Mikhail Petrenko Archives - Cultural Attaché

Rare Gems – Week 63 at the Met

Craig Byrd — Mon, 24 May 2021 07:01:00 +0000

The seven productions being presented in Week 63 at the Met are all considered rare gems – which is this week’s theme.

How one defines rare is, I suppose, an individual choice. Most of them are having their third, fourth or fifth showings.

If you are a fan of Joyce Di Donato, Renée Fleming or Juan Diego Flórez, you’ll find plenty to enjoy this week as each of them appears in two productions.

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 24th, you’ll still have time to see the 1998-1999 season production of Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades that was part of Unhinged Mad Scenes week.

Here is the full line-up of rare gems for Week 63 at the Met:

Monday, May 24 – Massenet’s Thaïs – 3rd Showing

Conducted by Jesús López-Cobos; starring Renée Fleming, Michael Schade and Thomas Hampson. This John Cox production is from the 2007-2008 season. This is an encore presentation.

Jules Massenet’s Thaïs had its world premiere in Paris in 1894. The libretto is by Louis Gallet based on the novel of the same name by Anatole France.

In this opera the Roman Empire is controlling Egypt. Athanaël, a monk, has a lustful obsession with Thaïs, which conflicts with his attempts to convert her to Christianity.

For sopranos who want to sing the title character, this is a great role. Fleming earned rave reviews for her performance this production, which originated at Lyric Opera Chicago in 2002. She and Hampson performed together in Thaïs in Chicago and have recorded the opera.

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

“But let’s face it. Thaïsis a diva spectacle, and Ms. Fleming plays it to the hilt. In Scene 2, during a party at Nicias’ well-appointed house, complete with solid-gold decorative palm trees, Athanaël appears, issuing apocalyptic threats to Thais, which Mr. Hampson sings chillingly. The guests ridicule the monk, forcing him to his knees and bedecking him with garlands in tribute to Venus. In the midst of a vocal outpouring, Ms. Fleming climbs a winding staircase just so she can deliver a triumphant high C from the top landing, then scurries back down to face the humiliated monk as the curtain falls.”

Tuesday, May 25 – Borodin’s Prince Igor – 2nd Showing

Conducted by Gianandrea Noseda; starring Oksana Dyka, Anita Rachvelishvili, Sergey Semishkur, Ildar Abdrazakov, Mikhail Petrenko and Štefan Kocán. This Dmitri Tcherniakov production is from the 2013-2014 season. This is an encore presentation.

Alexander Borodin based his opera on The Lay of Igor’s Host, a poem scholars believe dates back to the 12th century. The composer died before completing the opera and the work was ultimately finished and edited by composers Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov. Prince Igor had its world premiere in 1890 in St. Petersburg three years after Borodin’s death.

Set in Putivil (or northeastern Ukraine now) in 1885, the title character leaves with his son and an army to battle the Polovtsians. Igor is not successful and ends up a prisoner of Khan Konchak, the leader of the Polovtsians. Konchak gives Igor a chance to forge an alliance, but Igor instead chooses to escape to his home. But what, if anything, will he find?

This 2014 production marked the first time in nearly 100 years that Prince Igor had been performed at the Met. Tcherniakov made significant changes to the opera and apparently it worked.

Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times included this production as one of the 10 Best Classical Music Events of 2014.

In his original review he said of the reworking:

“It is common in contemporary opera for a director to update the setting of a story and impose some interpretive concept on a piece. Most directors do not go so far, however, as to reorder scenes, tweak the plot, excise whole ensembles and interpolate musical numbers from a different score.

But the Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov essentially does all of this in the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Borodin’s Prince Igor, which opened on Thursday night. Yet his wonderful staging is dreamlike, wrenchingly human and viscerally theatrical. The impressive cast, with many Russian singers, is headed by the compelling bass Ildar Abdrazakov in the title role.”

Wednesday, May 26 – Rossini’s La Donna del Lago – 3rd Showing

Conducted by Michele Mariotti; starring Joyce DiDonato, Daniela Barcellona, Juan Diego Flórez, John Osborn and Oren Gradus. This Paul Curran production is from the 2014-2015 season. This is an encore presentation.

Sir Walter Scott’s poem, The Lady of the Lake, served as the inspiration for this opera by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto is by Andrea Leone Tottola. La Donna del Lago had its world premiere in Naples 1819.

