Gay “Marriage”
Although I have always preferred Levine in 20th century works, he is in fine form. Levine keeps the flow of the opera moving briskly along without feeling rushed, which is the key challenge in Figaro, but the performance is not without its rough edges. Uncharacteristically there are occasions where the orchestra threatens to run away on him. The end of the act two finale, for example feels dangerous close to the brink as the string section rushes ahead, but Levine is able to wrestle them back into control. But these moments are few and far between, and in general Levine does an admirable job.
The production, new in 1985, is by the late, great Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. A marvelously specific director, he really understood 18th-century operas and when he had a great cast of singer-actors at his disposal, as he did here, the stage was electric. Every detail is in place, every line given definite meaning, every relationship examined. How often does one see Figaro and Susanna in such an easy, loving partnership, or the red-hot attraction between Cherubino and the Countess? Right down to the smallest roles, the cast functions like a well-oiled machine under Ponnelle’s deft hand.
That cast is an excellent one and features two performances that could, and should, be called definitive. The first is, of course, Frederica von Stade’s Cherubino. Many say she was the definitive Cherubino of the 20th Century, and this video proves their point. She is so unwaveringly right in the part. Every nuance she brings to the role, both musically and dramatically, is spot-on. There’s really not much more to be said; this is the Cherubino of a lifetime.
[From a previous release of this performance.]
The other standout is Thomas Allen’s Count. Truly one of the great Mozart baritones, and quite possibly the greatest, Allen delivers a stunningly strong Almaviva. Impeccably sung and simmering with the same energy that served him so well as Don Giovanni, Allen is an extremely dangerous, intelligent Count who is far from easy to resist or outwit. When his passion boils over in an intense “Hai gia vinta la causa”, it is the high point of a phenomenal portrayal.
The fact that these two titan performances do not unbalance the ensemble nature of Figaro is mainly due to the strength of the other principles. The Countess of Carol Vaness is also exceptional, beginning the second act with a stunning “Porgi amor” that is a fabulous indicator for her performance as a whole. In a nice touch, her Rosina grows stronger and more assertive as the evening progresses, and she shows an unexpected flair for comedy in her all-too-innocent posing after Cherubino is rapidly hidden in the closet.
Ruggero Raimondi, sporting a vintage moustache that makes him look disturbingly like Ron Jeremy, is an angrier, more emotional Figaro than the norm. He starts off in somewhat coarse voice (“Sei voi ballare” is quite rough) but by the time “Aprite un po’ quegli ‘occhi” rolls around, he is able to launch a blistering attack on the fairer sense in a magnificent rendition of the aria. Kathleen Battle’s Susanna is the weakest of the five principles, but only by a hair. She is a polarizing performer, and I find her stage persona excessively syrupy, especially in contrast with her well-known backstage antics. She sings the role very well, concluding in a lovely, hushed “Deh vieni non tardar”, but she is a little too sugary for the witty Susanna.
The supporting cast is admirably filled out. Arthur Korn and Jocelyne Taillon are extremely stylish as Figaro’s parents, and the expert presence of Michel Sénéchal as Basilio is very welcome. The reliable presences of James Courtney and Anthony Laciura are more than welcome as Antonio and Curzio. Dawn Upshaw, who was only about twenty-five at the time of the performance, makes much out of little in Barbarina’s aria; the makings of a major Mozartean are clearly evident. In this performance, it is Upshaw and Von Stade who sing the duet for the two village girls during the act three wedding sequence. It’s probably never been better sung.
The performance’s only major downside is the set design, also by Ponnelle. However persuasive he might be as a director, he leaves something to be desired as a designer. It is an unenviable task to stage such an intimate opera as Figaro on the Met’s giant stage, but Ponelle’s spacious rooms are too large and too gloomy for the lightness in the music. His tonal pallette ranges from beige to grey, and as a result this most colorful of operas has quite a bit of color bleached from it.
The costumes (also Ponnelle) are better, barring a few really ugly wigs, but the lighting seems off, with the singers often in shadow. Perhaps they did not adjust them for the cameras, but in any case it’s a rare stumble for resident lighting designer Gil Wechsler. But in this case, where the dramatic and musical elements are so strong, the set and lighting are just the wrapping paper. And even the ugliest wrapping paper can’t spoil such a gift as this exceptional performance. Its DVD release (in James Levine: Celebrating 40 Years at the Met -- DVD Box Set
“Jocelyne Taillon ”
Big pal of Billingsgate, apparently. An otherwise inexplicable Met career except maybe in PELLEAS.
