Opera Review: Fireproof

Simon Keenlyside makes a comeback as Don Giovanni.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The statue of the dead Commendatore (Kwangchal Youn, left) takes Don Giovanni 
(Simon Keenlyside) down to Hell as Leporello (Adam Plachetka) cowers on the right.
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2016 The Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera's current production of Don Giovanni, introduced at the opera house by director Michael Grandage in 2011 is an uninspired, ugly hash with a some impressive, yet noisy fire effects at the end. And yet, Mozart's opera remains immortal. Its music, when properly delivered, would work if the singers were in burlap sacks with paper bags over their heads, an image one must be cautious with lest it inspire some young theater director looking to mount Don Giovanni in the future.

Baton, Baton, Who's Got the Baton?

Exploring podium possibilities at The Metropolitan Opera.
by Paul J.  Pelkonen

Call it a comeback: James Levine's return to the Met podium in 2013.
Photo by Jonathan Tichler, © 2015 The Metropolitan Opera.

A pair of stories published by the Arts section of the New York Times earlier this month have offered some much-needed insight into the conducting situation at the Metropolitan Opera. The articles, by Michael Cooper and Zachary Woolfe, also fueled Internet speculation as to the artistic future of that great institution, which will announce the 2016-17 season later this month.

Concert Review: The Substitute of Choice

Fabio Luisi conducts the Munich Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Stepping in: Fabio Luisi was a late replacement at Saturday's Carnegie Hall concert.
Photo by Koich Miura © 2011 The Metropolitan Opera.

On Saturday night at Carnegie Hall, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra played the second of two concert programs featuring the music of its hometown hero Richard Strauss. Strauss hits the milestone 150th birthday this year, motivating touring orchestras to program his orchestral extravaganzas.  With the current Munich chief conductor Lorin Maazel sidelined due to illness, Fabio Luisi was called in as a replacement.

The Three Strauss-keteers

Fabio Luisi and Valery Gergiev step in with the Munich Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Juggling batons: With Lorin Maazel (left) ill,Valery Gergiev (center) and Fabio Luisi (right) will step in to

conduct major Strauss tone poems with the Munich Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall.

Photo of Mr. Maazel from his website. Photo of Mr. Luisi © 2014 Opernhaus Zurich.

Photo of Mr. Gergiev by Laura Luostarinen © 2006 the Polar Music Awards. Photo alteration by the author.

New Yorkers have lost their chance to hear Lorin Maazel conduct major works by Richard Strauss this weekend.

Opera Review: The Ghost in the Machine

With a clank and a clatter, the Met revives Das Rheingold.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

"Whaddya mean it's busted?" Wotan (Mark Delavan, standing) assaults
Alberich (Eric Owens) in Scene Four of Das Rheingold.
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2013 The Metropolitan Opera.

The Robert Lepage production of Wagner's Ring has returned to the stage of the Metropolitan Opera. Yes, the "Machine" is back, that multi-million dollar unit set with 24 rotating planks that serve as acting area and projection surface for Mr. Lepage's digital scenery. And for the first half of Das Rheingold on Saturday afternoon, things were going pretty well. Mr. Lepage's high-tech story-book approach proved surprisingly engrossing, carried along by the brisk conducting of Fabio Luisi.

Then the Machine malfunctioned.

Concert Review: In the Big Dream

The MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Fabio Luisi apparently demonstrating the proper way to eat one's baton.
Photo by Barbara Luisi.

Fabio Luisi has been an important figure in the musical life of New Yorkers in the last two years. Last season, he was promoted to Principal Conductor in the wake of a seemingly catastrophic series of health problems for the Metropolitan Opera's Music Director, James Levine. On Sunday afternoon, Mr. Luisi led the MET Orchestra (as they are billed for concerts0 in a bold, ambitious program, showing that even with Mr. Levine's impending return to conducting in 2013, this conductor is confident in putting his stamp on the ensemble in a concert setting.

This was an ambitious program. It started with the first Carnegie Hall performance of In tempus praesens, ("In the present time") the second violin concerto from the pen of Russian-Tatar composer Sofia Gubaidulina. Here, the solo part was taken by Met concertmaster David Chan. In tempus praesans begins with a deceptively simple series of wide intervals on the solo violin: less than a melody but more than a tone-row. From there, the piece set the soloist against the tuttis from a very large orchestra, minus its violin section.

Judging from a first listen, this piece folk influences of central Russia and the ancient, pagan ceremonies that also inspired Stravinsky's Rite. Huge, slab-like constructs were laid down by the violin-less string section. They seemed to rise up and impede the soloist's progress through the score. Colorful percussion and adventurous tonalities make one think of the late works of Scriabin, pushing the boundaries of tonality in the quest for mystic understanding through music.

The Ghost of Conductors Past

James Levine may cancel 2013-2014 performances at the Met.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The presence of conductor James Levine is fading from the Metropolitan Opera House.

Reports out of the Metropolitan Opera House  indicate more cancellations for James Levine.

Subscribers to the Metropolitan Opera's 2012-2013 season are already too aware that this is the company's first season in four decades without the presence of music director James Levine. But they may have to wait even longer to see the acclaimed conductor back at work.

An item in today's edition of parterre box indicates that the Metropolitan Opera has abandoned plans to revive Wagner's Parsifal and Tannhäuser next season. According to parterre's anonymous source, the likely replacements for these two works would be a revival of Antonín Dvořák's Rusalka and Alban Berg's Wozzeck.  

These two Wagner revivals were specifically tailored to the talents of Mr. Levine, a dedicated Wagnerian who has conducted these operas many times in his career. Parsifal, Wagner's final opera, is considered to be one of his specialties, a work he has recorded on three seperate occasions.

How to Survive the End of the World

A quick guide to Götterdämmerung.

by Paul Pelkonen. Contact the author: E-mail Superconductor editor Paul Pelkonen.

Promotional image of Deborah Voigt as Brunnhilde in the Met's new Götterdämmerung.
Photo by Brigitte Lacombe © 2011 The Metropolitan Opera.

Gött-er-dämm-erung. Even the name sounds intimidating, pronounced with an "er" on the first syllabule and a slightly elongated nasal "a on the third. The English title, "Twilight of the Gods" also sounds kind of scary.

So you've decided to see it. Whether you're a die-hard Wagnerite with six Ring cycles under your belt or a novice going to the opera for the first time, here's a quick survival guide to one of Wagner's most imposing operas. Well, not that quick: Götterdämmerung is really long.

This is the last chapter in the Ring of the Nibelungs, a four-opera cycle dealing with the legends of Siegfried, Brunnhilde and various dwarves, giants and gods feuding over possession of a magic ring that allows its holder to rule the world. It's also a powerful evening of opera, with rape, betrayal, murder and redemption coming in surprisingly quick succession over the course of a long opera.

Here's an opera-goer's synopsis:

Although it is performed in three acts, the first part of Götterdämmerung is really a combined Prologue and Act I. At two and a half hours, it is long as a Puccini opera. There are no stops for applause, and no bathroom breaks. You can't leave the theater until intermission. In other words, pee before it starts.

The opening scene (a prologue to the Prologue) with the Norns may sound boring. It's not--there's some really neat music, but it's basically set-up for everything that follows. Wagner wrote this scene originally to explain everything that was about to happen to the audience--who Siegfried was. He later wrote prequels to the libretto for the original Siegfrieds Tod--and it is those prequels that make the first three parts of the Ring.

Next the tenor and soprano take the stage and sing a big love duet with lots of "Heils." As this is high, exposed music, you can soon assess whether these are singers that are worth your time or whether it's time to start rooting for Hagen. The duet is followed by the Rhine Journey, a mini-tone poem for orchestra that covers the scene change.

The action then moves to the Gibichung Hall. The descending theme of the Gibichungs marks the proper start of Act I, although the music never stops. This is your chance to see if the bass singing Hagen has a black, rounded tone in his instrument, necessary to express what an evil bastard this character is. Then Siegfried shows up, and promptly drinks a potion of forgetfulness. He then falls in love with the first available woman, Gutrune.

The toughest stretch of Act I comes in the scene known to Wagner geeks as "Hagen's Watch." The opera's bad guy sits himself down, and in a long bass aria, explains who he is and what his evil plan is to the audience. There is then a long orchestral passage while the scenery transforms before your eyes, from the Gibichung castle on the shore of the Rhine, back to Brunnhilde's fiery rock. 

Wagner follows these two slow passages with a long dialogue between Brunnhilde and her Valkyrie sister Waltraute, about how their father Wotan (king of the Gods) wants to kill himself and end the world. Things pick up again with the arrival of the drugged, disguised Siegfried, who is wearing the Tarnhelm, Elmer Fudd's original magic helmet. Disguised as Gunther, the poor tenor has to pretend to be a baritone in order to kidnap his soon-to-be-ex. This deception sets up the crisis in Act II. 

Here's the good news. If you've made it through these two long scenes, the rest of the opera (though long) is easy.

Act II is an hour, and gripping from start to finish. Hagen sings the Summoning of the Vassals, bellowing over a huge orchestral outburst. This brings the chorus onstage. There's a big wedding procession, and then Brunnhilde realizes that Siegfried was the one who kidnapped her. Her reaction isn't good. The act ends with a vengeance trio as Brunnhilde, Hagen, and Gunther (Hagen's wimpy brother) plan to murder Siegfried.

Act III is basically three scenes. It starts with the still-drugged, newly married Siegfried confronting the Rhinemaidens (with some pretty music) and is followed by the hunting party where Siegfried gets stabbed in the back. The tenor takes about five minutes to die. Next: the funeral music, which allows the orchestra to show off.

Finally, we come to the Immolation Scene. This is essentially a 20-minute scena for the soprano that sums up and wraps up all the plot points of the Ring before she jumps on her horse and rides it into Siegfried's funeral pyre. Hopefully, there's some cool conflagatory business going on for you to look at.

Once that conflagration happens it's home-stretch--there's just five minutes to go in the Ring. Sit back, enjoy the cascading chords as they resolve around you, and be proud--you've just made it through one of the toughest German operas ever written. Contact the author: E-mail Superconductor editor Paul Pelkonen.

Concert Review: She Wants Magic

Renée Fleming and the Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

Renée Fleming. Photo © 2011 QPrime Management.

On Sunday afternoon, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra came to play Carnegie Hall under the baton of Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi. The program was unusual: alternating two clarinet concertos (by Mozart and Aaron Copland) with short recitals from superstar soprano Renée Fleming.

The afternoon opened with Stephen Williamson playing Mozart's Clarinet Concerto. Mr. Williamson is a principal clarinetist of the MET Orchestra, currently playing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This is the last woodwind concerto written by this composer and one of his final works completed before the (unfinished) Requiem.  He played Mozart's athletic solo lines and octave leaps with agility.

