A pleasant Cendrillon première at the Metropolitan Opera

By Edward Sava-Segal, 23 April 2018

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“Blythe, stole the show with her stentorian, dusky voice and her riveting gift for comedy”

Reviewed at Lincoln Center: Metropolitan Opera House, New York City on 20 April 2018

Massenet, Cendrillon

Metropolitan Opera

Bertrand de Billy, Conductor

Laurent Pelly, Director, Costume Designer

Barbara de Limburg, Set Designer

Joyce DiDonato, Cinderella

Stephanie Blythe, Mme de la Haltière

Alice Coote, Prince Charming

Kathleen Kim, Fairy

Laurent Naouri, Pandolfe

Ying Fang, Noémie

Maya Lahyani, Dorothée

The Metropolitan Opera Chorus

The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Laura Scozzi, Choreography

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The Lithuanian soprano’s riveting performance as the central character in Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece lights up Deborah Warner’s mostly bland production.

****1

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Kurt Gottschalk, 6th April

At the Metropolitan Opera, Innocence proves a gripping and perhaps divisive piece which feels real because it is a reflection of our reality, with no realistic hope of finding peace.

*****

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

No’a L. bat Miri, 9th March

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***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.

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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.

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Edward Sava-Segal

Edward has been living in New York for the last 25 years, one of the reasons being the extraordinarily rich cultural life in this city. He has studied piano and classical music in his early years. He switched later on to computer science and data architecture but he kept an unwavering interest in following the classical music phenomenon here in New York and in his travels. Edward occasionally reviews fine arts events for the most prestigious literary magazine in Romania, his home country.

A pleasant last première of the season at the Metropolitan Opera