A Fine Conclusion to a Janacek Year; A Record for the Phil

The Metropolitan Opera put on a gripping show on Friday night. It was Janacek’s “Kata Kabanova,” a tale of repression, infidelity, and torment. We have only a week and a half to go in this big Janacek year. He was born in 1854, and, as you know, the music world adores anniversaries. New York, in particular, has been deluged with Janacek in 2004; the last couple of months have seemed especially heavy. It will be fine to have Janacek in normal doses, forevermore.“Kata Kabanova” is an imaginative and beautiful work, sort of a cousin to Janacek’s opera “Jenufa,” which the Met staged two seasons ago. Those performances saw the Finnish soprano Karita Mattila in the title role, and so it is with “Kata Kabanova.” You would not want another in those roles; or, put it this way: You would not prefer another.Ms. Mattila is – to resort to a cliche – a “consummate singing actress.” Role after role, she simply slays. Aside from the Janacek parts, one thinks of Leonore in Beethoven’s “Fidelio” and – most shiveringly – Salome, in the Strauss opera. On Friday night, she was in full command of her considerable powers, vocal and theatrical. She appears to be thinking what she’s singing, when she is singing it. And she is so close to her character – so at one with her – you almost fear for Ms. Mattila herself.In “Kata Kabanova,” the second scene of the first act builds from something simple and dear, to something visceral and harrowing. Actually, that is to oversimplify this many-layered scene. In any case, Ms. Mattila handled it in masterly fashion, putting over a sort of tour de force. I might add that it’s a shame that recordings don’t quite capture the powers of this voice; it has intangible qualities that fail to make it to vinyl (if I may use that antique term).Her mezzo partner in “Kata Kabanova” is the Czech star Magdalena Koyzena, and these two could make a historic soprano-mezzo team. Ms. Koyzena, of course, is a master of Czech music, as proven by many performances and recordings, but she is also one of the best Bach singers of our age. Go figure. She is well trained, intelligent, intuitive, and musical. As Varvara on Friday night, she showed a smooth, often radiant, sometimes-dark voice, chockfull of colors, serving the need of the moment.The other mezzo in this show is the veteran Judith Forst, who sings Kabanicha, Kata’s mother-in-law from hell. Ms. Forst was imperious, scalding, hateful – she perhaps overdid the part just a little, but the part, it is true, invites it. In fact, Ms. Forst is making a career in the hellish-shrew repertory, which includes Klytamnestra in Strauss’s “Elektra,” Herodias in “Salome,” the Countess in Tchaikovsky’s “Queen of Spades,” and the Witch in Humperdinck’s “Hansel und Gretel.”Janacek includes three tenors in “Kata,”chief among them Boris, the title character’s lover. This was sung by Jorma Silvasti, a Finn making his Metropolitan debut. His singing was even and beautifully controlled, and he has a tenor with an enviable weight: lyric, not heavy, not insubstantial. The unison singing between Kata and Boris, when they meet for the last time, was melting.Another tenor, Raymond Very, was alert and effective as Kudrjas, and the third, Chris Merritt, was just right as Tichon, the henpecked husband – or the mother-hen-pecked husband, I should say, as it is Kabanicha who does the pecking (with tragic consequences).Finally, the savvy bass Vladimir Ognovenko was excellent as Dikoj, showing off that rich, resplendent instrument, not dissimilar to that of another Russian standout, though this one a baritone, Sergei Leiferkus.In the pit was a Czech conductor appearing in this house for the first time: Jiri Belohlavek. He did an impressive job if an imperfect one. The orchestra began warmly, invitingly, and ominously – all three. You knew the piece wouldn’t end well. Mr. Belohlavek brought out the strangeness of this score, and he kept that Janacekian current of unease running all through. When the playing became intense, it was never bombastic. And the orchestra often reflected the states of the characters’ minds, whether agitated or serene. That melting singing between Kata and Boris? The strings did the same in the pit.And the orchestra was remarkably textured, almost French at times, with nothing clotted. Imperfections included occasional technical looseness and a mismatch or two between the pit and the stage: At the beginning of the opera, the orchestra covered Mr. Very’s singing.The production is that from 1991, shaped by Jonathan Miller. Robert Israel’s sets are spare and clean, without being overly minimalistic.It is always good to experience “Kata Kabanova,” whether we are in a “Janacek year” or not. This is a short opera, too – not much more than an hour and a half, the intermission apart. Did Metgoers – accustomed to much longer evenings – get their money’s worth? With Karita Mattila, in particular, they unquestionably did.***On Saturday night, Sir Colin Davis wrapped up his second subscription series with the New York Philharmonic. The first had offered three composers in which he specializes: Sibelius, Janacek, and Elgar. The second offered three composers in which he specializes: Haydn, Mozart, and Britten. Better to say he is not a specialist in anything, but a conductor, a complete musician.His second program began with a Mozart symphony, No. 31 in D major, nicknamed the “Paris.” (That’s where Mozart was, and that is the style, sort of.) Sir Colin’s Mozart is thoroughly satisfying: It is correct and solid, but free where desirable. The foundation is firm, but there is some liberty at the top. A pulse is kept, but attractive departures are permitted around it.In the second movement – a wonderful Andante – Sir Colin took his time, as he usually does, but he did not become sluggish. The music was both stately and feeling. The third movement – one of those stirring D-major allegros – is not easy to keep together, and the Philharmonic threatened to derail, but they stayed pretty much on track, stirringly.Then appeared the evening’s soloist, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, the superb mezzo-soprano. She sang Sesto’s great and moving aria from “La Clemenza di Tito,” “Deh, per questo istante solo.” Ms. Hunt Lieberson can be an indulgent – an overindulgent – Mozart singer, or if you prefer, she can be a highly luxuriating (ahem) one. With Sir Colin there, however, things did not get too flabby. Ms. Hunt Lieberson was in splendid voice – I have never heard that gorgeous voice more gorgeous – and she put over the aria with supreme understanding.After intermission, she performed a work one does not often hear with a large orchestra such as the Philharmonic: Britten’s cantata “Phaedra,” written toward the end of his life for Janet Baker. This is a work that looks back to the Baroque, or even before; written in 1975, it in some ways seems older than the Mozart aria.In any case, Ms. Hunt Lieberson rendered it magnificently, in both musical and dramatic terms. In the above review, I used a cliche about Karita Mattila: a “consummate singing actress.” Ms. Hunt Lieberson is one, too. She reminded me of another singer, Catherine Malfitano, singing William Bolcom’s “monodrama,” “Medusa.” Every moment riveted; one held one’s breath. And Ms. Hunt Lieberson’s English, I should say, was a treat to listen to: clean, natural, and, best of all, American. (The composer may be British, but the singer is American.)Sir Colin and the orchestra did their parts persuasively, with Glenn Dicterow, Rebecca Young, and Hai-Ye Ni – on the violin, viola, and cello – contributing beautifully elegiac solos in the closing pages.The program concluded with a Haydn symphony, his 103rd, or the second-to-the-last. This is the symphony (in E flat) known as the “Drumroll,” for it begins with one. In the first movement, the Philharmonic was not a model of precision, but the playing was decidedly musical. It was elegant and intelligent, like the conductor himself. Sir Colin does nothing eccentric, and nothing dull: He allows you to listen to a composer, rather than a conductor.The peculiar, variation-filled second movement managed to be both dignified and lively, and it was meaty, too – Sir Colin does not conceive a prissy Haydn. The third movement, the Menuet, reflected Sir Colin’s knack for the tempo juste (or tempo giusto, to keep it in Italian). And the Finale – Allegro conspirito – was burbling, rousing, insistent, and marvelous. The entire reading was almost startlingly characterful; it reminded you – if reminding you needed – of Haydn’s greatness.How about the drum roll at the beginning (and thereafter)? Just fine.This concert – Saturday night – was the Philharmonic’s 14,000th, and the occasion was marked by speeches at the outset. The chairman of the board, Paul Guenther, went on about how the Philharmonic was the “greatest orchestra in the world,” blah, blah, blah – a little hometown boosterism isn’t bad – and Sen. Charles Schumer – who received thunderous applause, incidentally – went on with what, to me, was an incomprehensible speech, about how New York includes both fire and ice, the former represented by financial institutions, and the latter by artistic institutions, or something like that. This is not the kind of talking that keeps getting a person reelected, I would think.And – a special touch – an envoy from the “Guinness Book of World Records” was on hand to certify that 14,000 concerts is, indeed, a record: the most of any orchestra in the world.So, no matter how the Philharmonic plays, they got that going for them.“Kata Kabanova” will be performed again December 21 at 7:30 p.m.; December 25 at 1 p.m.; December 29 & January 1 at 8 p.m. (Lincoln Center, 212-362-6000).

A Fine Conclusion to a Janacek Year; A Record for the Phil

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