Musicals, operas and plays are regularly being reimagined. The recent production of Oklahoma! on Broadway; Michael Mayer’s production of Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera and the production of King Lear in which Glenda Jackson starred as Lear are just three examples. Enter director Phil Chan with Boston Lyric Opera‘s production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.

For the uninitiated, Madama Butterfly tells the story of Cio-Cio San, a young Japanese girl who falls in love with a US Naval officer named Pinkerton.

Unbeknownst to Pinkerton, she has a baby – his baby. Unbeknownst to Cio-Cio San, he’s gotten married.

Chan has changed the setting of this tragic story to 1940s San Francisco – before the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. If you know your history you know that soon after that 120,000 Japanese Americans were interred in concentration camps in America – not for being the enemy, but for looking like they could be the enemy. Cio-Cio San (Karen Chia-Ling Ho) is now a nightclub entertainer named Butterfly. Pinkerton (Dominick Chenes) is about to be shipped out to war as a result of the bombing.

It’s a bold decision, but there is so much more to Chan’s thinking as I learned when we spoke last week before Madama Butterfly opened. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To see the full interview with Chan, please go to our YouTube channel.

Q: What is it about this story that you think resonates so strongly and so deeply with people?

I think it really comes from the music. Puccini has written such a beautiful opera with such strong musical characters, such emotional highs and lows. Why does one like one roller coaster over the other roller coaster? It’s the feeling of butterflies, both extreme joy and relief, and then utter despair. You just ride between those two emotions for most of the opera.

It’s always been sort of a controversial opera. In the forties, it was actually canceled for a little bit. Canceled because people were afraid that it was empathizing with Japanese people too much. Now it’s again undergoing another sort of canceling because of its rightly poor depictions of Asian people. Caricature depictions. What it reinforces about Asian women.

We’re also having a second look at this opera, especially in the light of this anti-Asian social hysteria that has come out since COVID. It showed us that our acceptance of Asian-Americans here is really just a very thin veneer, the smallest thing, and we are not accepted here anymore.

When and where did you first experience Madama Butterfly?

I probably first saw it at The Met the current production [by Anthony Minghella], which is beautiful. I think I saw it before I had much of an awareness of any of this advocacy; how we represent Asian people. I saw it as just another fantasy that was told in the dramatic way, just like there are stories that take place in Germany and other places.

But then I started to dig a little bit deeper. The way we do things in opera and ballet that we’ve inherited from Europe that don’t necessarily serve everyone. These stories have power and they’re telling us specific narratives over and over again at the expense of Asian-American voices. What do they reinforce and what do they tell us – works like Madama Butterfly, this hyper-sexual, hyper-submissive Asian woman? You know what happens when we see that on stage?

In reality Asian women are being pushed onto subways tracks and and followed home and stalked home and shot down at their places of work, blamed for a disease. How are those two things connected when the arts are a way to empathize with the other? What if our arts aren’t doing us that favor anymore because the power depicting them is from 100 plus years ago?If we want this work to still have resonance, we need to help clear away some of the 100 years of cultural baggage so that Puccini’s intentions can be kept pure. So that’s what we I tried to do with this piece.

Is there something to learn by seeing how previous generations presented themselves, others and how they presented stories? Is there something to learn from those mistakes that should allow for them to exist in spite of their flaws, in spite of these depictions that are not appropriate?

I think there’s a difference between static art forms like photography, painting, sculpture, film and the performing arts which are living art forms. The static art forms [we] need to keep them as that is right. Birth of a Nation is arguably a great American film. It’s also a very problematic film. But we need to keep it alive and look at it within a context of where it belongs, which is in a museum to understand how it changed the minds of our people in a dangerous way. 

With the performing arts, however, we have a different set of rules. The performing arts have to be a mirror to our current moment. They have to reflect who we are and of our time. And if those things don’t hold true, the art isn’t honest. It doesn’t have integrity. Think about Shakespeare. If you’ve ever seen a Shakespearean play with a woman in it, you’re already seeing something radical and very different. The reason we’ve done that is because we need the art to better reflect our times. It’s by reimagining that we get to keep these works alive.

What I’m saying is let’s use our creative imagination. Let’s imagine this music with a bigger story for more people. Then let’s use that money we make from Butterfly ticket sales to commission a female composer or a Black composer or an Asian composer who’s alive now to make new work that reflects us so we can contribute to the canon as well. That’s also the bigger picture that I’m hoping this process brings out.

Anybody who tackles a story that has suicide in it, as this one famously does, as a director, is Cio-Cio San (or Butterfly’s) suicide an act of bravery or not? 

That depends on if the character kills herself. I think we’re questioning some of these stories. So just making the assumption that Cio-Cio San kills herself, again, goes against this. What else could it be? I’m not going to give away our ending, but just asking that question. The character does have to die at the end. But what is another death that we all experience? Or is there a death that is different than an automatic ritual suicide? What is a death that everybody can feel that isn’t just this abstract other thing that we don’t do in our society because we’re not crazy Japanese people who would even do that? 

Suicide doesn’t mean what it meant in the context of this opera when [Puccini] wrote the opera. So that is something that modern directors have to deal with. I think that’s why we’re seeing so much diversity in how this opera ends, which I think is really exciting. It keeps audiences guessing and keeps them wanting to come back and see this story over and over again. 

I saw a production that Josh Shaw of Pacific Opera Project did of Madama Butterfly, where all the Japanese characters sung in Japanese and all the the American characters sung in English. The idea was that these are barriers that they would have to have faced in the real world of Madama Butterfly. Do you think this opera lends itself to more dynamic changes than other operas?

In my research, it’s the Orientalist repertory that is almost the hardest to re-imagine because we love the fantasy. Orientalism has been a vehicle for spectacle for so long. Can you imagine The Met’s Turandot as anything but this giant Peking Opera spectacle? It’s just so big. It’s so beloved. It’s so pretty. It’s beautiful. It’s problematic, but it’s beautiful, right?You want that perfume. It’s very attractive. The problem is it doesn’t hold water when we are diverse. So when you’re looking at an otherwise outside culture as an insider and going, I’m Japanese and that’s not what we look like. Or I’m Chinese – I don’t see myself in this at all. It’s a very disorienting experience. But it was not made for us. So I think the Oriental operas are the hardest to re-imagine and balance because we’re stuck in how it’s done.

You mentioned the hysteria whipped up because of COVID and the resulting anti-Asian violence. Let’s assume that this production is successful in Boston and has a life beyond Boston in other cities. What is your hope that this production of Madama Butterfly will do to change the minds of the kind of people who spat on you and made it difficult for your father to go out*?

I think art is a way to bridge differences between people. Empathy and music is a way to cut through people’s hearts. It cuts through all of the vulnerabilities of the walls. It goes right to your heart. Puccini was very good at that. This way of doing the opera is a way to build empathy for Asian people. A way to say, we are not going to do this again to anybody. We’re not going to do this to Japanese Americans. We’re not going to do it to Jewish people. We’re not going to do it to Black people. We’re not going to do this again to anybody.

