Opera Review: Lust in the Dust

The Met spends its money on Thaïs.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Unholy: mad monk Athanaël (Gerald Finley, right) obsesses over the tide character (Aileen Pérez) in Thaïs. 
Photo by Chris Lee © 2017 The Metropolitan Opera.

Jules Massenet's Thaïs is the operatic equivalent of a rare orchid, an exotically colored, carefully cultivated hothouse plant that is brought out only when an opera company believes it has the right soprano for the difficult title part. On Saturday afternoon, the Metropolitan Opera gave the first performance of this season's revival. Here, the stars were soprano Ailyn Pérez stepping into the leading lady's gilded sandals, and baritone of the moment Gerald Finley singing Athanaël, the troubled monk whose cilice may be on a little too tight.

Opera Review: The Serenity Now

The Manhattan School of Music mounts Thaïs.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Spiritual seeker: Rebecca Krynski sings the title role of Thaïs at MSM.
Photo by Jeffrey Langford © 2012 Manhattan School of Music.

Jules Massenet's Thaïs is a strange girl.  In telling the story of an ascetic monk's disastrous obsession with the title character, a famous (fictional) prostitute in 4th century Egypt, the composer was striving to show the clash between pagan belief and the Christian world. What he got was an uneasy alliance between the soul-searching of Wagner's Tannhäuser and the heartbreak of Verdi's La Traviata.

In other words, when the goddess of love met early evangelism, there were no winners.

Happily, this production at the Manhattan School of Music (seen Friday night with the second cast) overcame the composer's florid mix of (Verdian) pathos and (Wagnerian) piety to create sympathetic, believable portraits of these outsized characters. The singers were couched within a simple, pleasing production (designed by André Barbe and originally seen at the Opera de Montréal) that used a contrast of bright colors (the lighting is by Guy Simard) and costumes (also by Mr. Barbé, from the Opera of St. Louis) to create an attractive show that evoked Massenet's Egypt with minimal means.

The severe vocal challenges written into the title role are one factor that keeps Thaïs off the world's stages. Soprano Rebecca Krynski made a convincing case for herself in the part, tracing the courtesan's path from bordello to cloister with a powerhouse performance that anchored the whole show. Elegant and teasing in the first act, Ms. Krynski managed to make Thaïs' lightning-quick conversion in Act II into a believable theatrical coup.