Music

Tosca at The Metropolitan Opera

 

On October 29^th, The Metropolitan Opera was performing Tosca, the famous Opera written by Giacomo Puccini in 1900. The mostly traditional production by dramaturg Dieter Sturn was elegant and appropriate. Tosca takes place in Rome, on the morning of June 17, 1800. This date is particularly important in Italian history because it represents the day that the people of Rome were awaiting news of the Battle of Marengo, which will decide the fate of the city. It is in this particularly tense atmosphere that Act I begins. The curtain opens on a wonderful scenery representing the Church of Sant’ Andrea della Valle. After a few minutes of almost unbearable wait, the famous French Tenor Roberto Alagna, finally appears as Mario Cavaradossi, Tosca’ s lover. Alagna’s singing was particularly clear and beautiful last night. The Act III solo, during which a desperate Mario reflects on his eternal love for Tosca, was magnificent.  The Met Opera expert audience members obviously acknowledged the special talent and heavenly voice of the singer, and the standing ovation they gave him at the end proved their appreciation for the tenor, who made its Met debut 17 years ago.

But Alagna was not the only start shining at the Met last night. The British Soprano Patricia Racette was a very convincing and moving Tosca as well. In Act II, Tosca begs the evil Scarpia to let her lover (Cavaradossi) go free from the torture room he imprisoned him in, and Scarpia only agrees to do so if Tosca would give herself to him. During the scene, Racette seemed as if she was undergoing the pain and despair of her character, and managed to make the audience feel hopeless with her. The dilemma reaches its peak when she hears Cavaradossi scream from the torture room, and her performance simultaneously reaches its highest point. The soprano’s performance was also extremely poignant in Act III, when Tosca realizes that her lover his dead and screams to Scarpia: “O Scarpia, Avanti a Dio!” (“O Scarpia, we meet before God!”), just before killing herself.

Alagna and Racette formed a particularly convincing couple. The tenor’s charm and the soprano’s elegance are a perfect match. The perceived synergy between the two lovers was conveyed through the actual synergy between the two singers, a rare occurrence in the Opera world where most artists cannot stand each other.

The musical direction of conductor Riccardo Frizza was also part of the success of this production of Tosca. His thorough knowledge and experience of Italian operas was conveyed through his way of supporting the singers, as well as his gentle and elegant style of conducting the orchestra. Another factor that made this production so pleasant were the costumes and scenery, imported in part from Italy. The set designers achieve the feat of making a scenery that was ambitious, elegant, and sophisticated at the same time. While the sets are not comparable to those of productions like Aida or Rigoletto (where the stage is grandiosely ornamented from beginning to end) they still matched the action of the drama perfectly.

This year’s production of Tosca is a great success. The tastefulness of the sets and costumes, as well as the power of the singers and the beauty of Puccini’s music combine together to give a great result. It is rare to be able to see Alagna and Racette share the stage at the Metropolitan Opera, and this is why I recommend you don’t miss on the incredible performance we have the chance of being able to see at Lincoln Center until December 28^th.

New York Philharmonic -Avery Fisher Hall

A few days ago, I attended a performance at Lincoln Center, where the New York Philharmonic was presenting a quite diverse program. The first work was a piece written by Osvaldo Golijov in 1996. When I saw the year it was written in, I have to admit that I expected the worse: something sounding like a movie score, at best. Unfortunately, the piece did not even have the entertainment power of the worst film soundtracks ever written. From beginning to end, the piece was a mishmash of dissonant notes, creating such cacophony that is was as if they were meant to be played independently. It was very difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish a main theme, variations around it, or anything usually included in the definition of a piece of music, not even talking about a good piece of music. Thankfully, the piece was directed by conductor Joshua Weilerstein. The young conductor (24 years old) is making his subscription debut with the New York Philharmonic this year, even though he has been the orchestra’s Assistant conductor since 2010. Thankfully, Mr Wilerstein managed to make the music bearable by his original style and dynamic way of directing the musicians.

The second piece was much more entertaining and, I apologize for the lack of neutrality here, much better written. Violin Concerto by German composer Felix Mendelssohn is a famous piece that was very well executed last night. It is important to note that the concerto was the last large orchestral work produced by Mendelssohn, that it was one of the foremost violin concertos of the Romantic era, and that it was influential to the compositions of many other composers. Although the concerto follows the traditional form (with a fast-slow-fast structure), it was revolutionary in many aspects at the time it was written, in 1844. First of all, the violin starts playing immediately at the beginning of the work, and each movement is played directly following the one that precedes, in an attacca fashion. As Joachim wrote “The Germans have four violin concertos. The greatest, the one that makes fewest concessions, is Beethoven’s. The one by Brahms comes close to Beethoven’s in its seriousness. Max Bruch wrote the richest and most seductive of the four. But the dearest of them all, the heart’s jewel, is Mendelssohn’s”. This summarizes pretty well the beauty and emotion conferred by Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, which was beautifully interpreted last night by the Philharmonic’s orchestra, comprised of one of the most talented musicians in the world.

Lastly, The New York Philharmonic’s orchestra interpreted Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8. The work, written in 1889, is probably one of Dvorak’s most important works. The artist once said, “Melodies simply pour out of me”, which seems to apply perfectly to this particular score. The music seems to be a logical suite of utterly harmonious notes, as opposed to the work by Golijov. The symphony is both triumphant and gentle, a feat only a few composers can achieve. In addition to the greatness of the piece itself, the talent of the first violin Arabella Steinbacher was overwhelming. The fact that Miss Steinbacher’s discography includes works such as Dvořák’s Violin Concerto in A minor and Romance in F minor, probably explains the ease with which she interpreted the composer’s work last night. Her stylish interpretation was in perfect accordance with the conductor’s elegance and Avery Fisher Hall’s cachet. If it weren’t for the first piece, last night could have been a perfect night at the New York Philharmonic. A piece by artists such as Brahms or Schuman would have made much more sense, would have completed the evening much better, and would have proven to be a much more logical choice than Golijov’s work. Hopefully, music Director Alan Gilbert will show more discernment in his selection for future programming.

 

Rigoletto – at The Metropolitan Opera  

Monday, Nov 11th 8PM   (also in Live HD in select theaters)