Camera Missteps in Met’s Orfeo Telecast

Many operagoers think the Met’s HD Telecasts appear the same on the screen as in the house. The January 24th telecast of W. Gluck’s 1762 version of Orfeo ed Euridice proved otherwise. Because of video director Barbara Willis Sweete’s steady stream of close-ups, viewers were deprived of seeing many of the dancers’ flowing lines and movements in Mark Morris’ choreography. Some critics have not looked kindly on the choreographer’s role as director with this classic tale, but the viewing audience had a hard time evaluating his work from the way it was transferred from the stage to the big screen.

Sweete often compromised the choreography by frequently stopping to frame arms held in the air, halting to capture individual facial expressions and one too many shots of the dancers’ feet. This only frustrated this viewer’s pleasure in seeing Morris’ choreography as a total composition.

On the other hand, James Levine’s total commitment to Gluck’s music and his wonderful capacity to communicate with his orchestra and singers brought a great sense of joy to the performance. Levine’s conducting led the orchestra into playing Gluck’s 90 minute opera as one gorgeous line from beginning to end, setting a high standard for the rest of the company.

The singers followed Mr. Levine with knowing confidence. Stephanie Blythe’s Orfeo showed the mezzo at her vocal and dramatic peak. At times, she followed Levine’s baton a bit too artfully, downplaying some of Orfeo’s emotional longing for his lost love, Euridice; Blythe’s delivery, however, of Che farò senza Euridice was a marriage of vocal and dramatic intensity. Soprano Danielle de Niese made a beautiful Euridice singing with poignancy and a burnished lyricism. Both Blythe and de Niese expressed such vocal splendor as they journeyed from the underworld, they made their duet the most notable scene in the opera. Heidi Grant Murphy’s Amor had just the right touches of vocal affability, particularly in her scene with Orfeo, telling him he can save his beloved Euridice from the depths below but must not look at her throughout their journey to the upper world. Another outstanding feature of the performance was Levine’s musical devotion in unison with the singers’ vocal acuity.

The camera work took a turn for the better near the end of the opera when the chorus, dancers and soloists all rejoiced in Euridice’s return to her beloved. There was a decided increase in Sweete’s full shots of the company allowing the viewer to share in the total picture of Morris’ production that the audience so very much enjoyed. If only there had been more of them for the viewer.

Met’s Telecast of La Rondine Carries A Heavy Dose of Star Power

It’s a safe bet that when Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna are scheduled to sing, the married couple will produce theatrics back stage as well as during the performance. It certainly turned out that way at the Met’s January 10th HD telecast of Giacomo Puccini’s La Rondine. Minutes before the opera was about to start, General Manager Peter Gelb made an announcement that Ms. Gheorghiu was suffering from a very bad cold, but not wanting to disappoint her fans, she would sing. As for Mr. Alagna, his reviews had revealed he was not up to par vocally either. Regardless of the situation, both singers always make a dashing and very exciting couple on stage.

When the curtain went up, Ms. Gheorghiu was standing a few steps up, leaning against a side wall, looking gorgeous and ready to go. Besides evidence of a little dry mouth, the soprano seemed to be in good shape. The satellite, however, lost the sound during Rene Fleming’s back stage interview with the couple, but judging from their body language, the fervent smiles on their faces, and the length of the interview, Gheorghiu and Alagna appeared not to have had a care about their vocal state. What a remarkable recovery!

On the stage, the couple certainly gave their all, supported by Marco Armiliato’s first-rate conducting. It’s good to note, La Rondine will probably not have such a beautifully produced staging as this one again. Ezio Frigerio’s sets and Franca Squarciapino’s costumes from the 1920′s were lavish, but tasteful and true to the period. Nicholas Joël as the overall producer gave Puccini’s version of Viennese operetta every opportunity to impress, especially since the work does not feature any memorable arias, except for the exquisite Ch’il bel sogno di Doretta. Next, Marius Brenciu as Prunier the lovelorn poet and Lisette Oropesa as Magda’s maid Lisette, gave their vocal and dramatic best which contributed enormously in making this production such wonderful entertainment.

But it was Gheorghiu and Alagna who provided the operatic fireworks and considering the ovation they received at the curtain calls, this duo knows how to give opera lovers something to remember and talk about. Critics may not appreciate their carryings-on, but the public certainly recognizes that their histrionics satisfy a deep craving for drama in the operatic psyche.

Although Puccini used a lighter musical style for La Rondine, he certainly has enough of a lyrical and harmonic base to keep the story moving. Magda, who is the mistress of a rich man, meets Ruggero from the country. Not knowing anything about her past, Ruggero writes his family that he wants to marry Magda. Naturally, she knows that their relationship would not survive in his simple rural life and breaks off the affair. The fact that he lets her go without a fight and her quick decision to leave doesn’t present much of an opportunity for Puccini’s pathos to rise to the surface. But Gheorghiu and Alagna’s artistic commitment took hold of what drama there is and ran with it. The result was one of the most fulfilling afternoons spent at the Met.

Magda is a great fit for Gheorghiu. The soprano looked stunning in her costumes, and she imbued her character with great feeling. She never missed a vocal or dramatic opportunity to connect with the audience, an operatic quality easily wished for, but very hard to achieve. Alagna, whose natural demeanor didn’t always project Ruggero’s apparent innocence, gives an exciting interpretation of the young student’s internal turmoil in the opera’s finale. If the tenor’s voice lacked the robust quality needed for the role, he certainly made up for it in the finale. In fact, the duo hit such an extraordinary level of expressing heartbreak, it seemed to spill over the footlights into the audience as a devastating event in real time. The Met, no doubt, has a best selling DVD of La Rondine in its future.

Peggy Erhardt-Gray also contributed to this article.

Puccini, Madama Butterfly

By James L Zychowicz

Reprinted with permission from Seen and Heard – Music Web’s Live Opera, Concert and Recital Reviews.

Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Sir Andrew Davis (conductor) Civic Opera House, Chicago 20.12.2008 (JLZ).

The Act I Set

Among all the recent celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Giacomo Puccini, this single production of Madama Butterfly by Lyric Opera of Chicago in its 2008-2009 season may seem modest, but it is an intense and effective staging of the opera that pays tribute to the long-standing Puccini tradition in this house. Dating from the early 1990s, the production, originally by Hal Prince, remains engaging for its successful fusion of elements from traditional Japanese theater with Puccini’s enduring tragedy. In the century since its premiere in 1904 at La Scala, Madama Butterfly has been staged in all all manner of presentations, and the present one, familiar to Chicago audiences for about 15 years, remains impressive. Like all good opera, the staging is solidly musical and theatrical, and the present production benefits from an extremely fine cast and delivery.

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