My first LADY MACBETH OF MTSESNK

In the year 2000, I saw Shostakovich’s LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK for the first time; the Met was presenting a grandiose musical performance which offset the somewhat overly-funny staging. Gergiev’s conducting, the superb orchestra, and an extraordinary cast assured that the opera would be thrilling. The cartoonish aspects of the staging were valid: it’s both over-the top and tongue-in-cheek. It was one of the most entertaining nights at the Met ever!  The fact that a bit more darkness might have been to the good didn’t detract from a magnificent evening of music and theatre.

Catherine Malfitano (photo above) continued her string of Met triumphs in the singing-actress category with her powerful portrayal of Katerina. In a peroxide-blonde wig and oozing lethargic sex appeal at every moment, La Malfitano used her powerful, sometimes ravaged – but always expressive – voice to vivid effect. She swept thru the vast range of emotions and plugged into the vulnerable quality of her voice to insure sympathy for the character: a woman who has lost everything (if an unhappy marriage, bullying father-in-law, and desperate boredom count as things of value). In the harsh severity of the death march to Siberia, this Katerina was living proof of the theory that we don’t know when we are well-off. Ms. Malfitano’s huge success was thoroughly deserved.

Sergei Koptchak’s magnificent Boris was utterly “real”, and his slime-infested vocalism so natural and apt. Mark Baker and Vladimir Galouzine were powerful vocal forces, and Galouzine proved himself an appealingly dastardly actor. Victoria Livengood sang her music in an awesome chest register, and was the perfect cheap slut. Vladimir Ognovenko’s big sound and easy stage presence made his Police Sergeant a gem, especially when he started ‘hoofing’ it with a chorus-line of cops. 

Excellent bassos Grigori Karasev (hilarious as the Priest) and Gennady Bezzubenkov (moving as the Old Convict who leads the final ‘hymn’) – and a brilliant bit from Dennis Peterson as the shabby peasant who lives in a junk heap – were further attractions of the evening, whilst Bernard Fitch and Janet Hopkins (as teacher and cook) each made their mark. The chorus were really into the action, and the evening swept by with an exhilarating force.

Joining my friend Paul in a backstage visit to his friend, Vicky Livengood, I greeted her with “Great chest!” to which she replied “Which one?”