Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera, NYC April 2008

Damnation de Faust, Met 2008

Hector Berlioz  

légende dramatique en quatre parties

livret Hector Berlioz et Almire Gandonnière

Faust - Marcello Giordani

Marguerite - Susan Graham

Méphistophélès - John Relyea

Brander - Patrick Carfizzi

Conductor: James Levine

Production: Robert Lepage

Metropolitan Opera House

November 22, 2008 Matinee broadcast

The more I listen to Berlioz, the more convinced I am that his music is indeed unique. There's an overwhelming atmosphere to it, that I would compare to Schubert's. Muti's interpretation of Episodes de la vie d'un artiste in Paris certainly unlocked new doors. Berlioz is so much more than one of those XIXth-century French composers.

 
The production

Robert's Lepage's production at the Met is, in my opinion, a beautiful one. It suits Berlioz's score brilliantly and is very cohesive overall, quite an accomplishment considering the piece. It also does capture pretty well the spirit of the XIXth-century Paris atmosphere Berlioz lived in. By all means, Lepage's production was really the key to immerse myself into Berlioz's music.

 
The music

On the other hand, I was disappointed by James Levine's performance. His conduction was too fast and not vivid enough for me. Krivine's performance last June was on such a different level.
The whole musical performance really comes to the way "Ange adoré" and the duet with Marguerite following Faust's aria (Part 2) is handled - or not handled, rather. Marcello Giordani's high notes were so hideous (they were horrendous all evening long) he sounded more like a yorshire barking, and Levine just left him to his misery. He could have had the orchestra help, for instance.

The only true shining moment came with "D'amour l'ardente flamme". For once, the orchestra and the singer were actually sharing something. Susan Graham was overall an interesting Marguerite, though she had trouble coping with her breath on that particular aria. John Relyea was a very good Méphistophélès.

All photographs Ken Howard for the Metropolitan Opera.

Met 2009-10

Complete season here, HD broadcasts there.

Evidently, I'm hugely disappointed Riccardo Muti's Attila (new Pierre Audi production) won't be part of the HD season next year, because it means a trip to NY if I really want to see it (Feb.23 to March 15 with Muti, March 19 to 27 with Armiliato conducting). The cast includes Ramón Vargas, Violetta Urmana, Carlos Alvarez and Ildar Abdrazakov.

La Fille du Régiment will be back with Laurent Pelly's successful production (Vienna 2006, London 2007, NY 2008). Juan Diego Flórez will be paired this time with Diana Damrau (Feb.6 to 22, 2010). Amazingly enough, if I could catch the premiere of Attila, I could also attend the last performance of La Fille.

Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet is also appealing, with Natalie Dessay and Simon Keenlyside (March 16 to April 9), conducted by Louis Langrée. The production comes from Geneva.

Frittoli, Gheorghiu, Alagna, Kwiecien will sing Bizet's Carmen conducted by that intriguing Yannick Nézet-Séguin (premiere on New Year's Eve).

Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman will be performed from Dec.3 to Jan.2, with Rolando Villazón, Anna Netrebko, Elīna Garanča and René Pape, under the baton of James Levine.

Robert Lepage’s production of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust will also be back (Oct.23 to Nov.17).

So if some French fellow like myself want to see XIXth century French operas with great casts, the only reasonable option at this point is to move to NYC. Other bloggers commenting the 2009-10 Met season:

• An unamplified voice
• Mostly opera
• SarahB
• Maldito Candelabro (in Spanish)

Also:

• "After Cutting to Make Ends Meet, Met Plans Eight New Productions", Daniel J.Wakin for the NY Times

Rondine from the Met

La Rondine 

Giacomo Puccini

Opera in 3 acts

Libretto Giuseppe Adami

Premiere Théâtre de Monte Carlo, March 27 1917

Magda: Angela Gheorghiu

Lisette: Lisette Oropesa

Ruggero: Roberto Alagna

Prunier: Marius Brenciu

Rambaldo: James Courtney

Conductor: Marco Armiliato

Production: Nicolas Joël

Set Designer: Ezio Frigerio

Costume Designer: Franca Squarciapino

Lighting Designer: Duane Schuler

Premiere in Toulouse in March 2005, performed in San Francisco in Nov. 2008

Jan.10 Arte broadcast live from the Met

Synopsis here and there, libretto (Italian only) here

 

Act 1, Terrence McCarthy
 

Act 2, Terrence McCarthy

 

Not much to say about this production of Nicolas Joël, except for the obvious word that comes to mind: boring. The set, the costumes, the lights, the actors' direction, everything is very very forgettable.

