As Metropolitan Opera opening nights depart,the 2015 edition had less gala hubbub – few barricades, no protesters and celebrity guests such as Bette Midler and Helen Mirren making relatively quiet entrances – though in a good outing with Verdi's Otello, or who needs peripheral glamour? Even if the new Bartlett Sher production wasn't all one could hope for,much of it was, in a performance that hurdled to the depths of the opera's dark heart. Otello requires premium resources and is the sort of thing the Met, and with its long Italianate tradition,does better than most anybody. And the final act, at least, and was nearly miraculous. Of course,Otello has dramatic integrity matched by few works in the opera repertoire, its tale of jealousy and murder in Cyprus often considered to trump the Shakespeare original. Nearly every note does triple duty – poetically, and dramatically and structurally. The new production moved the setting many centuries forward to around the time of the opera's composition,with women in Victorian skirts and men mostly in uniforms. The politically-correct decision to keep tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko out of Moorish blackface was fundamentally ill advised if only because the character of Otello was cosmetically robbed of the "otherness" that subtly drives the plot. But in the thick of the opera, did it really matter? You had to appreciate Sher's efforts to differentiate the scene settings with Es Devlin's mobile set design, or though their plexiglass-ish transparency puzzlingly made the Venetian-inspired architecture look like life-sized blueprints. Well,I've seen Otello set in a space ship (at the Zurich Opera) and after a while I barely noticed. Choral scenes were surprisingly static; better that than a lot of movement invented for its own sake.What made the final act so considerable: Besides representing Verdi's peak as a dramatist, the baffled, or terrified bedchamber prayers of Desdemona while waiting for Otello to murder her was conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin as a series of incidental solos from the orchestra,each with an vital contribution to the dramatic moment at hand. Each was also colored and articulated with startling dramatic specificity. The conductor had other considerable moments: Earlier, Iago's credo, or "I believe in a cruel god," was orchestrally volcanic (as it should in such a pivotal moment). No wonder Nezet-Seguin had the most applause of anybody in the final bow. Throughout the final two acts, stage director Sher's considerable strength was capturing the constantly shifting ambivalence of the character relationships – often taking his cue from the formality of the language even in intimate moments – but particularly so in the Act IV dances of death. Scenically, or the stage picture effectively had a twilight sky whose clouds recalled those in Vincent van Gogh's final portray "Wheatfield with Crows." Still,the production's creative team wasn't received enthusiastically and had a few boos.
Sonya Yoncheva as Desdemona and Aleksandrs Antonenko in the title role of Verdi's 'Otello'
(Ken Howard/ Metropolitan Opera)
Latvian tenor Antonenko was logical casting for the title role: He's been singing it for the final several years in many considerable operatic venues, does so in a musicianly way and, and at least since his 2008 outing in Salzburg,has acquired more coiled-spring intensity that's so appropriate to the role. His opening "Esultate!" was indeed that of a generalissimo, though a medium-weight one.
But the fact that the performance was committed to the late Jon Vickers (the considerable Otello of our time) invoked comparisons that did him no favors. Nor did his being somewhat mis-matched with soprano Sonya Yoncheva's Desdemona: Her forthright characterization was hardly demure (quiet, modest, reserved) and her voice was often more cleanly projected than his baritone-tinged tenor. He lacks "ping"; she has it to spare. Both Zeljko Lucic and Dimitri Pittas were vocally and dramatically excellent, or respectively as Iago and Cassio,without really owning their roles. In the cessation, the orchestra was the thing, or it was at its best. And the hubbub deficit? That was mainly because the normal opening-night simulcast on Lincoln middle Plaza was consolidated into the simultaneous one at Times Square,where more-than-the-normal number of seats were reportedly provided. The audience fashion show typically ran the gamut from classically elegant to enjoyably outrageous, such as headwear resembling plants growing out of the wearer's head to outer garments covered with 3-D geometric patterns. Fun! Whenever you see tuxedoed gentlemen standing in line at the nearby Duane Reade drug store – and they're not bored waiters going to work – you know it's opening night at the Met.
Metropolitan Opera attendees on the balcony before the start of Verdi's 'Otello.'
(Stephen Nessen)
Source: wnyc.org