How do you get to Carnegie Hall? James Levine slayed the punchline and showed that nothing but iron will gets you onto that historic NYC stage.
Last night, the American conductor, in a motorized wheelchair, broke his 2+ year performance absence with a comeback concert of Wagner, Beethoven and Schubert accompanied by the inexhaustible Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin. Bernheimer for the FT here, Tommasini for the NYTimes here.
Bad news from the Boston Symphony Orchestra: James Levine steps down from his MD post:
BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe announced today that as of September 1, 2011, James Levine will step down from his current role as Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 2004. Discussions between the BSO and Maestro Levine are underway to define an ongoing new role for Mr. Levine. Mr. Volpe has also announced that the BSO will immediately form a search committee to begin the process of appointing the next Boston Symphony Music Director.
Continue reading "Levine Steps Down From BSO Music Director Post Effective 9/1/2011" »
(Photo credit: Barbara Luisi)
Opera Chic reports that Italian Maestro Fabio Luisi will be called in to substitute James Levine for a handful of remaining Metropolitan Opera spring performances, Levine still recovering from his herniated disc.
Levine was supposed to conduct opening night of Tosca on April 14, continuing with April 17, 20, and 24th. Fabio Luisi (who Opera Chic calls "the conductor with a German brain and an Italian heart") will step-up to the podium for all four performances.
Levine has also cancelled the entire May run of Berg's Lulu (May 8, 12 & 15), and the Metropolitan Opera has called on Maestro Luisi to conduct in his place.
[UPDATE --> 10:40pm Milan time: Ten hours after Opera Chic announced that Fabio Luisi will be replacing James Levine in Tosca and Lulu, The Metropolitan Press office has confirmed.]
"James Levine has withdrawn from the four performances of Tosca and three performances of Lulu he was scheduled to conduct in April and May. He is to undergo corrective surgery for an ongoing lower back problem."
"Fabio Luisi will replace Levine for both Tosca (April 14, 17, 20, and 24 mat.) and Lulu (May 8, 12, 15 mat.). Luisi has conducted Hansel and Gretel, Le Nozze di Figaro and Elektra at the Met this season. Previous appearances with the company include Don Carlo (for his 2005 debut), Simon Boccanegra, Die Ägyptische Helena, and Turandot."
American composer Peter Lieberson's closing-in on the premiere of his "Songs of Love and Sorrow" a new song cycle inspired by the poetry of Chilean writer Pablo Neruda. It's the fifth work commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1981 for the composer, and will be presented by James Levine with the BSO, and Canadian baritone Gerard Finley. The last Lieberson work that premiered with the Levine/BSO dreamteam was in late 2005: his Neruda Songs, inspired similiarly from the Chilean poet, where the composer took five of the love sonnets and set them to music to honor his wife mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (above as photographed by Avedon). Although the mezzo died in July 2006 of breast cancer, she sang the premiere. Lieberson's new work takes five more poems from Neruda’s love sonnets from a male perspective, which he considers a companion piece to his 2005 song cycle. There will be four performances starting on March 25th (with an open rehearsal on the evening of March 24).
Our dear James Levine discussed his health in today's "Boston Globe": he' still not 100%, and his new return date is Oct. 30.
Get well soon maestro!“But one thing that would clearly be a terrible mistake is to come back before my body is ready.’’
(Photo credit: Michael J. Lutch)
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has just announced that James Levine will be returning to the BSO on October 30, where he'll be conducting four of Beethoven's Symphonies (6, 7, 8 & 9) over the span of eight days.
In his sixth season as MD of the BSO, Levine, who was supposed to lead the orchestra in the entire Beethoven Symphony cycle, has designated his earlier dates for two replacements: Spanish conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos will lead the Beethoven Symphonies 1, 2 & 5 from October 22-24, while Canadian BSO Assistant Conductor Julian Kuerti will conduct Symphonies 4 & 5 from October 27-29.
Levine will be (gingerly) returning to the podium after withdrawing two weeks ago from handfuls of Fall performances to undergo unanticipated back surgery on a herniated disc. Our best recovery wishes to Maestro Levine.
Luc Bondy (in his Metropolitan Opera premiere) unveils his new production of Puccini's Tosca to open the 2009/10 season, tonight at 6:30pm. Filling Bondy's on-stage vision is Karita Mattila as Tosca (singing the role for the first time outside of her native Finland), Marcelo Álvarez as Cavaradossi, George Gagnidze as Scarpia, and James Levine on the podium.
If you won't be in the Metropolitan Opera audience tonight, the Met makes it super easy to be part of the Tosca opening night festivities, even without a ticket. The performance will be transmitted live from the opera house to multiple jumbotrons in both Times Square and Lincoln Center's Robertson Plaza. Both events are free, but tickets are required for the Lincoln Center broadcast (which were handed out yesterday...sucks for you if you missed it)! If you missed the crush for Lincoln Center tickets, you can head down to Times Square, where 2,000 free seats await crowds on a first-come, first-serve basis (there'll also be standing room provisions).
Housebound fans can also listen to the performance by going to the Metropolitan Opera's website, which will offer a live audio stream on their website (albeit via Real Player's cumbersome software). You can also listen on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS channel 78 and XM Channel 79.
You can also catch this Tosca when the production inaugurates the MET's "Live in HD" season on October 10th, where the Saturday matinée performance will be transmitted live to movie theaters around the country.
Bondy's Tosca will have eight performances total, starting tonight and ending on Saturday, October 17 -- plus a revival in April & May with Philippe Auguin conducting Daniela Dessi's Tosca (*unf unf unf*) with Jonas Kaufmann and Marcello Giordani splitting the role of Cavaradossi, and Bryn Terfel as Scarpia.
Here are a few photos from the dress rehearsal of Luc Bondy's new production of Tosca, which will premiere and open the 2009/10 season of The Metropolitan Opera on Monday, September 21, 2009. James Levine conducts Karita Mattila in the title role with Marcelo Álvarez as Cavaradossi, George Gagnidze as Scarpia, and Paul Plishka as Sacristan.
(Above: George Gagnidze as Scarpia)
(Above: Karita Mattila and George Gagnidze)
(Above: Marcelo Álvarez as Cavaradossi)
All photos Mary Altaffer
It's all Barenboim all the time for New York: the Israeli/Argentinian/Spanish/Palestinian/Whatevs maestro is in NYC to:
Whew!
What Opera Chic can exclusively reveal is that Barenboim, now that Mike Mussina has officially retired, will officially do a try out for the New York Yankees -- a lifetime of piano playing apparently gave Barenboim a mean, mean slider.
Big bear hugs and kisses and bunnies to maestro James Levine, who successfully underwent surgery for the removal of a kidney in New York; a biopsy will be performed; maestro Jimmy will spend a few more days in the (unnamed) hospital then will recuperate in the quiet of his home.
Opera Chic's most loving hugs & get-well-soon wishes to Maestro Levine, NYC's and Boston's -- and the classical music world's -- treasure.
BSO Music Director James Levine regrets that he will have to withdraw from the balance of the 2008 Tanglewood season. Because of a cyst causing pressure and discomfort, Levine will undergo surgery this week to have a kidney removed. The procedure has been described by Levine’s doctors as curative, with no other treatment necessary and with every expectation for a complete recovery. The anticipated recuperation period is six weeks -leaving ample time to prepare and conduct the season openings of the BSO and the Metropolitan Opera in September.
AP story here.
Tony Tommasini, possibly confused after too much partying to celebrate his survivor status in a vastly downsized department, ignores the obvious answer in a baffling comment re: the Muti/CSO thing:
And Mr. Muti would have been all wrong for New York. I, for one, could not be more hopeful about Mr. Gilbert’s potential. But I thought that the Philharmonic players all would have shared my enthusiasm.
Now, the quite evident answer to the mystery that leaves Tony Tommy baffled, ie the reason why the NYPhil don't seem to share TT's unabashed enthusiasm for Gilbert may be, quite simply, that... Gilbert may not be as good a conductor as Muti.
