![]() In the inaugural run of this production, Piotr Beczała Duke was essentially a slick playboy, and so he remains for the first act or so. Much of the credit for this change goes to the evolution of its star tenor’s performance. Morsels of cheese remain, particularly in the stylized Met titles (He: “You send me to the moon, baby!” / She: “Easy, fella!”), but on the whole the production’s feel has darkened considerably, to the point that it now wrestles with the most difficult questions in the libretto. When Michael Mayer’s Vegas strip staging debuted in 2013 in a flood of neon, it seemed gimmicky, taking its re-imagining of the scenario dangerously close to alternate-period parody. Let’s hope it can all be written off as a single bad night. His voice lacked its accustomed richness, and his pitch wandered all evening-on sustained notes it tended southward, frequently by as much as a quarter tone. That approach won him little sympathy as Verdi’s abused, antiheroic hunchback.īut even on a basic level, Lučić struggled mightily in a role with which he is exceedingly familiar. Dramatically, he has a tendency to rely on his physical presence and brooding mien as a basis for a more complete characterization, an approach that has served him well enough in villainous roles such as Macbetto, Jago, and Scarpia. The usually reliable Željko Lučić was, unfortunately, not himself in Wednesday’s performance. One high, misty pianissimo lingered for six seconds at least, never showing any signs of wavering or breaking. Her buoyant, gleeful account of the headline aria “Caro nome” earned an extended ovation, as she showed beguiling coloratura and threw in graceful ornamentation high above the staff. She sings with remarkable ease, no matter where she is in her range or what effect she is trying to achieve: the beautiful flow of her middle voice was matched by accurate, graceful high notes, none of them ever grabbed or forced. There was an endearing innocence about Nadine’s Gilda, in both her physicality and her voice itself, a lemony, glowing instrument that carried superbly into the house. For her Met debut on Wednesday night, the Fort Lauderdale native gave an excellent performance as Gilda, a vocal and dramatic achievement that showed she is an artist ready for a significant career with this company. ![]() This is a season of big debuts for Sierra, who appeared already at the Bastille and will be making her bow at La Scala in the new year. It’s a shame there weren’t more listeners on hand for her first Met appearance. ![]() A talented singer who has made several New York recital appearances and sung major roles with major international opera companies, the American soprano is hardly an unknown quantity. In the past few seasons, the Metropolitan Opera has used notable debuts as opportunities to lend a little extra hype to a revival, often with considerable success.īy contrast, Nadine Sierra’s company debut in Wednesday’s Rigoletto seemed somehow to have flown under the radar, though through no fault of her own. ![]() Nadine Sierra as Gilda in the Metropolitan Opera production of Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” Photo: Jonathan Tichler ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |