A Four-Hour, Star-Studded Farewell

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The New York Sun

If it is legitimate to measure a man by who shows up at his funeral or retirement party, then it must be admitted that the Metropolitan Opera’s outgoing general manger, Joseph Volpe, has achieved a rather prodigious status. On Saturday evening, the Met ended its season with a lavish farewell party for Mr. Volpe, during which music was only one aspect of the festivities.

It would be downright petty to catalog the miscues and cracked notes from this event. Besides, this is the sort of affair where audiences hear with their hearts rather than their ears. But I am delighted to share the highlights, which were many.

There were great voices in this cavalcade of stars that lasted well over four hours. Renee Fleming developed an unhurried version of “Tacea la notte placida” from Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” that was notable for purity and sweetness of tone. And the individual notes of Waltraud Meier in “Je vais mourir” from Berlioz’s “Les Troyens” and the “Easter Hymn” from Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” were pear-shaped jewels. Dolora Zajick delivered a powerful rendition of “O mon Fernand” from Donizetti’s “La Favorita.” Natalie Dessay exhibited a glowing lyrical line in the cavatina from “Ah! Non, credea, mirarti … Ah! Non giunge” from Bellini’s “Sonnambula.”

But the crowd may have been more enchanted by two voices from the past. Frederica von Stade made her entrance to shouts of “Flicka!” then took a spin through a boulevardier’s song titled “Je cherche un millionaire.” Later, she teamed with Kiri Te Kanawa in a gorgeous “Ah guarda sorella” from Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte.” These were exceptional moments, and those of a certain age were most appreciative.

My pick for best performance among the women came as rather a surprise. Stephanie Blythe was dazzling in “Ah! Que j’aime les militaires!” from Offenbach’s “La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein.” Her voice was rich and confident, her sense of comic timing impeccable, her joie de vivre infectious.

There were also excellent scenes with both men and women, including a knockout from Rossini’s “L’Italiana in Algeri,” featuring Mr. and Mrs. Ildar Abdrazakov (she’s Olga Borodina).This was much more crisply executed than their rendition at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Fleming joined Susan Graham and Thomas Hampson for a sublime realization of arguably the greatest music in all of opera, “Soave sia il vento” from “Cosi fan tutte.”

The men were even more impressive. Roberto Alagna is at the peak of his career, and his lyrical line seems eternal. The bright tenor sang unfamiliar music, at least to me, from Alfano’s “Cyrano de Bergerac,” but offered it superbly. And the tenor for whom that opera was revived by the Met, Placido Domingo, showed off the resonance of that treasured instrument of his, even in its seventh decade. Mr. Domingo eschewed the operatic repertoire for a couple of turns at Zarzuela.

At intermission, there was a lot of talk about who had given the finest performance thus far, and many of us opted for James Morris, who went deep into character for a dramatic “Die Frist ist um” from Wagner’s “Der fliegende Hollander” (“The Flying Dutchman”). Mr. Morris is an expert at handling his voice: He turned a few grave moments into strong expressions of world-weariness, which perfectly matched the story of his endlessly sailing searcher. Samuel Ramey, too, was totally in the moment, portraying a maniacal Mephistopheles from Gounod’s “Faust,” complete with the laughter of the madhouse.

But the two best performances of the evening – and this is really saying something – offered a preview of what I predict will be the strongest effort at the Met next season. Verdi’s “Don Carlo” will be presented with an exceptional cast including Ms. Borodina and Mr. Ramey, tenor Johan Botha, and two other men onstage this night, Rene Pape and Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

Mr. Pape delivered an extremely sensitive portrayal of Philip II of Spain in “Ella giammai m’amo,” that greatest of all musical expressions of loneliness. Mr. Hvorostovsky was chillingly on point in Rodrigo’s prison and death scenes. Here is a lyricism so smooth as to defy description; this vocalizing brought tears to my eyes.

Unlike virtually every other opera fan in this city, I do not consider myself an expert in how the Metropolitan should run its affairs. For me there has always been a lot of wisdom in Rudolf Bing’s comment that opera has no business making money. All I care about is what happens on that stage.

On that count, Mr. Volpe is to be heartily commended for steadfastly espousing and conserving the Metropolitan’s wonderful traditional productions. But I suspect that New Yorkers will not thoroughly appreciate his efforts for 10 years or so. By then, he will be remembered fondly as the man who successfully kept out the eurotrash.


The New York Sun

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