Let us be clear here: OC likes Gilberto, and she thinks that he'll do just fine, and anyway he's got his back covered because all the New York critics are totally in the tank for him and he'll certainly commission a lot of new stuff that'll spread jobs and much-needed benjis among a lot of otherwise underemployed people.
But there is indeed a list of the Big Five when it comes to conductors, too -- the list of the top five conductors in the world.
Opera Chic's, strictly in alphabetical order is this:
Claudio Abbado
James Levine
Riccardo Muti
Antonio Pappano
(your list may be slightly different, but in all seriousness not that different: maybe you can replace Pappano with Barenboim or Jansons with Haitink, but Claudio, Jimbo & Riccardo solidly belong in that list).
The fact Tommasini chooses to ignore is that Gilbert, however interesting and refreshing a choice, cannot be reasonably included in that Big Five list, by all means. Muti can. And indeed he is in very many people's Big Five list -- including, one suspects, a lot of CSO musicians'.
The unlimited awesomeness of James Levine and Evgeny Kissin collides in Boston: the two 'froed masters are enjoying sold out audiences in their Brahms concerts.
The irony here being, of course, that the big-haired maestri are bringing to life the music of the man who, we learn from biographers, not only wrote timeless music but also invented the styling iron.
The cool thing about contemporary musique is that, if you're lucky, the composer is een ze haus and you can actually cheer and clap your hands and show him how much his music means to you.
Last night in Boston, one such occasion. That sweet teddy bear of a 'froed maestro, Jimbo Levine and la Renay Fleming brought the Symphony Hall down by having 91-year-old Henri Dutilleux stand up to receive the applause that's duly his.
Inveterate opera-and-symphony-goer & friend of OC, blogger Of The Kosmos, was there.
And took a video.
(The 2nd intermission was spent outdoors, and checking-out the huge plasma).
Okay, since a majority of you listened to the Lucia di Lammermoor simulcast via internet, and certainly a minority of you had been in attendance at either Times Square or Lincoln Center’s Josie Robertson Plaza yesterday night to catch the performance on the plasma screens, there won't be a play-by-play. You can go here instead for the excruciatingly delicious details, which OC reported during the September 20th Open Rehearsal. Now, here are the most exciting bits!
(teh paps)
(the plaza)
First of all, the last time OC went to the MET season opener a few years ago, there were like 12 paparazzi hanging-out front, and anyone could just walk up to Al Roker, Sarah Duchess of York, or Jamie Lynn Sigler as they appeared before the lobby, like all us ticket holders did. It was totally egalitarian and uncomplicated. Now the reception zone is wacktarded, with too many paparazzi lining the fenced-in red carpet that there are freaking risers erected so they can cram in two rows of the agency photo-snappers. Plebeians are staunched at the entrance to Lincoln Center, where they congregate with digital cameras, Poland Springs, and the ubiquitous flip-flops. The downside is that the average photo buff can’t hang around the receiving area and take shots of NYC legacy, but the upside is that NYC legacy can’t get assaulted by roving stalkers. It’s win/win really.
OC did the walk of fame into a packed lobby, a few moments before Bianca Jagger and Mercedes Bass, and almost ran into Mayor Bloomberg. O hay here are a few pics.
(The lobby before the opera.)
(The Grand Tier before the opera. Private par-tay.)
(Bloomberg in the lobby...looking good!)
(I have no idea who that man is. Not a single clue.)
(Bianca Jagger.)
So who did we see? <-- Definitely not Mercedes Bass. Too many heiresses and heirs, a handful of singers, and lots of NYC "celebrity". But who OC really was looking for was Chris Meloni, on/off appearance-gifter at select NYC events. No Melonis. :-< Seating was late, no one wanted to squash their Zac Posens into their damn seats, and in total, the performance, which was supposed to finish at 9:52pm, was over more like 10:30pm, with curtain call stretching almost another ten minutes. There were about half a dozen attendees in kilts. Yeah, kilts. I appreciate the effort, but the opera is not a costume party tia. Should I go in full Japanese geisha regalia for the next Madama Butterfly? Or dressed as a matador for the Carmen? Actually, that could be kinda hawt.
Most women were dressed in killer gowns, gorgeous quaffs, and sumptuous clutches. Most men were in sleek tuxedo. OC ditched the originally planned, too-flamboyant Diane von Furstenberg gown (no, not a wrap...waaaay too casual) for a much simpler von Furstenberg black dress, and worked it well. NYC is as big on black as we are in Milan for an evening at La Scala (yah, here’s a tip for you future attendees at Scala: when in doubt, wear black; you’ll fit right in). And although our pal Rachel Zoe stresses how poorly black dress photographs on the red carpet, we did it anyway.
Before the performance, Gelb came out in a black on black suit/shirt combo (tux was still at the cleaners?) and announced that the performance was dedicated to the late greats Pavarotti and Sills, and then requested a moment of silence, which was incredibly, truly silent. Then the orchestra played the Star Spangled Banner, and the entire audience sang along. That’s not a joke. Since there was a fair share of professional singers in the crowds, our version of the Star Spangled Banner sounded much better than the sing-a-longs at Yankee Stadium. Also: the MET Orchestra.
Overall, there were quite a few changes made from the Thursday, September 20th rehearsal that were noticeable in tonight’s earlier performance.
Most of all, everyone was just so much hammier. The acting, emoting, and blocking were so much more theatrical and intense than before witnessed. Everything was souped up, even the silent fringe actors like the sedative-administering doctor during the Act III, Scene I il dolce suono, and the busy-body wedding photographer during Act II, Scene II sextet, were suffused with a new hyper-narrative. Dessay was the most noticeable detractor from her prior performance, and Act III’s il dolce suono [mad scene] was off teh hook.
(Special Opening Night Gala insert in the program with names of all the benefactors.)
There were also a few opportunities where things did not go as smoothly as they had previously. In Act I, Scene II, the Lucia/Alisa duet ‘ah, giorni d’amaro pianto’ was a prime example. Dessay was blocked to leap mid-aria from the rocks of the park onto the bare stage. In the rush of it all as she leapt, her ankle gave out, and she fell softly on her a$$, missing a few notes in the shock of omg omg I just bust a$$ while broadcasting in Times Square. Dessay, the consummate pro, covered it up well, only later accepting an outstretched arm from Michaela Marten’s Alisa at the end of the duet to help her off the floor. Dessay acknowledged instantly the accident, and as the applause filled the house (with loads and loads of encouraging, forgiving, understanding brave), she hung her head humbly to the side. She also referenced the slip in her grand, final curtain call, pretending she had a bad leg that fell from under her (more below).
Another kink was during the very beginning of Act II, Scene I in Enrico’s apartment. As witnessed during the September 20 dress rehearsal, the transition to Scene II’s wedding banquet occured when servants came into the apartment and removed the drop-clothes from the furniture, and deconstructed the window shades. However, quickly into the first scene, one of the covered windows lost its shade, which tumbled unprovoked to the floor. Mariusz Kwiecien [Enrico] waltzed slowly over to the scene of the crime, regarded the fallen curtain with a slight shrug, and the audience giggled accordingly. It was pretty looooolllll.
Later during the signing of the marriage contract [see here for a blow-by-blow of the debate], Zimmerman took the feedback proactively from Dessay, who was perplexed to as why the audience laughed at a very critical and disturbing part of drama ["It's not funny," "It's terrible!"] Instead of Enrico grabbing Lucia’s hand and signing the contract manipulating her, she indeed does it of her own volition, and hilarity thankfully, did not ensue.
Aside from that, Dessay’s il dolce suono was magnificent, fragile, and terrifying. As much as I hated the narrative technique of the sedative-administering doctor, this time it worked, as Dessay held her recently-pricked arm and worked her way down into an exhaustive stupor before finally collapsing. She cut back on the maniacal laughter, and this time emitted an ear-shattering scream, like a trapped and bewildered animal, which sounded from the depths of a truly haunted woman. I don’t know what she’s channeling, but dang don’t stop, girl! Her applause afterwards was deafening and howling, lasting an indefinite parsec.
One other noticeable concern was tenor Marcello Giordani’s suddenly failing voice during the final scene. His Tombe degli avi miei was breathtaking, with a premeditated, teasingly-slow pace. But by the time he got to Tu che a Dio spiegasti l’ali, his voice was weak, with a hard edge. There’s no doubt that he’s definitely in need of a few days off. Regardless, he rawked the entire first two acts, just as he had established himself as the indisputable star during the September 20th Open House.
During final curtain call, Natalie lifted her skirt to show her boots, and mimed a comedic fall & slip, alluding to the earlier scene during Act I at the fountain of the Siren where she almost ate it…and then she made a bunch of other highly slapstick motions…[like that one you gave to passing truckers on school field trips to get them to blow their air horn]. I <3 this woman. Opera would be so freaking boring without her.
Levine’s conducting was predictably excellent, but on the second listen, he still doesn’t get it. I will forever <3 the afro’d maestro, but his Lucia leaves OC with the knowledge that she’s heard one of the greatest living conductors, but not one of his finest interpretations.
At the end of the entirely too-long evening, a Lucia that lasted four hours couldn’t possibly sustain the packaged hype that the MET machine churned-out for the past few months. Enjoyable and packed with talent, Zimmerman’s direction becomes a bit too ghoulish bordering on campy, starting and ending with zombie Lucia. We also didn’t like how many sets seemed wrought with detail and intricacies (like the Act I fountain of the Siren), while others (Act III Wolf’s Craig Castle) extraordinarily dull and careless. And the mad scene is kinda incongruous: I mean, a wooden staircase in a Scottish castle? Is it really that hard to get some faux pierre up in here?
(Pavs singing Una furtiva lagrima on the big screen from out front of the Metropolitan Opera House. Intermission got boring, so we headed outside to view the jumbo-tron).
(Netrebko showing-off the goods on the big screen).
(This is what you guys looked like to us from the Grand Tier).
Later today video will appear right here at OC blog of that additional curtain call on the Grand Tier, so check back l8r.
The season opener earlier tonight at The Metropolitan Opera was off tah heezy. It was a memorable, if not exhausting Lucia, which ran almost forty minutes overtime. Stay tuned for moar details, tons of images, and v v v v videos!!
For now, here is one of the better images from tonight to give you a taste of what's to come:
ZOMBIE NATALIE!! DONUT EAT MY BRIANS!! DAMN YOU ZIMMERMAN! THIS IS ALL UR FAULT!
//^^^^above image was snapped after curtain call finished, and Dessay, et cetera stopped by the Grand Tier balcony to take a curtain call for the audience watching in Lincoln Center’s Josie Robertson Plaza.
How did that vvvvvvvvv become that ^^^^^^^
(Promos from the front page of The Metropolitan Opera's website found here)
OC will be there. Will you?! If not, luckily it won't be that difficult to keep track of opening night festivities of The Metropolitan Opera's 2007-08 season. With its marked success from last year's new Minghella production of Madama Butterfly, the NYC Metropolitan Opera will once again broadcast live to Times Square the September 24, 2007 opening night/la prima/evening gala performance of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, while a simultaneous relay will be played on a giant screen at Lincoln Center’s Josie Robertson Plaza. Although the event at Robertson Plaza is free, advance tickets are required for attendance to the broadcast in Lincoln Center Plaza, and were available first-come, first-serve at the Metropolitan box office from 12 noon yesterday, Sunday, September 23, 2007.
If you’re feeling more social, you can head down to Times Square, where the simulcast, live from the MET, can be seen on the following outdoor plasmas starting at 6:30 pm: Toys “R” Us, Reuters, NASDAQ, and Panasonic’s AstroVision screen, all @ broadway between 43rd and 45th streets. Approximately 1,500 seats will be available for the public on a first-come first-served basis in the <3 of Times Square, with additional standing room provided. RUN!!! The Times Square relay is free, and tickets are not required. Thank you, Deutsche Bank!
