Opera Chic

The Met Opera's Attila Namechecked by Case Da Abitare

The biggest event in Milan's year is about to hit the city. Bigger than the fashion shows, bigger than, yes, La Scala's la prima, and bigger than OC's posse rollin' down Via Montenapoleone in a black Benz limo. Salone Internazionale del Mobile -- the International Furniture Fair where the biggest & best names in design showcase their latest inspirations -- starts on Wednesday, and OC already has her Chanel ballet flats (and Leica D-Lux 4) packed in her YSL shopper. We're stocking-up on all the Salone guides this weekend and all the special editions that Italy's media put out for the event.

Among the design articles, we were psyched to find in the first pages Case da Abitare -- a magazine for interiors, design and living -- a piece on Verdi's Attila that the Metropolitan Opera produced a few months ago, which caught the magazine's attention with sets by Pritzker Architecture Prize winning duo, Herzog & de Meuron, and costumes by Miuccia Prada. Translation copyright OC, TIA (thanks in advance): 

A huge success for Attila that premiered at the end of last March at The Metropolitan Opera of New York with costumes by Miuccia Prada and the sets by the Swiss architects Herzon & de Meuron. Jacques Herzog said, "Attlia enacts the historical moment in which an outdated world crumbles, antique, and from the rubble arises something new." La Prada goes on to say, "It's a bit like the situation in which we live in today. I looked to express my vision of the essential characters in a psychological perspective, in a way that was important for me in today's world." The opera was conducted by Riccardo Muti for the first time at The Metropolitan Opera. In the photo, The Prologue, Ken Howard/ Metropolitan Opera.

Miuccia Prada Shares Her Metropolitan Opera Attila Sketches With Opera Chic

Thanks to the fabulous team at Prada and Miuccia Prada's generosity, Opera Chic shares three of Miuccia Prada's sketches that were created for Verdi's Attila, opening tonight at The Metropolitan Opera.

Credit: All sketches courtesy of Miuccia Prada

~*~

More sketches after the jump!

The Devil Wears Prada & Now Opera Singers Wear It, Too: Attila at The Metropolitan Opera

(Above: A scene from  Verdi’s “Attila” with Russell Thomas as Uldino and  Ildar Abdrazakov in the title role. Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera)

Opening tomorrow night for the first time on the Metropolitan Opera stage: Verdi's Attila. Don't act like you don't know! The Milanese nostalgic for Scala/Muti years have serious Muti-envy. In a follow-up to the post a few days ago where we brought you exclusive photos from the dress rehearsal, here are more Attila photos taken by Ken Howard during a rehearsal on February 19, 2010 at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. What do we think? Ildar Abdrazakov looks fierce as hale, Violeta Urmana looks like she just walked off Miuccia's runway, and we're not surprised (and therefore not disappointed) to have an utter absence of Riccardone shots.

(Above: A scene from Verdi’s “Attila” with Ildar Abdrazakov in the title role. Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera)

 

(Above: A scene from Verdi’s “Attila” with Ildar Abdrazakov in the title role. Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera)

~~Click the link to see many more photos~~

Carlos Alvarez Out for Attila at the Metropolitan Opera: Giovanni Meoni Sings Ezio

As Opera Chic stated two days ago, The Metropolitan Opera has just announced that Carlos Alvarez will not be singing in tomorrow's Verdi's Attila, which opens tomorrow night.

The statement continues: "Giovanni Meoni will make his Met debut singing the role of Ezio in the premiere of Verdi’s Attila, tomorrow evening, replacing Carlos Alvarez, who is ill [...]He has previously sung the role of Ezio in Bari."

We wish Alvarez the speediest recovery.

The Attila You Never Knew: Philip Gossett's Critical Edition for the Metropolitan Opera

Philip Gossett, Robert W. Reneker Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Music, Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Chicago, officially retires tomorrow (they're throwing him a huge bash for him -- so big that Joyce Di Donato and Vivica Genaux are singing in his honor -- more on that later), but in no way is he taking a break from music, thankfully, an expert on Italian opera who has worked decades preparing critical editions from Puccini to Rossini, author of Divas and Scholars, which has just been published into Italian.

He exclusively tells Opera Chic that the Metropolitan Opera, with Maestro Muti, called on his expertise in preparing the critical edition of Verdi's Attila that Muti is using.

Gossett collaborated with fellow scholar Helen Greenwald of the New England Conservatory for a new critical edition of the score. Riccardo Muti and Gossett are longtime collaborators, since Muti's Scala years, and the Italian maestro has been exceedingly helpful and receptive -- enjoying immensely the new treasure. He explained to OC:

"The Attila edition is very nice: this is an opera that was badly re-orchestrated in the late nineteenth century to take out several of its more characteristic elements, and we have restored Verdi's original orchestrations. Under Muti's baton, the orchestra sounds simply splendid: a chamber-music quality everywhere. [...] We make available, for the first time, all the pieces he added to the opera in later years."

The Hun Wears Prada. Carlos Álvarez, Possibly Not.

Spanish baritone Carlos Álvarez has been having problems and his presence is not 100% guaranteed in the upcoming Muti/Prada/Audi run of Verdi's Attila at The Metropolitan Opera.

Attila is the Hunniest! The Metropolitan Opera's Starlit Attila Photo Exclusive

 
(Above: A scene from the prologue of Verdi's Attila, Ildar Abdrazakov as Attila. Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera)

Maestro Riccardo Muti knows well the importance of the event: In his 40+ years of conducting for the world's biggest orchestras and symphonies, the 69-year-old Italian conductor will shortly be making his Metropolitan Opera premiere, gifting NYC's Verdi & opera-loving masses with Verdi's Attila. The opera opens on February 23, and Muti will conduct seven replications before handing over the baton to Marco Armiliato for the final three. Muti has also announced (to the Italian newspapers anyway) that although this Attila will mark his Metropolitan Opera debut, it will also be his final performance with the Met. Catch him while you can...
 
Muti will be buttressed by some of the most talented names in their respective industries: Italian fashion designer Miuccia Prada dresses the singers while Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron dress the stage (they're also billed for costume design in tandem with Miuccia). Production is by Pierre Audi, artistic director of the Netherlands Opera, who joins all the names listed above in their Metropolitan Opera debuts.   

So how does this stellar team make glamorous the gloom & doom of mid-fifth century nomadic barbarians? With Muiccia at the helm, she keeps at bay the shadows. She made the fearsome Huns gnarly without sinking them into a monochromatic mire by adding bits of steampunk and kick-a$$, rock n' roll, biker elements -- brass bolts, black leather fringe, edgy metal studs, glistening black feathers, and twinkling tiaras -- all make a texture-rich, visually dynamic opera. We like to call it ~biker chic~ done with Italian style and sophistication. In addition to Miuccia, we see lots of Alexander Wang and Rick Owens biker staples, all without the unfortunate leather chaps or denim shorts.

If none of that makes an impression on the blasé, seen-it-all, serious NYC businessman, Attila is one of ten Verdi operas that's never before been seen on the Metroplitan Opera stage. How's that for exclusive? The production stars Ildar Abdrazakov as Attila, Violeta Urmana as Odabella, Ramón Vargas as Foresto, Carlos Alvarez as Ezio, and Samuel Ramey as Pope Leo.

Now for more of the exclusive photos -- all photos taken during a dress rehearsal on February 15, 2010 at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City by Ken Howard. 

~Hold onto your Huns~!