Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, Balcony (Seat B13,
$87.50).
Story. The setting
is about 1650, the time of the English Civil War of Puritans versus
Royalists. Elvira is the daughter of the
commander of the Plymouth fortress, a Puritan stronghold. She is supposed to be married to Riccardo but
is in love with the Royalist Arturo instead.
Her uncle Giorgio assures her that she won’t be forced into a
marriage. When Arturo visits, he is
actually welcomed by the Puritans. Queen
Enrichetta, widow of King Charles who was executed, is held prisoner. Arturo manages to escape with the Queen by
placing Elvira’s bridal veil over Enrichetta’s head. Elvira mistakes this act as abandonment by
Arturo and goes mad. Although Arturo is
condemned by the Puritans to death, Riccardo is persuaded to forgive him if he
returns as a friend. While trying to
escape from the pursuing Puritans, Arturo hides in the garden and overhears
Elvira singing their old love song. He
is then discovered and arrested. At that
moment a messenger shows up declaring the final defeat of the Royalists and a
general amnesty for the offenders.
Arturo is spared, Elvira regains her senses, and all rejoice.
Conductor – Michele Mariotti. Elvira – Olga Peretyatko, Arturo – Lawrence
Brownlee, Riccardo – Maksim Aniskin, Giorgio – Michele Pertusi, Enrichetta –
Elizabeth Bishop.
The last two operas I went to were by Berg and Strauss (Wozzeck
and Arabella), ones I had to work on to understand and to enjoy. So it was a nice change of pace to attend a
traditional bel canto opera. Bellini was
a music prodigy who died at age 33. He
left behind 11 operas (per Wikipedia,) of which I knew of three (Norma, La
sonnambula, and I puritan.) La
sonnambula was the opera I saw before the two mentioned at the beginning of
this paragraph.
Tonight’s performance was the first for this season, and
it was the debut appearance of the Russian coloratura soprano Peretyatko. Her image isn’t plastered all over the walls
and the Metopera website as Jonas Kaufmann’s was, but there was considerable publicity
nonetheless. Let me first say this: she
certainly met the expectations set by the hype.
Which, as I have noted before, isn’t a given.
The opera was written by Bellini with the four principal
singers in mind, and there are solos and ensemble numbers that highlight their
abilities. However, the show is
Elvira. The role demands from the
soprano a great range vocally and emotionally, a task Peretyatko dispatched
like a veteran. Her voice is beautiful,
she can belt out strong melodies, and her whispers during the more reflective moments
carry beautifully into the house. Even
for a non-singer, it is abundantly clear the lines are difficult technically,
and her singing is the equivalent of a violinist showing off her flawless
technical virtuosity. I recall Damrau in
La sonnambula looking completely effortless in delivering equally beautiful
lines, and wonder if the operas place the same technical demands on the
artists.
We have seen Brownlee a couple of times. The first encounter was opposite Renee
Fleming in Armida (in 2010,) he did very well but seemed nervous. The second time was as Tonio in La Fille du
Regiment, and I liked that also. He
certainly delivered again tonight. For
some reason he looked much heavier and older than I remembered him (it’s only
been four years since I first saw him.)
A search of the web tells me he was born in 1972, making him over 40; I
thought he was young (20s?) a few years ago.
His height was not a problem in the last two operas I saw; against the
much taller Peretyatko, however, things looked a bit weird.
Pertussi as Giorgio was another standout. As the “elder” statesman in the play, his
singing was serious and provided the heft like a bass should. Mariusz Kwiecien was in the program as
Riccardo but withdrew because of illness; so Aniskim had his Met debut as a
substitute. At first he sounded weak and
looked wooden, he improved substantially as the opera progressed. As far as I could tell, the prompters’ box
was dark the whole time.
In my write-up on Arabella, I remarked about how dated
that production felt; and it debuted in the 80s. For this opera the production dates from
1976, yet it feels quite appropriate.
The costumes worn by the artists (especially the chorus members,) are a
mixture of traditional and pilgrim (think Massachusetts.) Which brings up the question of why the opera
is titled “The Puritans.” I assume the
story is fiction set in the Puritan community, but the main story has nothing
to do with any religious or moral issues one with associate with them.
The story the opera tells is quite traditional: two
people from different backgrounds fall in love.
Romeo and Juliet and Aida are examples that come to mind. Instead of everyone dying at the end, the
twist here is everything ends well.
This was overall a great experience. I wish there were a few more singable tunes,
pleasant as the arias are. I have yet to
become a fan of mad scenes as a dramatic element. As mad
scenes go, the ones in this opera are as good as they get – and there are quite
a few of them, Elvira is out of it for Act 2 and most of Act 3. The Playbill talks about a prior run with Joan
Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti; I wonder how this cast compares.
An interview in the Playbill with Peretyatko contains a few interesting tidbits. One is
that she started as a mezzo-soprano in her teens and eventually trained to be a
coloratura soprano; quite a change in her range. A second is she was originally signed to sing
the Fiakermilli role in Arabella, but got upgraded to this role. The third is that she is married to the
conductor for this opera. The last item
may explain the rather tame love scenes: it would be awkward with the real husband watching.
Kuau came by to give me a ride to Jersey City. Anne and I had dinner at East
Szechuan. On the way to Lincoln Center
the West Side highway was a bit congested; and we had to take the Holland
Tunnel back because of work around Lincoln Tunnel. Otherwise our rides were fine.
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