Here's a contrast to liven your opera watching! The Met is now themeing their livestreaming weeks and this week it's Puccini - again. But if you want a break from the great composer of turn of the century Italian opera, try the great and highly controversial Russian, not many years later, a world of music away. More on Prokofiev here and in our website here.
"The music of Prokofiev has a typical trail of the composers of anxiety-age. It is a twentieth century aesthetic with a strong sense of disaster. At the time, geopolitical intercontinental plates seemed to have begun to rub against one another... Naturally, this was reflected in the music as well." Modestas Pitrenas, conductor
The Gambler: Prokofiev's first full length opera
As noted in our previous post, a current offering from Operavision is The Gambler, which Prokofiev based the apparently autobiographical novel Dostoyevsky's apparently wrote to settle gambling debts). Hardly ever performed now, The Gambler is described in Britannica as 'a brilliant and dynamic adaptation of the novella ... Continuing the operatic tradition of Modest Mussorgsky, Prokofiev skillfully combined subtle lyricism, satiric malice, narrative precision, and dramatic impact.'
It's been labelled as 'almost an anti-opera'. 'Prokofiev was in his mid-20s and eager to shock when he began composing his second opera, “The Gambler,” in 1915. Looking to precedents by Mussorgsky, among others, Prokofiev decided to write a dialogue-driven opera, almost an anti-opera. There would be no set pieces, hardly any melodies, and no conventional ensembles with multiple characters singing at the same time. “The Gambler,” with a libretto by Prokofiev, adapted from the 1866 novella by Dostoyevsky, would be dramatically stark, an opera of musicalized dialogue driven by a teeming orchestra.'
Sung drama was a radical change from nineteenth century opera! 'Although it is a fine, well-written work, it’s devoid of big tunes appealing primarily to those who are interested in sung drama rather than more conventional opera.'
It's available all week here, performed by the Lithuanian National Opera & Ballet. Sex, money and obsession (yes, with English subtitles).
There's a spirited summary here.
"All Puccini" at the Met
Meanwhile, the Met has announced a specially-curated "All Puccini" week for its Nightly Met Opera Streams of Live in HD presentations. More sex, money and obsession - but with familiar and romantic music. Many of these operas have been screened earlier this year, but all are worth watching. All available via metopera.org for 23 hours. (Dates for Melbourne.)
Tuesday, September 22 - Puccini's La Rondine
Conducted by Marco Armiliato; starring Angela Gheorghiu with Roberto Alagna (they were married, then), Lisette Oropesa, Marius Brenciu, and Samuel Ramey. From January 10, 2009. For details go to our blog earlier this year, when we viewed this production.
Wednesday, September 23 - Puccini's La Fanciulla del West
Conducted by Nicola Luisotti; starring Deborah Voigt, Marcello Giordani, and Lucio Gallo. From January 8, 2011. NYTimes was enthusiastic.
Puccini said this was his finest opera. It's certainly different: not just in the selection of plot and characters but in the music - read more here. "The orchestration is Puccini’s largest with two harps and more winds, brass and percussion than in his other operas. The melodic lines are more integrated into the sweeping flow, and the shorter and sparse arias are woven into the fabric of the overall composition with an emphasis on musical characterization but without losing any of what could be said is Puccini’s “trademark” – the emotional pull of one’s heartstrings."
Thursday, September 24 - Puccini's Manon Lescaut
Conducted by Fabio Luisi; starring Kristine Opolais, Roberto Alagna, Massimo Cavalletti, and Brindley Sherratt. From March 5, 2016. More on our earlier post here.
Listen to the stars in the famous duet here. (Alagna was a last minute step in for Kaufmann.)
Friday, September 25 - Puccini's Madama Butterfly
Conducted by Patrick Summers; starring Patricia Racette, Maria Zifchak, Marcello Giordani, and Dwayne Croft. From on March 7, 2009.
This production was much praised: Bachtrack reports:
"In addition to outstanding vocal ability, Ms Racette’s acting talent is remarkable. We have excellent camera work to thank here. At just the right moments, breathtaking panoramic scenes cut to close-up, allowing us to note that Racette has the most amazingly alive face. Every dramatic nuance registers, from nascent emotions to conflicting ones. This contrasts wonderfully with a very significant element in the production – the use of puppets, supplied and handled by Blind Summit Theatre. Very much like Japanese Noh puppets, the two involved have expressionless faces. However, everything is affectingly communicated by bodily movement."
Saturday, September 26 - Puccini's Tosca
Conducted by Emmanuel Villaume; starring Sonya Yoncheva, Vittorio Grigolo, and Željko Lučić. From January 27, 2018. this was a controversial production with a rapidly gathered cast - read more here.
The "scrupulously inoffensive" production by David McVicar described as "a retro night at the opera, aimed at the Met’s conservative core." Most reviews saw Yoncheva, in her hastily arranged role debut as Tosca, as scoring the triumph - here's her Vissi d'Arte. Review here.
Sunday, September 27- Puccini's Turandot
Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; starring Christine Goerke, Eleonora Buratto, Yusif Eyvazov, and James Morris. From October 12, 2019.
The Met's most recent Turandot: Christine Goerke made the ice princess almost plausible. Review here.
Monday, September 28 - Puccini's La Bohème
Conducted by Nicola Luisotti; starring Angela Gheorghiu, Ainhoa Arteta, Ramón Vargas, Ludovic Tézier, Quinn Kelsey, Oren Gradus, and Paul Plishka. From April 5, 2008