A Truly Grand Opera

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The New York Sun

Two nights ago, the Metropolitan Opera presented “La Gioconda” with a stellar cast. That cast included two of the greatest singers in memory: Violeta Urmana and Olga Borodina.And, with the Frenchman Bertrand de Billy in the pit, the company delivered a great performance.

Strange that this should have been so. According to current mythology, no good occurred at the Met until Peter Gelb arrived as general manager about two seconds ago. Before then, all was darkness, dullness, and — dread word — conservatism. Now everything is light, innovation, and excitement. But this “Gioconda” was surely planned long ago. The Met has always had awesome nights, along with mediocre or bad ones.

Let’s hope that this mythology dies as quickly as it arose.

“La Gioconda” — music by Ponchielli, libretto by Boito — is almost the very definition of grand opera. And no house can do this better than the Met. For an article in the New York Times, Anthony Minghella — the director responsible for the season-opening “Madama Butterfly”— said, “I don’t want to produce ‘grand opera’ but the opposite.” If this is to be the new Met, what a waste, and a tragic one. Any little company in a black turtleneck and a beret can do the opposite of grand opera.

The “Gioconda” production is suitably grand, the work of Margherita Wallmann in 1966, restaged by Peter McClintock. The opera is set in 17th-century Venice. Amazingly enough, the production is set in 17th-century Venice, too. I believe this is illegal in Europe. Will it ever become verboten at the Met?

There were many starry names on the stage Tuesday night, and the surprise to me was an unstarry name: Aquiles Machado. He was the tenor in the part of Enzo, and he did a superb job, in every respect. Mr. Machado is a Venezuelan, confirming that just about every tenor these days is Latin American. This one has a ringing voice, a stable technique, and a confident presence. The aria “Cielo e mar” was fabulous.

Ms. Urmana recently made the trip from mezzo-soprano to soprano, and it was she who took the title role. In the early going, she showed some stridency, which was worrisome. But she soon settled down to give her customary knockout performance. She has all the tools to bring off this difficult, but very rewarding, part. The big aria “Suicidio!” was not scenery-chewing. Rather, it was thoughtful and musical, while still scalding — plenty scalding.

Ms. Borodina was Laura, and what can a critic say — continue to say — about this historic singer? The voice remains dusky, royal, and marvelous; the musical intelligence is unwavering. To see her and Ms. Urmana duel in Act II was a real treat.

A second Russian mezzo was onstage, Irina Mishura, who sang La Cieca (The Blind Woman, who is the Gioconda’s mother). I must repeat myself about her, too: The voice is rich, throbbing, very Russian. And Ms. Mishura was deeply affecting in another rewarding role. (They all are, in this opera.)

Here’s another new name, and a not-easy one to pronounce: Zelijko Lucic. A Serbian baritone, he was making his Met debut in the role of Barnaba, one of the most evil men in all of opera. Next to him, Scarpia is practically St. Francis of Assisi. Mr. Lucic handled the part very well, both vocally and theatrically. He was virile, but not blustery. He snarled, appropriately, but he sang elegantly, too. Some pitch trouble in Act IV was negligible.

The lowest voice of all belonged to Paata Burchuladze, the Georgian bass, who portrayed Alvise. (This guy’s no saint, either.) The voice was gorgeous, the singing was authoritative — Mr. Burchuladze does this.

And Maestro de Billy drew a splendid performance from the orchestra (and everyone else). It was beautiful — radiant — as well as stirring and grand. His respect for the score was obvious, and he accorded it utmost care.

You may wonder about “The Dance of the Hours,” one of this show’s numerous highlights. It was sprightly, unhackneyed, and fast.I was reminded of one of my favorite musical anecdotes of all time. Sir Thomas Beecham was conducting “Coppélia” or something, and he chose an uncommonly fast tempo. The dancers really had to step lively.When he was through, Sir Thomas put down his baton and remarked to the orchestra, “Made the buggers hop.”

To me, the Met’s dancers seemed swell, and the two leading ones were the famous Angel Corella and an Italian ballerina with a strongly New York name: Letizia Giuliani.The cheers they received were as great as the ones directed at the divas. (The singing ones, I mean.)

If you like grand opera — and not everyone does, heaven knows — you couldn’t have done better than Tuesday night. It is another production, Anthony Minghella’s, that has received all the hype.There is still a huge banner across the façade of the Met that reads “Madama Butterfly,” in Japanese characters. Maybe it should read “La Gioconda.”

Until October 21 (Lincoln Center, 212-721-6500).


The New York Sun

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