Rossini’s opera is set in Scotland in the first half of the 16th century when King James V reigned. Elena has been promised to Rodrigo, but she’s in love with Malcom. Both men are rebels as is her father, Douglas. The King, disguised as a man named Umberto, falls in love with Elena at first sight, but knows she is related to rebels who want him overthrown. How both the relationships and the politics play out will ultimately impact Elena for the rest of her life.

This production was first seen in 2013 at the Santa Fe Opera who co-produced with the Metropolitan Opera and this was the first time this opera was performed by the Met.

Di Donato regularly sings “Tanti affetti” from La Donna del Lago in concerts. Anthony Tomassini, writing in the New York Times, said of her performance in this production:

“It was good to have the stage so bright for Ms. DiDonato’s triumphant performance of ‘Tanti affetti.’ Besides adding an important Rossini opera to the Met’s repertory, this production gives those who have only heard her sing that aria as an encore a chance to get to know the long opera that precedes it.”

Thursday, May 27 – Shostakovich’s The Nose – 3rd Showing

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

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

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

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

Friday, May 28 – Giordano’s Fedora – 2nd Showing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday, May 29 – Strauss’s Capriccio – 4th Showing

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

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

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

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

Sunday, May 30 – Rossini’s Le Comte Ory – 5th Showing

Conducted by Maurizio Benini; starring Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez. This Bartlett Sher production is from the 2010-2011 season. This is an encore presentation.

Gioachino Rossini’s Le Comte Ory had its world premiere in Paris in 1828. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poirson who adapted a play they had written eleven years earlier. Rossini used some of the music he had composed for Il Viaggio a Reims, performed at the the coronation of Charles X, in this opera.

Count Ory and his companion Raimbaud disguise themselves as hermits to seduce women left behind during the Crusades while the men went to the Holy Land. The women are on their own. Lady Ragonde takes charge of Formoutiers castle and looks after Adèle, the sister of the castle’s lord. Ory and Raimbaud offer their assistance, but obviously have something else on their minds.

This was the very first production of Le Comte Ory at the Met. All three leads had previously appeared together in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia under Sher’s direction four years earlier.

Here Sher uses an opera-within-an-opera conceit. It was one that Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times did not expect to like:

“Nothing in Ory invites an opera-within-an-opera concept. Still, Rossini artificially turned two unrelated pieces into a completely reconceived opera, so the artifice of Mr. Sher’s staging is somehow resonant. Moreover, for all the antics, Mr. Sher takes Rossini’s characters and their romantic entanglements seriously and coaxes precise, nuanced performances from his gifted cast.”

That’s the full line-up for Week 63 at the Met. As of this writing, I’m not yet aware of the theme for Week 64 at the Met. Leave comments about what you’d like to see in the weeks ahead.

Enjoy the operas! Enjoy your week!

Photo: Mirella Freni in Fedora (Photo by Erika Davidson/Courtesy Met Opera Archives)

The post Rare Gems – Week 63 at the Met appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Unhinged Mad Scenes – Week 62 at the Met

Craig Byrd — Mon, 17 May 2021 07:01:00 +0000

Songwriters such as Willie Nelson, The Talking Heads and Gnarls Barkley are just some of the artists who have written and performed songs about being or going crazy. But they’re rank amateurs when it comes to craziness of the highest order. Leave that to opera composers. Which is precisely what Week 62 at the Met is doing. Each opera this week features unhinged mad scenes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Idomeneo tells the story of Idomeneus, the King of Crete, who in order to survive at sea promises Poseidon he will kill the first man he sees upon being rescued. His son, Idamante, learns that his father is in serious danger and fears he has perished. Mourning his father at the beach, he is overjoyed to see that he has survived. But in doing so becomes the first man his father sees. That’s when the story gets good!

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

“Her voice balanced youthful shine and, just under the surface, deep feeling. She was incandescent all night, singing with great ease and richness, and modulating naturally between moods of loss, love, regret, and pride.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enjoy the operas! Enjoy your week!

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

The post Unhinged Mad Scenes – Week 62 at the Met appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Once Upon a Time: Week 57 at the Met

Craig Byrd — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 07:01:00 +0000

Good fairy tales usually start with Once Upon a Time. So it should comes as no surprise that fairy tales take center stage during Week 57 at the Met where the theme is that endearing opening line.

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

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.