Despite generating a pleasing tone, Mr. Williamson kept pausing between movements. He disassembled his clarinet, examined the cork ends, and fiddled with the action on the keys. At the second pause, he wiped  out the inside of the barrel, and bit in a new reed. So in addition to appreciating Mozart, the Carnegie audience may have learned enough to open their own woodwind repair shops.

Ms. Fleming swept onstage (in a bright magenta gown) to sing Mahler' five Ruckert-Lieder. The soprano's voice sounded impressive in the dreamy heights of Ich atmet' einen linden Duft and the extreme depths of Mitternacht. But in each song, her middle register seemed to vanish. Also, Ms. Fleming is an experienced interpreter of Strauss, but she lent a strange inflection to this German text. That said, the final "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen" was impressive. Mr. Luisi proved a sensitive accompanist.

The second half of the program featured Aaron Copland's concerto, originally written for Benny Goodman. Anthony McGill showed himself to be an outstanding soloist, playing with bright, vibrant tone and racing through Copland's jazz-inflected figures. Mr. Luisi drew some gorgeous sonorities from the Met orchestra, lovely shimmers of strings with Copland's signature tonalities that suggest wide American landscapes and urban bustle.


In the course of her long career, Ms. Fleming has shown commitment to 20th century opera, especially in bringing Carlisle Floyd's powerful Susannah to the Met stage and creating Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. Here, she presented three arias from modern American operas by Samuel Barber and Bernard Hermann.  Two of these arias appear on I Want Magic! the 1998 album which she recorded with the Met Orchestra and Mr. Levine.

She opened the short set with "Give Me Some Music" from Barber's Antony and Cleopatra, the opera that opened the new Met in 1967. Today it is chiefly remembered for director Franco Zeffirelli's extravagant pyramid set, which broke the opera house's brand-new turntable. Here, the soprano battled a sandstorm of orchestration, taxing her instrument to portray the Egyptian queen against the heavy brass and strings of Barber's score. She faced similar challenges in "Do Not Utter a Word" from Vanessa. But Mr. Luisi was more successful in managing the orchestra, creating a rich balance of sound. Ms. Fleming soared to some powerful heights in this frantic scena.

Bernard Herrmann is remembered for his film scores for Alfred Hitchcock: most notably Psycho. "I Have Dreamt" is from his opera Wuthering Heights, and featured Ms. Fleming as Emily Brontë's haunted heroine. Mr. Luisi drew rich tones from the Met orchestra, conveying Mr. Herrmann's rich, Korngold-like textures. But like Catherine's ghost, the middle voice seemed swaddled in the heavy orchestral fabric, and did not make a great case for future mountings of this Gothic opera.

Ms. Fleming offered one encore: "I can smell the sea air" from André Previn's Streetcar. This was a treat for New Yorkers, who have not yet seen this operatic version of the Tennessee Williams play onstage. Ms. Fleming did a powerful job of inhabiting Blanche Dubois's particular descent into madness, arching into Mr. Prévin's lush phrases with ease.

Concert Review: Keeping His Day Job

Fabio Luisi leads the Vienna Symphony at Lincoln Center.

A conductor, always on call: Fabio Luisi.
Photo by Barbara Luisi.

Sunday's matinee concert featuring the Vienna Symphony offered New Yorkers a chance to see conductor Fabio Luisi in one of the jobs he held before becoming Principal Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera. Mr. Luisi is Chief Conductor of this Viennese ensemble. He offered orchestral comfort food: Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 (with soloist Lise de la Salle), paired with Beethoven's reliable Seventh Symphony.

As originally scheduled, this program was more interesting. Mr. Luisi had scheduled this concert (the first of two) to end with Franz Schmidt's impressive but rarely played Symphony No. 4. But in a late change, the Schmidt yielded to the more familiar Beethoven. This might have been due to Mr. Luisi's other commitments. 

In September, Mr. Luisi was promoted at the Met, following an injury suffered by reigning Met Music Director James Levine. On short notice, Mr. Luisi added the company's new productions of Don Giovanni and Siegfried to his already full schedule. In doing so, he was forced to cancel a number of European commitments, including a new Rome production of Salome and (presumably) the time reqired to rehearse the Schmidt Fourth.

These are familiar, "safe" favorites were played and executed with thorough professionalism by the Vienna Symphony. While lacking the name-recognition of the Vienna Philharmonic, the two orchestras have some things in common. Both give concerts at the Musikverein, with the Symphony also playing at the Theater an der Wien. They share a preference for the traditional Viennese horn in F, and a relatively low proportion of females onstage.

The solo part in the Rachmaninoff was taken by Ms. de la Salle, a 23-year-old pianist of formidable talent and technique. She established the bell-like opening interval with a firm hand, before rolling forward into the opening theme. Balance problems existed in this movement, with Mr. Luisi's accompaniment drowning out the piano's voice in the opening phrases. Eventually, the problem was corrected and the piano's voice emerged over the orchestra.

The second movement was better, allowing the grace of Ms. de la Salle's playing to emerge. She exchanged thoughtful commentary with the solo clarinet, playing one of Rachmaninoff's most famous themes. Mr. Luisi brought out the melancholy character of this movement, indulging in some very Russian-sounding orchestral reflections, played with Austrian polish and tone.

The final Allegro allowed the talents of this young artist to shine fully, with thrilling, sometimes staccato keyboard runs She displayed the necessary blend of precision, force and athleticism needed with this composer's challenging piano parts. Ms. de la Salle then obliged the thunderous approval with an encore, a delicate, almost gossamer performance of Debussy's prelude Des pas sur la Niege ("Footprints in the Snow.")

