Metropolitan
Opera at Lincoln Center, Orchestra (Seat Z22, $25.)
Story. Elisabeth, daughter of king of France, is
betrothed to Don Carlo, son of King Philip II of Spain. However, to seal a peace treaty between the
two countries, the French king decides to have Elisabeth marry Philip
instead. Meanwhile, Rodrigo, a good
friend of Don Carlo, asks Carlo to ask Philip to make Carlo the governor of
Flanders, hoping that this will lessen the oppression of the Flemish. The king refuses, and Carlos is hauled off to
jail. While visiting Carlos in prison,
Rodrigo, who has taken up the blame of the Flemish rebellion, is shot on order
of the Grand Inquisitor. As Carlo and
Elisabeth then meet at the St. Just Monastery to express hope for happiness in
the next world, Philip and the Grand Inquisitor show up to arrest them. The story ends with the ghost of Charles V
(Philip’s father) showing up.
Interwoven in
the main story (as I see it) are two more major elements. The first is a second love triangle where
Princess Eboli is in love with Carlo.
Rejected by Carlo, she informs Philip that Elisabeth keeps a portrait of
Carlo in her jewel box. Another element
is the persecution of heretics during the inquisition.
Conductor –
Yannick Nezet-Seguin; Don Carlo – Yonghoon Lee/Ricardo Tamura, Elisabeth –
Lianna Haroutounian, Rodrigo – Luca Salsi, Philip II – Ferruccio Furlanetto,
Princess Eboli – Nadia Krasteva, Grand Inquisitor – James Morris.
CS asked us if
we wanted to try to get rush tickets for this performance. This was my first foray into trying to do so,
and I am happy to report that we were successful. More on that later.
A few words
about the story as I put it together is in order. The overall plot is easy enough to follow, if
one has some sense of the historical context.
I couldn’t quite incorporate all the subplots (two love triangles, the
Inquisition, the political landscape, and the shadow of Charles V) into one
“straightline.” There are still some
parts that I don’t understand: where Rodrigo’s loyalty lies, what happens to
Carlo and Elisabeth at the end, are two examples. Per Wikipedia, Carlo was actually mentally
unstable, and died six months after being imprisoned by Philip, Elisabeth
married Philip when she was 14, and there is no reference to any romance
between Elisabeth and Carlo.
I happened
across the Opera Philadelphia website earlier today, it contains what I would
consider an excellent description of the story (calling it a “synopsis,” as the
website does, may be incorrect as it is not a condensed version of the
“play-by-play” story.)
There was a
small slip in the Playbill that says Lee will replace Tamura as Don Carlo for
today’s show. Since I had not heard either of them before, I had not
preference. Before the performance
began, a gentleman came on stage and asked for the audience’s understanding as
Lee was just recovering from a cold. The
opera started with first a monologue and then a duet by Lee, and my reaction
was “wow, if this is how the guy sounds like when he is not well, I can’t
imagine how good he would be if he is healthy.”
As the first part (Acts 1 and 2) came to a close, I began to notice his
voice was fading – and I am an amateur when it comes to the voice. I told Anne during the intermission that they
should for his sake take him out; I couldn’t imagine continuing would be good
for his voice. He continued with Act 3,
and he was really struggling, with his voice drowning out by his co-stars and
the orchestra constantly. Sure enough,
after the second intermission, it was announced that Lee couldn’t continue and
would be replaced by a singer’s name I didn’t get. I was admiring the depth of
Met’s roster when I neighbor told me she heard it was Tamura who was scheduled
to sing. She may well be right, but then
I am disappointed at how he did, he wasn’t as clear in the singing, and not as
convincing in the acting. Surprisingly,
all this didn’t quite detract from the flow of the opera, or my enjoyment of
it. Of course I am left to wonder what a
“flawless” performance by Lee would have been like.
While the
Armenian soprano Haroutounian would never be mistaken for a 14-year old, she
was a credible Elisabeth. I was
particularly impressed with Furlanetto as King Philip, his bass voice has such
a heft befitting the role. If I may be
again so bold as to compare singer, he reminds me of James Morris who played
the role of the Grand Inquisitor this evening. We heard James Morris as Hans Sachs in Die
Meistersinger recently, there he put in a command performance, here is role is
better characterized as a cameo appearance.
I am writing
part of this review while in Providentiales, Turks and Caicos, so some details
may escape me as I don’t have Playbill with me.
Although the sets are quite new – debuting a couple of years ago – they are
quite traditional in appearance. A gate
is a gate, for example. They are also
cleverly designed. Even though some
props were huge, there was little interruption – if any – between scenery
changes. Most scenes closed with a
curtain coming down with Carlo left exposed on stage. I don’t get the message behind it.
This opera is
considered one of Verdi’s most ambitious works, and contains many nice musical
numbers. However, the subject matter is
so grim that few of them have found their way into the popular repertoire. For instance, “Auto-da-fe” is a powerful
chorus number, but which chorus will reprise a song that is associated with the
public parade and burning of condemned heretics? The only happy moments are to be found at the
beginning of the opera wherein Carlo and Elisabeth declare their love for one
another. The other fact is the opera
premiered in Paris, in French.
One more
thing. Opera Philadelphia’s production
also boasts famous singers such as Michelle De Young and Eric Owens. The performance is 3 hours 7 minutes, with a
20 minute break. So the performers have
better stamina, and they have more bathroom facilities.
This is the
second time we sat in the Orchestra section, and the voices were all clearly
heard (with Lee’s problems noted.) However,
I found to my disappointment that the orchestra sounded a lot more muffled in
our seats. Here we could see the
conductor, but no one else. I was so
looking forward to the orchestra music, as the Playbill describes it as a
foundation that allows the vocal parts to “go crazy.”
It was very late
when we were done, and I drove CS’s car back to New Jersey. I am glad I got a chance to see this, and
cost is only a small part of the equation.
The New York Times review is glowing, especially in the way the review
describes how well the conductor and the orchestra did. He had a lot of praise for Lee, and also points out that Furlanetto is 64, younger than Morris by only a few years.
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