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

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

Monday, April 12 – Massenet’s Cendrillon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, April 14 – Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday, April 15 – Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel

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

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

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

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

Friday, April 16 – Dvořák’s Rusalka

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

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

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

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

Saturday, April 17 – Puccini’s Turandot FIRST SHOWING

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday, April 18 – Rossini’s La Cenerentola

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Epic Proportions: Week 40 at the Met

Craig Byrd — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 08:01:59 +0000

The expression “go big or go home” applies to Week 40 at the Met. The theme this week is Epic Proportions. None of the operas being performed this week is small. These are large stories told on large canvases.

Russian, Italian, French and German composers all take their turns with operas that come from biblical stories, that involve the Holy Grail, that take place in Troy and involve classic literature. All are being presented.

They are heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series, their New Year’s Eve Gala 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. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

If you read this column early enough on December 14th, you might still have time to catch the 1991-1992 season production of The Ghosts of Versailles by John Corigliano that concludes last week’s In Plain English series.

Here is the line-up for Week 40 at the Met:

Monday, December 14 – Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila

Conducted by Sir Mark Elder; starring Elīna Garanča and Roberto Alagna. This Darko Tresnjak production is from the 2018-2019 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on June 24th.

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.

Tuesday, December 15 – Wagner’s Lohengrin

Conducted by James Levine, starring Eva Marton, Leonie Rysanek, Peter Hofmann, Leif Roar and John Macurdy. This is a revival of the 1976 August Everding production from the 1985-1986 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on May 19th.

Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin had its world premiere in 1850 in Weimar. It is one of his few romantic operas.

The setting is Antwerp in the 10th century. Elsa is accused by Friedrich von Telramund of killing her brother in an effort to prevent Telramund from assuming the dukedom. The dispute is to be resolved by combat. In an answer to her prays a mysterious knight named Lohengrin appears. He agrees to help Elsa as long as she never asks who he is or where is from. When Lohengrin defeats Telramund in battle, but spares his life, revenge is foremost on Telramund’s mind.

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

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

Wednesday, December 16 – Berlioz’s Les Troyens

Conducted by Fabio Luisi; starring Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, Bryan Hymel and Dwayne Croft. This Francesca Zambello production is from the 2012-2013 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on May 28th and September 12th.

If you though only Wagner wrote long operas, let me introduce you to this over 5-1/2 hour opera by Berlioz.

Les Troyens was inspired by Aeneid, an poem by Virgil. Berlioz wrote the libretto. The opera had its world premiere in Parisin 1863.

Set in the ancient city of Troy, where the Greeks have “gifted” their enemy with a wooden horse. Cassandra had feared there was a threat and when the Greeks ransacked the city, she and the woman of Troy choose suicide over surrendering.

Prince Aeneas, able to flee Troy, sets sail with his fleet for Italy. Circumstances force him to land at Carthage where Queen Dido falls in love with him. Will their love win out or must Aeneas be faithful to the Gods?

Because it is so long, many opera companies do not regularly perform Les Troyens. Nonetheless, this lengthy work is considered by many critics to be amongst the greatest operas ever written.

Thursday, December 17 – Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini

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

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

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

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

This production marked the first time Zandonai’s opera had been performed at the Metropolitan Opera in 66 years. It also marked the debut of Piero Faggioni (who also helmed Thursday’s production of Un Ballo in Maschera.)

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

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

Friday, December 18 – Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov

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

Saturday, December 19 – Verdi’s Nabucco

Though the story is a mix of history, love story and politics. But what most people remember about this particular Verdi opera is the work of the chorus, as evidenced by Zachary Woolfe’s review in the New York Times. “Nabucco is defined by its choruses, much as Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, at the Met earlier this season, is. The company’s ensemble, under the direction of Donald Palumbo, rose to the occasion with massed yet transparent, shimmering singing.”

Sunday, December 20 – Wagner’s Götterdämmerung

Conducted by Fabio Luisi; starring Deborah Voigt, Wendy Bryn Harmer, Waltraud Meier, Jay Hunter Morris, Iain Paterson, Eric Owens and Hans-Peter König. This Robert Lepage production is from the 2011-2012 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously made available on March 27th.

The final opera in Der Ring des Nibelungen had its world premiere in 1876 in Bayreuth as part of the first-ever performance of The Ring Cycle.

Alberich’s curse placed on the ring and its owners comes to haunt the characters in this final opera in the Ring Cycle. Siegfried, having fallen in love with Brunnhilde, is convinced to consume a potion that renders him without memory. That lack of remembering finds him proposing to another woman, Gutrune. Her brother consents as long as Siegfried will allow him to marry Brunnhilde. The ring changes hands and with Alberich’s son, Hagen, manipulating the action, ruin comes to all, including the gods whose glory has come to an end leaving Valhalla in flames.

This was the final production of Lepage’s new Ring Cycle that sharply divided critics and audiences for its massive undulating set of 24 planks. When Anthony Tommasini reviewed this production in the New York Times he raved about Morris in the role of Siegfried.

“The American tenor Jay Hunter Morris, who took over the title role in Siegfried on short notice in October, was again impressive here. He has found his own way to sing this heldentenor role with a lighter yet athletic and youthful sound. His clarion top notes project nicely over the orchestra. With his barrel chest and limberness, he inhabits the headstrong young Siegfried.”

He also added a pithy comment in the final paragraph of his review. “Part of me wanted to see the machine collapse into a heap of smoldering planks at the end of the Immolation Scene, which would have been appropriate. Still, this is Mr. Lepage’s best work in the $16 million Ring production.”

That is the full line-up for Week 40 at the Met. Next week’s theme is Holiday Fare. Enjoy your week and enjoy the operas.

Photo: A scene from Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov with René Pape as the title role. (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy Met Opera)

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Week 35 at the Met

Craig Byrd — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 08:01:00 +0000

Are you ready for the second half of From Baroque to the Present: A Two Week Tour of Opera History? That is what is in store for you in Week 35 at the Met.

You will start the week with two one-act operas, one from 1892; the second from 1918. Then you’ll journey through the 20th century with operas by some of the modern era’s best-known composers. The week will end with a 21st century work that had its debut in 2016.

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

If you read this column early enough on November 9th, you might still have time to catch the 2014-2015 season production of Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg that concludes the first week of this two-week series.

Here is the line-up for Week 35 at the Met:

Monday, November 9 – Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta / Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle

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

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

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

Tuesday, November 10 – Strauss’s Salome

Conducted by Patrick Summers; starring Karita Mattila, Ildikó Komlósi, Kim Begley, Joseph Kaiser and Juha Uusitalo. This Jürgen Flimm production is from the 2008-2009 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was streamed on May 31st.

Richard Strauss’ one-act opera had its world premiere in Dresden in 1905. Oscar Wilde’s play of the same name inspired the opera. In fact, the libretto is from Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of Wilde’s play.

During a meal Princess Salome is having with her step-father, King Herrod, she is warned to ignore the screams coming from the prophet Jochanaan (John the Baptist). Concurrently a guard, Narraboth, can’t keep his eyes off Salome. After hearing Jochanaan cursing her mother and being rebuffed in efforts to visit the prophet, she convinces Narraboth to take her to see him. Her attraction to Jochanaan sets off a series of events that won’t end well for anyone.

Karita Mattila in the title role of Richard Strauss’s “Salome.” Photo: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera

Film clips from this modern-dress set production proved impossible to find. Perhaps it was because Finnish soprano Karita Mattila ended the Dance of the Seven Veils fully nude. It was controversial when she first did that in 2004. Nonetheless, don’t expect that to be part of this film. The Met Opera did not include her nudity when this production was first aired as part of their Met Opera in HD programming.

Anthony Tommasini, in his New York Times review, raved about Mattila’s performance. “Vocally Ms. Mattila is born to this daunting role, singing with an eerie combination of cool Nordic colorings and raw power. She can spin a Straussian melodic line with sumptuous lyricism. But when Salome erupts in a spasm of twisted desire or childish petulance, Ms. Mattila unleashes chilling, hard-edged top notes that slice through Strauss’s king-size orchestra.

Wednesday, November 11 – Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti; starring Deborah Voigt, Marcello Giordani and Lucio Gallo. This revival of Giancarlo del Monaco’s 1991 production is from the 2010-2011 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was streamed on April 7th and September 22nd.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday, November 12 – Berg’s Lulu

Conducted by Lothar Koenigs; starring Marlis Petersen, Susan Graham, Daniel Brenna, Paul Groves, Johan Reuter and Franz Grundheber. This William Kentridge production is from the 2015-2016 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on June 2nd and September 3rd.