His dollhouse version of La Rondine lacks any kind of statement, exploration of characters, work on the relationships between the characters, any kind of analysis really. As for the muscial performance, Marco Armiliato's reading of the score is also especially boring, as it lacks passion, emotions and life (so basically, he missed the whole point of the score there).

The cast was also pretty forgettable; Gheorghiu was out of breath from the start, displayed no real emotion and struggled with her voice all evening; Marius Brenciu' singing was inexpressive as well and his high notes were not particularly successful; James Courtney's use of vibrato was excessive; Lisette Oropesa's Lisette was energetic and full of life, but her diction was well, lost from the beginning.

The only one that stood out for me was Roberto Alagna. His diction is so refined he's the only one I know who can sing perfectly such lines as "Cosi timida e sola assomigliate alle ragazze di Montauban" (Act 2) with the perfect pronunciation, both in Italian and in French on "Montauban". His expressivity could have been better, but it was so much better than the rest of the cast, it felt like he was the only one really trying to portray his character. A rather disappointing evening.

Figaro ?

As mentionned by An Unamplified Voice, the Met is offering a little quiz online, Ask Figaro, to sum up your personality with one opera. It may not have worked out that well for him, but it's a perfect pick for me: Bellini's La Sonnambula - indeed one of my favorite operas - where Amina, the lead role, has truly some intriguing similarities with my own character (hopefully not with my behavior though).

Met Simulcast 08-09 in France

10 out of 11 broadcasts will be screened in France for the upcoming 08-09 Met simulcast season. All performances will begin at 7:30pm (Paris time).

• October 11: Strauss' Salomé with Karita Mattila
• Nov. 8: John Adams' Doctor Atomic
• Nov.22: Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust, James Levine cond., Robert Lepage's production, with Susan Graham & Marcello Giordani
• Dec. 20, Massenet's Thaïs, with Renée Fleming & Thomas Hampson
• Jan 10, Puccini's La Rondine , Nicolas Joël's production, with Angela Gheorghiu & Roberto Alagna
• Jan. 24, Gluck's Orfeo ed Eurydice, James Levine cond., with Stephanie Blythe & Danielle de Niese
• Feb. 7 février, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, with Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón & Mariusz Kwiecien
• March 7, Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Anthony Minghella's production
• March 21, Bellini's La Sonnambula, with Natalie Dessay & Juan Diego Flórez
• May 9, Rossini's La Cenerentola, Maurizio Benini cond., with Elīna Garanca & Lawrence Brownlee

List of participating cinemas in France here. Lyon: Pathé Vaise Lyon - 43 rue des Docks - 69009 Lyon The website will be updated on Sept.1 with the booking conditions.

Roméo et Juliette, Met broadcast Dec. 2007

Roméo et Juliette
Opéra en 5 actes de Charles Gounod
Livret de Jules Barbier et Michel Carré d'après la pièce Romeo and Juliet de Shakespeare

PBS TV broadcast
December 15, 2007
Metropolitan Opera

Placido Domingo, Conductor

Tybalt: Marc Heller
Paris: Louis Otey
Capulet: Charles Taylor
Juliette: Anna Netrebko
Mercutio: Nathan Gunn
Romeo: Roberto Alagna
Gertrude: Jane Bunnell
Gregorio: David Won
Friar Laurence: Robert Lloyd
Stephano: Isabel Leonard
Benvolio: Tony Stevenson
The Duke of Verona: Dean Peterson


I get that, after a few hundred years singing almost every operatic role ever written for a tenor, you will eventually get so bored you'll try to expand your musical experiences by, say, conducting operas.
Considering you spent ages under the most brilliant conductors of the XXth century, you should have such a depth at understanding the scores your conduction should really be something unique.
Everybody knows though, that Placido Domingo as a conductor has raised a lot of criticism (and booing from the audience too), and up to now, I really couldn't get why. Sure, the conductions I heard from him were nothing but average, but most of the conductors these days (at least in the bel canto area) are mediocre at best.
Well, all that changed after I watched this broadcast from the Met.

Being such a freak for Gounod, I of course get emotional pretty quick - in that case pretty upset.
The best way to describe Domingo conducting that piece is to picture the vacuum of the universe (which is not really made of nothing, but this blog isn't about to start on physics), and its freezing temperature of roughly three Kelvin.
The render of Gounod's music Domingo provided the Met with is a emotionless and cold as the universe. His understanding of the rhythm of Gounod is desperately wrong and boring, as everything is played on a military mode - one, two, one, two, one, two.
I don't question his musicality as much as I question his hearing though. How can he not hear the orchestra sounds flat and mechanical? There's an ugly monotony to everything (in all fairness, except for the waltz parts), especially to the non-singing parts of the score, and he seems to have no interest whatsoever for the attacks of the notes.
A big cold vacuum, really (sorry!).

Ruby Washington for the NY Times

As for the chorus of the Met, which can't basically deal properly with the French language, no offense to New Yorkers, the conduction of Domingo ruins every chance of extracting a decent performance out of it. Once again, everything is blind and tasteless, especially my favorite intervention of the chorus (even if it last no longer than thirty seconds) during the duet between Tybalt and Mercutio (Act 3) with the supposed-to-be vindicative and passionate "Capulets! Capulets! Race immonde!".

Ken Howard for the Metropolitan Opera

The cast was equally disappointing, Marc Heller (Tybalt) and Louis Otey (Paris) been horrible; the French diction (or the lack of, rather) and over-the-top acting of Nathan Gunn make him a mediocre Mercutio indeed.
Anna Netrebko surprised me a lot as she was pretty good at playing the ingénue part of Juliette; the problems obviously start when she starts singing (I notoriously don't like her, so I won't go into further details). Charles Taylor as Capulet, the father of Juliette, was interesting enough, and Alagna, though pretty good at the beginning of the performance, slightly slipped into uncharted waters by the end of the broadcast. The last scene in front of Juliette's grave was rather painful to hear, as his voice was so tired he could hardly control it at all.

All and all, a very disappointing broadcast.

Inside the Met

And now, for the forbidden pictures inside the hall, with the scolding from the crew attached to it, because you know, it's strictly forbidden to take pictures ;

Metropolitan Opera

April 19, 2008

Met by day

Metropolitan Opera April 19, 2008

2e Fille

A few notes after hearing yesterday's broadcast from the Met of La Fille du Régiment (previous review of the premiere here and of JDF's encore there). I basically concur with my previous impressions about both the conduction of Marco Armiliato, the speaking parts and the performances of Palmer and Corbelli. I thought JDF was lacking unison with the music at times (nothing serious, just a small tiny shift of nanoseconds) and almost missed a note at some point, but these critics are just picky because he is really magnificent and unique. Dessay's voice had some issues on this Saturday matinee, and I am indeed worried as well. For the French audience that stayed home last night and listened to the performance via the radio (France Musique), Natalie Dessay was kind enough to do an interview from her dressing room at intermission time, in which she sounded a bit upset and admitted she mixed up the lines in "Salut à la France", repeating the first verse in place of the third one (something I hadn't notice, to be honest).

Satyagraha

This is the most beautiful staging I have ever seen in opera.
An artistic journey through slow-motion[1] perfectly complimented by the music of Philip Glass.
The work of English director Phelim McDermott and his company Improbable brought magic to the stage of the Metropolitan Opera, making it indispensable to pass on a perfect spring saturday afternoon in New York.

End of Act III

This production is enlightened by very aesthetic effects that are accessible, meaningful and poetry, really. The beauty of the visual is what kept me very much in this 3 hours and a half of Glass' music. Not that I don't appreciate his music because I do, a lot, but three hours and a half is really a long time to focus on it. The mind-wandering experience gets annoying after a while (one hour is my usual limit).
Yet I couldn't leave early because of this extraordinary staging. Trying to describe the set and the lightning accurately is no easy task, but these pictures give a good overview and will definitely help me remember this afternoon at the opera.

