Met Opera HDTV Offerings for 2011-12 – A Banquet of Beautiful Sounds, Scenes and Stars

Met Opera HDTV Offerings for 2011-12 – A Banquet of Beautiful Sounds, Scenes and Stars

It’s HDTV Met Opera season again, and I’ve seen three of the ten offerings for 2011-12: “Anna Bolena”,” Siegfried” and “Don Giovanni”. They’ve all been terrific.

When I talk with other opera buffs, someone invariably says, “But it’s so much better in the opera house.” Yes, absolutely, it is. I used to go to the Met back in the 1980s. That was when a good seat in the orchestra cost $75. Now a good seat like that costs nearly $400. Way out of my range. We’ve gone to the Met a few times relatively recently. For a $100 ticket you get a seat that feels like it’s in the next county. Of course there’s Philly Opera too. It’s very good. The only problem is their schedule doesn’t ever seem to work for us. On the other hand, an HDTV Met Opera production makes me feel as if I’m there. I get a close look at the new stars, and some of them are really something. The camera work is generally excellent. The only quibble I have with it is when they’re showing a grand scene, like the second act of “La Boheme”. I’ve seen that one at the Met, and it’s fabulous, horse cart and all. It doesn’t come through in the same way on a DVD. But that’s a small objection.

Side benefits of attending the HDTV productions are the between the acts interviews with the performers, set designer, conductor, wardrobe mistress, as well as a tour behind the scenes. Opera stars, such as Renee Fleming and Deborah Voigt often conduct the interviews.

In "Anna Bolena", the beautiful, charismatic Anna Netrebko starred as the ill-fated queen, driven insane by her unfaithful king. It was quite a show. Donizetti’s music is wonderful, and the sets and costumes were spectacular. Others in the cast included Ekaterina Gubanova, terrific as Jane Seymour, Ildar Abdrazakov as Henry VIII, and Stephen Costello as Lord Richard Percy.

Next up: “Siegfried”, the third opera in Wagner’s Ring Cycle.
I had seen the two previous Ring operas during the 2010-11 season. The first in the cycle, “Das Rheingold” was broadcast on October 9, 2010. The uniquely massive $40,000,000 set was unveiled for that one. The floor of the Met stage had been required to be reinforced to accommodate the weight of it. It involved huge moving parts, which made it possible for the Rhine Maidens to slide down a huge ramp, among other things. The costumes were awkward. Bryn Terfel, as Wotan, was dressed up like a Marvel Comics hero, with greasy-looking hair disguising his missing eye. For me, the outstanding performer was Eric Owens as the dwarf Alberich. Sometimes Alberich is portrayed as a one-dimensional evil character. Owens presented him as conflicted by what he is driven to do: steal the Rhine Maidens’ gold.

Then, on May 14, came “Die Walkure”. This is the opera in which the twins, Siegmund and Sieglinde, fall in love and eventually beget the hero, Siegmund. Deborah Voigt sang Brunnhilde, daughter of Wotan. This opera furthers the conflict between the humans and the gods. At the end of “Die Walkure”, Wotan sentences Brunnhilde to sleep on a rock, surrounded by a wall of fire that only the bravest hero can pierce. This hero turns out to be Siegfried, the child that Sieglinde bears.

“Siegfried” finally brought it all together. Tenor Jay Hunter Morris, from Paris, Texas, stepped in at the last minute to substitute for Gary Lehman, who was ill and unable to perform, in the role of Siegfried. Morris had recently performed the role at the San Francisco Opera. It is one of the most challenging in all of opera. He was terrific. He was full of energy and in good voice. Bryn Terfel again sang Wotan, appearing in disguise as the Wanderer. The unique sets were used to good advantage in this one, and the grand design gradually became apparent. Digital effects, including a flying bird, were effectively employed. In the last act, Deborah Voigt came through brilliantly as Brunnhilde, aroused by Siegfried, along with her horse, Grane, after a 17-year siesta. Earthly love ended her immortal life. And thus ended “Siegfried”. The final opera of the Ring, “Gotterdammerung”, will be aired in mid-January. I’m looking forward to it.

On a completely different note, the third HDTV Met Opera of the 2011-12 season, Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” aired on October 29. I guess everyone knows the story of Don Giovanni, aka Don Juan. That was a great production as well. The music is gorgeous. “Don Giovanni has a charismatic lust for life, but he’s not just some serial seducer – he’s a dark, complex individual,” says Michael Grandage, director of this production. The don meets his comeuppance at the end. When he refuses to repent, he is consumed by flames. Mariusz Kwieken, as the Don, Ramon Vargas Mojca Erdman and Luca Pisaroni all delivered stellar performances.

The next operas, in order, will be: “Satyagraha” by Philip Glass, which explores the origins of Gandhi’s philosophy; “Rodelinda” by Handel and starring Renee Fleming; “The Enchanted Island”, a Baroque pastiche; “Gotterdamerung”, which completes the Ring Cycle; “Ernani” by Verdi, in which Elvira is courted by three men; “Manon” by Massanet, in which Anna Netrebko portrays the tragic courtesan. The HDTV season closes out with Verdi’s “La Traviata” with Natalie Dessay.