Alagna shines as murky Cav and exciting Pag reappear at The Met

By Robert Levine, 09 January 2018

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“‘Vesti la giubba’ was not milked, it was handsomely, bitterly sung”

Reviewed at Lincoln Center: Metropolitan Opera House, New York City on 8 January 2018

Mascagni, Cavalleria rusticana

Leoncavallo, Pagliacci

Metropolitan Opera

Nicola Luisotti, Conductor

Sir David McVicar, Director

Rae Smith, Set Designer

Moritz Junge, Costume Designer

Ekaterina Semenchuk, Santuzza

Roberto Alagna, Turiddu, Canio

George Gagnidze, Alfio, Tonio

Rihab Chaieb, Lola

Jane Bunnell, Mamma Lucia

Aleksandra Kurzak, Nedda

Alessio Arduini, Silvio

Andrew Bidlack, Beppe

The Metropolitan Opera Chorus

The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Tristan und Isolde at the Met: staging gets in the way of the music

No’a L. bat Miri, 9th March

Michael Spyres shines in his debut as Tristan alongside powerhouse soprano Lise Davidsen as Isolde in Yuval Sharon's new, beguiling production at the Metropolitan Opera.

***11

Ailyn Pérez is the perfect Butterfly in the Met’s revival

Robert Levine, 13th January

Good Butterflys are not that difficult to come by but great ones are very very rare. Ailyn Pérez fits the bill in this revival of Anthony Minghella’s classic staging.

*****

Vocal thrills in Met’s traditional staging of Bellini’s I puritani

Susan Stempleski, 31st December

Marco Armiliato conducts a finely balanced rendition of Bellini's final masterpiece with a stellar cast headed by Lisette Oropesa and Lawrence Brownlee.

*****

Porgy and Bess returns stronger than ever at the Met

Robert Levine, 7th December

Back to Catfish Row for another revival of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess and James Robinson’s show continue to wow our writer.

*****

Singers bring passion and excitement to Met’s Andrea Chénier revival

Susan Stempleski, 24th November

The Metropolitan Opera kicks off this season’s revival of Umberto Giordano’s tempestuous melodrama with standout performances from a resplendent cast.

****1

Willis-Sørensen headlines a successful Arabella revival at the Met

Ako Imamura, 10th November

The Metropolitan Opera revives Otto Schenk’s venerable staging of Strauss’s intimate melodrama.

****1

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Robert Levine

Robert T. Levine is a New York born-and-bred music writer with a particular interest in music for the voice. His work has appeared in many periodicals and newspapers. He is the author of many books, including The Story of the Orchestra, four volumes in the Black Dog & Leventhal Opera Library, and, most recently, Maria Callas: A Musical Biography.