Mr. Luisi then had the opportunity to show his orchestra's chops with a robust Beethoven Seventh.  The opening had the right drama and power, providing contrast to the manic main theme that followed. Conducting without a score, the slender maestro danced in rhythm on the podium. At times, he seemed to pull Beethoven's dancing themes out of the strings with his whole body and will.

The funeral march (made famous in last year's Oscar™-winning The King's Speech was played with weight and a steady hand. The last two movements, expressions of joy at the defeat of Beethoven's idol-turned-nemesis Napoleon, had a celebratory air, with triumphant playing from the Vienna horns. 

Is James Levine Hanging Up His Towel?

Metropolitan Opera Music Director pulls out of Götterdämmerung.

This may soon be an unfamiliar sight. James Levine in rehearsal.
Photo by Koichi Miural.

The Metropolitan Opera press office continues its tradition of springing big stories on Friday afternoon when they think no-one is looking.

The latest is that Music Director James Levine will not conduct the January 27, 2012 premiere of Götterdämmerung, the final chapter of the company's troubled new production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will take over all five performances, including a Met Live in HD telecast on Feb. 5. Mr. Luisi will also lead the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra's Carnegie Hall concert on Jan. 15, featuring soprano Renée Fleming.

The maestro's health problems in recent years have included back trouble, shoulder injuries and a bout with cancer. Earlier this year, he stepped down from his position as Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He also cancelled his Tanglewood commitments with that orchestra, leaving the summer free for rest and rehabilitaion.


On Labor Day weekend, Mr. Levine suffered a fall while walking in New England. This forced him to cancel his Met commitments, which included leading the company's new productions of Don Giovanni and Siegfried. He was replaced by newly promoted Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi.

Mr. Luisi's conducting drew better notices than the stagings of the operas. However, the Italian conductor's sudden commitment to the Met sent earthquakes through major European opera houses. The loudest outrage came from Rome, where Mr. Luisi stepped away from a new production of Salome a few weeks before its premiere.

Mr. Levine last conducted at the Met in May of this year, leading performances of Die Walküre, the second chapter in the Ring. He has not conducted since. As of this writing, Mr. Levine is scheduled to conduct three complete Ring cycles in April. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen.

Live Simulcast Coverage: Into the Fire

Opening Night: Don Giovanni from the Met.

Not appearing tonight: Kurt Moll as the Commendatore in Don Giovanni
Image © 1989 Salzburg Festival/Deutsche Grammophon.

PREGAME SHOW:
7:12pm: So we're trying this LiveStream technology again, this time with the opening night of Don Giovanni. The stream should be up at 7:30pm but there's no pre-show this time with Met radio broadcast announcers. So I'll just provide some background.

7:18pm: Energy hustlers in cheap uniforms with clipboards at the front door of my Brooklyn co-op, trying to solicit personal information from my neighbors. Actually had to hold the door shut and wait for them to leave. Not like my servant invited them to dinner or anything--although the idea of people in disguise getting into the house is central to Don Giovanni.

7:20pm: The Met has had bad luck with Don Giovanni. I've made this point before. But this new production, mounted by Michael Grandage has had it worse than most. The first casualty was music director James Levine, who went down with a back injury after a fall on Labor Day Weekend. He's been replaced by Fabio Luisi.
7:23pm: Worse luck struck again at Monday's dress rehearsal, when star baritone Mariusz Kwiecien went down with an injured disc, not ten minutes into the opera. Mr. Kwiecien has had back surgery and his prognosis is good. His substitute: Peter Mattei, recently heard in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Dwayne Croft remains the cover.
7:25pm: Welcome to the Metropolitan Opera Online Stream. Stay with us because tonight's broadcast will begin shortly.
7:29pm: ...and here's Margaret Juntwait and Will Berger.

Barbara Frittoli (l.) as Donna Elvira confronts Peter Mattei's Don.
This is from the old production. Photo by Ken Howard © 2009 Metropolitan Opera.

