Ciel! quante belle frasi...

Review of Donal Henahan in The New York Times

Francesco Cilèa’s “Adriana Lecouvreur” may indeed be, as one member of last night’s Metropolitan Opera audience suggested, “an Italian zarzuela.” Taken on those terms, as a comic opera, it does have its charm as well as its longueurs. It also offers a meaty part for a tenor, and the Metropolitan’s hottest young artist in that category, Placido Domingo, again and again lifted the performance out of the depths of fatuity into which it relentlessly lapsed.

Mr. Domingo, a strapping fellow with a plangent and sizable voice, as well as considerable stage magnetism, had made a surprise debut Saturday night, replacing Franco Corelli. So last evening’s appearance, listed in the program as his Metropolitan debut, merely added to his stature. Previously, of course, he had come to stardom at the New York City Opera; but the voice sounded even more impressive in the bigger house.

Birthday anniversaries of novelist Prosper Mérimée (1803), television host Ed Sullivan (1901), and composers Marin Goleminov (1908) and Vivian Fine (1913)

Happy 90th birthday actress, singer and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot