A Rosenkavalier for the radio

By Robert Levine, 18 April 2017

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“There was not a note in the role that wasn’t cleanly placed and refulgent”

Reviewed at Lincoln Center: Metropolitan Opera House, New York City on 17 April 2017

Strauss R., Der Rosenkavalier

Metropolitan Opera

James Levine, Conductor

Robert Carsen, Director

Paul Steinberg, Set Designer

Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Costume Designer

Renée Fleming, Feldmarschallin

Elīna Garanča, Octavian

Erin Morley, Sophie

Markus Brück, Herr von Faninal

Günther Groissböck, Baron Ochs

Alan Oke, Valzacchi

Helene Schneiderman, Annina

Matthew Polenzani, Italian Singer

The Metropolitan Opera Chorus

The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

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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.

A Rosenkavalier for the radio at The Met