If that can be part of the story we can win over hearts, not just minds. It’s not an intellectual debate we’re having. It’s an emotional one. Art is a way to get people to see each other. Man, if you saw me as a real person, you wouldn’t spit on me. So let me give you some good music to help you to see me. I think that’s what this has the potential to do.

Madama Butterfly continues at Boston Lyric Opera with performances on Friday, September 22nd and Sunday, September 24th.

*To see the full context of that question and the full and fascinating conversation with Phil Chan, please go here.

Main Photo: Karen Chia-Ling Ho and company in Madama Butterfly at Boston Lyric Opera directed by Phil Chan (Photo by Ken Yotsukura/Courtesy Boston Lyric Opera)

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But her story begins in California. She was raised here and went to UCLA. Her education was financed by entering and winning several beauty pageants. Blue won the titles of Miss Hollywood in 2005 and Miss Southern California in 2006. She spent three years in the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program at LA Opera. From there the world welcomed her with rave reviews and this year Blue was named the winner of the Richard Tucker Award.

She is back in Southern California as the lead in the LA Opera production of Puccini’s Tosca. She appears with tenor Michael Fabiano (through December 4th) and Gregory Kunde (December 7th – 10th) as Tosca’s lover, Cavaradossi. Ryan McKinny sings Scarpia. This John Caird production, first seen in Houston in 2010, made its debut at LA opera in 2013.

Last week, after the dress rehearsal for Tosca, I spoke with Blue who was at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. She was being followed around by a documentary film crew from Germany.

Our conversation took place via Zoom. What follows are excerpts from that conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To see the full interview, please go to our YouTube channel.

Before we talk all things Tosca, I want to congratulate you on this week’s Grammy nomination for Fire Shut Up in My Bones. 

Thank you.

I saw the opera through Live in HD and found it incredibly powerful and incredibly moving. What made that opera special for you? 

I think for me it was the historical aspect of it. It was the first time that the Metropolitan Opera had done an opera written by a Black composer [Terence Blanchard]. Of course, coming back after COVID and having the opera be shut down for a whole year like that, I think all of those historical moments made it what it was for me. I just felt very blessed to be a part of it because it was such a moving moment in time for me. 

And a moving one for the audience as well. What challenges did composer Terence Blanchard give you that you feel are unique to the way he writes opera?

I think the biggest challenge for me was that on the first day of rehearsal he told all of us, “You guys are classical musicians, so I know that you’re going to do what is on the page, how it’s written.” And he said, “I want you to do what is on the page. But I also want you to go back to your roots.”

When he said that I thought about my dad and how I grew up. I did grow up singing opera and listening to classical music. But I also grew up in church, playing the bass guitar and listening to gospel, singing gospel, hearing my father sing gospel, having my father sing classical music as well.

He made basically a blueprint for all of us to follow. Then within that blueprint, he said, I want you to kind of come out of the confines of the blueprint and make it your own by being able to sing something like Peculiar Grace with more of an R&B gospel style. [That] was something that I never get to do in an opera. So it was a challenge in that we wanted to honor what Terence had written, but we also wanted to bring in our roots. So it was definitely a challenge to be able to put the two together, to give myself the freedom to do that in an opera on a stage like the Met. It was awesome.

Now let’s talk Tosca. If my research is correct, this production in Los Angeles is only the second time you’ve sung Tosca. Part of that was because you had two different productions canceled during the pandemic that you were scheduled to do. So after the disappointment that I’m assuming comes along with those cancelations, what does finally being able to revisit this role mean to you now?

First I want to say I wasn’t disappointed. I wasn’t. To be honest with you I felt like, and I still feel, that when something like what happened with COVID and all of those cancellations, what that afforded me was not just a break, but it also afforded me the time to sit back and think. Maybe this is not the right time to be singing these pieces back-to-back like that in one season. So I wasn’t so disappointed with it because I’m happy with how it is now. I have this production and then I do it again next summer.

I don’t believe in coincidences, so I think that was perfect. This production is very, very traditional. It’s so helpful to sing Tosca in such a way that allows for me to actually really invest in who the character is and really, I think, become Tosca. 

The first production you did would not be defined by anybody as a traditional production. Does this almost feels like this is your first, I don’t want to say conventional, but traditional Tosca anyway?

This is definitely my first conventional Tosca – you’re fine to say that it is. I’m happy to do it. For me the music has always had the same meaning. The singing has always been the same in terms of the challenges. It’s all the same music. Being able to express it in this way is something that I’m very thankful for. It’s a special time and it is the right time – that’s more important. 

What makes it the right time?

It’s just kind of like with COVID; if it wasn’t supposed to happen, it wouldn’t have. It’s the right time and everything is right. I’m at the right age for it. I feel right in my body about it. I’m back in Los Angeles where it couldn’t possibly be more comfortable to be singing this role. This is a role that comes with a lot of, for lack of a better word, a lot of stress. You have to be vocally prepared and ready, also dramatically prepared and ready. As my band Radiohead says, everything is in its right place.

If the schedule had happened as it was planned to this would be your fourth Tosca instead of your second. Is your approach to this opera any different today than it might have been had that schedule actually played out as as originally scheduled?

I think if it was my fourth Tosca production, I think maybe I would have been honestly less excited. I’m just being honest. I probably would have been less excited. Not less excited because of the opera or what have you. For example, I’ve done eight productions, I think, now of La Traviata and it’s not that I’m not excited by the opera. But at some point the artist grows out of something and you grow into something else.

I see myself having the opportunity to really grow into Tosca. The journey is really just starting and that’s good because it’s the right time for it to start. And I hope it’s the beginning of a very wonderful run of Toscas for years to come.

Let me ask you about that 2019 production in Provence that you did – the Christophe Honoré production. There was a new character introduced and you were wearing a hoodie. Not how I normally look at Tosca, but to each his own. What did you learn from that first experience that is informing what you’re doing as a singer, as an actor, in this one?

Flexibility. We have to be flexible as opera singers. It’s important to be able to sing, of course, that’s what our job is. What I really loved about Christophe was that his imagination was just all over the place. It was wild and it was everywhere. And what I loved about it was that he wanted us to go on that wonderful journey with him. Because of that I had to know the music really, really well. What I was saying and what I was singing did not go along with the dramaturgy. It didn’t go along with the staging. So I had to make sure that I knew my music well.

Then on top of that I had to take my imagination to another level of my Tosca being this student, learning from the prima donna who was played by Catherine Malfitano. So I enjoyed it because it stretched my imagination and it made me realize that I’m an opera singer. But I feel like I’m so much more than that because of that production and hopefully the flexibility and the the open-mindedness that I had to learn doing that production. I hope I bring that into this production, even though it is traditional. 

I looked at an interview that John Caird gave to the Los Angeles Times when this production was first performed at LA Opera. Caird said something that I thought was really interesting: that the opera could have benefited from a second female character. He then went on to say, “There are things that are not terribly well done, but you can’t worry too much about the infelicities and the dramaturgy. The music sorts out all the problems.” Do you agree with John Caird? Do you think that it’s a rocky dramaturgical piece of work, but that Puccini’s music compensates for that? 

