production from the 2016-2017 season.

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 Traviata which 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.

Zachary Woolfe raved about Yoncheva in the New York Times after seeing this production.

“Ms. Yoncheva is now the one I’d seek out, no matter what she does. (And she does most everything: This Traviata comes in the wake of both Bellini’s mighty Norma and a Handel album.)

“A few years ago, Ms. Yoncheva had an essentially slender soprano focused enough to penetrate the vast Met. Now she fills the opera house more easily, with a tone that’s simultaneously softer and stronger, less angled and more rounded. New strength in the lower reaches of her voice anchored Addio del passato, the final-act lament of the doomed courtesan Violetta.”

That’s the end of Week 67 at the Met celebrating Pride Week. Next week, with Independence Day falling on Sunday, the theme will be Celebrating American Composers.

Enjoy your week! Enjoy the operas! Happy Pride!

Photo: Michael Fabiano and Sonya Yoncheva in La Traviata (Photo by Marty Sohl/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

The post Pride Week – Week 67 at the Met appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Amongst the offerings is the second production of Rigoletto within 12 days. You’ll certainly get a chance to compare and contrast these two very different productions. It also helps to like Verdi’s operas. Five of them are being performed this week.

Amongst the men performing in these productions are Roberto Alagna, Plácido Domingo, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Simon Keenlyside, Sherrill Milnes, Luciano Pavarotti, Matthew Polenzani and Stuart Skelton.

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 June 7th, you’ll still have time to see the 2017-2018 season production of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte that was part of Changing the Scene week.

Here is the full line-up for Week 66 at the Met:

Monday, June 14 –Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra – 3rd Showing

Conducted by James Levine; starring Kiri Te Kanawa, Plácido Domingo, Vladimir Chernov and Robert Lloyd. This Giancarlo del Monaco and Michael Scott production is from the 1994-1995 season.

Giuseppe Verdi’s opera is based on a play by Antonio García Gutiérrez, the same playwright whose work inspired Il Trovatore.  Francesco Maria Piave wrote the libretto. Simon Boccanegrahad its world premiere in its first version in Venice in 1857. Verdi re-worked the opera and the revised version (with assistance from Arrigo Boito) was first performed at La Scala in Milan in 1881.

Simon Boccanegra is the Doge of Genoa. As the opera begins politics surround him and threaten to envelop him as rumors about his past follow him. But they are not just rumors. Twenty-five years ago Maria, his lover, died and their daughter disappeared.

Maria’s father and his adopted daughter are plotting to overthrow Boccanegra. Simultaneously the Doge is going to finally discover the whereabouts of his missing daughter. But will his enemies and the rising political storm make him another casualty?

This is not one of Verdi’s most beloved works. The fact he tried to re-work it doesn’t suggest great confidence. Critics often call in to question the absurd plotting and its reliance on secret revelations and coincidences. 

Edward Rothstein wrote in his New York Times review, this was Verdi exploring themes that had long been a part of his work:

“Verdi’s lifelong preoccupations come to maturity in this work, as Boccanegra attempts to apply the laws of the family to the laws of the state. It is why the opera’s climaxes turn on recognitions: the hidden connections between citizens are being revealed, bringing with them the possibilities of political as well as familial reconciliation.”

Tuesday, June 15 – Wagner’s Die Walküre – 3rd Showing

Conducted by Philippe Jordan; starring Christine Goerke, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Jamie Barton, Stuart Skelton, Greer Grimsley and Günther Groissböck. This revival of Robert Lepage’s 2013 production is from the 2018-2019 season. 

This is the second opera in Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (also known as The Ring Cycle.) It had its premiere as a stand-alone opera in 1870 in Munich. The first performance of the entire cycle was at Bayreuth six years later. Wagner wrote the libretto as well as the music.

The son of the god Wotan is a fugitive named Siegmund. When he finds himself taking refuge at Sieglinde’s house, the two fall passionately in love. But Sieglinde is married and in order for her and Siegmund to be together Siegmund must defeat her husband in a battle to the death.

Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, in her review for the New York Times, wasn’t a fan of the production, but did praise much of the singing.

“Ms. Goerke’s Brünnhilde, who has observed her father’s despair, responded with singing of fingertip delicacy, a precise and private sound that clearly marked the awakening of compassion as her character’s destiny. But Ms. Goerke was also capable of zinging fortes in her “Hojotoho!” war cries that Wagner sets to something like a proto-ambulance siren.

“Jamie Barton’s portrayal of Fricka, Wotan’s wife, was also brilliantly purposeful and vocally commanding. Her flamboyant mezzo-soprano, with its inky depths and flickering hues, rendered the character as guardian of legal integrity. But, in the surprisingly tender tone in which she passes the responsibility on to Brünnhilde, she hinted at a deeper sense of not only the futility, but also the undesirability of being proved right.”

Wednesday, June 16 – Verdi’s La Traviata – 4th Showing

Conducted by Fabio Luisi; starring Natalie Dessay, Matthew Polenzani and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. This Willy Decker production is from the 2011-2012 season.

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 Traviata which 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.

Dessay was ill when this production started and missed the opening night performance. She recovered and sang the role starting with the second performance. 

Anthony Tommasini, writing in the New York Times, said of Dessay’s performance, “This was her first time portraying the touchstone role of Violetta at the Met. And before she uttered a note, Ms. Dessay, who had originally intended to be an actress, made a wrenching impression as the fatally ill courtesan…Dragging her feet, she walked unsteadily, a woman with no doubt that her life is slipping away. But when she heard the bustle of guests approaching, she shook out the wrinkles from her dress, took a whiff of a white camellia, and put on her party face.”

Thursday, June 17 – Mozart’s Idomeneo – 4th 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. 

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.”

Friday, June 18 – Verdi’s Rigoletto – 3rd Showing

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.

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.”

Saturday, June 19 – Verdi’s Don Carlo – 4th Showing

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; starring Marina Poplavskaya, Anna Smirnova, Roberto Alagna, Simon Keenlyside, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Eric Halfvarson. This Nicholas Hytner production is from the 2010-2011 season. 

Don Carlo had its world premiere in 1867 in Paris. Friedrich Schiller’s play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien, served as the basis for the libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle. The opera was originally performed in French. Three months after its debut in Paris, Don Carlo was performed in Italian. First at Covent Garden in London and later in Bologna. It is most frequently performed in Italian.

Don Carlo of Spain and Elisabetta of Valois are betrothed to one another. They have never met. Don Carlo sneaks away to meet this unknown woman. They fall in love. However, their happiness is quickly ruined when Carlo’s father, Filippo, announces that he’s in love with her and she is to be his bride.

Even though she is now his stepmother, Don Carlo tries multiple times to woo Elisabetta away from his father. With the Spanish Inquisition ongoing, the affairs of all three and the appearance of a mysterious monk lead to murder plots, revenge, unrequited love, thievery and more being played out in Verdi’s longest opera.

In his New York Times review of this new-to-the-Met production, Anthony Tommasini was impressed:

“Though not without flaws, Verdi’s Don Carlo is the Hamlet of Italian opera. Every production of this profound and challenging work is a major venture for an opera company. The Metropolitan Opera has to be pleased, over all, with its new staging by the eminent English director Nicholas Hytner in his company debut, which opened on Monday and earned an enthusiastic ovation. No booing of the production team on this premiere night.”

Sunday, June 20 – Verdi’s Luisa Miller – 2nd Showing

Conducted by James Levine; starring Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Bonaldo Giaiotti and James Morris. This Nathaniel Merrill production is from the 1978-1979 season. 

Luisa Miller was Verdi’s 15th opera. Like Maria Stuarda, the composer turned to Friedrich von 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.

Did you notice the heckler midway through this clip? That interruption was edited out of the film when it was released on DVD. This situation prompted the MET, at that time, to move from live broadcasts to filmed broadcasts.

When this production opened earlier in the season, a different cast sang most of the roles. When the Met Opera decided to film this production, they realized the kind of stars usually found only on recordings would be most beneficial. As a result, you will see major opera stars of the late 1970s here. 

One bit of trivia: This was the first time Renata Scotto sang the title role in this opera at the Met.

As Week 66 at the Met closes out celebrating fathers, Week 67 will celebrate Pride Week with a very interesting line-up. You’ll have to come back next Monday to see what’s on tap.

Enjoy your week. Enjoy the operas and Happy Father’s Day to all of you dads out there!

Photo: Ferruccio Furlanetto and Roberto Alagna in Don Carlo (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

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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)

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Our top pick, previewed yesterday, is a reading of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart on Saturday. We also have some great jazz music for you (both traditional vocals and a very contemporary performance), a London production of Chekhov that earned rave reviews, a tribute to two of Broadway’s best songwriters, chamber music and a contortionist. After all, it’s Mother’s Day weekend. Don’t all mothers just love contortionists?

Here are the Top 10 Best Bets: May 7th – May 10th

*TOP PICK* PLAY READING: The Normal Heart – ONE Archives Foundation – May 8th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

We previewed this event yesterday as out Top Pick, but here are the pertinent details:

Director Paris Barclay has assembled Sterling K. Brown, Laverne Cox, Jeremy Pope, Vincent Rodriguez III, Guillermo Díaz, Jake Borelli, Ryan O’Connell, Daniel Newman, Jay Hayden and Danielle Savre for a virtual reading of Larry Kramer’s play.

The reading will be introduced by Martin Sheen.

There will be just this one live performance of The Normal Heart. It will not be available for viewing afterwards. There will be a Q&A with the cast and Barclay following the reading. Tickets begin at $10 for students, $20 for general admission.

PLAY READING: Rachel – Roundabout Theatre Company’s Refocus Project – Now – May 7th

Angelina Weld Grimké’s 1916 play Rachel, is the second play in the Refocus Project from Roundabout Theatre Company. Their project puts emphasis on plays by Black playwrights from the 20th century that didn’t get enough attention or faded into footnotes of history in an effort to bring greater awareness to these works.

Rachel tells the story of a Black woman who, upon learning some long-ago buried secrets about her family, has to rethink being a Black parent and bringing children into the world.

Miranda Haymon directs Sekai Abení, Alexander Bello, E. Faye Butler, Stephanie Everett, Paige Gilbert, Brandon Gill, Toney Goins, Abigail Jean-Baptiste and Zani Jones Mbayise.

The reading is free, but registration is required.

JAZZ: Joel Ross & Immanuel Wilkins – Village Vanguard – May 7th – May 9th

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more compelling pairing of jazz musicians than vibraphonist Joel Ross and alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins.

The two have been collaborating for quite some time. Wilkins is a member of Ross’ Good Vibes quintet.

Nate Chinen, in a report for NPR, described a 2018 concert in which Ross performed with drummer Makaya McCraven this way. “Ross took one solo that provoked the sort of raucous hollers you’d sooner expect in a basketball arena. Again, this was a vibraphone solo.“

Wilkins album, Omega, was declared the Best Jazz Album of 2020 by Giovanni Russonello of the New York Times.

I spoke to Wilkins last year about the album and his music. You can read that interview here. And if you’re a fan, Jason Moran, who produced the album, told me that this music was “just the tip of the iceberg.”

Tickets for this concert are $10.

PLAY: Uncle Vanya – PBS Great Performances – May 7th check local listings

Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya is performed by a cast headed by Richard Armitrage and Toby Jones. Conor McPherson adapted the play for this production which played at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London and was directed by Ian Rickson.

Arifa Akbar, writing in her five-star review for The Guardian, said of the production:

“Ian Rickson’s exquisite production is full of energy despite the play’s prevailing ennui. It does not radically reinvent or revolutionise Chekov’s 19th-century story. It returns us to the great, mournful spirit of Chekhov’s tale about unrequited love, ageing and disappointment in middle-age, while giving it a sleeker, modern beat.

“McPherson’s script has a stripped, vivid simplicity which quickens the pace of the drama, and despite its contemporary language – Vanya swears and uses such terms as “wanging on” – it does not grate or take away from the melancholic poetry.”

CHAMBER MUSIC: Beyond the Horizon – LA Chamber Orchestra – Premieres May 7th – 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT

This is the 12th episode in LACO’s Close Quarters series and definitely one of its most intriguing. Jessie Montgomery, the composer who curated the previous episode, curates this episode as well. She is joined by her fellow alums from Juilliard, mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard (who directs) and music producer Nadia Sirota.

The program features Alvin Singleton’s Be Natural (a pun any music major will understand); Mazz Swift’s The End of All That Is Holy, The Beginning of All That is Good and Montgomery’s Break Away.

The performance portion of Beyond the Horizon is conducted by Christopher Rountree of Wild Up! Visual artist Yee Eun Nam contributes to the film as does art director James Darrah.

There is no charge to watch Beyond the Horizon.

CHAMBER MUSIC: MusiKaravan: A Classical Road Trip with Delerium Musicum – The Wallis Sorting Room Sessions – May 7th – May 9th

Music by Johannes Brahms, Charlie Chaplin, Frederic Chopin, Vittorio Monti, Sergei Prokofiev, Giacomo Puccini and Dmitri Shostakovich will be performed by Delerium Musicum founding violinists Étienne Gara and YuEun Kim. They will be joined for two pieces by bassist Ryan Baird.

The full ensemble of musicians that make up Delerium Musicum will join for one of these pieces? Which one will it be? There is only one way to find out.

This concert is part of The Sorting Room Sessions at The Wallis.

Tickets are $20 and will allow for streaming for 48 hours

MOTHER’S DAY OFFERINGS: MOMentum Place and A Catalina Tribute to Mothers – May 8th

Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum is celebrating Mother’s Day with MOMentum Place, a show featuring aerial artists, circus performers, dancers and musicians. The line-up includes circus artist Elena Brocade; contortionist and acrobat Georgia Bryan, aerialist and stilt dancer Jena Carpenter of Dream World Cirque, ventriloquist Karl Herlinger, hand balancer Tyler Jacobson, stilt walker and acrobat Aaron Lyon, aerialist Kate Minwegen, cyr wheeler Sarah Moser and Cirque du Soleil alum Eric Newton, plus Dance Dimensions Kids and Focus Fish Kids. The show was curated by aerlist/dancer Lexi Pearl. Tickets are $35.

Catalina Jazz Club is holding A Catalina Tribute to Mothers at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT. Headlining the concert are singers Jack Jones, Freda Payne and Tierney Sutton. Vocalist Barbara Morrison is a special guest. Also performing are  Kristina Aglinz, Suren Arustamyan, Lynne Fiddmont, Andy Langham, Annie Reiner, Dayren Santamaria, Tyrone Mr. Superfantastic and more. Dave Damiani is the host. The show is free, however donations to help keep the doors open at Catalina Jazz Club are welcomed and encouraged.

JAZZ: Love in Exile – The Phillips Collection – May 9th – 4:00 PM ET/1:00 PM PT

There is no set program for this performance by pianist/composer Vijay Iyer, vocalist Arooj Aftab and bassist Shazad Ismaily. The website says Love in Exile performs as one continuous hour-long set.

Having long been a fan of Iyer, spending an hour wherever he and his fellow musicians wants to go sounds like pure heaven to me.

Iyer’s most recent album, Uneasy, was released in April on ECM Records and finds him performing with double bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey. It’s a great album. You should definitely check it out.

There is no charge to watch this concert, but registration is required. Once Love in Exile debuts, you’ll have 7 days to watch the performance as often as you’d like.

DANCE: Past, Present, Future – ALL ARTS – May 9th – May 11th

ALL ARTS, part of New York’s PBS stations, is holding an three-night on-line dance festival beginning on Sunday.

If We Were a Love Song is first up at 8:00 PM ET on Sunday. Nina Simone’s music accompanies this work conceived by choreographer Kyle Abraham who is collaborating with filmmaker Dehanza Rogers.

Dancers (Slightly Out of Shape) airs on Monday at 8:00 PM ET. This is part documentary/part dance featuring choreographer Pam Tanowitz as she and her company resume rehearsals last year during the Covid crisis. It leads to excerpts from Every Moment Alters which is set to the music of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw.

One + One Make Three closes out the festival on Tuesday at 8:00 PM ET. This film showcases the work of Kinetic Light, an ensemble featuring disabled performers. This is also part documentary/part dance made by director Katherine Helen Fisher.

All three films will be accompanied by ASL and Open Captions for the hearing impaired.

BROADWAY: Broadway Close Up: Kander and Ebb – Kaufman Music Center – May 10th – 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT

You know the work of John Kander and Fred Ebb: Cabaret, Chicago, Flora the Red Menace, Kiss of the Spider Woman, New York New York, The Scottsboro Boys and Woman of the Year.

Their work will be explored, discussed and performed with host Sean Hartley.

He’s joined by Tony Award-winner Karen Ziemba (Contact) who appeared in two musicals by the duo: Curtains and Steel Pier. The latter was written specifically for her.

Any fan of Kander and Ebb will want to purchase a ticket for this show. Tickets are $15

Those are our Top Ten Best Bets: May 7th – May 10th (even if we cheated a little bit by having two options listed together). But there are a few reminders:

The Metropolitan Opera has their own view of mothers with their theme of Happy Mother’s Day featuring Berg’s Wozzeck on Friday; Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on Saturday and Handel’s Agrippina on Sunday.

Puccini returns for the start of National Council Auditions Alumni Week with a 1981-1982 season production of La Bohème. We’ll have all the details for you on Monday.

LA Opera’s Signature Recital Series continues with the addition of a recital by the brilliant soprano Christine Goerke.

One rumor to pass along to you: word has it Alan Cumming will be Jim Caruso’s guest on Monday’s Pajama Cast Party.

That completes all our selections of Best Bets: May 7th – May 10th. I hope all of you who are mothers have a terrific weekend. For those of you celebrating with your moms, I hope we’ve given you plenty of options to consider.

Have a great weekend! Enjoy the culture!

Photo: Larry Kramer (Photo by David Shankbone/Courtesy David Shankbone)

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There are five recitals in the Signature Recital Series and once they debut they will be available for streaming through July 1st.

Up first – in a recital that debuted last Friday – is tenor Russell Thomas.

Filmed at Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, his recital finds performances of works Adolphus Hailstork, George Frideric Handel, Roberts Owens and Robert Schumann. He’s accompanied by pianist Mi-Kyung Kim.

Thomas was recently named an Artist-in-Residence with LA Opera. That announcement falls in line with something he told me was important for real progress in the performing arts when I interviewed him in 2018. At that time he was preparing to sing Verdi’s Otello with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.

“What happens when you diversify the back office then the stage will become diversified and then the audience. You can’t expect audiences to be diversified if they don’t see themselves on stage. …I understand everything is about dollars and cents, but I think the long term survival of classical arts is at stake. If you look around the room and everybody looks the same, there’s a problem.”

I attended that performance of Otello. Thomas is the real deal.

Thomas will be seen in Verdi’s Aida with the LA Opera during the 2021-2022 season.

The second recital is by mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and it will debut on April 23rd. She will be showcasing the work of composer Kurt Weill in this recital filmed at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.

Amongst the songs she performs are I’m a Stranger Here Myself, Lonely House and September Song. Graham is accompanied by pianist Jeremy Frank.

She is one of those rare singers who embraces music from multiple periods of music. Graham is just as comfortable singing the work of Handel and Mozart as she is works by contemporary composers such as Jake Heggie and Tobias Picker.

Her next appearance at LA Opera will be in a performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in the spring of 2022.

The third recital is by Wagnerian soprano Christine Goerke. This is billed as an intimate performance from New Jersey’s Art Factory with pianist Craig Terry accompanying her. The debut of her performance is scheduled for May 7th.

Goerke’s diverse program will include works by Brahms, Handel and Strauss, show tunes, Italian art songs and a song cycle by Carrie Jacobs-Bonds called Half-Minute Songs.

If you’ve watched any of the Met Opera streaming productions you might have seen her in Turandot and as Brunhilde in Die Walküre. I saw her sing excerpts from Götterdämmerung with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and was seriously impressed with not just the power of her voice, but also the quieter and softer tones as well.

The fourth recital is by soprano Julia Bullock with pianist Laura Boe. The performance was filmed at Blaibach Concert Hall in Germany. This recital will debut on May 21st.

On Bullock’s program are works by John Adams, Margaret Bonds, Robert Schumann, William Grant Still, Kurt Weill and Hugo Wolf. The finale is a series of songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music.

Another singer who embraces both classic works and contemporary works, Bullock in the past few years has appeared in the world premieres of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West at San Francisco Opera and Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones at Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

In 2019 she opened the Los Angeles Philharmonic season with a performance of Samuel Barber’s Knoxville. This was also a concert I attended and I can’t wait for an opportunity to see Bullock in a fully-staged production.

The last recital is by mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges beginning June 4th. Accompanied by pianist Howard Watkins, Bridges’ recital was filmed at Harlem School of the Arts in New York. The program has yet to be announced.

If you’ve seen any of the multiple streams of Philip Glass’ Akhnaten, you know how amazing she is. She also appeared in the composer’s Satyagraha at LA Opera during the 2018-2019 season.

How can you watch the Signature Recital Series? They are available as a package for $45 for non-subscribers and $30 for LA Opera subscribers. Single tickets are not available. However, regardless of when you purchase the package you will have through July 1st to watch each of the concerts. Tickets are available here.

Photo: Russell Thomas from his Signature Recital Series performance (Courtesy Los Angeles Opera)

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Amongst the highlights this week are Nina Stemme giving the performance of a lifetime, one of Nico Muhly‘s operas (which features a stunning performance by Isabel Leonard) and a seldom-seen opera based on one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays.

Each production becomes available at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT on the Metropolitan Opera website. Every opera remains available for 23 hours. They are heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and recently announced the cancellation of the full 2020-2021 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

If you read this column early enough on November 23rd, you might still have time to catch the 2019-2020 season production of Wozzeck by Alban Berg that concludes last week’s operas conducted by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Here is the full line-up for Week 37 at the Met.

Monday, November 23 – Verdi’s Il Trovatore 

Conducted by Marco Armiliato; starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Dolora Zajick, Marcelo Álvarez and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. This revival of the 2009 David McVicar production is from the 2010-2011 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available July 30th.

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.

If you think I was a bit unfair about the plot in Il Trovatore, let me share with you what Zachary Woolfe said at the start of his review of this production in the New York Times:

“With its cackling Gypsies, mistaken identities and secret brothers, the convoluted plot of Verdi’s Trovatore can seem like the setup for a joke. Already verging on chaos, it makes a natural backdrop for the anarchic final scene of the Marx Brothers’ Night at the Opera.

“Il Trovatore overcomes its absurdities, though, with its vitality, its irresistible melodies and tightly driven rhythms.” 

Tuesday, November 24 – Nico Muhly’s Marnie

Conducted by Roberto Spano; starring Isabel Leonard, Iestyn Davies and Christopher Maltman. This Michael Mayer production is from the 2018-2019 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on April 30th.

Muhly’s opera, with a libretto by Nicholas Wright, had its world premiere at the English National Opera in 2017. The opera is based on Winston Graham’s 1961 novel.

If the title, Marnie, sounds familiar, this is based on the same novel by Winston Graham that inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s 1964 film. The title character is a woman who steals from people, changes her identity and quickly moves on to other victims. Until an employer catches her and blackmails her.

Anthony Tommasini, in his review for the New York Times, said of the opera, “Marnie benefits from the director Michael Mayer’s sleek and fluid staging, with inventive sets and projections designed by Julian Crouch and 59 Productions. (It was first seen last year in London for the work’s premiere at the English National Opera.) Scenery changes are deftly rendered through sliding and descending panels on which evocative images are projected.

“Mr. Muhly’s music could not have had a better advocate than the conductor Robert Spano, making an absurdly belated Met debut at 57. He highlighted intriguing details, brought out myriad colorings, kept the pacing sure and never covered the singers. “

Wednesday, November 25 – Thomas’s Hamlet

Conducted by Louis Langrée, starring Marlis Petersen, Jennifer Larmore, Simon Keenlyside and James Morris. This Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser production is from the 2009-2010 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on May 5th.

Ambroise Thomas collaborated with librettists Michel Carré and Jules Barbier for this opera. Shakespeare’s play obviously is the inspiration, but they based their libretto on a French adaptation by Alexandre Dumas and Paul Meurice. Hamlet had its world premiere in Paris in 1868.

French composer Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas is not the best known of opera composers. Over a two-year period he wrote the two operas for which he’s best known: Mignon and Hamlet.

Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, believes his Uncle Claudius and his mother, Gertrude, were involved in his father’s sudden death. As Claudius ascends the throne, Hamlet is visited by the ghost of his father asking Hamlet to avenge his murder. This becomes Hamlet’s sole purpose at the expense of other responsibilities. Amongst those responsibilities is his relationship with Ophelia who, convinced these distractions mean Hamlet doesn’t lover her, descends into madness. Will the Prince be able to do as his father’s ghost requests and what will be the price if he does?

Anthony Tommasini, in his New York Times review, raved about Keenlyside in the title role. “The opera is also a star vehicle for the right baritone in this punishing title role. Simon Keenlyside, the Ralph Fiennes of baritones, was the acclaimed Hamlet when this production was introduced, and he dominated the evening here. His singing was an uncanny amalgam, at once elegant and wrenching, intelligent and fitful. Handsome, haunted and prone to fidgety spasms that convey Hamlet’s seething anger and paralyzing indecision, Mr. Keenlyside embodied the character in every moment, and you could not take your eyes off him.”

Thursday, November 26 – Strauss’s Elektra

Conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen; starring Nina Stemme, Adrianne Pieczonka, Waltraud Meier, Burkhard Ulrich and Eric Owens. This Patrice Chéreau production is from the 2015-2016 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on April 20th and August 31st.

Richard Strauss’s Elektra had its world premiere in Dresden in 1909. The libretto was written by Hugo von Hofmannsthal and was based on his 1903 drama of the same name.

For a one-act opera, Elektra has a tangled web of intrigue at its core. Simply put, Elektra is enraged by the murder of her father, King Agamemnon. Elektra’s mother, Klytämnestra, convinced her lover, Aegisth, to kill her husband. Once Elektra finds out, she is out for nothing short of total revenge and enlists her brother, Orest, to kill their mother.

When Elektra was first presented, critics were deeply divided. Perhaps none more so than Ernest Newman, then London’s most important former music critic and playwright George Bernard Shaw. Newman found the opera abhorrent. Shaw fiercely defended it. Their argument about the merits of Strauss’s opera were published in a series of letters in The Nation.

Of this production, The New York Times‘ Anthony Tommasini said, “…nothing prepared me for the seething intensity, psychological insight and sheer theatrical inventiveness of this production on Thursday night, conducted by the brilliant Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mr. Chéreau’s partner in this venture from the start. A superb cast is headed by the smoldering soprano Nina Stemme in the title role.”

Friday, November 27 – Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor

Conducted by Patrick Summers; starring Natalie Dessay, Joseph Calleja, Ludovic Tézier and Kwangchul Youn. This revival of the 2007 Mary Zimmerman production is from the 2010-2011 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on July 27th.

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.

When this production was first presented in 2007, Dessay also sang the title role. Zachary Woolfe, writing for the New York Times felt this return of the production after seven years allowed the men to shine.

“The manipulative brother Enrico, sung richly and acted with laconic ruefulness by Ludovic Tézier, seems almost reasonable in his heartless demands. Kwangchul Youn had burnished tone and great dignity as the well-meaning chaplain Raimondo. Even Arturo, the arranged husband Lucia murders, was charming as sung by the young tenor Matthew Plenk.

“And Joseph Calleja was sensationally ardent as Lucia’s lover, Edgardo, one of the best roles of his young, exciting Met career.”

Saturday, November 28 – Wagner’s Die Walküre

Conducted by Philippe Jordan; starring Christine Goerke, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Jamie Barton, Stuart Skelton, Greer Grimsley and Günther Groissböck. This revival of Robert Lepage’s 2013 production is from the 2018-2019 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on August 2nd

This is the second opera in Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (also known as The Ring Cycle.) It had its premiere as a stand-alone opera in 1870 in Munich. The first performance of the entire cycle was at Bayreuth six years later. Wagner wrote the libretto as well as the music.

The son of the god Wotan is a fugitive named Siegmund. When he finds himself taking refuge at Sieglinde’s house, the two fall passionately in love. But Sieglinde is married and in order for her and Siegmund to be together Siegmund must defeat her husband in a battle to the death.

I’ve seen Christine Goerke sing music from Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen in concert and can attest to the fact that she is amongst the finest and best Wagnerian sopranos working today. Her presence in this production (which drew very mixed reviews and faced challenges with its technology when first performed in 2013) is reason enough to watch this Die Walküre.

Sunday, November 29 – Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra

Conducted by James Levine; starring Kiri Te Kanawa, Plácido Domingo, Vladimir Chernov and Robert Lloyd. This Giancarlo del Monaco and Michael Scott production is from the 1994-1995 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on August 5th.

Giuseppe Verdi’s opera is based on a play by Antonio García Gutiérrez, the same playwright whose work inspired Il Trovatore.  Francesco Maria Piave wrote the libretto. Simon Boccanegrahad its world premiere in its first version in Venice in 1857. Verdi re-worked the opera and the revised version (with assistance from Arrigo Boito) was first performed at La Scala in Milan in 1881.

Simon Boccanegra is the Doge of Genoa. As the opera begins politics surround him and threaten to envelop him as rumors about his past follow him. But they are not just rumors. Twenty-five years ago Maria, his lover, died and their daughter disappeared.

Maria’s father and his adopted daughter are plotting to overthrow Boccanegra. Simultaneously the Doge is going to finally discover the whereabouts of his missing daughter. But will his enemies and the rising political storm make him another casualty?

This is not one of Verdi’s most beloved works. The fact he tried to re-work it doesn’t suggest great confidence. Critics often call in to question the absurd plotting and its reliance on secret revelations and coincidences. 

Edward Rothstein wrote in his New York Times review, this was Verdi exploring themes that had long been a part of his work:

“Verdi’s lifelong preoccupations come to maturity in this work, as Boccanegra attempts to apply the laws of the family to the laws of the state. It is why the opera’s climaxes turn on recognitions: the hidden connections between citizens are being revealed, bringing with them the possibilities of political as well as familial reconciliation.”

Those are the family dramas to be found in Week 37 at the Met. Next week’s theme will be Stars in Signature Roles. What might those be? Send us your guesses.

Enjoy Week 37 at the Met and Happy Thanksgiving.

Photo: Simon Keenlyside in the title role of Hamlet (Photo by Marty Sohl/Courtesy The Metropolitan Opera)

The post Family Drama: Week 37 at the Met appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

This week’s operas span a period of ten years from 2010-2020 and includes one of my personal favorites, Dialogues des Carmélites by Poulenc on Friday.

Each production becomes available at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT on the Metropolitan Opera website. Every opera remains available for 23 hours. They are heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and recently announced the cancellation of the full 2020-2021 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

If you read this column early enough on November 16th, you might still have time to catch the 2017-2018 season production of The Exterminating Angel by Thomas Adés that concludes last week’s From the Baroque to the Present: A Two-Week Tour of Opera History series. 

Here is the line-up for Week 36 at the Met:

Monday, November 16 – Verdi’s Don Carlo

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; starring Marina Poplavskaya, Anna Smirnova, Roberto Alagna, Simon Keenlyside, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Eric Halfvarson. This Nicholas Hytner production is from the 2010-2011 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on April 2nd and August 29th.

Don Carlo had its world premiere in 1867 in Paris. Friedrich Schiller’s play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien, served as the basis for the libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle. The opera was originally performed in French. Three months after its debut in Paris, Don Carlo was performed in Italian. First at Covent Garden in London and later in Bologna. It is most frequently performed in Italian.

Don Carlo of Spain and Elisabetta of Valois are betrothed to one another. They have never met. Don Carlo sneaks away to meet this unknown woman. They fall in love. However, their happiness is quickly ruined when Carlo’s father, Filippo, announces that he’s in love with her and she is to be his bride.

Even though she is now his stepmother, Don Carlo tries multiple times to woo Elisabetta away from his father. With the Spanish Inquisition ongoing, the affairs of all three and the appearance of a mysterious monk lead to murder plots, revenge, unrequited love, thievery and more being played out in Verdi’s longest opera.

This was a co-production with the Royal Opera in London and the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet. Royal Opera had first performed this production two years earlier. Hytner may be best known for his role as the Director of the National Theatre in London. His first job directing an opera came in 1979 when he directed Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw. Don Carlo marked his debut with the Metropolitan Opera. The production was designed by 7-time Tony Award Winner Bob Crowley (An American in Paris; The Coast of Utopia). 

Tuesday, November 17 – 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.

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.

Wednesday, November 18 – Dvořák’s Rusalka

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; starring Renée Fleming, Emily Magee, Dolora Zajick, Piotr Beczała and John Relyea. This revival of Otto Shenk’s 1993 production is from the 2013-2014 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on April 13th.

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.

Zachary Woolfe, in his New York Times review, asked a question about this opera and relied on Nézet-Séguin to answer it:

“Dvorak’s Rusalka, about a water nymph doomed by her love for a human prince, is a fairy tale. But is it polite and placid, or savage and strange?

“There’s disagreement about the answer at the Metropolitan Opera, where a decidedly mixed revival of the work opened on Thursday evening. The conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, a prime candidate to replace James Levine someday as the Met’s music director, offered a clear vote for savage. He led a fierce orchestral performance, bringing out the symphonic sweep in Dvorak’s score and underlining its most cutting details.”

His comments about Nézet-Séguin proved to be accurate, didn’t they?

Thursday, November 19 – Verdi’s La Traviata

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; starring Diana Damrau, Juan Diego Flórez and Quinn Kelsey. This Michael Mayer production is from the 2018-2019 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on August 28th.

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 Traviata which 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.

There are three interesting things to know about this production: This La Traviata marked the first production with Yannick Nézet-Séguin as the Met Opera’s new music director. As such he persuaded the Met Opera to restore the second intermission that had previously been removed to shorten the length of performances. Lastly, this was a brand new production of Verdi’s beloved opera at the Met. Mayer frames the story, not unlike other directors, as being Violetta’s memories.

Friday, November 20 – Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; starring Isabel Leonard, Adrianne Pieczonka, Erin Morley, Karen Cargill, Karita Mattila, David Portillo and Jean-François Lapointe. This revival of John Dexter’s 1977 production, directed by David Kneuss, is from the 2018-2019 season.

Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites had its world premiere in 1957 at La Scala in Milan. The composer wrote the libretto based on a rejected screenplay by Georges Bernanos.

The setting is France during the French Revolution. Blanche de la Force, who is impossibly shy and fragile, wants to retreat from all that is going on in the world and chooses a Carmelite monastery. The prioress tells her that a monastery is a place for devotion to God, not escape from the world. Blanche convinces her to let her stay. What happens to Blanche and the other nuns proves not to be the escape she was hoping for.

Note: The clip and the subsequent paragraph contain plot spoilers. Do not watch or read if you do not know this opera.

Anthony Tommasini, writing in the New York Times, concluded his review of this production by saying, “The final scene, in which the nuns, one by one, walk to the guillotine singing Poulenc’s forlornly beautiful setting of the Salve Regina, felt more horrific than ever. And moving — perhaps because artists of a new generation have taken over this great work, this classic production and, in a way, the Met, starting with Mr. Nézet-Séguin.”

Saturday, November 21 – Puccini’s Turandot

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. This is an encore presentation of the production that streamed on May 21st and September 26th.

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.”

Sunday, November 22 – Berg’s Wozzeck

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; starring Elza van den Heever, Gerhard Siegel, Peter Mattei and Christian van Horn. This William Kentridge production, which had its debut in Salzburg in 2017, is from the 2019-2020 season.

This first opera by Austrian composer Alban Berg is based on an unfinished play of the same name by Georg Büchner. Berg wrote the libretto as well. Wozzeck had its world premiere in Berlin in 1925.