Alban Berg used two Frank Wedekind plays, Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora, as the inspiration for this opera. The plays were both about the title character, Lulu. The composer died before finishing the final act of the opera. It’s debut in 1937 in Zurich was of the incomplete opera. In 1979 Friedrich Cerha’s orchestration of the act 3 sketches were added to the work Berg had completed and that version is commonly performed.

Lulu is the engineer of her own destruction. She’s a mysterious young woman whose fall from grace is depicted over the course of three acts.

Kentridge received wide praise from audiences and critics alike. What drew many people to this particular production was that soprano Petersen, who had performed Lulu for nearly twenty years, retired the role after these performances at the Met. She gives a truly staggering performance that must be seen.

Friday, November 13 – Britten’s Peter Grimes

Conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles; starring Patricia Racette, Anthony Dean Griffey and Anthony Michaels-Moore. This John Doyle production is from the 2007-2008 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on May 14th and September 1st.

Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes had its world premiere in London in 1945. The libretto was written by Montagu Slater who based it on a poem in The Borough by George Crabbe.

In Peter Grimes, the title character is facing intense questioning after his apprentice has died. The townsfolk believe him to be responsible, the coroner rules he was not. Shortly afterward, Grimes recruits another apprentice, John. Ellen, the only person in town who believes Grimes, later finds herself questioning Grimes when she finds that John has intense bruising on his neck. Word spreads quickly about the boy’s injuries and the people in town want an investigation. What follows is tragic on multiple levels.

The title role was written by Benjamin Britten for his partner, Peter Pears. In the mid 60s, Jon Vickers’s performance has been considered definitive for quite some time.

John Doyle, best known for his minimalist productions of Stephen Sondheim musicals, made his Met Opera debut with this production of Peter Grimes. Griffey, having sung this opera a few times before this production, finally found his way into a lead role at the Met.

Anthony Tommasini, writing in the New York Times, found some unique qualities in how Griffey tackled the part: “Mr. Griffey, even though his voice has heft and carrying power, is essentially a lyric tenor. And it is disarming to hear the role sung with such vocal grace, even sweetness in places. Every word of his diction is clear. You sense Grimes’s dreamy side struggling to emerge. The moments of gentleness, though, make Mr. Griffey’s impulsive fits of hostility, his bursts of raw vocal power, seem even more threatening.”

Saturday, November 14 – Philip Glass’s Akhnaten

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

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.

Sunday, November 15 – Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel

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. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on June 5th.

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 saw the composer’s The Tempest (most recently shown on September 5th), 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.

That’s not just the end of Week 35 at the Met, but also concludes their From Baroque to the Present: A Two Week Tour of Opera History.

Next week will celebrate conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin in productions from 2010 to 2020.

Enjoy Week 35 at the Met.

Photo: Juha Uusitalo and Karita Mattila in Salome (Photo by Marty Sohl/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

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Week 33 at the Met

Craig Byrd — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 07:01:23 +0000

As befits the final week of campaigning prior to the November 3rd elections, Week 33 at the Met features Politics in Opera.

The politics in these operas include challenges and imbroglios in Spain, Russia, Italy, France, finds an American President making a truly historic trip to China and a non-violent resistance leader in India finding his voice. (Can you guess all seven operas?)

If you read this column early enough on October 26th, you might still have time to catch the 2016-2017 season production of Der Rosenkavalier that concludes last week’s Operatic Comedies week.

Here is the line-up for Week 33 at the Met:

Monday, October 26 – Verdi’s Don Carlo

Conducted by James Levine; starring Renata Scotto, Tatiana Troyanos, Vasile Moldoveanu, Sherrill Milnes and Paul Plishka. This John Dexter production is from the 1979-1980 season.

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

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

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

Rather than offer a critic’s opinion of this production, I found this information about which version of Don Carlo was being performed interesting. This is from Harold C. Schonberg‘s review in the New York Times.

“Musically this was not the Don Carlo of 1950. The last three decades have seen a burgeoning of Verdi scholarship, and today matters of authenticity are taken much more seriously than they used to be. Thus the Metropolitan Opera is now staging Verdi’s original Act I, the Fontainebleau act that he wrote for the original production in Paris, 1867. In the years following the Paris premiere, Verdi spent much time on Don Carlo, and a revised version was given at La Scala in 1884 – without the Fontainebleau act. Only two years after that, Verdi had additional thoughts, and restored Fontainebleau. This new Metropolitan Opera version is a substantially complete 1886 Don Carlo. It started last night at 7:15 and ended after 11:30, which puts it into Gotterdammerung length.”