I’m very fortunate because I have sung the opera with another soprano and not just any soprano, she’s a legendary Tosca. Who knows if sopranos really want to share the role of Tosca. But I think there would be something if there was another protagonist maybe in the show. But Puccini’s heart, everything about this man, every ounce of his being, comes out in the music. I don’t want to say it like this, but I don’t know how else to say it. Perhaps the drama doesn’t fail. Maybe that’s not the right word. But I’ll say this. The music is constantly going. It doesn’t ever really stop. So I’ll say that when the drama sort of slows down, that’s when the music kind of kicks in and keeps it going. So I would agree with him.

In 2019 you did an interview with with Gramilano and you mentioned that Violetta and Tosca were your favorite characters, your favorite roles and that Don Giovanni and Tosca were your favorite operas to watch. From a spectator’s point of view and being in your shoes, what makes Tosca so special for you to watch? 

I enjoy the drama. I enjoy the brass. I love the brass section of the orchestra. Actually I should have said my favorite opera is Turandot. I love the brass section. Puccini, Strauss, Wagner, they use the brass section like none other. And Terence Blanchard, too! I know that because I had to sing with them.

But I love the way he writes for the orchestra in Tosca. The singers just being able to, if I may say it this way, accommodate what he’s written. You can actually listen to the whole opera of Tosca – just the orchestra. Take out everything else: take out the voices, all of it, the choir, and you can listen to it and I imagine it would play the same. That’s why I said we’re there to accommodate. We’re there to almost, in a way, backup the orchestra. Maybe I’ve always felt that way about Tosca. I don’t know how correct that is to say as a singer, but that is my impression of the opera. 

I think for any soprano the shadow of Maria Callas is is unavoidable. In 2021, BBC’s music magazine, Classical Music, named Callas’s 1953 recording of Tosca as the finest recording ever. How long is her shadow and at what point do you think you and other sopranos are not going to have to face the the Callas of it all?

I can only say that I greatly admire her dedication, diligence and devotion to her craft. If it happens that she is the quintessential Tosca for the rest of humanity, then so be it. I’m happy to say that I’ve lived in her shadow. I don’t mind that. I can only say that I’m grateful that I’ve been able to sing the same music that she sings. I was singing, of course, with my voice and with my heart and my experience.

Tosca is one of the greatest opera roles ever. From my perspective any woman who can put herself into Tosca’s shoes, make it through the whole evening and come off stage with their head held high – you’ve done a great thing, regardless of who has the finest recording. In the moment that I’m singing Tosca and whoever else is singing Tosca, that’s our moment. And we honor Maria Callas. We thank her. I honor her and I thank her for the role that she’s played for us sopranos. But if it’s a shadow, I’ll stand in it.

I’m going to finish by asking you about something that Callas is quoted as having said. She said, “An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination. It becomes my life and stays part of my life long after I’ve left the opera house.” Do you feel similarly to Maria Callas? 

I was a young artist here at Los Angeles Opera 15, 16 years ago. Going from being a young artist to singing such a role where I was a young artist – I’m where I want to be. I don’t know if I can, honestly say, “Oh, I have this great dream to sing Tosca here or there or wherever.” I just know that I’m grateful to sing it here.

I agree with her in that the opera starts way before the curtain goes up, because we have to be thinking about it all of the time. I’m constantly working on the music. I’m constantly studying and that will never change. I will be studying until, you know, God takes me out of here.

But I differ from from Ms. Callas in that the opera does stop, because it can’t be my whole life. I have a family. I have a husband. I have a stepson. I have people in my life. That curtain must go down so that I can be Angel. I’m not always Angel Blue singing.

As soon as we’re done with this Zoom and I leave this opera house, I’m going to go eat. I’m going to do my thing. And the curtain will definitely be down. It’ll be down good, too, you know? And it doesn’t come back up until I have to come back and do my job, if that makes sense. But I’m thankful for Tosca. It’s brought me back home. Literally all I can think about is that I’m home.

To see the full interview with Angel Blue, please go here.

Main Photo: Angel Blue (Photo by Dario Acosta/Courtesy Askonas Holt)

The post Angel Blue Comes Home with “Tosca” appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Since he composed 12 operas, it is inevitable that there will be some operas being presented in both weeks. In fact, the same seven operas are being presented this week that were presented back in September. However, to the Met’s credit, there is only one production being shown this week that appeared in the previous Puccini Week.

Amongst the stars in this week’s operas are Roberto Alagna, Barbara Daniels, Plácido Domingo, Angela Gheorghiu, Karita Mattila, Luciano Pavarotti, Renata Scotto, Nina Stemme, Paulo Szot and Shirley Verrett.

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 July 12th, you’ll still have time to see the 2016-2017 season production of Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier that concludes Richard Strauss week.

Here is the full line-up for Week 70 at the Met:

Monday, July 12 – Puccini’s Manon Lescaut – 2nd Showing

Conducted by James Levine; starring Karita Mattila, Marcello Giordani and Dwayne Croft. This revival of Gian Carlo Menotti’s 1980 production is from the 2007-2008 season.

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.

Anthony Tommasini said in his New York Times review that there was basically one reason the Met brought back this production of Manon Lescaut after 18 years: Mattila. He said she did not disappoint. Going further he added, “Though a lovely and mature Finnish woman, Ms. Mattila is such a compelling actress that she affectingly conveyed Manon’s girlish awkwardness. She acted with her voice as well, singing with burnished sound and nuanced expressivity.”

Tuesday, July 13 – Puccini’s La Bohème – 3rd Showing

Conducted by James Levine; starring Renata Scotto, Maralin Niska, Luciano Pavarotti, Ingvar Wixell and Paul Plishka. This Fabrizio Melano production is from the 1976-1977 season.

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.)

Pavarotti made his Met Opera debut in 1968 in La Bohème. This 1977 production of Puccini’s beloved opera was actually the very first Live at the Met broadcast. 

Harold C. Schonberg, writing in the New York Times, said of Pavarotti’s performance, “Nobody around today can sing a better Rodolfo, and this despite the fact that the voice has changed somewhat in recent years. It is a little heavier passages above the staff are not produced as effortlessly as before sometimes there is a decided feeling of strain. One hopes that the Manricos he has been singing have not taken the lyric bloom from his voice. With all that, he sang most beautifully last night. Only Mr. Pavarotti can spin out long phrases with such authority and color.”

Wednesday, July 14 – Puccini’s Tosca – 4th Showing

Conducted by James Conlon; starring Shirley Verrett, Luciano Pavarotti and Cornell MacNeil. This Tito Gobbi production is from the 1978-1979 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 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.

Donal Henahan, in his New York Times review, praised Verrett’s singing. “Miss Verrett, in appearance the most persuasively starlike Floria Tosca the Met has offered in years, also succeeded in satisfying the purely vocal demands of her role. There was little strain anywhere, and many passages of extraordinarily fine, intelligently nuanced singing.”

He went on to say about Pavarotti, “Mr. Pavarotti, though a bit thin of voice in such outpourings as ‘Recondite armonia,’ pitched himself into the action, vocally and theatrically, with his usual infectious enthusiasm. Puccini is notoriously hard on voices—perhaps more so than Verdi or even Wagner— and Mr. Pavarotti is taking a calculated risk in moving into emotionally heavy and tone‐shredding roles. But his ‘Vittoria!’ rang out excitingly, without sounding strident, and in the lyrical passages he was nothing less than glorious. Bravissimo is not good enough for such singing. How about pavarotissimo?”

