And the winner is: Terence Blanchard’s Champion comes to the Met

Ryan Speedo Green (Young Emile Griffith) and the cast of Champion

Latonia Moore (Emelda), Ryan Speedo Green (Young Emile Griffith) and Paul Groves (Howie Albert)

Ryan Speedo Green (Young Emile Griffith) and Eric Owens (Emile Griffith)

Edward Nelson (Man in Bar) and Ryan Speedo Green (Young Emile Griffith)

By Robert Levine, 24 April 2023

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“Ryan Speedo Green is splendid as the central Emile”

Reviewed at Lincoln Center: Metropolitan Opera House, New York City on 18 April 2023

Blanchard, Champion: An Opera in Jazz

Metropolitan Opera

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Conductor

James Robinson, Director

Allen Moyer, Set Designer

Paul Tazewell, Costume Designer

Donald Holder, Lighting Designer

The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

The Metropolitan Opera Chorus

Greg Emetaz, Projection designer

Eric Owens, Emile Griffith

Ryan Speedo Green, Young Emile Griffith

Latonia Moore, Emelda Griffith

Stephanie Blythe, Kathy Hagan

Eric Greene, Benny 'Kid' Paret

Paul Groves, Howie Albert

Camille A Brown, Choreography

Asmik Grigorian strengthens the Met’s revival of Eugene Onegin

Susan Stempleski, 20th April

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

****1

Innocence: Saariaho’s final opera receives New York premiere

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

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.

*****

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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.