Tuesday, October 27 – Handel’s Agrippina

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

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.”

Wednesday, October 28 – Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra

Conducted by James Levine; starring Adrianne Pieczonka, Marcello Giordani, Plácido Domingo and James Morris. This revival of Giancarlo del Monaco’s 1995 production is from the 2009-2010 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on August 21st.

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

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

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

This production marked the first appearance by Plácido Domingo in a baritone role at the Met. He sings the title character. Anthony Tommasini, writing for the New York Times said of his performance:

“But he sounded liberated as Boccanegra, a tormented doge in 14th-century Genoa. At times his voice had a worn cast. And when he dipped into the lower baritone register, he had to fortify his sound with chesty, sometimes leathery power. Still, this was some of his freshest singing in years.”

Thursday, October 29 – John Adams’s Nixon in China

Conducted by John Adams; starring Kathleen Kim, Janis Kelly, Robert Brubaker, Russell Braun, James Maddalena and Richard Paul Fink. This Peter Sellars production is from the 2010-2011 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that streamed on April 1st and September 2nd.

Nixon in China had its world premiere in Houston in 1987 in a production directed by Peter Sellars. Inspired by President Nixon’s trip to China in 1972, the opera features a libretto by Alice Goodman.

It was wholly unlikely that someone as anti-Communist as Nixon would make a trip to China. That trip forged new relations between the two countries and helped thaw the icy relationship the United States had with the then Soviet Union. Nixon and his wife Pat, Chou En-lai, Mao Tse-tung, Henry Kissinger and Madame Mao all play prominent roles in the opera.

This 2011 production, while a Met debut for Nixon in China, was not the New York debut of the opera. It was performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in 1987 following its premiere in Houston. Critical reaction upon its premiere was quite mixed. By the time of this production (which founds Sellars revisiting his original work and that of a 2006 revival), Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times called it an “audacious and moving opera.”

Friday, October 30 – Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov

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

Saturday, October 31 – John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles

Conducted by James Levine; starring Håkan Hagegård, Teresa Stratas, Renée Fleming, Gino Quilico and Marilyn Horne. This Colin Graham production is from the 1991-1992 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on June 11th.

The Metropolitan Opera commissioned this work for its 100th anniversary in 1983. It wasn’t performed there until eight years after that centennial. This film is from those performances.

Beaumarchais is the playwright who wrote the plays that inspired Rossini’s The Barber of Sevilleand Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. His third play in that series, The Guilty Mother, serves as the inspiration for this opera by John Corigliano and librettist William M. Hoffman.

In the opera, ghosts occupy the theatre at Versailles. Marie Antoinette, not too happy about her execution, spurns the advances of Beaumarchais. He offers his new opera, A Figaro for Antonia, as a means to win her love and change her fate. Now an opera appears within the opera, utilizing the familiar Figaro characters.

I interviewed Corigliano when LA Opera performed The Ghosts of Versailles. Here’s what he told me about how he handled opening night at the Met:

“The premiere of the opera, this is what I did. I sent out for a take-out chicken. I had a bottle of wine and ten milligrams of valium. I ate the chicken, took the valium and wine to the opening. If you’re asking about something that happened at opening night, I was a zombie. It was traumatizing. I’d never written an opera, it was overwhelming. I couldn’t face it without a little help.”

Both this Metropolitan Opera production and the more recent The LA Opera production were amazing and I personally think Corigliano had nothing to worry about. This is a terrific work.

Sunday, November 1 – Philip Glass’s Satyagraha

Conducted by Dante Anzolini; starring Rachelle Durkin, Richard Croft, Kim Josephson and Alfred Walker. This is a revival of Phelim McDermott’s 2008 production from the 2011-2012 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that streamed on June 21st.

This Philip Glass opera had its world premiere in 1980 in Rotterdam. The libretto was written by Glass and Candace DeJong. The title means “insistence on truth” in Sanskrit.

The life of Gandhi is depicted in a story that goes backwards and forwards through time as a way to examine his life in South Africa and leading to his belief in non-violent protests. Sung in Sanskrit with projected titles on the stage itself, this is one unique opera that is staged beautifully and powerfully.