Thursday, July 15 – Puccini’s Madama Butterfly – 2nd Showing

Conducted by Pier Giorgio Morandi; starring Hui He, Elizabeth DeShong, Bruce Sledge and Paulo Szot. This is a revival of the 2006 Anthony Minghella production from the 2019-2020 season.

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 Butterflyserved as the inspiration for that musical.)

Seth Colter Walls, writing in the New York Times, praised much of Hui He’s work as Cio-Cio San:

“Ms. He’s work in ensembles could also give off a stranded feeling — and not just because of the strain evident in ascents to high notes. Yet during more intimate passages, she pulled the night together by delivering a Cio-Cio-San full of subtle yet fascinating changes. Some darkly rich tones provided dramatic dimension for her first-act work before a brighter, brassier sound underlined the character’s hopeful delusions in the second act. Tellingly, the soprano was at her most moving when interacting with her young son, depicted in this production through Bunraku-style puppetry. In these moments, the intensity that was missing from the flesh-and-blood interactions became plainly obvious.”

Friday, July 16 – Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West FIRST SHOWING

Conducted by Leonard Slatkin; starring Barbara Daniels, Plácido Domingo and Sherrill Milnes. This Giancarlo Del Monaco production is from the 1991-1992 season.

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?

Martin Bernheimer, writing in the Los Angeles Times, was very impressed with the production. Here are excerpts from his review:

“The Metropolitan Opera has expended rousing, loving care on its new production of La Fanciulla del West…The most striking contribution to this emphatically successful project would seem to come, however, from the stage director: Giancarlo del Monaco…His Fanciulla may be the most realistic, the most detailed, the most atmospheric version since the world premiere, which happened to be presented by the same company 81 years ago…Perhaps Del Monaco has given us the ultimate oxymoron: a thinking person’s Fanciulla del West.”

Saturday, July 17 – Puccini’s La Rondine – 4th Showing

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.

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.”

Sunday, July 18 – Puccini’s Turandot – 2nd Showing

Conducted by Paolo Carignani; starring Nina Stemme, Anita Hartig, Marco Berti and Alexander Tsymbalyuk. This revival of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1987 production is from the 2015-2016 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. 

By the time this production of Turandot was broadcast on Met Opera in HD, Nina Stemme was the fourth woman to sing the title role. Christine Goerke, Lise Lindstrom and Jennifer Wilson had all performed in the production prior to Stemme. It should be noted that having multiple singers for a given role during a season is not at all unusual.

Vivien Schweitzer, in her review for the New York Times, said of Stemme’s performance that she, “managed to render the grisly ice maiden surprisingly vulnerable. Ms. Stemme sounded more grief-stricken than angry during “In questa reggia,” the aria in which she recalls her violated ancestor.

“Her powerful, luxuriant voice retained its warmth throughout the evening, with blazing high notes that were never forced or shrill, even when projected over the massed ensembles of orchestra and chorus. Her transition from powerful to helpless seemed particularly acute when she begged her father not to be given to the “stranger” (the prince Calaf), who has solved the riddles that will allow him to possess her.”

That’s the line-up for Week 70 at the Met. For those following the labor issues at the Metropolitan Opera, a tentative agreement has been reached so it looks like there will indeed be a 2021-2022 season. That will mean more LIVE in HD presentations to experience.

Enjoy your week! Enjoy the operas! 

Photo: Nina Stemme and Marco Berti Puccini’s Turandot. (Photo by Marty Sohl/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

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There are some live events happening this weekend and as the summer rolls out we’ll be offering top selections of live events.

That doesn’t mean, however, that there aren’t great options for you to enjoy at home this week. In fact, one of the year’s most exciting projects is having its premiere on Sunday. It is called America/Beautiful and it is our top pick

Here is our complete line-up of Top Ten Best Bets: July 2nd – July 5th:

*TOP PICK* CLASSICAL MUSIC: America/Beautiful – Premieres July 4th – 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT

We all know the song America the Beautiful. Pianist Min Kwon has commissioned over 70 composers to create variations on that song for Kwon to perform. She begins streaming performances of these variations on July 4th.

Kwon was able to get a veritable who’s who of contemporary composers to participate: Samuel Alder; Bruce Adolphe; Leila Adu-Gilmore; Timo Andres; Andrew Bambridge; Jonathan Berger; Victoria Bond; Kris Bowers; Peter Boyer; Kenji Brunch; Theo Chandler; Anthony Cheung; Jaehyuck Choi; Charles Coleman; Viet Cuong; Sebastian Currier; Richard Danielpour; Tyson Davis; Jed Distler; Avner Dorman; Geena Esmail; Alan Fletcher; Michael Gandolfi; Michael Gilbertson; John Harbison; Stephen Hartke; Jake Heggie; Fred Hersch; Jonathan Bailey Holland; Huang Rao; Vijay Iyer; Pierre Jalbert; JP Jofre; Kristjan Järvi; Aaron Jay Kernis; Texu Kim; Jiyoung Ko; Libby Larsen; Hannah Lash; George Lewis; Tania León; Lei Liang; David Serkin Ludwig; Miya Masoaka; Jessica Meyer; Patricio Molina; Paul Moravec; Nico Muhly; John Musto; Qasim Naqvi; Daniel Newman-Lessler; Paola Prestini; Dave Ragland; Shulamit Ran; City Razaz; Gian Riley; Terry Riley; Daniel Bernard Roumain; Greg Sandow; David Sanford; Paul Schoenfeld; Jeff Scott; Juri Seo; Robert Sirota; Derrick Skye; Augusta Read Thomas; Christopher Trapani; Lilya Ugay; Melinda Wagner; Wang Vie; Trevor Weston; Pamela Z; Judith Lang Zaimont; Patrick Zimmerli and Samuel Zyman.

This is a true melting pot of composers. This thoughtful selection of creative partners for Kwon reflects everything America represents.

Kwon, who was born in Korea, has toured the world as a soloist with major orchestras around the world. She’s recorded five albums for MSR Classics.

For those in New York, Kwon will be performing many of these compositions in person on July 8th and 9th at the Green-Wood Catacombs.

I’ve seen previews of three of the compositions she’ll be playing. This will be a treat! Thus it is our top pick for the weekend.

CABARET: Night of a Thousand Judys – Now available through July 24th

The ninth annual celebration of Judy Garland benefitting the Ali Forney Center debuted in mid-June, but its all-star line-up of performers taking their turns with songs made famous by the star of The Wizard of Oz makes it a perfect holiday entertainment.

This year’s line-up includes Alan Cumming, Duchess, Nathan Lee Graham, Sam Harris, Kevin Smith Kirkwood, Jose Llana, Karen Mason, Grace McLean, Jane Monheit, Nadia Quinn, Vivian Reed, Margo Seibert, Kim David smith, Gabrielle Stravelli and Mary Testa.

The show was written and hosted by Justin Sayre.

The Ali Forney Center is a non-profit organization that helps LGBT homeless youth throughout the country. Donations are encouraged.

