It amazes us that people still wear gowns and tuxes to the Met. (And really, in the Family Circle? Gurl, that's barely appropriate for a season opening night.) Especially when the rather sold-out audience at the Metropolitan opera on Thursday night looked more like six o'clock at PJ Clarke's than...well...where do people wear tuxes anymore?!? But we digress and must get back on topic, that being the premiere of Le Comte Ory as directed by Bartlett Sher and featuring the most star studded casts assembled at the Met this season. Frankly, We have been anticipating this performance since last year's season announcement and have hungered for it since. And the end result is....
Pretty good. Pretty good. But far from great.
Now, is it wrong to blame a composer who has been dead for almost 150 years for a production's failure? We feel the need to put some of the negative criticism on Rossini whose music for Le Comte can be rather uninteresting, especially during the first act. (Matters are made worse by a less than inspired orchestra, but more on that later.) Aside from an aria or two early on, it takes a good while for the opera to reach its full stride. That said, by the time the countess appears, fireworks ensue. And really even here, without the participation of three extraordinary singers, this opera would hardly take flight. Thankfully, this production was blessed with Juan Diego Flórez, Joyce DiDonato, and Diana Damrau; singers that (occasionally) allowed this production to soar. But first, lets talk about the production itself.
Sher's Le Comte is told as a performance within a performance. This approach is less meta than one might except, and surprisingly, serves the libretto quite well. Unlike Mary Zimmerman's take on La Sonnambula, Sher's vision is less "how can we make this production different?" and more "how can we make the story clear?" I must say, if required to chose between the two approaches, Family Circle is in the latter camp. Sher sets the production on the stage of a theater in Parma circa 1828 (the year of the opera's premiere). The proscenium of the set is rigged with rotating mechanical wheels that operate in tandem with the movement of the set pieces that create the impression that these wheels are causing the sets to rise and fall. 19th century "effects" are employed throughout - a tip of the hat to Sher for his attention to detail - including wobbling thin sheets of metal to imitate the sound of thunder. The functionality and unobtrusiveness of the production can not be understated, nor can Sher's attention to period detail. Sadly, this clarity and detail is used alongside some rather tired tricks. Much like his Il barbiere di Siviglia, also at the Met, a large blank backdrop is employed with minimal setting placed in the forefront (much of it was physically brought onto the stage by singers or supernumeraries).
Sher's Ory isn't bad, per se. In fact, it can be a lot of fun especially during the opera's more uproarious scenes. Still, a feeling of safeness and sameness bogs down this production. It's true, the Met now has a production of Le Comte that it can shift in and out of the repertory to feature the future singer of the moment who seeks to demonstrate their tremendous bel canto abilities. However, for regulars of the Met, without future star casting, this production will be a skip.
Whew...so now that that's done with, let's talk about the singing! Thankfully, this production features artist of such skill as to make even an adequate production tremendous.
What can you say about Juan Diego Flórez that hasn't already been said? His position as bel canto king is rather undisputed (but watch out JDF, Lawrence Brownlee is showing some mad skills...)? For those who haven't had the Flórez-experience, what often strikes us as surprising is the lightness of his tenor. However, despite the less than epic volume of his instrument, his technical skill is unmatched. With Le Comte, JDF gave us his gorgeous and elegant legato throughout the evening, accented by his virtuoso coltuortura. Still, what makes a JDF experience fun is the actor behind the singer. The man fearlessly throws himself behind his work. Here, those moments were occassionally a bit corny, but more often than not, they simply made us adore the man that much more.
Of the three featured artists, Damrau is less known as a bel canto arteest. Indeed, some of her ornamented passages felt a little less refined than her two co-stars. That said, the diva simply radiated heat and effortlessly tossed off high Cs. Damrau is a tremendous talent in the comedic repertory, but FC feels as though her skills are better employed in more dramatic material.
In the trouser role of Isolier, Joyce DiDonato wasn't afforded the same stage time as her compatriots but managed to leave a distinct impression, especially in her first act aria. Our love of the woman is not unknown, so it is a bit hard to be impartial. That said her performance was no less dazalling then Flórez. DiDonato gave a heartfelt performance and served as the emotional center of the piece.
The vocal interplay as all as the performances among the three stars in the second act trio was a joy to behold. It is rare to see artists so clearly at the prime of their careers at once on stage. Truely, this alone was worth the price of admission.
We wish we had better words for the usually exquisite Met orchestra and chorus, but we felt that their respective performances were lazy. Perhaps technically correct, but otherwise, the music felt listless. Wethinks the blame should fall upon Maurizio Benini whose ear of the material was rather limp.
In all, an enjoyable production of fine opera with some incredible performances. Will we go back? With this cast, any day. Otherwise, we'll wait and see who is on the marque outside.
Posted by: |