La Cieca's cher public are, as in so many aspects of their existence, well ahead of the curve on foreknowledge of casting at the Met in the
bel canto and
German wings. Perhaps this wintry Friday is a good time to move on to a more semi-substantiated gossip, now on the subject of the operas of
Giuseppe Verdi. (Do keep in mind that none of this is set in stone. In fact, given the Gelb administration's penchant for last minute
switcheroos, one should probably hold off on booking tickets for 2012 until, oh, 2011 at the earliest.) But, anyway, herewith a few
possible highlights of the next five years:
Next season's hot ticket will surely be a rare revival of
Ernani starring
Marcello Giordani,
Sondra Radvanovsky,
Thomas Hampson and
Ferruccio Furlanetto. That certainly sounds more fun than the new
Macbeth "starring"
Andrea Gruber,
Leo Nucci. Carlos Alvarez,
Marco Berti and
Roberto Aronica. Will anyone be surprised at massive audience attrition following the second-act demise of Banco (
John Relyea/
Rene Pape)? Fans of Mr. Berti (if such there be) may expect to hear him as well in revivals of
Ballo (shared with
Salvatore Licitra, and featuring
Dmitri Hvorostovsky's first local Renato) and
Aida (alternating with debutant
Nicola Rossi-Giordano in an otherwise dismal cast).
Renee Fleming offers repeat engagements of
La traviata and
Otello, with
Ruth Ann Swenson optimistically double-cast as Violetta and
Johan Botha as the Moor.
Rumors of Ms. Radvanovsky's "buyout" should be dismissed once and for all since she is on the books for two high-profile assignments in 2008-2009, a new
Trovatore (opposite Mr. Lictira) and her first in-house
Traviata (alternating with
Anja Harteros). Those two up-and-coming tenors
Giuseppe Filianoti and
Joseph Calleja share Duca duties in a
Rigoletto otherwise notable only for
Diana Damrau's Gilda. And speaking of tenors,
Placido Domingo is supposed to cross over to the bass clef for the title role in
Simon Boccanegra, but La Cieca will believe that when she hears it.
The big news of '09-'10 is the Met debut of
Riccardo Muti leading the company premiere of
Attila. There will be singers as well in this production, notably
Violeta Urmana and less notably
Ramon Vargas, C. Alvarez and
Ildar Abdrazakov. Mme. Urmana will also join two other golden-age physiques,
Dolora Zajick and Mr. Botha, for
Aida. La Radvanovsky's career continues full-tilt in a revival of
Stiffelio heavy on hunk-appeal (
Jose Cura and Mr. Hvorostovsky), and the Gruber doesn't seem to be going away either: she's up for a repeat of
Nabucco.
As we move into the twenty-teens, we can foresee new productions of
La traviata (with
Anna Netrebko and
Rolando Villazon in the
Willy Decker update) and
Don Carlo (probably
not with
Angela Gheorghiu, though the rest of the cast seems firm enough: Mr. Villazon, plus
Luciana D'Intino,
Simon Keenlyside/
Anthony Michaels-Moore,
Rene Pape.
Antonio Pappano and
Nicholas Hytner will reprise their Covent Garden duties. Also: revivals of
I Lombardi (Giordani) and
Il trovatore (Fleming). That year
may also see Mr. Hvorostovsky's Boccanegra.
The "jackpot" year of 2012 is still pretty much up for grabs, La Cieca hears, with only
Falstaff (
Bryn Terfel,
James Levine) a definite maybe.
Labels: 2011, cher public, fleming, gelb, giordani, hvorostovksy, la cieca ci guarda la cieca ci vede, met, verdi
La Cieca's spy in San Francisco whispers that the 2008-2009 season will open with Simon Boccanegra with Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the title role. Later productions will include a revival of Bohème with Angela Gheorghiu and the company premiere of Die Tote Stadt featuring Emily Magee and Torsten Kerl. Also expected is the world premiere of Stewart Wallace’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter, based on the novel by Amy Tan.
