The Met, with fine attention to current affairs, is giving us a week (in our dates, Oct 20-27) of Operatic Comedies – and the two gems are vintage productions with brilliant stars of Rossini's best comedies - LOL-to-glorious music. Click here for notes about Rossini.
This light relief is to be followed, significantly, by a week of politics in opera ending November 2nd!
Note: access to the current live streaming opera is less direct on the Met's website now. Go to https://www.metopera.org/ - then scroll down to "Nightly Opera Stream". The box shows the current opera with a picture. You just click WATCH NOW.
Tuesday, October 20 Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia: click here for Met detail
The Barber of Seville is more than a baritone patter song - though this is a pretty good one. Click here for our notes on the opera and an earlier brilliant production we viewed. An earlier version was screened recently, and in a past meeting we viewed the classic movie version with Herman Prey. This 2007 Met production stars Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez, who took their Count and Rosina partnership around the big opera houses. And Figaro? Top baritone Peter Mattei is Figaro – listen here to his "Largo al factotum".
A truly wonderful cast for a wonderful comedy. Juan Diego Florez is an apparently sensational Almaviva and Joyce DiDonato brilliant as Rosina. Here’s her falling-in-love aria. Watch here the Rossini-superb Act I finale and see if you can resist watching the whole.
Wednesday, October 21 Lehár’s The Merry Widow click here for detail
My view (and that of the reviews) is that this one -January 17, 2015 - is very missable. It stars Renée Fleming, but shows vividly the limitations of her acting in character roles. It's the first of two Fleming high profile roles showing this week, and this one was not a triumph. Reviews despaired of her handling of the light and fluffy role of Hanna - here's Vulture. For a grim critique, check out Observer here.
Nathan Gunn is a pretty stolid Danilo. Conducted by 'our' Sir Andrew Davis - he probably disliked it too. Lovely operetta light music landing on a very poor production.
Thursday, October 22 Mozart’s Così fan tutte Yes, another Cosi! Click here for detail It's the notorious setting at a boardwalk amusement park inspired by Coney Island in the 1950s -love it or hate it. Well, it's different - view the trailer here.
Does this setting enhance interpretation of Mozart's popular classic? Starring Amanda Majeski, Serena Malfi, Kelli O’Hara, Ben Bliss, Adam Plachetka, and Christopher Maltman, conducted by David Robertson. From March 31, 2018.
And for a totally nontraditional version, check out the Finnish National Opera's latest offering, music by Mozart - Covid fan Tutte!!
Friday, October 23 Rossini’s La Cenerentola Click here for detail. This is our second treat for the week – Cecilia Bartoli brought this Rossini gem to the Met in 1997. And made it hers.
There is a thoughtful account here from the LA Times of the Met’s relation with Bartoli and humour, and how the chorus became surrealist characters from Rene Magritte.
It's not all Cecilia - starring with her are Ramón Vargas, Simone Alaimo, and the extraordinary Alessandro Corbelli (more recently the embattled father of these women) is the magical Dandini. Conducted by James Levine.
Spoiler alert: see and hear her triumphant finale here .
Way back in 2017, we saw this production in a later performance with Joyce DiDonato in the title role and Juan Diego Flórez as the prince. Same wonky sofa and wedding cake, but the singing and humour are very different. Here’s our website information about that production and click here for notes about Rossini.
Saturday, October 24 Verdi’s Falstaff Click here for detail. This is the classic production with the wonderful women of the early 90s. It screened in July - full detail here in our blog. It's brilliantly sung and brilliantly paced - if you missed it then, try to grab it now.
Starring Marilyn Horne, and Paul Plishka (above) with Mirella Freni and Barbara Bonney - what a dream cast. Conducted by James Levine. From October 10, 1992.
Sunday, October 25 Rossini’s Le Comte Ory It's another Rossini, and some argue his best comedy - perhaps because it was in French. Read about this opera here. Starring Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato, Susanne Resmark, Juan Diego Flórez, Stéphane Degout, and Michele Pertusi, conducted by Maurizio Benini. From April 9, 2011.
Monday, October 26 Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier
Starring Renée Fleming, Elīna Garanča, Erin Morley, Matthew Polenzani, Marcus Brück, and Günther Groissböck, conducted by Sebastian Weigle. From May 13, 2017.
Fleming first played the Marschallin in 2000, and she performed the role 70 times. Her 2010 performance screened in July. It was her exit role in 2017.
There’s a thinkpiece about the role and the diva here. About the opera our session is here: and more on a post earlier.
Garanča excelled in the role of Octavian - here's the presentation of the rose. A very thoughtful interview with director Robert Carson about this bitter sweet opera here.