For those who aren't in NYC, the performance will also be broadcast live on Sirius's channel 85 (you must be a subscriber) as well as being streamed live from The Metropolitan Opera’s website, (you don’t have to be a subscriber, but the trade-off is that you will have to install the bloated Realplaya software). If all else fails, you can try to catch a silent peek on a Times Square webcam.
We must admit that we've been reading The Metropolitan Opera's clever new production countdown blog for Lucia di Lammermoor since the inaugural entry on September 11th. Featuring daily interviews and insight from cast and crew, we feel it has brought us closer to the lol Lucia madness lol that is currently making NYC hysterical. EEYSTERICAL!
With fifteen hours to go until la prima, and running out of promos, Saturday's entry focused on the opera's furriest stars, the two Irish Wolfhounds that appear at the beginning of Act I. Tomorrow will mark the theater debut for Murphy and Gracie, the 2 1/2-year-old Irish sweeties owned by Robin Coen. The dogs will be in black tie for tonight's performance, of course.
(Photo credit: Marty Sohl, taken from http://blog.metoperafamily.org)
**Warning: This post is full of spoilers and may contain traces of milk, peanuts, egg, and/or crustacean shellfish. If you’re going to get cranky about it, quiet plz tia tia.
>>>>>>>>>>SPOILERS AHOY!!!!!!<<<<<<<<<<
Yesterday’s Open House at the NYC Metropolitan Opera House was a huge success. Doors opened at 9:00am and guests were invited to sample different booths, à la 6th grade science fair, including lighting technicians, costumiers (lace makers), set models, Ms. Cecilia Brauer on armonica, and a half-dozen more.
At 11:00am began the trifecta of rehearsals for Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. Act I ran for roughly 44 minutes, and was introduced by Peter Gelb, who made a dedication of the performance to Beverly Sills. He called the rehearsal a “working performance”, and asked that the audience refrain from leaving their seats at the end of the acts until the house lights went up, in case Jimmy had to retool any of the passages. Levine took to the podium in a relaxed casual set, black cotton pants and an ample black polo shirt. The orchestra also wore t-shirts and jeans, kicks and corduroys.
The overture started, and a white screen that filled the entire diameter of the stage illuminated, with a solitary black branch reaching down from the upper left-hand corner. A covered by a rolling, bluish fog, which symbolized the patch of woods of the Ravenswood estate near the castle. The white screen rose, to reveal yet another layer of scenery: a black, thick, stage-sized screen, with a gigantic door cut-out, that allowed just a window of the background scenery to be seen. The rocks remained, leading to a big hill, where appeared Normanno and the rest of his searchers. There were two gigantic, live dogs, scouring the hills with the retainers! Sweeet! Doggies! The black felty cutout screen was totally boring, and seemed unfinished.
Levine and the orchestra was in great form, but now returning from the strains of Filarmonica della Scala after a year and a half of indoctrination, Levine and the MET Orchestra have a trademark patina, a very comforting and expected sound, which is not completely adept at interpreting bel canto as I would have hoped. Maestro Levine covered the orchestra tremendously with gorgeous color and depth, as always, a perfect match in the opera hall. Bright and brisk, but lacking something quintessentially bel canto. Levine stated [afterwards at the Q&A] that he had never done before a full opera version of Lucia, and we were duly honored to be part of the performance.
Scene II began as the retainers clear-out, and snow began to fall from the sky, visible through the gigantic window cut-out. Miraculously, the black felty screen finally rose, revealing a breathtaking scene: Twilight in the park, the crumbled fountain of the Siren, and a great hill covered in spiny trees. Purple, stormy winter skies and dead foliage scattered over the rocks. Just when you are recovering from the gorgeous atmospheric splendor, Dessay appeared in a full Victorian black coat and ruffled floor-length skirt. Very goth, very pure. During “Regnava nel silenzio”, the spirit of the young girl who was murdered by her jealous lover became personified as a zombie ghost in a full white gown and platinum hair, and drifted towards Lucia, caressed her, and then disappeared into the fountain of the Siren. RINGU!!!!!!!! omg I almost ran out of the theatre crying. *four people died from watching that videotape!*
And that was the end of Act I. There was a 45 minute break between each act, with the first one serving-up lunch bags for sustenance. The lunch bags contained one (1) apple, Macintosh, byotches; one (1) bottled water, Evian; two (2) cookies, chocolate and white chocolate; three (3) sandwiches, hammykins, creamykins, and lunchykins; one (1) complimentary all-access 2007-08 Met Opera season pass. What’s that? You didn’t get a complimentary season pass in your lunch-bag? Looks like your mom’s not a Jif® mom. oh well sucks 4u!
Act II ran for 44 minutes, and began with another white silkscreen, this time tangled with a veritable forest, much like the promo textile pieces hanging on the MET façade these days. The curtain rose onto Enrico’s apartment, a huge hall in minty-limey green, two floor-to-ceiling windows on the left, and two smaller doors on the right. Set designer Daniel Ostling explained that he had come across this similar color frequently on his visits to Scotland. The only props were massive mounds of furniture covered in drop clothes, and an uncovered desk upstage on the left. Dessay was in a beautiful indoor cotton dress, adherent to the Victorian style with a green bow tied around her waist.
Dessay’s interplay with Mariusz Kwiecien’s Enrico was captivating, and at times powerful (except when he grabbed Dessay’s hand to sign the marriage contract, which backfired Zimmerman’s not-comedic direction, perplexed the singers, but somehow managed to titillate the NYC crowds). Kwiecien said at the Q&A that he loves to play the bad guy on the stage, because it is such a departure from his real-life good-guy persona.
The audience witnessed during this scene the lighting technicians tinkering with the lights, one of the first reminders that this was indeed a “working performance”. After the stellar duets between Dessay and Kwiecien, servants came into the room and prepared the great apartment by stripping it clean of all the dust clothes and window coverings. They revealed two giant chandeliers (these are sooo from Act II, Scene II of Zeff’s La Traviata, that I fittingly expected matadors and gypsies to storm the hall and start dancing), candelabras, and giant palms. Scene II’s wedding guests arrived, and Mara Blumenfeld’s excellent costume prowess was demonstrated. She chose to use lustrous silks, all in grey and white. The entire chorus was outfitted in subtlety grand ball dresses, in grays with white polka dots, stripes, and solids, very Dior Fall 2007 couture.
Marcello Giordani’s Edgardo was immense, displaying a gigantic scope of singing and unflagging color. He last made his Open House appearance last year as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and admitted that the last time he sang Lucia was eight years ago. Arrived Dessay in a magenta dress (which, IMO was too high on magenta and blue…a true red would have been more visually stunning. But curiously enough, Mara Blumenfeld explained that during the Victorian era, red was an acceptable and popular color for wedding gowns. Also, the marriage and signing of the marriage contract were usually two different ceremonies in the Victorian times, which is why she chose to dress Dessay in a different gown for the scene). John Relyea's Raimondo looked the hawtness dressed in his sassy party pants.
The sextet was pretty insane, and Michaela Marten’s Alisa proved a solid, strong voice, at a few passages even singing over Dessay (but my suspicions are that Dessay was saving her voice to be in top form for Monday’s la prima). Dessay was like a little puppet, so petit and graceful, and so willing to be manipulated by all those around her. The aberration to the scene was an olde tyme photographer who arranged a marriage portrait among the guests while the singers were getting their sing on. From a historical p.o.v, the attention to detail was nicely accurate, and it helped pushed the narrative, but I’m not sure it was necessary. And that was the end of Act II.
Act III, at 62 minutes, began with wild ejaculations for Jimmy as he walked back out to the podium. Again we saw the trademark white screen with branch silhouettes in black, but this time there were six. As the orchestra began to introduce the banquet hall inside the castle, lightening flashed across the screen. The screen raised and revealed another one of those full-stage, black felty cut-outs, with a tiny window up top, and a small set of stairs in the center. This was the ruins of Wolf’s Craig Castle, and pretty freaking lame. Edgardo sat at a desk again, and lightning flashes were projected onto the black felt. omg so boring. This scene barely registers in my memory because it was so nondescript.
Finally, the black structure raised to usher-in Scene II, the scene of the festivities, which was not the most impressive scenery, but we are regardless happy for a bit of color. A long hallway landing, railed, and running horizontal to the top of the stage, was lowered. Connected to that, and spiraling downward to the stage floor, was a large staircase, at least 7-people wide. The chorus appeared again, all in sumptuous silvers, while Lucia in her white wedding dress ran across the top runway, the oblivious guests below. Costume designer Mara explained that the dress was inspired by Charles Frederick Worth’s 19th century fashion house.
Raimondo announced Lucia’s sickness, as she ran around the upper landing, making stabbing motions at her veil, and then dropping the bloody prop from the top banister, as it floated down to the chorus below and cleaved the masses. Dessay ran wildly down the stairs, and here began the ethereal glass H-armonica. Dessay was wearing to-the-elbow white gloves, which were marked on the fingers in blood, also staining her bodice, and the hem of her dress. She laughed like a madwoman (but not cackling) and tumbled down the last two steps, falling to the floor in a dead faint.
Her voice was clear, and all the ornamentation she allowed greatly enhanced the dramatic action. She looked like a little doll in her dress, fluttering around stage like a wiry puppet. She draped herself over the prompter box as the chorus huddled around her, and peeled off her white gloves, a woman deranged. She retreated to the stairs and manically laughed again as she tried to annihilate the veil with her hands. Superb. She was as light as air, nervously twitching and spastically emoting as a woman in trauma. At the end of the mad scene, she received tante brave as she held a pose draped still over the arms of two men. She was amazing. Well deserved cheers. She wasn’t the rage of Callas but more the madness of a desperate woman. When Zimmerman was questioned in the Q&A, she replied that she wanted to make her Lucia more fragile than usual, and created a marked difference in her sanity as the opera progressed, marking her descent into madness more poignant.
Scene III: the staircase rolled away, the top banister landing was absorbed into the ceiling, and the cemetery of Ravenswood Castle is established. Nighttime clouds and a large moon were projected on the back of the stage, completely bare. An arch lowered from the ceiling and framed the background, in the center a brambly tree and a few tombstones. Here Levine called on Edgardo at “Tombe degli avi miei” to take a few measures pause before his entrance, and stopped him to re-block the scene. When Marcello Giordani finished the aria, he was met with a well-deserved, sustained applause and tanti bravi.
The train of mourners arrived from the Lammermoor Castle, and I particularly liked Zimmerman’s attention to detail, as she had sprayed-down the mourners’ black umbrellas with glistening moisture, adding greatly to the realism of a cold, Scottish rain. Edgardo’s last was “Tu che a Dio spiegasti l’ali”. Zimmerman reanimated the spirit from Act I now as Lucia, who came from the tombs and caressed Edgardo, then stabbed him in the stomach, holding him as he died. She was done-up in pale-face, as a zombie bride, too bulky for her, and a little too campy. The End. During curtain call, Dessay, the methodical ballerina, bowed and touched her fingertips to her toes. The rehearsal was over 2:45pm-ish, and then another 15 minutes of Jimmy retooling a few key parts with the orchestra. 3:00 pm began the Q&A panel with all the key singers and production team, and then until 5:00 pm was the queue to walk across the MET stage.
Dessay, during the Q&A, was as witty, self-deprecating, and clever as usual. When asked about her preparations for the role, answered that she collaborated with Zimmerman, and focused on adding layers to her character. When asked about how she stays healthy, she said she eats seeds in the morning [like a little bird!], and tries not to catch any diseases.
I don't think I could have said it better than that.
//sarahb has some great photos from the open house on her blog here.