James R. Oestreich, writing in the New York Times, said of this revival (which took place during a celebration of the the composer’s 75th birthday), “The singers were exceptionally fine and well matched, starting with the tenor Richard Croft, strong yet vulnerable as Gandhi. Like Mr. Croft, Rachelle Durkin as Gandhi’s secretary, Miss Schlesen; Maria Zifchak as his wife, Kasturbai; and Alfred Walker as his Indian co-worker Parsi Rustomji were veterans of the 2008 premiere, and all were excellent except for a bit of strain in Ms. Durkin’s sustained high work in the newspaper scene. Kim Josephson was also strong as Gandhi’s European colleague Mr. Kallenbach.”

I’ve also seen this production and would challenge anyone to get to Satyagraha‘s final aria, “Evening Song,” and not be utterly moved.

Which opera will you vote to watch this week? Just one? Or will multiples of these candidates earn your attention? You have great choices during Week 33 at the Met.

Enjoy the operas and enjoy your week.

Photo: Janis Kelly and James Maddalena in Nixon in China (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

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Week 26 at the Met

Craig Byrd — Mon, 07 Sep 2020 07:01:34 +0000

Bonjour et bienvenue à la semaine 26 au Metropolitan Opera. Les opéras de cette semaine sont tous français. Or shall I say, Hello and welcome to Week 26 at the Met. This week’s operas are all French.

The operas were written by Jules Massenet, Charles Gounod, Hector Berlioz and Georges Bizet. Amongst the performers you’ll see are Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczala, Diana Damrau, Vittorio Grigolo, Susan Graham, Joyce DiDonato, Jonas Kaufman and Matthew Polenzani.

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

If you read this preview early enough on Monday, September 6th, you might still have time to catch the 2012-2013 season production of Thomas Adés’s The Tempest.

Here is the line-up for Week 26 at the Met:

Monday, September 7 – Massenet’s Manon

Conducted by Fabio Luisi; starring Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczała, and Paulo Szot. This is the Laurent Pelly production from the 2011-2012 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that previously streamed on May 24th.

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

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

There is always one main reason why this opera gets produced and the same reason that audiences love it. The soprano title role.

In this production, Anna Netrebko sings Manon.Anthony Tommasini, writing in the New York Times, made all of this abundantly clear in his review of this production and singled Netrebko out for praise:

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

Tuesday, September 8 – Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette

Conducted by Gianandrea Noseda; starring Diana Damrau, Vittorio Grigolo, Elliot Madore and Mikhail Petrenko. This Bartlett Sher production is from the 2016-2017 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was streamed on April 10th.

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

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

Director Sher’s production was new to the Metropolitan Opera and had its debut on New Year’s Eve 2017. It was highly anticipated because the chemistry between Damrau and Grigolo had proven to be particularly palpable when they appeared together in Massenet’s Manon in 2015.

In Anthony Tommasini’s review in the New York Times he agreed:

“In scene after scene, these exciting and charismatic artists disappeared into their characters, emboldening each other to sing with white-hot sensuality and impassioned lyricism.”

Wednesday, September 9 – Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust

Conducted by James Levine; starring Susan Graham, Marcello Giordani and John Relyea. This Robert Lepage production is from the 2008-2009 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was streamed on May 25th.

Hector Berlioz composed this work in 1845. He never envisioned La Damnation de Faust to be staged as an opera, but rather as a concert work. The first time it was performed as an opera was in 1893. The Metropolitan Opera first performed it as a concert in 1896. It would be ten more years before The Met would present it as a fully-staged opera.

Once again Goethe’s work serves as the inspiration for this story about the deal one man makes with the devil to save the woman he loves.

With Le Damnation de Faust, Lepage made his Metropolitan Opera debut. His extensive use of video in this production was one of the many points of both interest and discussion in 2008. Critics at the time wondered if this was a sign of what his then-upcoming Ring Cycle might be like.

Thursday, September 10 – Massenet’s Cendrillon

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

Friday, September 11 – Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles

Conducted by Gianandrea Noseda; starring Diana Damrau, Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecień and Nicolas Testé. This Penny Woolcock production is from the 2015-2016 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that streamed on April 3rd.

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

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

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

Saturday, September 12 – Berlioz’s Les Troyens

If you though only Wagner wrote long operas, let me introduce you to this over 5-1/2 hour opera by Berlioz.

Les Troyens was inspired by Aeneid, an poem by Virgil. Berlioz wrote the libretto. The opera had its world premiere in Parisin 1863.

Because it is so long, many opera companies do not regularly perform Les Troyens. Nonetheless, this lengthy work is considered by many critics to be amongst the greatest operas ever written.