OPERA: Puccini’s La Bohème – Royal Opera House – Now – July 25th

Conducted by Renato Balsadonna; starring Anna Princeva, Joshua Guerrero, Boris Pinkhasovich, Danielle de Niese and Cody Quattlebaum. This 2021 is a revival of the 2017-2018 season Richard Jones production.

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.)

Tickets to watch La Bohème are $18.50

CLASSICAL MUSIC: What’s Past is Prologue Parts 1 and 2 – Baryshnikov Arts Center and Tippet Rise Arts Center – Now available

The Aizuri Quartet celebrates the music of female composers in this two-part concert under the title What’s Past is Prologue.

This all-female quartet is comprised of violinist Emma Frucht, violist Ayane Kozasa, cellist Karen Ouzounian and violinist Miho Saegusa.

In part one (available through July 7th) the quartet performs music by Rhiannon Giddens, Gabriella Smith and Hildegard von Bingen.

In part two (available through July 14th) they perform works by Eleanor Alberga and Barbara Strozzi.

You probably don’t know most of these composers. I know I don’t. But that’s what makes this two-part concert so appealing – the ability to discover new music and new voices.

The link above goes to Part one on the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Part two can be found on the Tippet Rise Art Center website here.

MODERN DANCE: Animals & Angels – The Joyce Theater – Now – July 18th

As part of celebrating Pride Month, The Joyce Theater in New York has made available the premiere of Animals & Angels. The work is a pas de deux for two female dancers: Cortney Taylor Key and Audrey Malek.

It is unusual to find a duet for two female dancers. That’s just one of the things that makes this work by #QueertheBallet interesting.

Through the length of this work the two women not only explore their burgeoning relationship, but also the traditional roles played by dancers in the world of ballet.

#Queertheballet was created by choreographer Andriana Pierce. Animals & Angels was created by Pierce in conjunction with the dancers.

It’s a brief work running less than six minutes. The video includes a conversation amongst the creators.

PLAYWRIGHTS: TCG Books’ First Fridays with Larissa FastHorse – July 2nd – 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT

MacArthur Fellow and acclaimed playwright Larissa FastHorse (The Thanksgiving Play) will be in conversation with Cornerstone Theater Company’s Michael John Garcés on Friday to discuss her work.

Garcés has directed three of FastHorse’s plays: Native Nation, Urban Rez and The Thanksgiving Play.

In addition to her writing, FastHorse is the co-founder of Indigenous Direction, the nation’s leading consulting company for Indigenous arts and audiences.

TCG Books has published The Thanksgiving Play along with What Would Crazy Horse Do?

JAZZ: The Hot Club of Cowtown – SFJAZZ – July 2nd – July 3rd

This week’s Fridays at Five presentation from SFJAZZ has a bit more twang than their usual offerings. The Hot Club of Cowtown offers more swing than jazz and they do so in a style that easily follows in the tradition of such artists as Stephane Grappelli, Django Reinhardt and Bob Wills.

This three-member band features bassist Jake Erwin, violinist Elana James and guitarist Whit Smith.

The concert being shown comes from their appearance at SFJAZZ in 2018 as they were supporting their latest release, Crossing the Great Divide.

An apt title as their work crosses the divide between country and jazz, swing and roots music. Earlier this year they released their latest album, What Makes Bob Holler. Listening to their music you just know they’d be right at home on the soundtrack to a Woody Allen movie.

If you are unable to watch the show on Friday at Five (that’s pacific time/8:00 PM ET), there is a second streaming of the show on Saturday, July 3rd at 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT.

JAZZ: Bill Frisell Solo – Village Vanguard – July 2nd – July 4th

Throughout the pandemic, New York’s Village Vanguard has offered streaming concerts filmed inside this world-famous venue. Apparently they kept one tucked away for a special occasion and this holiday weekend appears to be the event that finds this solo concert by guitarist Bill Frisell being made available.

For over four decades Frisell has been one of music’s finest guitarists. Whether performing solo or with his trio, Frisell has been making music that defies easy categorization. His compositions range in style from jazz to Americana to fusion and more. He’s received 6 Grammy Award nominations and won the trophy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 2004 for Unspeakable.

Tickets are $10 and allow for viewing through Sunday, July 4th at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT.

OPERA: Mozart’s La Clemenza Di Tito – Glyndebourne – July 4th – July 18th

Conducted by Robin Ticciati; starring Richard Croft, Anna Stéphany, Alice Coote, Clive Bayley, Michéle Losier and Joélle Harvey. This Claus Guth production is from the 2016-2017 season.

La Clemenza di Tito (“The Clemency of Titus”) has a libretto by Caterino Mazzolà who altered Pietro Metastasio’s libretto which had been used by other composers before Mozart.

The world premiere took place in Prague in 1791.

Roman Emperor Tito has his eyes set on his friend Sesto’s sister, Sevilla. Sesto is in love with Vitellia. She wants to be married to Tito, but he is not interested in her and she recruits Sesto to assassinate the Emperor in exchange for her love. Intrigue, betrayal and mercy are in store for all involved.

Tim Ashley, writing in The Guardian, said of this production:

“…[Gruth] is helped immeasurably by exceptional performances from Croft and Stéphany. Both achieve rounded characterisations through the seamless integration of recitative and aria, and use Mozart’s verbal and melodic repetitions to suggest shifts in psychological perception and meaning. Croft beautifully conveys the lonely isolation attendant on absolute authority and the anger that both informs and threatens Tito’s idealism. Stéphany trawls Sesto’s emotional and moral anguish with tragic intensity.”

POPS/CLASSICAL: Boston Pops July 4th Spectacular – Bloomberg TV, Bloomberg Radio, Bloomberg.com – July 4th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

The annual tradition of a Boston Pops concert for July 4th continues. For the lucky few they will be able to attend in person at Tanglewood. For the rest of us, we can watch it on July 4th live on various Bloomberg outlets.

Joining Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops will be two special guests.

They are recent Academy Award-winner Jon Batiste (bandleader of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) and legendary singer Mavis Staples.

The full program hasn’t been announced, but it will continue the tradition of patriotic music (The Star Spangled Banner, Stars and Stripes Forever) with the one piece of classical music that inspires fireworks with nearly ever outdoor performance: Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

If you have other plans that night and suffer from FOMO if you can’t see this concert, you’ll have the ability to stream it for 24 days.

Those are the Top Ten Best Bets: July 2nd – July 5th. But a few reminders before we close out this week’s listings:

Unmasked: A Theatrical Celebration of Black Women’s Liberation is only available through the end of the day on Sunday, July 4th from The Wallis.

This weekend’s offerings from the Metropolitan Opera include John Adams’ Nixon in China on Friday; Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny on Saturday and Philip Glass’ Akhnaten on Sunday.

On Monday the Met begins a week of operas by Richard Strauss. Monday the series starts with the 1982-1983 season production of Der Rosenkavalier starring Kiri Te Kanawa and Luciana Pavarotti. We’ll have the full line-up for you on Monday.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Sound/Stage season 2 episodes are all available for viewing including the most recent episode featuring Carlos Vives (who will be performing at the Hollywood Bowl with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic in August.)