Oh come on, she’s a plummy mezzo with the ability to play pretentiousness in a humorous fashion. What else do you want for Marcellina?
You have a point as far as it goes. My own problem is the history I have with Taillon.
After La Cieca, Erda, Angelica-Principess, Schicci-Zita, and Troyens-Anna, I would cringe when Taillon would appear in a cast list even something not so unsuitable as Genevieve or Marcellina.
Best review of Taillon I ever saw (forget who wrote it) was after her Anna in the Met’s 83-84 Troyens: “Long on French, short on voice”.
“Pal of Billingsgate” = “brouteuse de pelouse”?
That explains why Berini was robbed of the telecast of Suor Angelica. I really could not understand why with Berini around they had given the Princess to Taillon.
Plus Berini would have been terrific as Zita. Taillon is gruesome in this role.
Billinghurst and Friend have indeed shoved many of their “favorites” down the Met audience’s throats over they years.
I still remember the telecast. I enjoyed Berini immensely in Tabarro and assumed she’d sing all the three mezzo roles, as customary. When I saw Taillon’s name scrolling on the screen right before the beginning of Suor Angelica, my blood froze. I was so disappointed. If it weren’t for Renata I would have switched off the TV. And in Schicchi her diction was atrocious.
Did anyone else see this or have a copy of this performance? While Baritenor is an excellent reviewer; I would like to get someone else’s take on La Battle’s performance. She is such a polarizing figure that I find that everyone reviews her based on their personal views of her (including myself). I do remember seeing this as a Live From The met performance, but I was 16 at the time and was very new to opera and my opinions/tastes/critiques have changed drastically since then.
NYCOQ – You can rent it from the Met Player for like four bucks . And thanks.
Baritenor I hope that you did not take offense at my question, but we all filter our our opinions of performances through our opinions of them as people. And she is one of those performers that people have STRONG opinions about. After seeing that performance on TV I thought that she was just the bee’s knees. Jump to 15 years later and it was all about Barbara Bonney in that role for me. The whole thing is that I am debating shelling out the bucks for the dvd set and I am loving the reviews of each individual dvd. Now that I know that I can preview the performances on the Met Real Player I can make a more informed decision. Thanks for the info.
Most of the later performances I have either seen live or I can vividly remember the performances from television. At this point I think that I may hold off until they make the dvds available individually, but watching the perforamces on RealPlayer may change my mind.
You just called me an excellent critic, so don’t worry about offending me! Battle IS such a polarizing singer and it took me a long time to decide how to write her up. In the end, she just doesn’t inhabit the character like th thee cast members do. She remains “Kathleen Battle as Susanna”. That’s not to say it’s not a fine performance; she’s excellent in th role. She just isn’t as good as the other four singers.
I haven’t seen it myself but a friend of mine described Battle’s Susannah as “oozing with sexuality” and one of her best roles.
Your friend has odd tastes in sex. Kathy never oozed with anything except self-love and appliqued charm. She sings well in a monochrome sound. But despite some rapturous NYT reviews it was not a great Susannah, merely good.
Better Susannas I have seen than Battle: Helen Donath, Barbara Bonney, Judith Blegen, Gianna Rolandi, Dorothea Roeschman, Ailyn Perez, Christine Brandes…
Well, the friend in question is a gay man, so what does he know?
All bar one of them from the US, I note, kruno.
What’s the American for ‘Vicar’?
I saw this with this cast. Battle sang sweetly and acted pertly but for me the voice was simply too
weak to ride the ensembles and be heard on an even keel with the other singers – it may come over better on video. A small voiced Susanna who does not project well throws an inbalance into the sonorities of the ensembles and Susanna is virtually in every single duet, trio and all the larger ensembles. For me, with a voice of similar size,
Reri Grist was far more effective than Battle.
But the best Susannas seen, in my opinion, were the lyrics particularly Irmgard Seefried (seen in her radiant prime at the Met in her debut in 1953),
Gueden, Freni, Popp and others.
I might argue also with the statement that von Stade was THE Cherubino of the last century – von Stade was certainly the preferred Cherubino for a period of time and was superb, but she was not superior to Jurinac or Gueden or a number of others.
Vaness was a good Mozartian, attractive on the stage, knew the style, but often I found that she would sing five or seven good notes and then lose the line a bit vocally. I do not consider Vaness to be in the league with Schwarzkopf, della Casa, Jurinac, Janowitz, Margaret Price or Isokoski and a few ohers as the Countess.
Favorite Figaros including Kunz, Siepi, Berry, Ramey
(not Terfel, he snarled and barked too much).
I like Levine as a Mozart conductor, always a rich fluid sound, full orchestra.
If Battle were singing Susanna in the Redoutensaal in Vienna or some other smaller theater, I think she
would have been more impressive. But then I thought that Grist was also a far better Zerbinetta than Battle as well. I never saw Streich as
Susanna, another smaller voiced soprano who was able to project but who avoided the Met altogether. But Rothenberger was quite a delicious Susanna. So was Isabel Rey and Bonney. Ileana Cotrubas was another lyric, who at a certain stage in her career, sang a luminous Susanna.
As to Cecilia Bartoli – a Mezzo, her Susanna was not to my taste – again, it threw off the balance of the ensembles, and usually Susanna sings the higher line. Plus she over-mugged the role without the charm one expects though some moments vocally were exquisite.
I suppose another reason I did not precisely take to
Battle as Susanna was that, though sweetly sung, there seemed to be a certain sameness to her voice
vocally – less variance, less color than some of the Susanna’s cited.
Nozze is one of my favorite operas and I’ve seen it countless times yet the only “live” Susanna that sticks out in my memory in recent years (last 20 years) is Barbara Bonney who was absolutely exquisite.
I remember hearing Barbara Bonney on a Met radio broadcast and thinking how perfect her voice was for that role – I don’t think I’ve heard another Susanna as impressive since then.
Bonney is a great artist, but we usually bestow that label only on people with big voices. In that we are sometimes wrong.
Where is Barbara Bonney these days? I know she was going through a bitter divorce and announced that she was cancelling her remaining contracts so her husband couldn’t get his share of her earnings, or something like that. That was a couple of years ago.
I love her Strauss Lieder album (with piano). Hearing the Four Last Songs with piano was a revelation of sorts.
Ooh Bill, you are always so fabulously erudite and right on. I had forgotten about Reri Grist. Thank you for your input, always so appreciated by moi.
Also, thanks for reminding people that there was life for Cherubino pre-Flicka, whom I’ve always viewed as too smugly cute.
Mozart is a special style, not as easily replicated outside of Salzburg, Vienna, and Praha, as its propigators in these here United States would want us to believe.
I like Grist quite a lot on the Nozze video from Salzburg although the the style that it performed with is very post WWII Viennese. Unfortunately she never did Susanna at the MEt. But she had more variety and “point” to her singing that Battle did, although Battle’s sound was prettier.
The idea of Frederica von Stade (even in a role) as “smug” has to be one of the most ridiculous things ever asserted here.
Thanks for the comments, Bill.
Do you have any idea why Seefried didn’t return to the Met?
Whether you like Bartoli or not, Mozart’s original score had the Countess singing the highest lines, not Susanna. There is some evidence that the original Susanna, Ann ‘Nancy’ Storace (also the original Zerlina in Don Giovanni, a role that sings the lowest female line) was a lyric mezzo.
Storace wasn’t the first Zerlina. She left Vienna shortly after the premiere of Nozze. I think the first Zerlina in Vienna was Dorotea Bussani who was also the first Cherubino, but I’ll have to check that.
Sorry – Caterina Bondini was the first Zerlina in Prague and Luisa Mombelli as the first Zerlina in Vienna.
And there is a lot of confusion about who sang which line in Figaro because Storace was originally cast as the Countess but switched to Susanna when it became clear that the latter was the more important role. In the Act II trio the Countess sings the top line, rising to C, which is out of character with the rest of the part which is usually lower than Susanna’s. For a long time, Susannas used to sing the top line, which could be because Mozart usually wrote the ensembles before the arias and when he wrote the trio, he may have envisaged Storace still as the Countess and so gave her the higher line, but switched the higher line to Susanna’s part when Storace changed parts. This would suggest that she was a highish soprano. Mozart also wrote Ch’io mi scordi di te as a farewell prezzie to Storace when she left Vienna – this wonderful concert aria can be sung by mezzos but it is usually sung by sopranos. In any case, the soprano-mezzo distinction in Mozart’s time was hardly made. Dorabella and Cherubino can clearly be sung by either mezzos or sopranos, and Fiordligi’s part goes much lower than Dorabellas.
I was lucky enough to see Allen and Vaness in the wonderful Schaaf production at CG in the late 80s. They were both terrific, although Claudio Desderi stole the show as a definitive Figaro. I’m going to keep banging on about Desderi on here until someone takes any notice, by the way- one of the greatest singing actors I have ever seen. His ‘Aprite un po’ managed to be a great howl of pain while also being true to the score at every turn- I can’t be bothered with people mugging their way buffoishly through that aria any more.
That ‘Figaro’ was broadcast on TV over here, actually; I wonder if any of it is on youtube. It also had , on the plus side, a glorious Susanna from Marie McLaughlin, and on the minus a dull Cherubino from one Stella Kliendienst.
Hurrah! Found it.
“on the minus a dull Cherubino from one Stella Kliendienst.”
Where was Pamela Helen Stephen, Vicar?
Oh look. Projection.
This is excellent. Thanks for sharing, AJ.
Thanks Bill!
My favorite Cherubino is the young Christa Ludwig, on the Böhm Nozze from Salzburg, 1954.
Best legs, and a great soprano Cherubino, with the wonderful Claire Watson, and Reri Grist:
I believe that is Edith Mathis as Cherubino. Who by the way I have never seen as Cherubino. Wonderful. And, points well taken about Reri Grist who even in this small clip is superb!
I am a pretty big Battle fan and I’ve seen this performance on the Met Player and heard the 1987 broadcast with (I think) a much improved cast including Hampson as the Count, Soderstram as the Countess and Battle and Von Stade returning. When you listen to how much Battle’s Susanna has matured into a woman, rather than as the reviewer accurately described, overly sugary, its a wonder why they haven’t released *that* recording at least on CD. I think this performance is seriously hurt by the horrid production. The stage is a sound swallowing cavern and seems to be doing nothing for any of these voices. Especially Thomas Allen who, contrary to this review, sounds underpowered throughout the performance, though he looks the part.
Well, here’s where we part ways I guess. Hampson has a bigger voice than Allen, sure. But he does not use his instrument half as well. They’re actually both good comparisons: two committed singing actors who sing much of the same rep, both tall, handsome and named Thomas. However, in direct omparison as the Count, I find Tommy A. wipes the floor with Tommy H. Allen is elegant, slimy but with a certain kind of aristocratic allure. Hampson is blustery and coarser, lustier but not as inherently noble. Vocally too Allen has more control over his gifts than Hampson, who too often turns to hectoring and shouting. No contest. Allen Every time.
Baritenor, have to agree 100%. Hampson and his hectoring and crooning, exactly the same words I would use, are boring. Sometimes he inhabits a good middle ground between the two, but not very often these days.
The whole performance is also available in 10 minute segments on youtube. Here is the link to the whole playlist:
http://www.youtube.com/user/antmusique#grid/user/3BAB77289B0C9B7F
and some battle excerpts:
Via resta servita
Venite inginocchiatevi
Canzonetta sull’aria
Deh vieni non tardar
This is the famous production that soured Battle and Vaness’ relationship forever. Battle (allegedly) insisted on the prima donna’s dressing room, going (again, allegedly) all the way to placing Vaness’ costumes outside of the dressing room. Isn’t this when Vaness (allegedly) told her to go fuck herself after the run was over and refused to ever share the stage with Battle again?
Didn’t Battle get the final female curtain call? I don’t ever remember Susanna coming out for her curtain call after the Countess before this performance.
Maybe she got the final curtain call as one of the five principals…
Sorry – my name is manou and I am a nitpicker.
Well, Battle was splitting hairs with this one. Given how many prima donnas (of the nightingale kind) sang Susanna in the late XIXth and early XXth century, it had become traditional for the Susanna to be considered the prima donna of the show (like anyone would say to Patti or Melba: “No, you will not take the last curtain call, that will be miss B. over there“)
So Battle sought to revive that tradition, given how she held herself in high regards. I am not sure how long before this performance people were aware of her antics, but AFTER this one, there was no turning back to Kathy-the-nice-kindergarten-teacher-who-sang-so-beautifully.
Well, let’s remember that this is a rumor (admittedly one that La Cieca herself has retailed more than once) and as such we don’t have documentary details of exactly what happened when.
In Battle’s (sort of) defense, she very often seemed to be clueless about this kind of fringe tradition stuff, e.g., who’s got the “leading” role in such-and-such an opera. I think it’s at least conceivable that (assuming the story is true) Battle could have arrived at the theater that first night dressing rooms were assigned and genuinely, sincerely thought a mistake had been made. Of course part of the job of an opera company’s administration is to have people around to handle this kind of misunderstanding before it escalates into a scandal, and apparently that system wasn’t functioning properly in this case.
The curtain calls for the Met’s current production of Figaro send Figaro and Susanna out as a couple for the final bow, if I recall corrrectly.
I think couple bows work best for this opera.
Yes, in the Bartoli/Terfel/Fleming braodcast, Fleming took a bow first, followed by Bartoli and Terefel as a pair.
Susanna is the longest soprano role in the rep, no? I think that justifies the final bow, even if the Countess gets the grander arias.
I hated that production when it was new and recently saw a video of it and still felt the same way. It was a boring, undefined production and Miller seemed to be willing to just abandon any thought of direction, leaving Bartoli and Terfel to mug their way through it. They did everything but mud wrestle.
Hard to admit these days, but for me the only saving grace was Fleming’s Countess. The night I saw it she paused before starting the second verse of Dove Sono. She sat back and just moved her foot slightly. It sounds a bit cheesey but was actually magical and much of the audience just held their breath for her to begin the second verse.
Actually I like Mentzer quite a bit as Cherubini but thought the rest of it was just a mess.
It’s generous of La Cieca to come to Ms. Battle’s defence, but this longtime lurker in Toronto has a similar story which I heard directly from my friend, the late contralto, Maureen Forrester. She and Battle were the soloists for a Mahler 2nd with a major orchestra, and Forrester, having the larger part, had been assigned the no. 1 dressing room. Ms. Battle arrived and removed Forrester’s things to the corridor and took over the dressing room. Maureen’s reaction? “Oh Kathy! I could just as easily get changed in a bathroom.”
I should add that I had become an instant Battle fan some years before, I think in 1983, when she first appeared in Toronto to sing the soprano roles in Handel’s “Solomon”. The audience was blown away by her first aria and burst into applause, not the usual practice during an oratorio.
I subsequently enjoyed a few of her recitals, but they soon became repetitive and boring, and her platform manner lacked charm. Sad to see such a promising career proceed as it did.
Battle is wonderful in the role, but her excellence is entirely one dimensional. Sweet shimmery tone, lovely legato, pert and cute to a fault, and did I mention that sweet bell-like voice?
The role has more in it, however.
For me, Popp, Freni and Gueden were the perfect housemaids!
But Battle has such a sweet voice!!!!! And she was hot too!
The “Porgi amor” I can no longer bring to mind, however, Vaness’ “Dove sono” was exemplarary and explained to me her reputation as a worthy Mozart singer. This I had on tape from the eighties, and viewed multiple times, back then.
Battle’s Susanna? Where’s the harm? Would you rather have la Bartoli? I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t know, though, as I never saw that edition of Figaro.
I liked Battle quite a lot in this production. At this point I was still a big, big fan. I first heard of her in a Figaro broadcast from somewhere in the US with Steber(!) as the Countess. I first her her on stage in a L’italiana revival in the early 80s at the Met. She make a nice but not overwhelming impression but enough so that I went to her next role, Pamina in Magic Flute, again ca 1981. It wasn’t a very robust sound as Pamina but extremely beautiful with a wonderful crystaline quality. Just stunning.
I loved her silvery, clear sound as Despina, Sophie and
Zdenka. Around this time she also appeared in a Gala of the Stars thing on PBS where she sang “He’s got the whole world” with a silvery , radiant Eflat at the end.
Did I say I was a fan??????
I liked the Susanna in the Ponelle Figaro a lot, but the lack of variety nagged at me just a bit. But jeez, the sound was just so beautiful.
The Carnegie Semele was somewhere around here and this rather limited character worked very well for her and she both sang and looked stunning.
