Metropolitan Opera Preview: Götterdämmerung

The Ring comes to a curiously old-fashioned conclusion.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

The three Norns (Elizabeth Bishop, Ronnita Miller, and Wendy Bryn Harmer) weave the rope of
destiny as the Machine "looms" above. Photo by Ken Howard © 2019 The Metropolitan Opera.

The last and longest chapter of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Götterdammerung (”The Twilight of the Gods”) also had the longest gestation period. (Wagner wrote this libretto first, but the music was the last part of the project to be completed.) This opera demands commitment, even from the most fervent Wagnerian. A performance is six hours with intermissions but it goes by with the speed of a bullet train.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: Don Giovanni

Mozart's libertine nobleman returns to add to his catalogue.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Peter Mattei returns to the role of Don Giovanni at the Met this year.
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2019 The Metropolitan Opera.

Some evils never die, and some productions keep getting revived. Such is the case with the Metropolitan Opera's Michael Grandage staging of Don Giovanni. It's back, and it's going down in flames. Good thing then that it's one of the best operas ever written.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: Roméo et Juliette

Charles Castronovo and Ailyn Perez are Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Everybody onstage: the masquerade ball from Roméo et Juliette.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2018 The Metropolitan Opera.

The news is that tenor Bryan Hymel has withdrawn from this run of Romeo et Juliette, the evergreen Charles Gounod adaptation of Shakespeare's play. Charles Castronovo is his replacement, but he's been replaced by Andrea Shin in a plague that seems to only affect members of the House of Montague.  Ailyn Perez, fresh off a mostly successful run in the Massenet chestnut Thaïs, is his Juliet. Placido Domingo conducts this first revival of the Met's staging by Bart Sher.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: Luisa Miller

Placido Domingo returns (but not as the tenor lead) in Verdi's opera.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

We're the Millers: Sonya Yoncheva (right) is Luisa and Placido Domingo is her ill-starred father in Verdi's Luisa Miller.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2018 The Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera marketing department is trumpeting that this year's revival of Luisa Miller features soprano Sonya Yoncheva paired with a very familiar name: Placido Domingo. However, those materials neglect to mention that Mr. Domingo is not playing Rodolfo, the handsome young hero in Verdi's Luisa Miller, but rather the role of Luisa's father, a part usually taken by a baritone of the first rank.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: Lucia di Lammermoor

The blood-stained bride returns to the Met stage.
by Paul J. Pelkonen
"Well, the bride was a picture in the gown that her mama wore
When she was married herself nearly twenty-seven years before
They had to change the style a little but it looked just fine
Stayed up all night, but they got it finished just in time." --Nick Lowe

Everything dies: Vittorio Grigolo and Olga Peretyatko in Lucia di Lammermoor.
Photo © 2018 Richard Termine for the Metropolitan Opera.

The Met revives Mary Zimmerman's controversial, deeply weird and really fun take on Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, for some the ultimate expression of the bel canto style. And yes, this is the opera with the blood-splattered wedding dress.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: Elektra

Christine Goerke sings the title role. Go see it.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Say hello to her little friend: Christine Goerke as Elektra in San Francisco.
Photo by Cory Weaver for the San Francisco Opera.

Soprano of the moment Christine Goerke, who has sung Elektra in San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and on the stage of Carnegie Hall, takes on the towering title role in Richard Strauss' harrowing take on Greek tragedy.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: Semiramide

Angela Meade seizes power in ancient Babylon
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Angela Meade (center) is the titular Queen Semiramide in the Met's Rossini grand opera.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2018 The Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera presents Semiramide, a four-act Italian grand opera by Rossini that was the composer's final opera for the stage of his native country. Angela Meade sings the daunting title role, a bravura showpiece for the soprano voice.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci

The verismo twin bill returns in darkness and light.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Roberto Alagna puts the greasepaint on as the killer clown in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2016 The Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera revives  its 2015 staging of "Cav/Pag", the most famous double bill in opera. Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana is a story of adultery, revenge and murder (in that order) in a rural Sicilian village. Pagliacci, also  a story of adultery, revenge and murder is centered around a company of traveling players. Both operas end in bloodshed and both star tenor Roberto Alagna in the leading roles.