The Pearl Fishers: a lackluster evening at The Met

By Ako Imamura, 18 November 2018

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Reviewed at Lincoln Center: Metropolitan Opera House, New York City on 17 November 2018

Bizet, Les Pêcheurs de perles

Metropolitan Opera

Emmanuel Villaume, Conductor

Penny Woolcock, Director

Dick Bird, Set Designer

Kevin Pollard, Costume Designer

Mariusz Kwiecień, Zurga

Alexander Birch Elliott, Zurga

Pretty Yende, Leïla

Javier Camarena, Nadir

Nicolas Testé, Nourabad

Stephen Pickover, Revival Director

The Metropolitan Opera Chorus

The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Asmik Grigorian strengthens the Met’s revival of Eugene Onegin

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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

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.

*****

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***11

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

Robert Levine, 13th January

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*****

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

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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

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*****

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Ako Imamura

Atsuko (Ako) Imamura is a retired investment banker in New York City. Born in Japan, she trained as cultural anthropologist in the US before turning to ﬁnance. She now spends her time attending opera and classical music concerts in New York and in Europe. Wagner is her favorite opera composer.