Here ends our complete list of Top Ten Best Bets: July 2nd – July 5th. Whatever you do, have a safe and sane and wonderful holiday weekend.

Photo: Min Kwan (Courtesy America/Beautiful)

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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)

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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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In addition to our top pick, Ballet Hispánico, which we announced yesterday, we have a few plays, some jazz, classical, Broadway music and opera for you.

Here are this Memorial Day Weekend’s Best Bets: May 28th – May 31st:

*TOP PICK*: DANCE – Ballet Hispánico 50th Celebration – May 28th – June 10th

Latin dance company Ballet Hispánico celebrates their Diamond Anniversary with the streaming presentation of three new works by Lauren Anderson, Ana “Rokafella” Garcia and Belén Maya and classic works from their repertoire by Graciela Daniele, Nacho Duato, the late Geoffrey Holder, Ann Reinking, Pedro Ruiz and Gustavo Ramirez Sansano.

The show willl feature several special guests.

Amongst them will be Tony Award-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) and Academy Award nominee Rosie Perez (Fearless).

The show debuts at 6:30 PM ET/3:30 PM PT on May 28th and will remain available for two weeks. There’s no charge to watch this wonderful celebration.

PLAY: The LATRELL Show – IAMA Theatre Company – Now – June 20th

Brandon Kyle Goodman stars in and wrote this play about a talk show host, Latrell Jackson, whose perhaps best known for saying whatever he wants on any subject. He’s quick with the jokes and even quicker to share his opinions.

As a gay Black man, he’s been around the block a few times. As he embarks on filming a very special episode, Latrell is forced to reveal there’s more to his public persona than easy laughs and quick criticism.

Stefanie Black and Devere Rogers co-directed The LATRELL Show. This is definitely a show for those not afraid of frank talk, explicit language and the presentation of ideas that don’t remotely fall into the world of political correctness. In other words, recommended for mature audiences.

Tickets range from $15 to $100 depending on your ability to pay.

PLAY: Georgie: My Adventures With George Rose – TheaterMania – Now – July 18th

You don’t need to know who George Rose was to enjoy this one-man show. But it doesn’t hurt to have a few facts about this very likable and charismatic performer.

Rose was nominated for five Tony Awards: Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Coco; Best Featured Actor in a Play for My Fat Friend and Best Actor in a Musical for The Pirates of Penzance.

His two other nominations resulted in wins for the actor: Best Actor in a Musical for My Fair Lady (1976 revival) and for The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Ed Dixon, who as a young actor was cast in a production of The Student Prince with Rose, became friends with the older actor. Dixon was gay, but had never experienced someone who was as vocal about being gay as was Rose.

This is the starting point for Dixon’s one-man show that was named Best Solo Performance by the Drama Desk Awards. Throughout the 90-minute show, Dixon tells stories, impersonates not just Rose, but his famous friends like Richard Burton and Katharine Hepburn and offers up some song and dance.

This clip above is not from this film, but from promotional materials from the Signature Theatre.

Tickets are $25.

PLAY: Alice in Wonderland – A Noise Within – May 27th – June 20th

Enough of the adult material, here’s a play for the whole family. Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was adapted by Eva Le Gallienne & Florida Friebus for the stage. The show first opened on Broadway for a very short-lived run in 1982 (18 previews and 21 performances.)

Stephanie Shroyer originally conceived and directed this production. Erika Soto plays the title character.

The rest of the cast plays multiple characters with Susan Angelo as the White Queen; Rafael Goldstein as the Mad Hatter; Julanne Chidi Hill as the Cheshire Cat and Justin Lawrence Barns as The Queen of Hearts.

This is an 85-minute film staged by Julia Rodriguez-Elliot. Josh Grondin wrote the original score.

Tickets are $25 – $40. Unlike other productions where you can stream at your leisure, there are set times each day to watch Alice in Wonderland.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Resilience: Destiny Muhammad – San Francisco Symphony – Now Playing

Harpist/vocalist Destiny Muhammad has curated this episode of San Francisco Symphony’s Sound Box series. On her website she is described as representing a genre that ranges from Celtic to Coltrane. She’s well-known in the Bay Area which makes this collaboration with the SF Symphony an obvious fit.

The theme for her Sound Box is Resilience.

She came up with the theme after seeing all her professional engagements get cancelled due to the pandemic. As with most of us, it took both personal and professional resilience to navigate her way through it all.

Muhammad has put together a very impressive program for this filmed concert. The pieces being performed include Confessions to My Unborn Daughter by Ambrose Akinmusire; Tell Him Not to Talk Too Long by Mary Lou Williams; Serenade by William Grant Still and her own composition Hope on the Horizon.

What makes this program of particular note is that the harp is rarely a featured instrument. This won’t be like any other filmed concert you’ve seen recently.

Tickets are $15.

BROADWAY VOCALS: One Voice: The Songs We Share – PBS – May 28th (check local listings)

In this new PBS series, Luke Frazier leads the American Pops Orchestra in a celebration of the songs that have come from Broadway. Whether you know the songs because you saw the musicals themselves or heard them performed by popular singers and bands, you know the songs. By the way, did you know The Beatles recorded a song from The Music Man?

In this episode Tony Award winner Jessie Mueller is one of the performers. She originated the role of Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Also on this show are Amber Iman (Shuffle Along, or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All that Followed); tap dancer Luke Hawkins; RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 9 top 5 finisher Alexis Michelle and Sam Simahk (2018 revival of Carousel).

These artists will be performing songs from Carousel, Damn Yankees, Funny Girl, Hello Dolly!, La Cage Aux Folles, The Roar of the Greasepaint The Smell of the Crowd and The Wiz.

A second episode, which immediately follows on most stations, will featured sacred music and includes Michelle Williams from Destiny’s Child; American Idol’s Justin Guarini; soprano Maureen McKay and more.

DANCE: 21st Century Choreographers – Royal Ballet – May 28th – June 27th

Kyle Abraham, Crystal Pite and Christopher Wheeldon are the choreographers whose work is showcased in this program from The Royal Ballet in the United Kingdom.

Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour, created for the San Francisco Ballet is up first. Abraham’s duet, a precursor to a longer work that was commissioned by the Royal Ballet for their 2021-2022 season follows.

The program concludes with Pite’s Statement and Solo Echo. The latter piece set to the music of Johannes Brahms.

Tickets are £16, which is being billed out as $18.50 on The Royal Ballet website.

OPERA: Gallup (Na’nízhoozhí) – LA Opera – Debuts May 28th

Gallup, New Mexico, is called Na’nízhoozhí in the Navajo language. It’s also the location of this digital short from LA Opera. What stands out about this particular piece is that it features new music composed by Matthew Aucoin. He is the composer of the opera Eurydice which had its world premiere at LA Opera in February of 2020.

Singing in this piece are Anthony Roth Costanzo and Davóne Tines. (Two other terrific reasons to watch Gallup).

Two men from the Navajo Nation are also involved: director Blackhorse Lowe and Jake Skeets whose poetry was set to music by Aucoin.

This isn’t a perspective we commonly get to see in the performing arts. I, for one, can’t wait to see and hear this work.

JAZZ: Curtis Taylor Quartet – Jazz at LACMA – Debuts May 28th – 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT

As restrictions start to get lifted, programming like Friday Jazz on the plaza at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art might return. Until that time, LACMA continues debuting filmed performances. This week’s features trumpeter Curtis Taylor.

Taylor, who originates from Ohio but calls Los Angeles home, is a bandleader and an in-demand musician. Amongst the artists with whom he has recorded and/or toured are Cyrus Chestnut, Billy Childs, Gregory Porter and Patrice Rushen. He’s also toured with the legendary James Carter as a member of his quintet.

His most recent album, Snapshot, was released in 2019.

This concert will also include an interview with Taylor. This concert will be available for viewing after its debut on LACMA’s YouTube Channel.

BROADWAY VOCALS: George Salazar – Seth Concert Series – May 30th – 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT

The first show I saw George Salazar in was Here Lies Love at the Public Theater in New York. The other show I saw him in was Pasadena Playhouse’s Little Shop of Horrors in the fall of 2019. Between those two productions he made his Broadway debut in the 2011 revival of Godspell and starred in the musical Be More Chill.

I’m sure he’ll have plenty to talk about with Seth Rudetsky in this weekend’s Seth Concert Series. He’s also a good singer, which makes him a great guest.

I’m sure he’ll have plenty to talk about with Seth Rudetsky in this weekend’s Seth Concert Series. He’s also a good singer, which makes him a great guest.

If you can’t catch this show as it streams live on Sunday afternoon, there will be a rerun on Sunday at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT. Tickets for either showing are $25.

There are no significant performing arts events on Monday’s holiday. So that completes this week’s Best Bets: May 28th – May 31st. But you know there are always going to be a few reminders:

JAZZ: Saturday is your last chance to watch the worldwide International Jazz Day 2021 Concert with performances by Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gerald Clayton, Andra Day, Herbie Hancock, Stefon Harris, Dianne Reeves and more.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Monday is your last day to catch Sutton Foster’s Bring Me to Light concert with special guests Raúl Esparza, Joaquina Kalukango, Kelli O’Hara and Wren Rivera.

OPERA: Last weekend’s Met Stars Live in Concert performance by Isabel Leonard, Ailyn Pérez and Nadine Sierra is available on demand through June 4th.

VARIOUS: Monday is the final day to catch a multitude of performances that were part of the Voices of Hope Festival from Carnegie Hall. This includes performances by The Kronos Quartet, Ute Lemper, Jason Moran, Davóne Tines with Jennifer Koh and more.

PLAY: Christine Quintana’s Clean starts its week of streaming as part of South Coast Repertory’s Pacific Playwrights Festival.

OPERA: The operas available this week from the Metropolitan Opera are the 1996-1997 season production of Giordano’s Fedora on Friday; the 2010-2011 production of Strauss’s Capriccio on Saturday and Rossini’s Le Comte Ory from the same season on Saturday. Monday is the start of Aria Code: The Operas Behind the Podcast (the Met’s collaboration with WQXR) and will feature the 2019-2020 season production of Puccini’s Turandot.

That should keep you pretty well occupied this weekend. With this much to see, who has time for a barbecue?

Enjoy your weekend! Enjoy the performing arts!

Photo: Ballet Hispánico in Línea Recta (Photo by Paula Lobo/Courtesy Ballet Hispánico)

The post Best Bets: May 28th – May 31st appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

The competition is designed to find the most talented young opera singers and help them develop their craft and their careers. Amongst the alumni appearing in this week’s productions are Lawrence Brownlee, Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Ben Heppner, Sondra Radvanovsky, Samuel Ramey, Teresa Stratas and Carol Vaness.

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 10th, you’ll still have time to see the 2019-2020 season production of Handel’s Agrippina that was part of Happy Mother’s Day week.

Here is the full line-up for Week 61 at the Met:

Monday, May 10 – Puccini’s La Bohème

Conducted by James Levine; starring Teresa Stratas, Renata Scotto, José Carreras, Richard Stilwell, Allan Monk, James Morris and Italo Tajo. Franco Zeffirelli production from the 1981-1982 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously available last year on July 19th and December 24th.

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. 

Director Zeffirelli reworked his 1963 production for this “new” production nearly twenty years later. John Rockwell, writing in the New York Times, wasn’t terribly impressed with the revisions. 

“Perhaps La Boheme, Puccini’s finest and most innocent opera, works best in a far more intimate house than the Met. Perhaps it is best encountered on a journey, with young, unknown singers playing out its tale of passion and despair in a way that can really be believed. Mr. Zeffirelli’s Boheme is grand and traditional, but it lost its innocence long ago.”

Tuesday, May 11 – Mozart’s Don Giovanni

Conducted by James Levine; starring Carol Vaness, Karita Mattila, Dawn Upshaw, Jerry Hadley, Samuel Ramey, Ferrucio Furlanetto and Kurt Moll. This Franco Zeffirelli production is from the 1989-1990 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously available on February 19th of this year.

The legend of Don Juan inspired this opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto is by Lorenzo da Ponte. Don Giovanni had its world premiere in 1787 in Prague.

Don Giovanni loves women. All women. Early in the opera he tries fleeing Donna Anna. In doing so her father, the Commendatore, awakens and challenges him to a duel. Giovanni kills the Commendatore – an event that will ultimately lead to his own descent into hell.

Donal Henahan, in his New York Times review, singled Ramey out for praise for his performance as the title character. “Samuel Ramey, the handsomest and most athletic Don Giovanni on the stage today, dominated the performance physically, as the Don must. But his flexible bass could also articulate cleanly a breathtakingly fast Champagne Aria and sustain a singing line in his Serenade. If his phrasing was sometimes blunt and insensitive, so was the heartless character he portrayed.”

Wednesday, May 12 – Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde

Conducted by James Levine; starring Jane Eaglen, Katarina Dalayman, Ben Heppner, Hans-Joachim Ketelsen and René Pape. This Dieter Dorn production is from the 1999-2000 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously available on July 12th of last year.

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

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

Bernard Holland, writing for the New York Times, loved this production. He praised the two leads saying “I wonder if we’ve ever had better ones.” He raved about the orchestra saying, “The heart of Tristan is its orchestra, and James Levine worked in slow, patient accumulations of force. The sound was wonderful.” And concluded his review by stating, “There is no other music like it, and I have never heard a better performance.”

Tristan und Isolde is easily my personal favorite opera. I’ve seen productions in the United States and in Europe. I find it profoundly moving on all levels. What Wagner accomplished here by not resolving the music until the final minutes of the opera is without parallel. I plan to watch this production and encourage you to do the same.

Thursday, May 13 – Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier

Conducted by Edo de Waart; starring Renée Fleming, Christine Schäfer, Susan Graham and Kristinn Sigmundsson. This revival of the 1969 Nathaniel Merrill production is from the 2009-2010 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously available last year on July 25th and this year on January 13th.

It was in Dresden in 1911 that the world was first introduced to Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier. The libretto was written by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Two sources served as inspiration for the opera: Moliere’s Monsieur de Pourceaugnac and the novel Les amours du chevalier de Fabulas by Louvet de Courvai.

Several relationships are tested in this comic opera. The Marschallin, having an affair with Octavian, a much younger count, feels that her age is becoming an issue not just for him, but for her. Baron Ochs is engaged to Sophie and he asks Octavian to deliver the customary silver rose to his bride-to-be. She, however, falls in love with Octavian. What will it take to sort out real love and who will find themselves together and who will be alone at the end of the opera?

Fleming first performed the role of The Marschallin at the Metropolitan Opera in 2000 to great acclaim. Singing the trouser role (a male character sung by a female) of Octavian in that production was Susan Graham. They reunited for this 2009 production in the same roles.

James Levine was scheduled to conduct Der Rosenkavalier, but was forced to leave during rehearsals for spine surgery.

Friday, May 14 – The Audition

In anticipation of this year’s National Council Auditions Finals, the Metropolitan Opera is running a documentary about the 2007 competition called The Audition. The film is directed by Susan Froemke.

The finalists in that year’s competition were Jamie Barton, Kierra Duffy, Michael Fabiano, Dísella Làrusdóttir, Ryan McKinny, Angela Meade, Nicholas Pallesen, Matthew Plenk, Alek Shrader, Ryan Smith and Amber L. Wagner.

Don’t some of those names sound familiar?

Saturday, May 15 – Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Conducted by Michele Mariotti; starring Isabel Leonard, Lawrence Brownlee, Christopher Maltman and Maurizio Muraro. This revival of Bartlett Sher’s 2006 production is from the 2014-2015 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously available last year on July 20th and December 23rd.

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

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

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

Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, writing for the New York Times, said of this revival, “The Met’s production is glossy, sweet and rich in laughs. And it has stars: Lawrence Brownlee makes a dashing Almaviva, singing with a focused, ardent tenor. Isabel Leonard is a pitch-perfect Rosina, cute but sharp clawed, dispatching Rossini’s dizzying runs and ornaments with stenciled precision. Maurizio Muraro owns the role of Bartolo, his diction flawless in the rapid-fire patter arias. Paata Burchuladze was a sly, gravelly Basilio.”

Sunday, May 16 – Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux

Conducted by Maurizio Benini; starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Elīna Garanča, Matthew Polenzani and Mariusz Kwiecień.  This David McVicar production is from the 2015-2016 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously available last year on April 29th and October 17th and this year on March 31st.

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

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

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

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

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

If you want to watch the National Council Auditions Grand Finals Concert on May 16th you’ll need to go here to register. The event starts at 11:00 AM ET/8:00 AM PT.

This year’s finalists are:

Jongwon Han, a bass baritone from Seoul, South Korea (age 26)

Duke Kim, a tenor from Seoul, South Korea (age 29)

Hyoyoung Kim, a soprano from Seoul, South Korea (age 24)

Brittany Olivia Logan, a soprano from Garden Grove, CA (age 28)

Raven McMillon, a soprano from Baltimore, MD (age 25)

Timothy McMurray, a baritone from Milwaukee, WI (age 29)

Murrella Parton, a soprano from Seymour, TN (age 30)

Erica Petrocelli, a soprano from East Greenwich, RI (age 28)

Emily Sierra, a mezzo-soprano from Chicago, IL (age 23)

Emily Treigle, a mezzo-soprano from New Orleans, LA (age 23)

Who will be the next big opera stars in the future? This event will certainly offer some insights.

That’s the complete line-up for Week 61 at the Met.

Enjoy your week and enjoy the operas!

Photo: Lawrence Brownlee in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy Met Opera)

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They do, however, have great roles for performers such as Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Elza van den Heever, Jennifer Larmore, Patrice Racette, Sondra Radvanovsky and Nina Stemme.

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

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

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

If you read this early enough on May 3rd, you’ll still have time to see the 2008-2009 season production of Puccini’s La Rondine which concludes City of Light week.

Here’s the full line-up for Week 60 at the Met:

Monday, May 3 – Strauss’s Elektra STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

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 previously available last year on April 20th, August 31st and November 26th and this year on March 25th.

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.”

Tuesday, May 4 – Handel’s Rodelinda

Conducted by Harry Bicket; starring Renée Fleming, Stephanie Blythe, Andreas Scholl, Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser and Shenyang. This revival of Stephen Wadsworth’s 2004 production is from the 2011-2012 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously available last year on June 14th and November 2nd and this year on January 16th.

Handel’s opera had its world premiere in London in 1725. The libretto is by Nicola Francesco Haym who revised Antonio Salvi’s earlier libretto. Scholars have long considered Rodelinda to be amongst Handel’s finest works.

Queen Rodelinda’s husband has been vanquished and she is plotting her revenge. Multiple men have plans to take over the throne, but they have Rodelinda to contend with who is maneuvering herself to prevent that from happening. She is still faithful to her husband who is presumed dead.

Fleming and Blythe appeared at the Met in these role in the first revival of this production in 2006.

James R. Oestreich, in his review for the New York Times, said of Fleming’s return to Rodelinda, “But it would be asking too much of a singer like Ms. Fleming to revamp her technique in midcareer, so there was inevitably some disjunction between stage and pit. Ms. Fleming painted her coloratura in broad strokes, but it was enough that she threw herself and her voice wholeheartedly into the considerable drama.”

Wednesday, May 5 – 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 previously available last year on May 5th and November 25th.

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, May 6 – Bellini’s Norma

Conducted by Carlo Rizzi; starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce DiDonato, Joseph Calleja and Matthew Rose. This David McVicar production is from the 2017- 2018 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously available last year on April 5th and September 20th and this year on January 20th and March 29th.

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

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

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

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

Friday, May 7 – Berg’s Wozzeck STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

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 is an encore presentation of the production that was previously available last year on July 16th and November 22nd.

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.

Saturday, May 8 – 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 previously made available last year on April 17th and September 24th

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.”

Sunday, May 9 – Handel’s Agrippina STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

Conducted by Harry Bicket; starring Brenda Rae, Joyce DiDonato, Kate Lindsey, Iestyn Davies, Duncan Rock and Matthew Rose. This David McVicar production is from the 2019-2020 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available last year on August 8th and October 27th and this year on March 21st.

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

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

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

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

That closes out Week 60 at the Met. Next week’s theme features alumni from the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions.

Do you know who some of their alumni are? Let me know your thoughts in our comments section.

Enjoy your week and enjoy the operas! (Even if some of these mothers are nasty!)

Photo: Kate Lindsey and Joyce DiDonato in Agrippina (Photo by Marty Sohl/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

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

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

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

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

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

Monday, April 26 – Puccini’s La Bohème

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

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

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

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

Tuesday, April 27 – Lehár’s The Merry Widow

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, April 28 – Giordano’s Andrea Chénier

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday, April 29 – Massenet’s Manon

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

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

A young woman from a small town has an intense desire to lavish herself with all the riches and pleasures life has to offer her. But life doesn’t always work out the way we want. Sounds like a story that could be written today.

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

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

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

Friday, April 30 – Verdi’s La Traviata 

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday, May 1 – Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur

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

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

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

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

Sunday, May 2 – Puccini’s La Rondine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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