Sunday, September 13 – Massenet’s Werther

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

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

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

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

That’s the complete line-up for Week 26 at the Met. Enjoy the operas and enjoy your week! Bonjour!

Photo: Berlioz’s Les Troyens (Photo by Cory Weaver/Courtesy of Metropolitan Opera)

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Week 13 at the Met

Craig Byrd — Sun, 07 Jun 2020 20:17:03 +0000

The start of another week means it is the start of another week of streaming productions from the Metropolitan Opera. To be honest, this week’s schedule has changed a few times. As we publish this, we are using the most up-to-date information from their website. As with any streaming events, the schedule is subject to change (which includes start/end times and productions.) Having said that, Week 13 at the Met is another good one.

My personal highlight of the week is the world premiere production of John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles from 1991. If you like classic opera, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Handel are also on tap. If you missed the April 25th At-Home Gala, you’ll have the opportunity to see that on both Friday and Saturday.

All productions are scheduled to become available on the Met Opera website at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT and remain available until 6:30 PM EDT/3:30 PM PDT the next day. This means you still have part of Monday, June 8th, to watch Renée Fleming in the 2008 production of Massenet’s Thaïs.

Here’s the line-up for Week 13 at the Met:

Monday, June 8 – Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito

Conducted by Harry Bicket; starring Lucy Crowe, Barbara Frittoli, Elīna Garanča, Kate Lindsey and Giuseppe Filianoti. This is a revival of the 1984 Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production from the 2012-2013 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 turned his attention to this story. The world premiere took place in Prague in 1791.

Roman Emperor Tito (Filianoti) has his eyes set on his friend Sesto’s sister, Sevilla (Crowe). Sesto (Garanča) is in love with Vitellia (Frittoli). 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.

La Clemenza di Tito is not considered to be amongst Mozart’s finest works. When this production opened in 2012, New York Times writer Zachary Woolfe made an argument for greater consideration of the opera. You can read his essay here.

Tuesday, June 9 – Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, June 10 – Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel

Conducted by Vladimir Jurowski; starring Christine Schäfer, Alice Coote, Rosalind Plowright, Philip Langridge and Alan Held. This Richard Jones production is from the 2007-2008 season.

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

This production was created for the Welsh National Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The Metropolitan Opera offered this production as part of its family fare programming. Nothing like cannibalism to keep the kiddies happy!

Thursday, June 11 – Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles

Conducted by James Levine; starring Håkan Hagegård, Teresa Stratas, Renée Fleming, Gino Quilico and Marilyn Horne. This Colin Graham production is from the 1991-1992 season.

The Metropolitan Opera commissioned this work for its 100th anniversary in 1983. It wasn’t performed there until eight years after that centennial. This film is from those performances.

Beaumarchais is the playwright who wrote the plays that inspired Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. His third play in that series, The Guilty Mother, serves as the inspiration for this opera by John Corigliano and librettist William M. Hoffman.

In the opera, ghosts occupy the theatre at Versailles. Marie Antoinette (Stratas), not too happy about her execution, spurns the advances of Beaumarchais (Hagegård). He offers his new opera, A Figaro for Antonia, as a means to win her love and change her fate. Now an opera appears within the opera, utilizing the familiar Figaro characters.

I interviewed Corigliano when LA Opera performed The Ghosts of Versailles. Here’s what he told me about how he handled opening night at the Met:

I haven’t seen this world premiere production and definitely look forward to it. The LA Opera production was amazing and I personally think Corigliano had nothing to worry about. This is a terrific work.

Friday, June 12 and Saturday, June 13 – At Home Gala

This on-line “gala” took place on April 25th of this year. Here is our preview for the event before it happened.

Simply put, nearly anyone who is anyone in the opera world performed from their homes in a live streaming event. It was an amazing show to watch and equally impressive was the Met Opera being able to coordinate live performances from all over the world.

Sunday, June 14 – 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 2006 production is from the 2011-2012 season.

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 (Fleming) 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 appeared at the Met in this role in 2006 as well as this revival. Iestyn Davies, so memorable in last week’s The Exterminating Angel, made his Met debut in this opera in the role of Unolfo, a man who remains loyal to the King.

That’s all for Week 13 at the Met. Philip Glass fans have a lot to look forward to in Week 14.

Photo: The company of The Ghosts of Versailles/Courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera Archives

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