One touch of venous
Like the hero of Parsifal, who finds the Holy Grail after a lifetime of frustrated wandering, the Met’s audience was finally rewarded for its patience.
new york post
No dice
The Met took a gamble on a new production of Rigoletto Monday night—but, dramatically at least, the show crapped out.
Pretty perfect
In a winter rich with splashy debuts, Friday’s performance of Le Comte Ory introduced a 27-year-old South African charmer who may well be the Met’s next big star.
C’est la guerre, mais ce n’est pas magnifique
If war is hell, then Soldier Songs should rank somewhere around “purgatory.”
Winged victory
A wayward bouquet conked Kristine Opolais on her noggin during the ovation Friday night in La Rondine—but that was the only mishap in the Latvian soprano’s spectacular Met debut.
I am missing the winter now
One quick way to warm up: Watching tenor heartthrob Roberto Alagna.
Vil cutlet
True, Joyce DiDonato’s Mary spat out those fighting words in a tangy chest voice, but it was hard to believe she meant them.
Ribbed for your discomfort
The Trojan Horse seemed like a great idea—that is, until it led to disaster.
What the well-dressed Alexandrian will wear
“The courtesan’s entourage included dancing girls in filmy harem pants and bedazzled Afro wigs, and the hunky chorus boys pranced about in velour leggings, codpieces and nipple ornaments.”
Notte e giorno criticar
Imagine if someone left Vermeer’s masterpiece “Girl With a Pearl Earring” out in the rain.
Working “Tito”
After an uneven start to the season, the Met brought its A game Friday to a superb revival of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito.
Small scale
In art, less is more — at least most of the time.
Swedish frisson
Last week’s freak nor’easter set the tone for Thursday’s chilly new production of Un Ballo in Maschera at the Met.
Down for the count
The battle of the sexes ended in an upset the other night in Le Nozze di Figaro.
Rare opera well done
“When the cross-dressing dude is the gifted singer Jeffery Roberson, and the opera is Menotti’s spellbinding The Medium, the result is prime musical melodrama.”
Isle, be seeing you
“Like the Shakespeare play it’s based on, Thomas Adès’ opera The Tempest is set on an enchanted island.”
Beating time
So meandering and ragged a reading would be alarming at a first rehearsal; for a first night, it was a scandal.
The medium is the mezzos
“Two generations of gypsy women dominated the first weekend of the Met’s new season.”
Medium and rare
“Considering one of the season’s star singers is a plus-size female impersonator, opera this fall is anything but a drag.”
Sister sister
Like New Yorkers, opera tends to flee the city in summer.
The king who would be man
Sometimes an obscure opera is revived, and everyone hails a lost masterpiece.
Mind over matter
“Scientist, lover, gambler, unwed mother — the 1700s French intellectual Émilie du Châtelet was all these and more.”
From Hell
“About the only good thing that can be said for New York City Opera’s Orpheus, which opened Saturday night, is that it made the rest of the company’s feeble season seem scintillating by comparison.”
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I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).