The cohesion between the music and the staging is exceptional; the slow-motion in particular is a perfect fit for Glass' minimalism.
The puppets[2] everybody talked about can seem a bit over the top but in context, they offer an interesting display of the old battle of David vs. Goliath (especially in the first scene where the English monarchy, portrayed by a praying mantis is fighting against the Indian soldier in armor).

Beginning of Act II, ENO performance

The journey ends visually as it started, Gandhi being buried under newspapers, in the same way Glass' music is always going in circles, which was, once again, a very relevant and thoughtful touch.

The Vow (scene 3 of Act I)
ENO performance

Lightning and staging details

• various supports are used to project words (English or Sanskrit) in the first scene (newspapers hold vertically by the actors) and then again in Act II (parts of the corrugated-iron walls[3]). The result is probably intended to be powerful and politically inclined (as this whole piece is), it was really just a nice visual effect in my dreamy journey.


• the Tolstoy scene (scene 2 of Act I) ends with bar branches planted in the floor, dividing the space to show the different routes each character is going through. The tiny cottages brought on stage afterwards bring absolutely nothing to the atmosphere, but the windows opening high in the set walls provided very pictorial yet very meaningful frozen scenes.

Tolstoy Farm, 1910
Scene 2 of Act I

• the alligator made of weaving baskets in the beginning of The Vow (scene 3 of Act I) did not do it for me; later in that scene, the hangers that descended from the ceiling and where everybody on stage hung his or her jacket were really successful. The gathering around the fire in the middle of the stage later on was well-choreographed and definitely added to the fantasy of the scene.


• the second act was the least captivating at all, beginning with those strange costumes for the chorus, very different from any over designed for that production, and awkwardly irrelevant.

New Castle March, Act III
ENO performance

• the last act however was incredibly powerful. The use of duct tape to build walls across the stage was not only visually brilliant, I also can't think of a better way to symbolize the New Castle March.
  
  At the end of Act III, the set completely opens up, leaving nothing but a very high and thin podium in the center, where an actor, back toward the audience, plays Martin Luther King and silently harangues an imaginary crowd. Some videos of MLK had previously been projected on the walls before they open.
  Not only does this reference make sense and perfectly relate to Gandhi (both being non-violent revolutionary leaders), but the timing couldn't be better, as we recently commemorated the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination.

I am pretty sure I wouldn't have survived this Satyagraha experience had it not been for that superb production of Phelim McDermott that premiered last year at the English National Opera and is his first opera direction.
This was indeed a unique and fantastic experience, one of those I will carry with me for many years.

Complete libretto translation:

[1] Although the slow-motion idea worked perfectly, it is also the reason for the only real issue I had with this production: the immobility of the singers when performing, which turned out to be a recurring theme and got rapidly boring

[2] "The struggle of the puppeteers and aerialists to create the large mythical figures would be a reflection of the Satyagraha struggle itself." Director Phelim McDermott
[3] The choice of "humble materials" for the set , such as newspapers and corrugated iron (used by colonials for fast building of walls and roofs) was once again spot on for this piece

More photographs of the production here.


More bloggers reviews:

• Maury D'Annato: "Got yer what hurts?" (My Favorite Intermissions)
• Night after night: "Satyagraha"
  
• Elisabeth Vincentelli: "Gateway drugs" (The Determined Dilettante)
  

More about this piece:

Metropolitan Opera
April 19, 2008

Mascarade

This production of Piero Foggioni (also responsible for the set, costumes and lightning) premiered at the Met some twenty years ago, in 1990 with Luciano Pavarotti and Aprile Millo.
The shortest way to describe it would be to simply state that it looks like Zeffirelli, fells like Zeffirelli and probably even smells like Zeffirelli, yet is not from Zeffirelli. Or maybe he used an alias and nobody ever noticed.

This XIXth century opera is staged like in the XIXth century, with the ostensible glittering elements and the usual fireworks on stage (scene 2 of Act I), the primitive lightning (spotlights on the guy singing) and a predictable lack of acting directions of any kind (the storyboard probably looks like : "when singing, do not move at all cost and open your arms wide so that the audience can see how much effort you put into it - after all, this is about the music, not the theater").