The next go round was Zerbinetta and that was very disappointing. I think the commercial release may have been groomed a bit to smooth over some of the uglier moments, the performance I saw had her very tense, snatching breaths everywhere, cutting up phrases, and at some of the most difficult points, the High D trill, the two high E’s just stopping what she was singing and letting out screams. It was just two difficult and two high for her.
Next time was Cleopatra and that was pretty much it. She sounded once more very beautiful but all the arias seemed slow and lacked both variety and energy. It was lovely but sort of boring. Plus there was the start of a sea change in her voice. I find that around the time she hit her 40th birthday, her voice lost some of it’s crystal like purity. The middle particularly was sort of cloying and furry compared to it’s earlier clarity.
I think that was the last time I saw her. After the Caesare she mostly concentrated on things like Barber and Elisir and these are not operas I really like and so that was pretty much the end of my great love affair with her. I saw her on the Flute telecast from the Met in the early 90s and didn’t really like it, she hadn’t really grown emotionally and the voice just wasn’t as free and clear . At this point she really made a meal of that pulling her lips over her gums and sucking in a nd out both breath and sound.
Plus the increasingly elaborate TV concerts started to appear with a fairly bizarre aura about them.
But I have to say I found her just stunning and her voice carried better when it was clearer and more easily produced than later. It had much more float than it did after the late 80s came and went.
Nerva Nelli @ 1: I hate to burst your bubble, but since Sarah Billinghurst didn’t come to the Met until the mid-90s, how could she be responsible for the Met career of an artist who last sang there in 1988?
It’s very simple. Whenever anyone who wasn’t born in the US sings at the Met it’s the result of a filthy Commonwealth conspiracy. Hope this helps.
Maybe Nerva mixed up Sally B with Joan Pigpen. Same method.
(ducking)
Richard is right– I mixed up two hags. It was Ingpen who was pals with Taillon and at whom Berini screamed insults backstage about hiring Taillon ( for ADRIANA?) instead of her, the cover.
It was Bilingsgacko, from ate who had Heather Begg brought to San Francisco for Marthe and Annina (separate years, think of that airfare).
Take a cue, Armerjackie, from Figaro:
“Io non impugno mai quel che non so.”
Wow. I’ll know better than to make a joke round here next time, if that’s the kind of weapons-grade pomposity it elicits.
Baritenor, thanks for the interesting review. As fine as he is generally, I would never have figured Raimondi for a Figaro. A propos des bottes – Would you mind emailing me your contact information (battymasetto@sonic.net) so I can get you on the list for the next SF Parterrian gathering?
Here’s what I remember from the telecast: von Stade’s curtain call blew the roof off the house. When Battle came on with her shoulders up and that “surprised” look (Nobody told me there were people here tonight!) that she stole from Leona Mitchell in “Turandot”, the applause dropped appreciatively.
And the dressing room story I heard (true or untrue) is she tossed Vaness’ costumes into the hallway and said “I may play the maid but I don’t be the maid”.
I do know it was at the end of the Japan tour that Vaness and Allen went to her and said they would never work with her again. She is the only thing holding me back from buying this DVD,even with Baritenor’s gracious review. I like the ROH with Miah Persson and chubby Erwin Schrott, Finley and Roschmann. so there.
Baritenor, I’d just take out the “Mozart” and say Sir Thomas is one of the greatest baritones, period. Just because he (wisely) barely dipped his toes into Verdi waters doesn’t diminish his achievement. His Beckmesser was widely hailed. In the lyric baritone rep, he’s peerless. I even saw him at Ravinia in Act II of Samson with Heppner and Graves. Though his voice was theoretically smaller than theirs, it carried far easily, thanks to flawless diction and technique. To me, it least, this clip is about as good as it gets for a baritone:
httpv://www.youtube.com/user/GordonsGirl?feature=mhum#p/f/49/Ev09Vc3bKio
Oops -- here’s the clip!
I will listen to this man sing the municipal transit system guidebook. Thomas Allen is a rock star, and I’m so glad I was able to tell him how much I admired him after ROSENKAVALIER. Hell, I’m just glad I saw him live. That was a great afternoon.
Thomas Allen sang an absolutely gorgeous Onegin in SF in 1986. He’s a real singer’s singer.
According to the Met archives this was performed the night I was borne. It would be cool to have as a souvenir for that reason alone.
The night you were “borne” — as in being put up with? I was bearing the singing of Kathy Battle that night.
LOL