ACT I: 
7:30pm: Get well wishes for Mariusz Kwiecien and they're so glad Peter Mattei is here. Quick Act I summary for the listener going over the plot.
7:33pm: Conductor to the pit....
7:34pm: Audience applauds and it's game time. Act I.
7:35pm: Opening of the Overture measured, with those famous chords. "Hellfire" theme against solemn background of brass and timpani...orchestra sounds good. Now the second, faster theme, taken a little slow then gathering speed to the first climax. After this Luisi does not let up. Strings very crisp with fine pointing from the oboes and flute.
7:40pm: Curtain up and here's bass Luca Pisaroni as Leporello, kvetching about his boss.
7:42pm: Enter a vigorous-sounding Peter Mattei and an equally determined Donna Anna. Trio ensemble here not quite perfectly together but the dramatic energy is palpable.
7:43pm: Stefan Kocán as a resonant Commendatore. Swords drawn audibly. "Se voi morir!"
7:45pm: And he's down. Sword thrust, not a back injury as the Commendatore breathes his last--as a mortal, anyway.
7:46pm: Fabio Luisi moves to harpsichord for first recitatives. Love that he's doubling the two jobs. Lot of clomping about on the wooden set.
7:48pm: Bel canto tenor and Met veteran Ramon Vargas is unusual, luxury casting for Don Ottavio, the worst role in opera because the character (not the singer) is basically a jellyfish. Donna Anna has all the stingers!
7:52pm: This duet sounds "even" for once with Vargas singing with more power than most Don Jellyfish.
7:55pm: Barbara Frittoli makes her entrance as Donna Elvira.
8pm: Leporello and Elvira discuss the Don and his outrageous sex life. Here comes that famous er...number. Sound of a book being opened.
8:06pm Pisaroni gets the Catalogue song rolling with sprightly accompaniment from the pit. Audience laughter at "mil 'e tre." Thank God for MET Titles! Second subject with its courtly dance-figures (a little Mozartean joke) taken very slowly and delicately. Sung with warmth but not leering. Last part taken very slowly with some vocal showing off from Pisaroni.
8:07pm: How rude of me. LiveStream is HERE. We now rejoin our peasant wedding, in progress.
8:08pm: Peasants occupying the stage like it's Zuccoti Park. Sorry, couldn't resist. Joshua Bloom gruff and unsubtle as Masetto, Mojca Erdmann makes a good first impression as Zerlina.
8:12pm: Masetto may be a churl, but Joshua Bloom sang a good, very fast "Ho capito." BTW that is how you respond when someone gets in your face and says "Capeesh?" (I'm from Brooklyn.)
8:14pm: Peter Mattei coming into his own, the right mix of seduction and swagger as he goes to work on Zerlina and the lead-in to the most famous duet in Mozart. Tho he's wandering away from the mic.
8:15pm: Best part of duet: sensual, exquisite playing from the orchestra evoking Mozart's very carnal music. This is where Strauss got the sex scene that opens Rosenkavalier from, the pulsing, squeeze-box rhythms and parrying, dancing voices. Andiam!
8:20pm: The Don meets Anna and Ottavio. And cue Elvira.
8:25pm: The complex Quartet, beautifully executed by the ensemble. At least their timing seems to be down, which bodes well for next Monday (when I see this show in the house.)
8:31pm: Marina Rebeka an excellent Donna Anna singing "Or sai chi l'onore."
8:34pm: Vargas just floating those long notes into the air of the Met with remarkable control in "Dalla sua pace," stretching out the texture--he has the technique for this and Luisi is trusting his singer.
8:36pm: Now stretching out with vibrato--but not unsteadiness for the last notes, ending with an organ-like woodwind figure that shows up in a lot of Wagner operas.
8:39pm: Champagne aria taken at ridiculously fast speed with Mattei blustering through it and banging stuff around on stage. Not sure the grapes were stomped in France.
8:42pm: "Batti, batti O bel Masetto": the favorite aria of New York Rangers fans, who believe that Masetto clearly plays for the Islanders and wears No. 6.
8:46pm: Enter the chorus as the pieces move into position for the Act I finale. My brain always hears "Zerlinetta" as "Zerbinetta." Too much Strauss.
8:52pm: This finale is sometimes muddled but here it's crisp and sounds as if it's well-directed. (We'll know more Monday.) Some exquisite wind playing. Much more clomping around on the set and bustling about before everyone launches into the fast section. Luisi VERY tight here and the singers know their parts and sound great even with the last-minute cast change.
8:55pm: "Viva la liberta!" sung with extra meaning here. Is that because the cops are going to try to clear Zuccotti Park tomorrow at 6am on the pretext of "cleaning" away "Occupy Wall Street." OK. Back to opera.
8:57pm: Someone get the cast some nice soft Crocs. Clomp, clomp, clomp.
8:59pm: Last whizzing section of the finale launched at very high speed. Luisi a steely-eyed missile man in the pit leading a very fast ensemble and nobody missing a cue. Prompter must be working overtime down in the smallest room in the house. So far this has been a solid Don Giovanni off to a great start with an invigorating finish to the first act. Damn, that's fast, but everything is dead on. And last notes.

INTERMISSION: WB and MJ talking about the costumes and about everything going on in the pell-mell finale. Production described as "sweaty." Hmm.
9:14pm: Good interview with bass Bryn Terfel who has sung (at least) four roles in Don Giovanni. 9:18pm: He aptly described the Das Rheingold as "sparse." That's being kind.
9:25pm: Will Berger breaking down "chocolate in opera."
9:30pm: WB describing the stage set. Windows, balconies, a courtyard and a wall of windows. And enough fire effects to make Beavis happy.

The Act II Graveyard Scene, from the 1790 production in Prague.
Image from Wikimedia Commons.

ACT TWO:
9:34pm: First duet for master and servant. "Eh via, buffone." Chemistry and comic timing evident.
9:42pm: It sucks not having a program. Who's playing Donna Elvira's anonymous (but attractive) maid? Terzetto conducted sensually by Luisi with Pisaroni's sardonic comments drawing all the laughs. (Titles again.) Now we switch costumes.
9:51pm: "Deh vieni" sung with great delicacy and warmth by Mr. Mattei. All that guitar playing in Barbiere ("Se il mio nome") probably helped.
9:54pm: Erdmann singing with great tenderness and then a stunning high note in "Vedrai, carino."
9:58pm: The welcome return of Ramon Vargas. Usually don't feel that way about Don Ottavio but he's singing really well tonight. It's not the singer, it's the character.
10:02pm: Luisi is a bold conductor taking the sextet at a pace that recalls the John Eliot Gardiner recordings. But the singers are together in the sextet and all the words can be heard. Wow.
10:09pm: "Il mio tesoro"--Vargas has the house rapt, singing with a reached-for high note but generally with good breath control, ornamentation and more volume and power than you usually hear from Don Ottavio. And it's good that he gets both of his arias!
10:11pm: And the house responds accordingly. Bravo!
10:15pm: Fast tempos again for "Mi tradi" with Barbara Frittoli breath-y but engagingly sung.
10:18pm: To the cemetery scene!
10:20pm: And there's the statue. Voice sounds like it's through an echo effect or perhaps they're using the same rig for Fafner in the upcoming Siegfried. Too much echo.
10:23pm: "O statua gentilissima!" Pisaroni very good here. Really sounds scared and not like he's playing it for laughs. If you play this for laughs the ending doesn't work.
10:30pm: "Non mi dir" sung with great delicacy, Rebeka making Anna into a more sympathetic figure and not the hard-edged "revenge Valkyrie" who stalked the Zeffirelli production. Nice coloratura too. Audience really likes her. And they should.
10:34pm: Party at the Don's house. Guess who's coming to dinner? Lots of onstage movement going on, dishes, plates clinking--does the Don have a whip to hit Leporello with? (Find out Monday.)
10:37pm: And the banda played on. "Non piu andrai" well played by the Met winds, a titter of laughter from the house. Boy are they in for a shock when the dinner guest gets here.
10:38pm: Not you, Elvira.
10:39pm: 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1....scream!
10:41pm: The dinner guest arrives. Echo effect turned down here. Met techies must read this post and take notes accordingly. Anyway Kocán sounds a lot better. Pisaroni too histrionic here--should be singing the lines not whimpering. Sing first. Whimper later.
10:42pm: Flames rising slowly in the pit. This might be best-conducted Don Giovanni I've heard at the Met and I've seen the opera there five times. This is on a level with Fischer this summer: very solid music-making, real dread coming out of the speakers. "Parla! Parla!"
10:45pm: Peter Mattei now has to make the Don win our sympathies even as he's dragged to hell. This is the crux of the opera: you wish you were brave enough like the Don not to repent and to choose eternal damnation rather than listen to that grumpy old statue. Mattei's voice is rising to the occasion too over the orchestra--this is a face-off of equals.
10:47pm: Luisi, orchestra, chorus, are literally raising hell. I can't wait to see this. And there's the hissing fire effects. Whooshwhooshwhoosh. Last chords. House absolutely going bonkers.
10:49pm: That last ensemble. Wrapping up while the damnation still rings in their ears. I always think this last bit should be cut but...18th century convention. It reminds me of the "Where are they now?" at the end of National Lampoon's Animal House. On the bright side, you get to hear Vargas sing again. Which is nice. Audience chuckling at the titles or at the idea of Elvira entering a convent?
10:53pm: That whizzing fugue-like ending borrowed by Verdi for Falstaff. 
10:54pm: The last curtain rings down on a successful prima. Bravo to all. Can't wait to see it!
10:55pm: Loud applause for Vargas. Cheering for Pisaroni's Leporello. Roars of approval for Latvian soprano Rebeka, one of two debut artists in this strong cast. The other is Erdmann. Peter Mattei appreciated--he saved this night by switching operas. Bravo! OK. Conductor and production team next.
10:57pm: Warm reception for Fabio Luisi now on the stage. Production team comes out. No audible boos. Everyone applauding at great volume and no "boo-birds." Good.

Hope you enjoy reading this, and if you stuck with us for the duration, I hope you had fun listening to Don Giovanni. Be sure to read Superconductor for the full review (from up in the Family Circle), running next Tuesday morning.

Hatchet Job

Fabio Luisi appointment triggers Roman blood-bath

Fabio Luisi. Photo by Matthias Creutziger courtesy IMG Artists.

The Met's recent decision to elevate Fabio Luisi to the post of Principal Conductor is having repercussions in Europe.

In a recent press conference, the Metropolitan Opera announced that the maestro had been promoted from Principal Guest Conductor, and would be taking over for James Levine in the Met's new productions of Mozart's Don Giovanni and Wagner's Siegfried, premiering next month.


Mr. Luisi's appointment to the role of Principal Conductor (a job previously held by Mr. Levine in the 1970s) has brought relief to New York opera lovers worried about the health and status of the company's music director. In recent years, James Levine has battled cancer, back probems and a shoulder injury. Last year, Mr. Levine ceded his postion as Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a prestigous post that he held concurrently with his job at the Met.

But the announcement and extended commitment at the Met has met with blowback and disapproval from European houses, particularly the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. The Roman house had hired Mr. Luisi to conduct its forthcoming staging of Elektra. Mr. Luisi has also been forced to nix engagements with the Vienna Symphony, the Teatro San Carlo Fellice in Genoa, and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Luisi's cancellation came as a shock to the Roman house. Elektra is slotted to open on Sept. 30.

In a statement, the Teatro dell'Opera condemned Mr. Luis's last-minute cancellation as "an unfortunate affair that harms the world of classical music and opera. The direction of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, in stigmatizing the incident, is considering actions to be taken to protect the image of the Foundation, its workers, and their audience."

62-year old Hungarian conductor Stefan Soltesz, music director of the Opera Theater in Essen, Germany is slotted to step in. The cast features Eva Johannson in the title role, Felicity Palmer as Klytämnestra, and Melanie Dehner as Chrysothemis. The staging, first seen at the Salzburg Festival, is directed by Nikolaus Lehnoff.

Anna Netrebko Cancels Japan Jaunt

Diva withdraws from Met tour, citing Chernobyl concerns.

She'll take her candle and go home. Anna Netrebko in a publicity photo for Anna Bolena.
Photo © 2011 The Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera is on its way to Japan, but Anna Netrebko is not.

