Metropolitan Opera Preview: Andrea Chénier

The Met revives Giordano's chilling tale of the French Revolution.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

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Patricia Racette as Maddalena de Coigny in Andrea Chenier.
Photo © 2014 Metropolitan Opera, courtesy Press Department.

Marcelo Álvarez and Patricia Racette star in Umberto Giordano's potboiler set against the bloody backdrop of the French Revolution. It chronicles an ill-fated love-triangle between an idealistic poet, an aristocratic lady, and Gérard (Zeljko Luçic) a member of the Revolutionary Tribunal. If it's done right, Chénier can be an unforgettable theatrical experience as the lovers climb to the guillotine in a kind of Italian Liebestod.