Stephanie Blythe
Sara Krulwich for the New York Times

So let's focus on the music.
Gianandrea Noseda's conduction was not very impressive, mostly in the lineage of Carlo Maria Giulini (whose approach of Verdi I've never liked): lacking fluidity and lightness. Angela M.Brown did not shine either as Amelia, and Salvatore Licitra has never been spectacular anyway (although he sounded way better than in last's year broadcast of Cav/Pag), especially because his high notes are always somehow on the brink of failure - but his low and middle registers were quite good indeed.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky had breathing issues in the first act, ending every replica with a very unelegant and guttural growl. All was forgotten by act II though, and his true vocal abilities were unleashed. And what a joy it is to hear Hvoro at his best.

Stephanie Blythe was the real star of the evening, as her performance as fortune-teller Ulrica was well-worth the evening.

Manhattan Opera House, 1900s

The old atmosphere at the Met:

• gold curtain
• curtain call at the end of every act
  

"Salut à la France", not so much in French though

Overall, this run of La Fille du Régiment is a bit disappointing.

It took me a while to realize why, because Juan Diego Flórez was as wonderful and exquisite as always, Natalie Dessay doing what she's best at: acting in a comic opera* is a joy to watch.
Felicity Palmer and Alessandro Corbelli were irreproachable and, having previously seen the broadcast from last year's run at Covent Garden, I already knew I liked the work of Laurent Pelly on this one (despite the usual ugly set of Chantal Thomas - one has to understand Pelly always works with the same team and Chantal Thomas is the set designer on this overall pretty good team).

The first issue of this run is Marian Seldes, who filled in last minute for Zoe Cadwell. She doesn't obviously have the comic talent of Dawn French and Agathe Mélinand, who adapts the librettos of Pelly's productions (probably the best element of that team), was well aware of the situation, as she added some replicas, in a desperate attempt to compensate for the lack of comic presence of Seldes.
Most noticeably, whereas Dawn French was only justifying the absence of Duke Scipio (to be married with Marie) by "olympic obligations" (in English dans le texte), Marian Seldes also adds "Bobsleigh team" (also in English).
The other problem with Seldes is her French diction, or her lack of rather. For a native French like myself, this was truly unbearable.
Furthermore, the notary (Jack Wetherall) was also disastrous (Covent Garden had the intelligence to cast a French actor, Jean-Pierre Blanchard); these two ruined the first scenes of Act II (despite the efforts of Felicity Palmer).

"Tous les trois réunis", scene 10 of Act II
Covent Garden 2007

Yet those points can seem picky to anyone who does not understand French (i.e. the vast majority of the Met's audience). And they can only partially explain my relative disappointment. Nor could the (also) very poor diction of the chorus or its stiffness (once again, chapeau bas to Covent Garden for the excellence of its chorus - both singing and acting).

The "ironing scene", "Au bruit de la guerre", scene 3 of Act I
Ken Howard for the Metropolitan Opera, April 21, 2008

fin de l'air "Au bruit de la guerre", scene 3 of Act I
Covent Garden 2007

My real discontent is the conduction of Marco Armiliato.
Or more accurately, the instinctive comparison I made with Bruno Campanella, who brought fuzz and lightness to this piece in London. In perspective, although far from mediocre, Armiliato does not play in the same league as Campanella. I won't say his reading of that piece is rigid or heavy, but it's undoubtedly the main reason for my relative upset.

"Salut à la France", scene 7 of Act II
Sara Krulwich for the New York Times, Met April 21, 2008

Relative because, all and all, nobody can come close to the combination Dessay/JDF in that particular piece.

scene 7 of Act II
Covent Garden 2007

Met Photo Gallery of La Fille here.

* It must be said that Dessay didn't get all the credit she deserved on opening night. After the arias of bravery of JDF (including the perfect 18 high Cs), her "Il faut partir" was sensational and brought tears to my eyes.
But then again, JDF was also sensational in his emotional aria, "Pour me rapprocher de Marie" (surprisingly full of sensitivity and honesty).