(I had been friends with Lisette Oropesa for almost a year when she stepped in as Susanna in a series of performances of NOZZE DI FIGARO at The Met. I had shared all the excitement and suspense of the days leading up to the announced cast change with the young soprano. I’d had a prior commitment on the evening of the NOZZE prima, but made it over to The Met in time to see quite a bit of NOZZE…and to savor Lisette’s great success. Read about my evening below.)
Above: NOZZE curtain call; click on the image to enlarge.
Tuesday October 2, 2007 – Of course, all day today I was thinking about Lisette…and feeling like tonight – of all nights – I really needed to be at the Met. Going to the dress rehearsal and attending the second performance isn’t quite the same as going to the actual ‘event’. How could I miss my friend’s first Met Susanna? At various points during the day I decided to simply skip the NYC Opera gala but then I had told a couple of the singers that I would be there and I do not like to break my promises. Unexpectedly, I found a solution.
Arriving at Lincoln Center I dropped off some flowers for Lisette at the stage door and ran into the pianist Vlad Iftinca who is one of Lisette’s favorite musicians and friends; Vlad told me he had an engagement elsewhere and would not be able to be at Lisette’s performance. Heading out, I saw that Isabel Bayrakdarian’s name was still on the NOZZE poster but even as I stood there someone from the Met came out and pasted “Lisette Oropesa” over it. Then I went over to the State Theatre to find out who was singing at their gala. The board in the lobby listed the singers and also said the performance would end at 8:35. That’s a VERY short gala, though I suppose for the patrons it is the dinner/dance that is the evening’s big attraction. Then I realized that I would be able to see most of the NOZZE so I quickly bought one of the Met’s ‘rush’ seats. When the gala ended I walked over to the Met; two minutes later there was a seating break and so I was able to see 3/4ths of the performance.
I don’t really like galas all that much; unless you have a real occasion to celebrate (like the Met’s 100th anniversary) I don’t really see the point of having singers or dancers appear in snippets of great operas or ballets. The only real purpose a gala like this one at New York City Opera serves – for me – is a chance to check out the current vocal estate of a number of singers in one fell swoop.
Among the singers who appeared, I was curious to hear Lauren Flanigan. Once considered NYC opera’s resident prima donna, Flanigan seems to have take a hiatus since her extraordinary triumph there in Marvin David Levy’s MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA in 2004. I did hear her singing from the orchestra pit for the New York City Ballet’s sadly short-lived TWO BIRDS WITH THE WINGS OF ONE {Music: Bright Sheng/Choreography: Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux} and she was fantastic. Prior to MOURNING, I had found Flanigan wildly erratic and on a couple of occasions I walked out on her performances. She is slated for Barber’s VANESSA at NYC Opera this Fall.
Nelly Miricioiu is another interesting name on the gala roster tonight. In 1989 I was at Miricioiu’s Met debut as Mimi in BOHEME where the soprano used her intriguing timbre and vast palette of vocal colours to create an unforgettable portrait of the pathetic seamstress. Thereafter Miricioiu’s career went soaring in Europe where she was (is?) sort of a cult figure. She ventured into all sorts of repertoire and in the meantime recorded some bel canto rarities for the Opera Rara label. I heard many of these while I was working at Tower and with each release it seemed to me that Miricioiu’s ability to sing on pitch was increasingly compromised. I knew better than to attend her two performances of VESPRI at the Met in 2004 but I heard negative reports. Today, scanning her offerings on YouTube I was surprised to read some rave comments about some very erratic vocalism; it seems that staying on pitch is no longer considered an essential component of singing. I can take the stray off-note but beyond that pitchiness drives me up the wall.
The announced programme had some fairly unusual and interesting items. George Manahan led a vibrant performance of the Danse Slav from Chabrier’s LE ROI MALGRE LUI. Sadly, the listed aria from LE CID was deleted due to the illness of Brandon Jovanovich. Maria Kanyova in an elegant wine-coloured gown sang a very attractive ‘Depuis le jour’ with some nicely sustained piani and Carl Tanner sang a robust ‘O Paradis!’ from L’AFRICAINE, scaling the voice down successfully in the more reflective passages.
