Nights at the Opera
April 22, 2010 - by Dean GarnerTwice this week I was at the Metropolitan Opera, last night with Adelphi Honors College students for Verbi's La Traviata and the night before on my own to hear Jonas Kaufmann in Puccini's Tosca. In my life there's never been a better time to be in New York City.
The Met's new production of Tosca looked just as ugly as it did when I saw it last fall. But as long as the tenor Jonas Kaufmann was singing, neither I nor anyone else cared what the set looked like. Kaufmann's overall performance was as exciting as any I've heard. Brilliant gleaming high notes, soft velvety quiet passages, artistic phrasing of originality and taste, and wonderful acting. His voice seems to fill the house effortlessly. The rest of the cast was excellent although Terfel's voice is so refined and lovely it's hard to feel he's as evil as Scarpia should be. But I'll miss the old Zeffirelli set for a long time.
Last night we got to see one of the remaining Zeffirelli productions. But it too will be replaced next season. I'm sad to see this set go. As with most Zeffirelli productions for the Met, the level of detail is astonishing and the colors and shapes all easy on the eye. Farewell lovely set! The singing last night was superb as well. The students were understandably excited and moved.
These days I'm often puzzled by set design choices at the Met. I can get as excited about modern abstract designs as anyone. But sometimes the sets are simply ugly. However I find that night after night the level of the singing is the best I've ever known. In previous decades I've sat through many unsatisfactory performances, sour sopranos, struggling tenors, wobbly basses. This almost never happens now. So in the end I'm a very happy opera goer these days. I can live with a boring shade of mustard paint on the wall as long as the music is ravishing--as it is these days virtually every time I go.
And the Honor students and I will be going twice more in the next two weeks: April 26 for Wagner's Flying Dutchman and May 4 for Rossini's Armida. Then comes American Ballet Theatre. Man I love New York!
