Puritani at the MET

[MrMiniver]

Saw the opening this week at the MET. It was about what I was expecting. Peretyatko had all the notes as did Lawrence Brownlee but there wasn't much magic going on. The production, which was introduced during Queen Victoria's time, is the basic painted backdrops with no semblance of any direction. I'll try to go into more detail about the singing tomorrow when I'm more rested I think that the so-called "canary fanciers" will love it but for those wanted a complete theatrical experience you're bound to be very disappointed.

[whipped guy]

I'm posting this during the first intermission. I feel as though I am sitting in a time warp! More whenever!

[bostonman]

I remember seeing this on HD when Netrebko was in it. Scenically/staging-wise, it's a horrid production - basically just a very stilted evening of park and bark, making no case for the drama at all.

 

Hearing the opening night on Sirius, it's too bad Kwiechen was out sick for the opening. The guy they got to replace him was adequate - miles better than the dry-voiced Franco Vassallo from the last run, but nothing special. However, I DID like Brownlee and Peretyatko a lot. (Even if Brownlee probably shouldn't have tried for that high F towards the end - he got there, but it wasn't graceful.)

 

But boy, the Met is getting a lot of tenor high D's right now - the two in the Act III Puritani duet (which Brownlee hit with assurance), and the one that Javier Camarena is wonderfully interpolating in Cenerentola, which I heard last night. Very cool!

[whipped guy]

The first two acts of I Puritani last evening were an underwhelming experience. Nobody seemed totally warmed up. Peretyatco's voce seemed small and unsupported and I did not care for the way that she slid up to climactic high notes. Brownlee looked stiff at his entrance and while he sang his aria quite well, one did not get the feeling that they were experiencing anything special. Furthermore, there were no sparks between him and his leading lady. Fortunately things temporarily took flight during the gorgeous "Vieni al tempio" ensemble. Unfortunately the act two Mad Scene gave us a return to the doldrums. Even the act ending "Suoni la tromba" fell somewhat flat. Well it's a good tune so things did end on a figurative high note even given the fact that the substitute baritone chose to end the scene on the lower octave.

 

Something happened during act three. Brownlee gave a nicely nuanced rendition of his aria even though it elicited little applause... but then again it is not a show-stopper. However, the sparks really began to fly during the soprano-tenor duet that followed. Suddenly there was acting and vocal acting with chemistry. Peretyatco's voice finally had a sparkle to it and even some body. That they both nailed the high D's later in the scene certainly added to the excitement. Of course Brownlee attrmpted the high F in "Credeasi miseri" and absolutely nailed it. The usually taken lower option always seems wrong to me as it distorts the shape of the vocal line. It is rarely done as written even on recordings. This is the first time that I experienced it live. It was worth the price of admission. The opera was rounded out with a nicely done final cabaletta. In spite of the slow start those with whom I spoke went home feeling satisfied.

 

Incidentally the conducting was nothing special and the production was "nostalgic" to put it kindly...

[bostonman]

Even the act ending "Suoni la tromba" fell somewhat flat. Well it's a good tune so things did end on a figurative high note even given the fact that the substitute baritone chose to end the scene on the lower octave.

 

For the previous performance, he tried to go for the high note at the end. Didn't really have it - only stayed up there for a few seconds and got off it. I have a feeling he made a better choice last night.

[whipped guy]

For the previous performance, he tried to go for the high note at the end. Didn't really have it - only stayed up there for a few seconds and got off it. I have a feeling he made a better choice last night.

So yes a good choice. Incidentally, I'm not sure how he concluded this first act aria in the earlier performance, but last night he was tacet for about 16 beats so as to muster enough breath to hit the concluding high note! Incidentally, I never got his name and neither did anyone else in the immediate vicinity as the replacement was announced from the stage.

[skynyc]

thanks for this...I just got home and learned I won the wait list lottery for this Saturday's performance. Only my second time winning, and the last time I couldn't go, so my sister went.

 

I have had poor luck with operas, have only seen about five in the 25+ years I've lived here. Always seemed so formidable and expensive. Went with friends in from out of town, etc. Tannhauser, Falstaff, Faust, Love for Three Oranges and blanking on the last...

 

I know I should go to a big lush production of one of the greats: Turandot, Aida, etc. But of course, those are the ones that everyone wants to see, and I never think to get tickets. LOL

 

See my comments about tonight's performance of Cabaret in a separate thread.

[+ WilliamM]

skynyc, I saw the opera for the first time with Anna Netrebko a number of years ago at the Met. Yes, the staging and backdrops are old style opera at its worst. In fact, that performance may have been the one that got me more interested in operas with mad scenes. Just sit back and enjoy it!

 

Concerning "Cabaret," I saw the first revival with Alan Cumming, and it's perhaps the only Broadway show that I can not remember anything about except not liking it much. I went back again when it moved to Studio 54 (w/ John Stamos, I believe) and liked it much more. So we do disagree on "Cabaret," or more accurately, Cumming's first try.

[whipped guy]

When I mentioned time warp above I certainly was referencing the old style of the production that dates from 1976 and featured Sutherland, Pavoratti, Milnes, Morris, under Bonynge. I have the audio of the broadcast from that initial run. Ten years later Sutherland appeared in it to celebrate her 25th season at the MET. That was the norm for opera productions then and when I saw it in 1986 I did not find anything wrong with it. In fact I thought the production quite attractive. Incidentally a woman from Washington DC was sitting in our box. She commented how lush the production was compared to Washington Opera productions. So I guess those who frequent the MET are spoiled.

 

Incidentally, another old fashioned feature concerned the fact that there were curtain calls between the acts and longer pauses at times for scene changes. Both rarely occur with modern productions.

 

To skyny... Congrats on winning the lottery!! Sit back and enjoy. It may not be as flashy as other operas but being a Bel Canto pirce it contains some of the most beautiful music pen ever put to paper... "A te o cara", "Qui la voce", "Vieni al tempio", "Credeasi miseri"... I could go on! ENJOY!

[MrMiniver]

Lush? That really is funny. It was dated when it first appeared. I remember as I was there. Compared to what was going on in the rest of the world it seemed hopelessly old-fashioned. Now, don't get me wrong. There is a place for a well thought out, traditional production. This just ain't it.

 

Some friends want me to go with them and I said the opening night -- once -- was quite enough. For me, the whole thing was an exercise in boredom. At least it was bracketed by Sonnambula and Cenerentola which were far, far better.

[whipped guy]

I will take the dated Puritani over that ludicrous Sonnambula production any day... and that includes its crudely sung inelegant Amina as well. That's why even being a Bel Canto junkie I stayed away from it like the plague!!! That's just from where I'm coming.

 

At any rate, as mentioned above I never caught the name if the baritone. I round bet the farm they Mrs. Miniver's better half knows!!!!

[whipped guy]

Live vs. Broadcast + Opera Quiz

 

I have not listened to too many opera broadcast this season, but It was a dreary, overcast, and somewhat rainy day yesterday so I caught the MET broadcast of Bellini's I Puritani. My impressions were somewhat similar to seeing the piece live. Unlike the performance that I attended Kwiecien was the Riccardo. However, he did not seem totally warmed up for his opening aria... and the final note was a bit tentative as was the conclusion of "Suoni la tromba" where for a moment I was not sure what was going to happen. The lower ending was taken. I did not hear the opening commentary so I can't say if an announcement was made, but he probably was still suffering a bit from the effects of the flu virus that prevented him from appearing in the initial performances of the run.

 

Peretyatko's voice sounded bigger as captured by the microphones. Well, let's just say "brighter" as the voice is not exactly plush and it is definitely not a big voice as experienced live. Still, as she did in the performance that I attended live, I did not like the manner in which she swooped up to climactic final notes in the opening duet and "Son vergin vezzosa". As in the performance that I saw she did come into her own in "Vieni al tempo" where she easily ascended to an interpolated high D by doubling the orchestral line on the repeat of that glorious melody. The Mad Scene was a slight disappointment in the performance seen live. For the broadcast the main section of the cabaletta featured cleaner coloratura... but the admittedly difficult coda still could have benefited from more crystalline attacks with less gliding into the notes and a more pointed coloratura technique. She was fine in the third act, which again overall featured her best singing, and that included a nice rendition of her final cabaletta.

 

Brownlee sounded more relaxed then when seen live in his opening aria and only got better. His first aria in the third act was splendid, and he and his leading lady traded sparks in the duet that followed, which included some spectacular, long-held, and spot on high D's. Likewise he hit the high F in "Credeasi misera" even if he did not nail it as mellifluously as when seen live. Still as commentator Ira Siff exclaimed during the curtain calls, "Spetacular, spectacular!"

 

Amazingly, one of the highlights of the broadcast was the Opera Quiz where the panelists, which included special guest Joyce DiDonato, and the even the quite urbane, affable, and quick-witted host got to the essence of what makes Bel Canto operas so special. There was a time when one would be ridiculed for liking such operas. Well, that is still somewhat true, but I have been attracted to the form since I was in high school and even did my senior project for a course called "Cultural History" on the Bel Canto. That some of my favorite pieces were used by the panelists and host as examples of what makes these operas so special helped me to rationalize my affinity for the genre.

[MrMiniver]

I will take the dated Puritani over that ludicrous Sonnambula production any day... and that includes its crudely sung inelegant Amina as well. That's why even being a Bel Canto junkie I stayed away from it like the plague!!! That's just from where I'm coming.

 

At any rate, as mentioned above I never caught the name if the baritone. I round bet the farm they Mrs. Miniver's better half knows!!!!

 

Not me. I'll take ludicrous (and I actually didn't think it was) over stand and bark painted backdrops any day of the week

 

I think the baritone was Anakin or Anaskrin or something like that. He was just the cover.

 

As for Kwiecien ... I've been in love with him since I first saw him when he was 19 .... he's a delight ... I find this stage presence wonderful and he always engages me .... and they don't call him "The Polish Sausage" for nothing .... how refreshing to have an openly gay singer of such charm and delight!

[TruHart1]

...

 

I think the baritone was Anakin or Anaskrin or something like that. He was just the cover.

 

As for Kwiecien ... I've been in love with him since I first saw him when he was 19 .... he's a delight ... I find this stage presence wonderful and he always engages me .... and they don't call him "The Polish Sausage" for nothing .... how refreshing to have an openly gay singer of such charm and delight!

 

The cover for Kwiecien who sang Riccardo the opening performance is Maksim Aniskin. He also sang the second performance on April 22. http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwopera/article/Maksim-Aniskin-to-Make-Met-Opera-Debut-in-Tonights-I-PURITANI-Mariusz-Kwiecien-Is-Ill-20140417#

 

TruHart1