This dark opera tells the story of the title character who is a soldier. During a conversation about decency with his Captain, Wozzeck is ridiculed for having a child out of wedlock. The mother of that child, Marie, is unfaithful to Wozzeck and that betrayal leads to tragic outcomes for them both.

Anthony Tommasini, writing for the New York Times, said of this production, “…few works look at life with more searing honesty than “Wozzeck.” The issues that drive this wrenching, profound opera are especially timely: the impact of economic inequality on struggling families; the looming threats of war and environmental destruction; the rigid stratification — almost the militarization — of every element of society.

“Those themes resonate through the artist William Kentridge’s extraordinary production of Wozzeck, which opened at the Metropolitan Opera on Friday evening. That it arrives as 2020 beckons feels right.” 

I wonder what Tommasini knew about the year 2020 would have in store for us all when he wrote this review.

That concludes the Week 36 at the Met celebration of Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Next week the theme will be family dramas. Of course, this being opera, they won’t be happy families.

Enjoy Week 36 at the Met!

Photo: Marina Poplavskaya and Jonas Kaufmann in Faust. (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

The post Week 36 at the Met appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

It would probably be unnecessarily obtuse to say they chose the composer’s third, fourth, fifth, six, seventh, eighth and tenth operas for this week’s streaming productions. Or to say, you’re not going to see Le Villi, Edgar or Il trittico. But absent those three, you are sure to have realized you’ll get to see and hear all of his most popular works.

Each production becomes available at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT on the Metropolitan Opera website. Every opera remains available for 23 hours. They are heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series so you’ll have to go past those promos to find the streaming productions. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

If you read this column earlier enough on September 21st, you might still have time to catch the 2017-2018 production of Bellini’s Norma from last week’s Bel Canto Classics.

Here is the all-Puccini line-up for Week 28 at the Met.

Monday, September 21 – 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 that was streamed on April 15th.

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.”

Tuesday, September 22 – Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti; starring Deborah Voigt, Marcello Giordani and Lucio Gallo. This revival of Giancarlo del Monaco’s 1991 production is from the 2010-2011 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was streamed on April 7th.

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?

If you read the dates carefully, this production was the 100th anniversary of its debut at the Met.

Anthony Tommasini, writing in the New York Times said this production was the best possible way to celebrate its centennial.

“In spirit, the Met’s current staging is close to the original and allows this remarkable score to come through beautifully. For generations Fanciulla has been patronized as an unlikely melodrama, a prototype for the spaghetti western films from Italy, a pulsing Puccini opera plopped into an implausible California setting where miners sing ‘doo-dah day’ refrains when not spouting Italian.

“But the piece has won a loyal following, and on this night, thanks in large part to the stylish, nuanced and sensitive conducting of Nicola Luisotti, the score emerged as arguably Puccini’s most subtly written and boldly modern music. In place of those typical Puccini melodic outbursts that grab you and won’t let go, this ingenious score folds refined lyrical strands into a nearly through-composed musical fabric.”

Wednesday, September 23 – Puccini’s Manon Lescaut

Conducted by Fabio Luisi; starring Kristine Opolais, Roberto Alagna, Massimo Cavalletti and Brindley Sherratt. This Richard Eyre production is from the 2015-2016 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that streamed on July 13th.

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.

When this production was announced Jonas Kaufmann would be singing the role of Des Grieux. He withdrew due to illness rather suddenly and the Met called on Alagna, who was then appearing in Pagliacci at the Met, to step in. He had slightly more than two weeks to prepare for Manon Lescaut.

Thursday, September 24 – Puccini’s Madama Butterfly

Conducted by Patrick Summers; starring Patricia Racette, Maria Zifchak, Marcello Giordani and Dwayne Croft. This revival of Anthony Minghella’s 2006 production is from the 2008-2009 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was streamed on April 17th.

Puccini’s Madama Butterfly is every bit as popular as La Bohéme. Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa wrote the libretto based on John Luther Long’s short story, Madame Butterfly and on the 1887 French novel Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti. David Belasco turned Long’s story into the play Madame Butterfly: A Tragedy in Japan. Puccini saw the play in 1900 in London. His opera had its world premiere in 1904 at La Scala in Milan.

Cio-Cio San falls in love with an Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy named Pinkerton while he is stationed in Japan. They hold a wedding ceremony that Cio-Cio San takes very seriously. When Pinkerton has orders to go back to the States, she awaits his return. Unbeknownst to Pinkerton, Cio-Cio San has gotten pregnant and given birth to a son. When he finally does return with his American wife, Cio-Cio San is devastated. (If this sounds like the musical Miss Saigon, it is because Madama Butterfly served as the inspiration for that musical.)

Steven Smith, writing in the New York Times praised Racette’s performance as Cio-Cio San.

“Returning as Cio-Cio-San, the 15-year-old former geisha of the title, was the soprano Patricia Racette, whose first appearances in this production last season drew resounding acclaim. Her singing was robust, nuanced and passionate, befitting a performer of her skill and experience.

“Even more striking was the dramatic specificity with which she inhabited the role. Her facial expressions, gestures and physical tics were those of an innocent, trusting girl, incapable until the end of accepting abandonment by Pinkerton, her American husband. In every dimension Ms. Racette’s effort was exceptional; hers is a performance not to be missed.”

Friday, September 25 – 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 streamed on April 21st.

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.

Saturday, September 26 – Puccini’s Turandot

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. This is an encore presentation of the production that streamed on May 21st.

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.”

Sunday, September 27 – Puccini’s La Bohème

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti; starring Angela Gheorghiu, Ainhoa Arteta, Ramón Vargas, Ludovic Tézier, Quinn Kelsey, Oren Gradus and Paul Plishka. This revival of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1981 production is from the 2007-2008 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that streamed on March 17th.

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.)

I know this is opera, not sports, but one important statistic is central to this production. March 29, 2008, marked the 347th performance of Zeffirelli’s production of La Bohème at the Met. That didn’t just make it the most performances of a single production of La Bohème to play the Met, this was the most performances of a single production of any opera in the Met’s history.

There you have it. A complete diet of Giacomo Puccini for Week 28 at the Met. Enjoy the operas and have a great week!

