Theater

Tuesday, August 11
Bizet’s Carmen ~ 2Hrs and 52Mins
Starring Aleksandra Kurzak, Clémentine Margaine, Roberto Alagna, and Alexander Vinogradov, conducted by Louis Langrée. From February 2, 2019.

And speaking of tenors – and the Met’s seemingly dismal lack of them… alas, for its third Carmen – we have the second one with Alagna – and we have the very same Sir Richard Eyre production that we have already seen twice before and that had its Met premiere back in 2009. But still – it is Bizet’s ever-popular and wonderfully tuneful opera, even with Roberto Alagna – again – as Don José (and by now an obviously aging one at that!), the wayward military officer whose desperate love for the Gypsy, Carmen, proves to be both of their undoing. Clémentine Margaine is Carmen this time, and sadly does not hold a candle to Elīna Garanča, or even to Anita Rachvelishvili, who both sang the role earlier. This cast also includes soprano Aleksandra Kurzak as the demure Micaëla (hummmm – she is now Alagna’s wife and seems, coincidently, to be appearing in a lot more operas these days) and bass Alexander Vinogradov as the swaggering bullfighter Escamillo. Maestro Louis Langrée was on the podium to conduct the opera, which as everyone should know by now, features one instantly recognizable melody after another. ‘Nough said.

Sunday, August 9
Mozart’s Don Giovanni ~ 3 HRS 13 MIN
Starring Hibla Gerzmava, Malin Byström, Serena Malfi, Paul Appleby, Simon Keenlyside, and Adam
Plachetka, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From October 22, 2016.
After the wonderful May 22nd (with
Sutherland & Morris) and July 3rd (with
Kwiecien & Frittoli) streams of this
marvelous opera, you might think that
we’ve had enough Giovanni for a while – but
this cast has some definite winners in spite
of the repeat of its drab and decidedly
unexciting three-story set recreating an
uninterestingly dark 18th-century Seville.
The consummate singing actor, baritone
Simon Keenlyside (we’ve seen him in Don
Carlo and The Tempest, and as a
remarkable Hamlet) smolders dangerously
in the title role of Mozart’s version of the
legend of Don Juan, creating an unusually
dark portrait of the man who believes he is
a law unto himself, and is all the more
dangerous for his eternally seductive allure.
Keenlyside is far more sinister than either
Morris or Kwiecien in this role. Adam
Plachetka is a fine foil as his occasionally
unruly servant Leporello. As you may
remember, Giovanni tangles with Donna
Anna (Hibla Gerzmava) as the opera opens, and things begin to unravel for him – amusingly aided and
abetted by the reappearance in Seville of Donna Elvira (the wonderful, Malin Byström), who is
determined not to let her seducer go free. Paul Appleby as Don Ottavio, Donna Anna’s eternally
steadfast fiancé adds his delightful tenor to the ensemble. Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads the
Met Orchestra

Saturday, August 8
Handel’s Agrippina ~ 3 HRS 25 MIN
Starring Brenda Rae, Joyce DiDonato, Kate Lindsey, Iestyn Davies, Duncan Rock, and Matthew Rose,
conducted by Harry Bicket. From February 29, 2020.
If this image doesn’t repulse
you – then this is an opera
you MUST see! Handel’s
breakout masterpiece,
Agrippina – he was only 24
when he wrote it – offers an
outrageous, satirical look at
the political maneuverings
and personal entanglements
of the Roman emperor
Claudius and his cadre of
advisers, hangers-on, and
his particularly cunning
wife, Agrippina. Baroque
black comedy had its longawaited
Met premiere this
year in a new production by
Sir David McVicar that
updates the original action
to the present time. The
New York Times called it “a
devilish delight” – and I
completely agree.
Extraordinarily talented mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato delivered a knockout performance in the

Friday, August 7
Wagner’s Parsifal ~ 4 HRS 24 MIN
Starring Waltraud Meier, Siegfried Jerusalem, Bernd Weikl, and Kurt Moll, conducted by James
Levine. From March 28, 1992.
James Levine’s conducting of Wagner’s
last opera, Parsifal, has been described as
“a model of concentrated rapture.” The
Met’s orchestra and chorus—to say
nothing of this classic, all-star cast—are
certainly spellbinding in Otto Schenk’s
production (with sets by Günther
Schneider-Siemssen). Siegfried Jerusalem
(could there be a better name for a
Wagnerian tenor?) is Parsifal, the
ignorant young “pure fool” who finally
achieves wisdom, recaptures the Holy
Spear and restores the Order of the Holy
Grail. The bewitching Waltraud Meier is a
perfect Kundry, Kurt Moll’s Gurnemanz is
both compassionate and wise, while
Bernd Weikl’s suffering fallen knight
Amfortas completes the talented
ensemble.

Thursday, August 6
Puccini’s Madama Butterfly ~ 2 HRS 44 MIN
Starring Kristine Opolais, Maria Zifchak, Roberto Alagna, and Dwayne Croft, conducted by Karel Mark
Chichon. From April 2, 2016.
This is the third goaround
for Anthony
Minghella’s Japanese
noh theater and
bunraku inspired
production of Puccini’s
Madama Butterfly and
it certainly provides us
with an absolutely
stunning setting for the
familiar tragedy. The
heartbreaking story of a
charmingly naive
geisha, who fervently
believes that her
faithless American
husband will return to
her, stars soprano
Kristine Opolais (we’ve just seen her in Manon Lescaut and Rusalka) who brings all of her passionate
commitment to this portrayal of Cio-Cio-San, the teenage girl who gives up everything for an
American navy sailor – Lt. B.F. Pinkerton. Roberto Alagna is the naval officer who refuses to take
seriously the depth of Cio-Cio-San’s love, and whose subsequent marriage to an American woman
precipitates Butterfly’s suicide. Maria Zifchak is always wonderful as Suzuki, Cio-Cio-San’s faithful
servant, and Dwayne Croft is the best possible sympathetic American consul, Sharpless, who tries but
fails to avert the tragedy he knows is coming. Karel Mark Chichon conducts.