Metropolitan Opera Preview: Turandot

Three very different casts and three runs for Puccini's final opera. 
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The executioner Pu-Tin-Pao (Left) confronts a giant Chinese dragon in the first act
of the Metropolitan Opera's production of Puccini's Turandot.
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2015 The Metropolitan Opera.

This umpteenth revival of the Metropolitan Opera's everything-into-the-wok Franco Zeffirelli production of Puccini's Turandot appears in three separate runs this season. Christine Goerke, Lise Lindstrom, Jennifer Wilson and Nina Stemme are the four formidable sopranos who will sing the hellishly difficult title role. This is one of the last surviving Zeff productions in the Met repertory along with La bohéme, and is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears.

At His Exercise: The Greatest Jon Vickers Opera Recordings

We celebrate the memory of the great Canadian tenor.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Jon Vickers as Aeneas in a scene from Les Troyens.
Source: JonVickers.org

The Canadian tenor Jon Vickers passed away this weekend. One of the greatest heroic singers of the 20th century, Mr. Vickers was a tenor of exceptional power and vocal strength with a memorable stage presence. Over four decades, he made many memorable recordings including the first complete studio performance of Berlioz' Les Troyens with Sir Colin Davis. He sang many of the major heroic Wagner roles, although he eschewed the difficult part of Tannhäuser, famously citing his strong Christian beliefs. Here are five of his legendary complete opera performances from the Superconductor archives.

Opera Review: Wide Awake in Dreamland

La Sonnambula rouses a tired Metropolitan Opera season.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The power of the voice: Elvino (Javier Camarena) woos Amina (Diana Damrau)
in the Metropolitan Opera's revival of La Sonnambula. 
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2014 The Metropolitan Opera. 

The Metropolitan Opera's revival of La Sonnambula, (seen Tuesday night) might be the double espresso that this company needs to make it to the end of this largely somnolent opera season. Mary Zimmerman's warm-hearted, "insider" production (set in a pre-gentrification lower Manhattan rehearsal loft as an unnamed opera company rehearses an upcoming production of La Sonnambula) features two stunning bel canto leads. More so, this show offers a commodity that is all too rare at Peter Gelb's opera company these days: a genuine sense of happiness upon leaving the theater.

Opera Review: Troy, Troy Again

Bryan Hymel debuts, triumphs in Les Troyens.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Road to Rome: Bryan Hymel took over for Marcello Giordani in Les Troyens. 
Julie Boulliane looks on. Photo by Ken Howard © 2012 The Metropolitan Opera.

The night of a nor'easter is no time to go to the opera, let alone one that lasts five and a half hours. But the hardy souls sitting in the Metropolitan Opera house on Wednesday night for Berlioz' Les Troyens were rewarded. The reason: the Met debut of tenor Bryan Hymel, the Louisiana native who caught the attention of the opera world last year when he stepped in for Jonas Kaufmann in this opera at Covent Garden. Here, the singer was subbing for Marcello Giordani, who announced earlier this week that he'd a) dropped out of the show and b) removed the role of Enée from his repertory.

Opera Review: The Met's Magnetic Carmen

Reposted from The Classical Review.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Don José (tenor Yonghoon Lee, with knife) menaces Anita Rachvelishvili's Carmen in
Act IV of the Bizet opera. Photo by Ken Howard © 2012 The Metropolitan Opera.

Carmen returned to the Metropolitan Opera Friday night with an energetic new conductor, Michele Mariotti in his house debut. The performance crackled with a sense of barely controlled violence that suited Richard Eyre’s handsome, war-torn production. It also marked the return of Anita Rachvelishvili, who brought an earthy sensuality and a magnetic presence to the title role.

Read the whole review by Superconductor's own Paul J. Pelkonen, exclusively on The Classical Review.

Opera Review: A Golden Turandot

Reposted from The Classical Review.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Maria Guleghina as the Princess Turandot. Photo by Marty Sohl © 2012 The Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 
company’s over-the-top 1987 Franco Zeffirelli production of Puccini’s 
Turandot this year. At Wednesday’s opening night, the show 
looked and sounded surprisingly fresh, serving as a gilt framework for an evening of tremendous vocal performances from the three principals.

Read the whole review by Superconductor's Paul J. Pelkonen, exclusively on The Classical Review.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: Otello

Johan Botha and Renée Fleming return in this anticipated revival.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

A formidable general: Johan Botha as Otello.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2009 The Metropolitan Opera.

The Met continues its 2012 celebration of Giuseppe Verdi's 200th birthday (which isn't until October 10, 2013) with this revival of Otello. The fall performances reunite South African heavyweight tenor Johan Botha with the glamorous Renée Fleming as the jealous Moorish general and his wife: desperately in need of couples counselling. Falk Struckmann is an oily, Germanic Iago. Semyon Bychkov, who led this opera at the Met in 2010 with the same cast conducts the fall performanc

Recordings Review: The Swan Boat Express

Marek Janowski's  Lohengrin from Berlin.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Bad romance: Klaus Florian Vogt and Annette Dasch in Lohengrin.
Photo from the Bayreuth Festival © 2011

This is the fourth installment in Marek Janowski's ongoing Wagner project: the ambitious plan to make live concert recordings of all ten "canon" Wagner operas with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. It is also the first commercial CD recording of Lohengrin to star heldentenor Klaus Florian Vogt in the title role.

A Tenor Meets Colbert Nation

Plácido Domingo appears on The Colbert Report.
by Paul Pelkonen.

Plácido Domingo kicks off "La donna é mobile" on last night's The Colbert Report.
Image framegrabbed from the home page of The Colbert Report,
Used for promotional purposes only. © 2012 The Colbert Report/Comedy Central.

Tenor, conductor and impresario Plácido Domingo appeared on The Colbert Report last night. The singer was a genial guest, discussing the title role in Simon Boccanegra and the relevant costs of opera-going.

The 71-year old tenor, who is currently having some twilight success in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra said: "You get your money's worth out of opera. It's pricey but you get something for your money."

He also pointed out that Boccanegra, a pirate-turned-politician in Renaissance Genoa, has the longest death of any of his characters. "So this character," he said "gets poisoned in the second act. It's a slow poison. I die in the third act. So this is the longest it takes me to die." 

Mr. Domingo was scheduled to sing a concert performance of Boccanegra in New York on March 7 with the Opera Orchestra of New York. (That performance was cancelled today, in an announcement from the OONY.) He has also performed the role at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala and the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden.

Asked by Mr. Colbert why the tenors get all the attention, Mr. Domingo responded by doing an impression of Dos Equis spokesman Jonathan Goldsmith as "The Most Interesting Man in the World." 

Stephen Colbert (in tux) tries his hand at  "La donna é mobile" on last night's The Colbert Report.
Image framegrabbed from the home page of The Colbert Report, 
Used for promotional purposes only. © 2012 The Colbert Report/Comedy Central.

Following the commercial break, the show ended with Mr. Domingo and Mr. Colbert (newly changed into white tie and tails) singing "La donna é mobile" from Rigoletto as a two-tenor duet. The TV host is no heldentenor, but he displayed a potent, if sometimes flat light baritone. His delivery was occasionally covered by Mr. Domingo's more robust voice. 

Watch the full episode here on Colbert Nation.

The Many Faces of Charles Anthony

A look at the long career of the Met's great comprimario tenor.

From the Met archives: Charles Anthony as the Simpleton in Boris Godunov.
Photo by Sedge LeBlang, © 1954 The Metropolitan Opera. 

Rather than write a straight obituary for Charles Anthony, the comprimario tenor who shattered the record for most appearances onstage at the Metropolitan Opera. He sang 2928 performances, in 67 operas, and had 111 roles to his credit. He broke the record for most Met performances in 1992 with the role of Borsa in Rigoletto. 

Company music director James Levine is in second place with 2,442.

Born in New Orleans, LA in 1929, Mr. Anthony began life as Calogero Antonio Caruso. The singer first auditioned for  the Met in 1952. Former Met general manager Rudolf Bing forced Mr. Anthony to drop his last name right before a broadcast performance.

His first performance was on March 17, 1954 as the Simpleton in Boris Godunov with George London singing the title role. 

According to the Metropolitan Opera archives, Mr. Anthony sang leading roles in his early career, including a 1959 Rodolfo in La bohème and Ferrando in Così fan tutte. But he was known for small parts in major operas.

His staples included: 

the Innkeeper in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier, (159 performances) 

Ruiz in Il Trovatore (141 performances)

Gastone in La Traviata (136 performances)

Spoletta in Tosca (135 performances.)

I thought it might be fun to look at his career in terms of (some) of the roles that he sang at that venerable opera company. Here's a partial list:

1. The Simpleton in Boris Godunov. (debut)
2. The Count of Lerma in Don Carlo.
3. Beppe in Pagliacci.
4. L'Incredible in Andrea Chenier.
5. The Count Almaviva (and later the Sergeant) in Il barbiere di Siviglia.
6. Remendado in Carmen.
7. Goro in Madama Butterfly.
8. Tinca in Il Tabarro
9. Abbé in Adriana Lecouvrer
10. First Commissioner in Dialogues des Carmélites
11. Roderigo in Otello.
12. Trin in La Fanciulla del West.
13. Arturo, Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor.
14. Innkeeper, Faninal's Major-Domo in Der Rosenkavalier.
15. Watchman in Die Frau Ohne Schatten.
16. Young Servant in Elektra.
17. Gastone in La Traviata.
18. Jaquino in Fidelio.
19. Edmondo in Manon Lescaut.
20. Steersman in Die fliegende Holländer.
21. Don Riccardo in Ernani.
22. Andres in Wozzeck.
23. Schmidt in Werther.
24. Notary in La Perichole.
25. Shepherd in Tristan und Isolde. Also in Oedipus Rex.
26. Heinrich in Tannhäuser.
27. Flavio in Norma.
28. Noble in Lohengrin.
29. Rodolfo, Parpignol in La bohème.
30. Ernesto in Don Pasquale.
31. Cochenille in Les contes d'Hoffmann.
32. A waiter in Arabella.
33. A Priest in Die Zauberflöte.
34. The Messenger in Aida.
35. Borsa in Rigoletto.
36. Arthur Jones in Billy Budd.
37. Bruno in I Puritani.
38. Desiré in Fedora.
39. Captain in Simon Boccanegra.
40. Third Squire in Parsifal.
41. Federico in Stiffelio.
42. A Jew in Salome.
43. Ruiz in Il Trovatore.
44. Messenger in Samson et Dalila.
45. Eisslinger, Kunz Vogelgesang in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
46. Guard in Manon.
47. A Servant in Un Ballo in Maschera.
48. Spoletta in Tosca.
49. The Emperor Altoum in Turandot. (last role)

Charles Anthony as the Emperor Altoum in Turandot.
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2009-2010 The Metropolitan Opera.

Charles Anthony's last performance at the Met was as the Emperor Altoum in Turandot, on Jan. 28, 2010. He died at home in Tampa, FL. The New York Times reported his cause of death as kidney failure. A private funeral is scheduled for Saturday.