Metropolitan Opera – Verdi’s Falstaff. December 21, 2013.

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center – Family Circle (Seat G204, $47.50.)

Story.  See previous post.

Conductor – James Levine; Dr. Caius – Carlo Bosi, Sir John Falstaff – Nicola Alaimo, Bardolfo – Keith Jameson, Pistola – Christian van Horn, Meg Page – Jennifer Johnson Cano, Alice Ford – Angela Meade, Mistress Quickly – Stephanie Blythe, Nannetta – Lisette Oropesa, Fenton – Paolo Fanale, Ford – Franco Vassallo.

Anne and I saw an NYCO production of this opera in 2008, I frankly didn’t remember much about that experience.  A review of the blog entry reveals my generally positive experience with the performance.

I got a ticket for today’s show for several reasons.  James Levine has returned to limited duties as a conductor, I would like to see how he does.  Anne has a meeting in Flushing in the afternoon so I wanted to have something to do.  Finally, there were still a few reasonable seats (price and location) left when I enquired about the performance.

My seat didn’t provide a good view of the orchestra pit, so I don’t know if Levine was already seated when the performance began.  There was a prolonged applause for the audience, probably a show of support and appreciation for the return of the maestro.

Levine generally led a crisp and spirited performance.  The singing carried well into where I was seated.  My one issue is with the balance of the voices.  Stephanie Blythe has such a strong voice that made all the others sound relatively weak in comparison.  I sometimes wonder if for the sake of the overall performance if she should dial it down a little.  This reminds of my remark about Domingo who as Giorgio in La Traviata really impressed with being such a great “team player.”  Nonetheless, the great voices of the other singers managed to come through.  I was especially impressed with Oropesa in the role of Nanetta.  In some ways her voice outshone those of Meade and Cano.

The sets here are quite elaborate compared to what I remembered of the NYCO production.  The gentleman (from South Africa) sitting next to me and I were both wondering if Falstaff was in the laundry basket was inside when its contents got dumped from the window.  We both decided there had to be a trap door.

There was quite a bit of ensemble music, and often I couldn’t tell who was singing which line.  This was compounded by the fact that the LED panel for subtitles was in my direct line of sight to the stage, making the words difficult to read.  So I lost some of the timing.  I have to say the translator did a great job, as the lines often rhyme.  (Perhaps Shakespeare wrote it that way?)

All the misgivings notwithstanding, this was a delightful performance.  Falstaff gestured to the orchestra pit as Levine couldn’t make it up to the stage.  The applause was enthusiastic, deservedly.  The New York Times review is uncharacteristically lengthy, going into many aspects of the production and the cast.  The reviewer thought there may have been some opening night jitters; if those are settled in subsequent shows, he thinks the opera will “enter the annals of opera history.”