Ms. Flanagan appeared in a plain black gown with a long shawl and an awesome decolletage. You never know with Lauren Flanigan what she might offer – it could be anything from LA VESTALE to the ‘nightmare’ scene from DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN. I suppose no one would have anticipated her actual choice, Adele’s coloratura showpiece ‘En proie de la tristesse’ from Rossini’s LE COMTE ORY. The last person I heard sing this aria was Patricia Brooks. Flanigan’s performance may not have been genuine bel canto and she had a couple of moments when she nearly veered off-track, but it was brave adventure. Scales and roulades were delivered with a combination of flair and luck; she managed high notes that you didn’t think she’d get. Imposing her zany personality overall, Flanigan scored a personal triumph and took the evening’s one unrestrained ovation.
Light opera then prevailed for a while: a trio from LA BELLE HELENE (Andrew Drost, Matthew Burns and Michael Chioldi), ‘Kiss me again’ from MADAMOISELLE MODISTE well sung by Janara Kelleman and a suave ‘Maxim’ aria from MERRY WIDOW sung by Corey McKern.
In a scene from IL TABARRO, Carl Tanner and Meagan Miller gave us a much more pleasant experience than that provided by the ball-busting Licitra & Guleghina at the Met last season. The scene comes off best when the singers show us the lyricism of these melodies. It’s a nostalgic duet, with a hidden agenda of mutual desire. Meagan looked really glorious in her scarlet gown and let fly with a long and focused top C of startling accuracy. She and Carl reminded me again of why I like TABARRO after their Met counterparts turned me off to it.
Nelly Micicioiu’s performance of ‘Robert, toi que j’aime’ from Meyerbeer’s ROBERT LE DIABLE was rather sad. This aria, which has been magnificently sung by Sills, Scotto, Brooks and June Anderson over the years, can really be a heart-pounding affair. Its initial simplicity of expression mounts – with the heroine’s distress – to an outpouring of emotion; it is melodically unusual and needs a great singer to carry it off. Miricioiu sounded unsupported and threadbare to me, stringing the phrases together with evident mechanics rather than offering a persuasive musical statement. She was strongly applauded.
The gala ended with a very fine performance of the final scene of FAUST. Daniel Borowski’s voice as Mephistopheles was darkish and menacing. Dinyar Vania sang with clarity and warmth, and he did not let Faust’s increasing urgency lead him off the music. Elizabeth Caballero was a thrilling Marguerite as her voice sailed higher and higher in the final trio; earlier she was very touching as she recalled her first meeting with Faust – beautifully rapt phrasing – and she and Dinyar capped the evening with a vibrant mutual top B.
My concerns about the evening stem from the feeling that things were amplified; NYCO has been tampering with ‘enhancements’ for years and in the programme a “Sound Designer” was credited. I’m hoping Monsieur Mortier will make make things right; back in the Rudel era we never thought there was an acoustic problem at the State Theatre and lightish voices were always clearly audible. Whatever happened to the conductor’s duty to make sure his singers are heard?
Perfect timing: I arrived at the Met exactly at the break after Act I of NOZZE. I realized that I could not really rate this performance honestly because missing the first act proved to be a major deterrent to getting into it both musically and dramatically. Audience distractions prompted me to move to standing room after the intermission. Some people on the Met’s house staff are downright unpleasant, but that’s another story.
Overall I think I enjoyed the dress rehearsal more than this performance. In part this was due to the conducting of Philippe Jordan which seemed so fresh and agile at the dress but for some reason seemed almost faceless tonight. I also found that Erwin Schrott’s Figaro was not holding my interest. His interpretation, which seems to be built on not actually ‘singing’ much of the time (see notes in the dress rehearsal story) worked well once but on second hearing seemed a little tedious. As an actor, however, he is inspired. I loved the way he curled up on Ann Murray’s lap after finding out that she is his mother. Michele Pertusi was a truly fine Count and Anke Vondung is a good Cherubino.
Hei-Kyung Hong as the Contessa , Lisette as Susanna,and Kathleen Kim as Barbarina were all very attractive both physically and vocally. It was the best ‘Porgi amor’ I have heard from Hei-Kyung, and her ‘Dove sono’ won the evening’s longest applause. Lisette’s silvery sound etched into the ensembles with skill, and she seemed thoroughly at home onstage. Her ‘Deh vieni non tardar’ seemed to cast a spell over the house. Together Hei-Kyung and Lisette made the Letter Duet the vocal highlight of the evening. Kathleen Kim is a small person with a big, lively voice. She was affectionately greeted by the audience. Hei-Kyung wowed the crowd at curtain call, and watching Lisette take her first solo bow in a Met opera was something to remember.
~ Oberon
Oberon's Glade 