The Russian diva, scheduled to sing Mimi in the company's touring production of La bohéme has announced her 11th-hour withdrawal from the tour. The decision was announced last night in a New York Times article by Daniel J. Wakin. The article included the following statement from the Met press office: "Ms. Netrebko changed her mind having lived through the tragedy of Chernobyl." You can read the full article here.

The decision of Metropolitan Opera general manager Peter Gelb to carry on the Japan tour despite the danger of leaked radiation from the damaged nuclear reactors at Fukushima has been an unpopular one at the world's most famous opera company. The company arrived in Japan last night.

Ms. Netrebko is the fifth major artist to cancel on the Met's ill-starred tour of the Orient. So far, casualties include tenors Jonas Kaufman and Joseph Calleja, who both cited concerns about radiation leakage from the damaged nuclear reactors at Fukushima. Olga Borodina cancelled, citing a need to rest her voice. Conductor James Levine, who is taking a five-month sabbatical for health reasons.


But the soprano, whose face adorns the Met's current marketing campaign and season ticket drive, is currently the biggest star at the Met. The diva is scheduled to open the season with a new production of Donizetti's Anna Bolena, a Metropolitan Opera premiere. In March, she will sing the title role in a new staging of Manon. Both performances will be included in the Met's schedule of Live in HD broadcasts for next year.

The Met's tour includes presentations of La bohéme, Lucia di Lammermoor and the company's new staging of Don Carlo. The cancellations have required some role shuffling. Barbara Frittoli, scheduled to sing Elisabeth in Don Carlo, will switch over to Bohéme. Russian soprano Marina Poplavskaya, who created the role of Elisabeth in this production, will step in to sing the role. She cancelled a Moscow concert appearance to join the Met in Japan.

The touring company includes 350 Met stage hands, extras, and musicians. The roster of and an impressive roster of singers: Mariusz Kwiecen, John Relyea, Rene Pape, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Diana Damrau. Tenors Marcelo Álvarez and Rolando Villazon, returning after a lengthy hiatus due to voice problems, will add firepower to the three productions. Met principal guest conductor Fabio Luisi will take James Levine's place on the podium. Gianandrea Noseda will also conduct.

The Met's two-week tour will conclude on June 14 with a concert in Tokyo. The program of that concert is listed as "TBA."

Opera Review: The Last Bitter Laugh

Rigoletto returns to the Met

Diana Damrau as Gilda in Rigoletto.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2009 The Metropolitan Opera

On Tuesday night, the Metropolitan Opera presented its third Rigoletto cast of the season, featuring the Serbian baritone Željko Lučić in the title role and the German soprano Diana Damrau as Gilda. Verdi's hunchbacked jester is a frequent visitor to the Met stage. However, this is the final run of the classic Otto Schenk staging of the opera that premiered (with Luciano Pavarotti as the Duke) back in 1989. A new production is scheduled for 2012.


Mr. Lučić has become a familiar presence in recent Verdi performances at the Met. Here, he followed up his excellent Macbeth with a searing portrayal of the title character. Mr. Lučić ruled the Duke's depraved court from his first entrance, embodying the physical aspects of the role while adding the right amounts of leer and sneer. He was even better in the nocturnal encounter with Sparafucile and "Pari siamo", the monologue that followed.

His performance grew in stature in the second act. Panic underpinned his "La ra, la ra's." His address of the courtiers dripped with venom. As he drove the Duke's supplicants from the stage, this deformed figure suddenly ruled the court--exactly as Verdi and Piave intended. His lengthy duet with Ms. Damrau was marred only by her overacting when the baritone was singing alone. The third act was also moving, with Mr. Lučić making the most of the pauses before his discovery of Gilda's corpse. At his last cry of "Ah! La maladizione!" the tragedy was complete, and so was a strong performance.


Giuseppe Filianotti was a disappointment as the Duke. His tenor lacked bloom, sounding tight and compressed during "Questa o quella." He was an underwhelming presence in the first and second acts, gulping liquid between stanzas of "Ella mi fu rapita!" and the following "Parmi veder la lagrime." Although "La donna è mobile" was decent, he mangled the final note in the offstage reprise at the end of the opera. (Perhaps Sparafucile had had enough.) As for everyone's favorite assassin, bass Stefan Kocan sang a compelling first scene with Mr. Lučić, and provided ample bass support in the crucial Act III ensembles.

Fresh from her run in Le Comte Ory, Diana Damrau made a scintillating entrance with "Caro nome", navigating this aria's high coloratura with pin-point high notes and command over Verdi's leaps, trills and ornamentation. She was a distracting presence in the second act, clutching at herself like Lucia and threatening to break into tears at any moment . The third act was better, with moving contributions to the quartet and trio, followed by a heart-wrenching death scene.

Principal guest conductor Fabio Luisi led a drum-tight, rhythmic performance of Verdi's score. The familiar opera was conducted with real pop, from the bated pauses in the Act I prelude to a thundering storm scene in the final act. Mr. Luisi provided expert accompaniment to his singers, but also illlustrated the importance of competent conducting in a succesful Verdi performance. As with the revival earlier this season, this run of the opera continued to use the smaller "touring" set, to make room for the giant machine required for the Ring.

James Levine Cancels (some) Met Performances

James Levine.

Metropolitan Opera music director James Levine has withdrawn from upcoming performances of Das Rheingold and Il Trovatore, according to a Metropolitan Opera press release.

