The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: The Metropolitan Opera
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James Levine had injured his back after a fall last week, and underwent emergency surgery. He has withdrawn from his performances at the Metropolitan Opera for the rest of the year. Fabio Luisi (pictured left, photograph by Barbara Luisi) has been named the Met’s Principal Conductor and will conduct the first five performances of Don…
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Whilst the Opera Tattler attended a performance of Séance on a Wet Afternoon at the David H. Koch Theater on April 28, 2011, Miss LCU was nearby at Lepage’s new production of Die Walküre (Act III pictured left, © Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera) with the Unbiased Opinionator. * Notes * Of late, James Levine gets credit for…
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* Notes * Saturday evening's Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera was a study in extremes. On one hand, Diana Damrau gave a revelatory performance, her Gilda ranged from giddily sweet to utterly devastating. She inhabited the character with complete conviction. Her "Caro nome" was incredible. On the other hand, our Duke, Giuseppe Filianoti, left much…
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* Notes * The last performance of Il Trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera was Saturday's matinee. Since I have seen seemed David McVicar's production several times in San Francisco, it seemed best to simply listen at a score desk today. Conductor Marco Armiliato had the orchestra sounding spirited. The racing tempi were infused with energy. The…
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* Notes * The latest revival of the Metropolitan Opera's Orfeo ed Euridice (pictured left, © Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera) opened last night. The production, directed by Mark Morris, is busy. Done without an intermission, every second seemed full of movement. Allen Moyer's set opened, closed, shifted, and spun. Unfortunately it was rather loud, especially noticeable…
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The Unbiased Opinionator’s account of the last performance of Wozzeck this season at the Metropolitan Opera. * Notes * The musical and emotional journey that is Wozzeck is not an easy one. The score bears much study before an uninitiated listener can appreciate the dramatic richness and supreme formal architecture of Berg’s creation. Nonetheless, James Levine’s…
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An account of Capriccio this season at the Metropolitan Opera from the Unbiased Opinionator. * Notes * “Indian Summer” is used by music historians to describe the re-flowering of Richard Strauss’ creative powers toward the end of his life, after the catastrophe of World War II. This re-flowering, which occurred after a period of jaded stagnation,…
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An account of the final performance of Das Rheingold this season at the Metropolitan Opera from the Unbiased Opinionator. * Notes * Director Robert Lepage gave an extensive interview in New York City last fall about his conception of the Ring. He spent considerable time in Iceland, and said that no one who lived in the…
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The winners this year are soprano Michelle Johnson; baritone Joseph Lim; and bass-baritones Joseph Barron, Ryan Speedo Green, and Philippe Sly. Sly will be a participant of the 2011 Merola Program. Official Site | AP Article
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An account of the February 18, 2011 performance of Armida at the Metropolitan Opera from the Unbiased Opinionator. * Notes * The tale of Armida, derived from an 16th Century epic poem by Tasso, has inspired composers from Lully and Händel to Dvořák and the contemporary British composer Judith Weir. The story of the crusader Rinaldo,…
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