Photo: Patricia Racette in Madama Butterfly. (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

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Each opera becomes available at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT and remains available for 23 hours. However, there is an exception this week. Friday’s opera, Dvořák’s Rusalka, will only be available until 12:00 PM EDT/9:00 AM PDT on Saturday as the Met is offering a live recital by Renée Fleming at 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT Saturday afternoon.

All productions can be found on the Met Opera website. Schedules and times are subject to change.

If you read this early enough on Monday, you might still have time to watch the 2018-2019 season production of Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West (in case you wanted to add another Italian opera to your schedule this week!)

Here is the line-up for Week 20 at the Met:

Monday, July 27 – Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor

Conducted by Patrick Summers; starring Natalie Dessay, Joseph Calleja, Ludovic Tézier and Kwangchul Youn. This revival of the 2007 Mary Zimmerman production is from the 2010-2011 season.

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.

When this production was first presented in 2007, Dessay also sang the title role. Zachary Woolfe, writing for the New York Times felt this return of the production after seven years allowed the men to shine.

“The manipulative brother Enrico, sung richly and acted with laconic ruefulness by Ludovic Tézier, seems almost reasonable in his heartless demands. Kwangchul Youn had burnished tone and great dignity as the well-meaning chaplain Raimondo. Even Arturo, the arranged husband Lucia murders, was charming as sung by the young tenor Matthew Plenk.

“And Joseph Calleja was sensationally ardent as Lucia’s lover, Edgardo, one of the best roles of his young, exciting Met career.”

Tuesday, July 28 – Puccini’s Tosca

Conducted by Joseph Colaneri; starring Karita Mattila, Marcelo Álvarez and George Gagnidze. This Luc Bondy production is from the 2009-2010 season. 

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 (Verrett) is the object of Chief of Police Baron Scarpia’s (MacNeil) lust. He uses suspicions that her lover, Mario Cavaradossi (Pavarotti), 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 Luc Bondy production replaced the Franco Zeffirelli production that had been a staple at the Metropolitan Opera since 1985. Darker, colder and much more spare than the opulent Zeffirelli production, Bondy’s work elicited so many boos after the performance that the audience reception became the lead in most stories and reviews. So is it really that wrong? We’ll find out Tuesday.

Wednesday, July 29 – Verdi’s Rigoletto 

Conducted by James Levine; starring Ileana Cotrubas, Plácido Domingo and Cornell MacNeil. This John Dexter production is from the 1977-1978 season. 

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.

Most of the stars of this production were singing Rigoletto for the first time at the Met according to New York Times critic Harold C. Schonberg. He said of the singing, “Vocally, this was one of the best Rigoletto performances of our times. Everybody was in good voice.”

He raved about Domingo’s performance in particular:

“Then there was Placido Domingo, in brilliant voice this season, singing the Duke with confidence, amplitude of sound, secure top notes, an even scale and the most appealing of tenor texture.”

Thursday, July 30 – Verdi’s Il Trovatore

Conducted by Marco Armiliato; starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Dolora Zajick, Marcelo Álvarez and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. This revival of the 2009 David McVicar production is from the 2010-2011 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.

If you think I was a bit unfair about the plot in Il Trovatore, let me share with you what Zachary Woolfe said at the start of his review of this production in the New York Times:

“With its cackling Gypsies, mistaken identities and secret brothers, the convoluted plot of Verdi’s Trovatore can seem like the setup for a joke. Already verging on chaos, it makes a natural backdrop for the anarchic final scene of the Marx Brothers’ Night at the Opera.

“Il Trovatore overcomes its absurdities, though, with its vitality, its irresistible melodies and tightly driven rhythms.” 

Friday, July 31 – 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.

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, August 1 – Verdi’s Ernani 

Conducted by James Levine; starring Leona Mitchell, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes and Ruggero Raimondi. This Pier Luigi Samaritani production is from the 1983-1984 season.

The trio of Verdi, Hugo and Piave served as the foundation for this opera that had its world premiere in Venice in 1844 (seven years before Rigoletto.) Hugo’s 1830 play, Hernani, inspired the composer and his librettist for Ernani.

Set in 16th century Spain, the centerpiece of this opera is our heroine, Elvria, who finds herself the object of three men’s desires: Carlo, the King of Spain; Silva, her abusive uncle and our title character, Ernani who is a bandit formerly known as Don Juan of Aragon. Disguises, deceit, mercy, suicide and tragedy ensue.

If you read last week’s preview of Tannhäuser and Donal Henahan’s comments from his New York Times review, you’ll know that he was a very witty writer. He began his review of this production with some historical perspective as only he could:

“Ernani is an important opera because it is by Giuseppi Verdi. Other than that, its attractions are modest. It is, in fact, third-rate Verdi, which makes it second-rate anyone else, or better. It is a mass of musical and dramatic cliches, but operagoers with an ear tuned to history find it fascinating for what it led up to.” 

Henahan won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1986. He passed away in 2012.

Sunday, August 2 – Wagner’s Die Walküre

Conducted by Philippe Jordan; starring Christine Goerke, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Jamie Barton, Stuart Skelton, Greer Grimsley and Günther Groissböck. This revival of Robert Lepage’s 2013 production is from the 2018-2019 season. 

This is the second opera in Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (also known as The Ring Cycle.) It had its premiere as a stand-alone opera in 1870 in Munich. The first performance of the entire cycle was at Bayreuth six years later. Wagner wrote the libretto as well as the music.

The son of the god Wotan is a fugitive named Siegmund. When he finds himself taking refuge at Sieglinde’s house, the two fall passionately in love. But Sieglinde is married and in order for her and Siegmund to be together Siegmund must defeat her husband in a battle to the death.

I’ve seen Christine Goerke sing music from Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen in concert and can attest to the fact that she is amongst the finest and best Wagnerian sopranos working today. Her presence in this production (which drew very mixed reviews and faced challenges with its technology when first performed in 2013) is reason enough to watch this Die Walküre.

That’s the full line-up for Week 20 at the Met. Enjoy your week of opera!

Photo: Christine Goerke Die Walküre. (Photo by Richard Termine / Courtesy of Met Opera)

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