Go for the Music
Saturday afternoon I enjoyed the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Vincenzo Bellini's La Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker) projected in HD at a movie theater. The story has to do with complications that ensue after young charmer Amina turns up the bed of a philandering Count. The visuals and the music were gorgeous, with tenor Juan Diego Flórez showing superb sensitivity for the beauty of Bellini's phrasing as Elvino. All of vocalism was very impressive, with Natalie Dessay in the title role, Jennifer Black as Lisa, Jane Bunnell as Teresa, Jeremy Galyon as Alessio (his Met debut), and Michele Pertusi making an excellent impression as Count Rodolfo.
I liked what director Mary Zimmerman did with her previous Met production, Lucia di Lammermoor, and I generally liked the energy that infuses La Sonnambula. But I concur with the New York Times (and many others) in finding that Zimmerman's resetting of the opera from a Swiss village to a Manhattan rehearsal studio undermines Felice Romani's already problematic storyline, making it more confusing. Yet it's still worthwhile to sit back in the movie theater (and, I imagine, the Met itself) and enjoy the extraordinary musicianship that permeates the production.
This season the Met offers three more performances of La Sonnambula (on March 24, March 28, and April 3) and one "encore" performance of the HD version (on April 1 in the US and April 25 in Canada).
Here's Anna Moffo (with Danilo Vega) in a 1956 live telecast of La Sonnambula. Give the aria some time to work its magic.
Source (4:50)
Showing posts with label Mary Zimmerman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mary Zimmerman. Show all posts
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Monday, October 01, 2007
FLOWERS FOR LUCIA
Last week I saw the superb new production of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Metropolitan Opera—and I'm still energized by the experience!
Lucia is an Italian opera from 1835 about a Scottish lass who falls in love with a man who's caught in a blood feud with her own brother! Talk about uncautious!! And ill-fated!!!
The hype about the production revolves around the French diva Natalie Dessay, who deployed cagey acting in her well-shaped interpretations of Lucia's celebrated arias. Another attraction is the direction of Mary Zimmerman, the MacArthur fellowship recipient who won a 2002 Tony for Metamorphoses. With the very generous helping of talent at Zimmerman's disposal, the production is unusually well-rounded as a theatrical as well as a musical event. The three male leads—Mariusz Kwiecien as Enrico (Lucia's brother), Marcello Giordani as Edgardo (Lucia's love), and John Relyea as Raimondo)—all very strong, have roles in which they attempt to dominate Lucia; as the opera unfolds they come to dominate her vocally and also seem to tower over her more and more. She's an incredible shrinking Lucia!
The excellent casting extends to Michaela Martens, who brought her full-bodied voice to the character Alicia and Stephen Costello, a diplomatically sweet-voiced Arturo. And the music! Deborah Hoffman's harp solo (on a Lyon & Healy Style 23 harp?) was exquisite, Cecilia Brauer added armonica atmospherics to the Mad Scene, and the entire orchestra was, as usual, wonderfully responsive to James Levine's baton. (I'm beginning to hear the same kind of push-the-envelope quality in Donizetti's score that I've heard in Beethoven's later work.) The sets ranged from an old-fashioned outdoor scene to a minimalist, somewhat cartoonish, ruin of a castle—strangely yet successfully eclectic.
Hell, I even liked the wedding scene, which Anthony Tommasini (and others) criticized for its clustering of the guests into a photo pose: "Though the moment is beautifully directed, this staging device, again, overwhelmed the stirring performance." Me, I thought it complemented the performance. If I remember correctly, the moment when the flash went off was a dramatic turning point: Yes, Enrico had just succeeded in wedding Lucia to Arturo and estranging her from Edgardo...but, immediately after his contrived "picture perfect" moment, Lucia collapses, a scrim separates her from everyone else, and everything starts to unravel.
The audience Thursday night was generous with its applause, but (to my surprise) there were no flowers for Lucia. So I suppose this is my blog-bouquet for Natalie Dessay and everyone else involved in the production.
$20 rush tickets are available for performances of this particular Lucia on Monday, October 1, 2007 (8:00 pm) and Tuesday, October 9, 2007 (8:00 pm). They go on sale at the Met at 6:00 pm each performance day; on Thursday, it was wise (but, it turned out, unnecessary) to show up by 4:45 pm.
Here's a glimpse of one of Dessay's "Mad Scene" performances. Crazy!
Source (00:34)
Last week I saw the superb new production of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Metropolitan Opera—and I'm still energized by the experience!
Lucia is an Italian opera from 1835 about a Scottish lass who falls in love with a man who's caught in a blood feud with her own brother! Talk about uncautious!! And ill-fated!!!
The hype about the production revolves around the French diva Natalie Dessay, who deployed cagey acting in her well-shaped interpretations of Lucia's celebrated arias. Another attraction is the direction of Mary Zimmerman, the MacArthur fellowship recipient who won a 2002 Tony for Metamorphoses. With the very generous helping of talent at Zimmerman's disposal, the production is unusually well-rounded as a theatrical as well as a musical event. The three male leads—Mariusz Kwiecien as Enrico (Lucia's brother), Marcello Giordani as Edgardo (Lucia's love), and John Relyea as Raimondo)—all very strong, have roles in which they attempt to dominate Lucia; as the opera unfolds they come to dominate her vocally and also seem to tower over her more and more. She's an incredible shrinking Lucia!
The excellent casting extends to Michaela Martens, who brought her full-bodied voice to the character Alicia and Stephen Costello, a diplomatically sweet-voiced Arturo. And the music! Deborah Hoffman's harp solo (on a Lyon & Healy Style 23 harp?) was exquisite, Cecilia Brauer added armonica atmospherics to the Mad Scene, and the entire orchestra was, as usual, wonderfully responsive to James Levine's baton. (I'm beginning to hear the same kind of push-the-envelope quality in Donizetti's score that I've heard in Beethoven's later work.) The sets ranged from an old-fashioned outdoor scene to a minimalist, somewhat cartoonish, ruin of a castle—strangely yet successfully eclectic.
Hell, I even liked the wedding scene, which Anthony Tommasini (and others) criticized for its clustering of the guests into a photo pose: "Though the moment is beautifully directed, this staging device, again, overwhelmed the stirring performance." Me, I thought it complemented the performance. If I remember correctly, the moment when the flash went off was a dramatic turning point: Yes, Enrico had just succeeded in wedding Lucia to Arturo and estranging her from Edgardo...but, immediately after his contrived "picture perfect" moment, Lucia collapses, a scrim separates her from everyone else, and everything starts to unravel.
The audience Thursday night was generous with its applause, but (to my surprise) there were no flowers for Lucia. So I suppose this is my blog-bouquet for Natalie Dessay and everyone else involved in the production.
$20 rush tickets are available for performances of this particular Lucia on Monday, October 1, 2007 (8:00 pm) and Tuesday, October 9, 2007 (8:00 pm). They go on sale at the Met at 6:00 pm each performance day; on Thursday, it was wise (but, it turned out, unnecessary) to show up by 4:45 pm.
Here's a glimpse of one of Dessay's "Mad Scene" performances. Crazy!
Source (00:34)
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