The Met statement said that Mr. Levine needs time “to recover from recent procedures to alleviate back pain", as reported in the New York Times by Daniel J. Wakin.

The announcement comes amidst preparations for a special May 1 gala celebrating James Levine's 40 seasons at the Metropolitan Opera.

The 67-year old conductor, who rocked the classical world earlier this month when announced that he would be stepping down as Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra as of September, has been suffering from complications following spinal surgery last year. These back problems are the latest in a slew of injuries for Mr. Levine.

Mr. Levine last conducted in New York at the Juilliard School, where he led enthusiastically received performances of Smetana's The Bartered Bride. One week later, he was forced to cancel a Boston Symphony Orchestra run of Mahler's Symphony No. 9, as well as appearances at that orchestra's short spring tour.

Met principal guest conductor Fabio Luisi
will lead Das Rheingold.

He will be replaced for the two upcoming performances of Das Rheingold (March 30th and April 2nd) by Met principal guest conductor Fabio Luisi.

Marco Armiliato will conduct the four scheduled performances of Il Trovatore on April 20, 23, 27 and 30.

As of this writing, Mr. Levine is still scheduled to conduct the upcoming revival of Berg's Wozzeck (opening April 6) and the company's forthcoming run of Die Walküre starring Deborah Voigt and Bryn Terfel.

Met Appoints Fabio Luisi as Principal Guest Conductor

The Metropolitan Opera announced today that Fabio Luisi has been appointed to the post of Principal Guest Conductor. He is the first conductor to hold the post since Valery Gergiev, who had the job for a decade, ending in 2008.

According to a report in today's New York Times, Mr. Luisi has signed a three-year contract. He will appear at the Met for two to three months of the season. In the 2010-2011 season, he is scheduled to conduct revivals of Rigoletto and Ariadne auf Naxos.

The move should do much to shore up the musical and artistic side of the opera house, which has suffered recently along with its oft-injured Music Direcor, James Levine.

Full text of this article is available on Examiner.com
Photo by Barbara Luisi, © Boston Symphony Orchestra

Opera Review: Come Sail Away

Die Ägyptische Helena at the Met.
by Paul Pelkonen

Love conch-ers all: Deborah Voigt and friend. Photo © 2007 The Metropolitan Opera.

On Monday night at the Met, Deborah Voigt gave an incandescent performance in the title role of Richard Strauss’ Die Ägyptische Helena. Her supple soprano sailed through this supremely difficult part with ease, navigating a score that is so difficult that it is either cut heavily or simply not performed. To his credit, Fabio Luisi led a completely uncut version of the score.

Ms. Voigt, who recorded this work in concert with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra, sliced through the rich orchestral fabric, ably conducted by Fabio Luisi, with ease and grace. This might be the soprano's greatest triumph in a long Met career that has included Aida, Sieglinde, and will soon lead to Minnie and Brunnhilde.

In this opera, Strauss wrote not one, but two killer soprano parts. The other is that of the sorceress Aithra, wife of Poseidon and Queen of the Sea. German soprano Diana Damrau proved an able foil to Ms. Voigt, matching her note for note. The two voiced blended in the duets, producing that trademark Strauss sound of divas in full flight over an ocean of strings and brass. Ms. Damrau acted this challenging part with humor--her Aithra is a cross between all-powerful sorceress and spoiled trophy wife. Interestingly, her husband Poseidon was added to the action as a mute part, an effective dramatic device.


As Menelaus, tenor Michael Hendrick (replacing an indisposed Torsten Kerl for yet another performance) coped well with one of the most unlovable parts in opera. If Strauss wrote lovely, if difficult parts for his soprano leads, he was downright sadistic to his tenors. Menelaus is cursed with a difficult high range, and a generally unlovable role in the drama.

Hendrick struggled to get over the orchestra in the second act. But for the most part, he proved a serviceable heldentenor, and his acting proved that the Metropolitan Opera believes in thorough coaching for its backups. The tenor star of the evening was Garrett Sorenson as Da-ud, who made his character's all-too-brief scene an exercise in melodic singing.

David Fielding’s new production of Helena solves many of the opera’s problems. Intelligent decisions can be seen in this staging, imported to the Met from the Garsington Opera. He created fresh ideas and solved many of the opera’s problems, including the chorus of elves and the giant singing seashell in Act One. That latter character, described in the libretto as The Omniscient Mussel and usually voiced by an offstage actress, is this work's biggest dramatic liability.

Instead of some large, ugly prop out of “Little Chip Shop of Horrors” or an undersea version of Fafner from Siegfried, this staging presented the singing shellfish as contralto Jill Groves. Wearing a black body-stocking, she stalked the stage like a Greco-German ninja: a walking shadow carrying a conch shell. That shell was a crucial prop--at the climax of the opera Menelaus and Helen drank the magic potion from it to resove their marital woes.

The entire setting was on a raked stage with two massive doors that opened and closed to reveal Menelaus and Helen's wedding bed as well as various aspects of the natural world--the oceans under Poseidon's sway and the deserts of North Africa. Combining those visuals with a study in the use of gels and colored lighting, Mr. Fielding created a rich visual palette that sustained the dramatic interest without succumbing to the unfortunate baggage (i.e. the mollusc) that has dragged down this opera since its 1928 premiere. One only hopes that the success of Strauss' Helena in this production will lead New York's biggest opera houses to blow the dust off other ignored Strauss masterpieces: Daphne, Die Schweigsame Frau and Die Liebe der Danae.