Friday November 23, 2007 - Thanks to Lisette Oropesa's kindness, I was able to attend the dress rehearsal of the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Gluck's IPHIGENIE EN TAURIDE. Placido Domingo (Oreste), Paul Groves (Pylade) and Susan Graham in the title role are shown in Ken Howard's rehearsal photos from the Met website.
It's one of the most moving and satisfying productions of any opera I've ever seen and all I can do is urge everyone to see it if you possibly can. The music is profoundly beautiful and the singers were so attuned to the emotional content of the words. Everyone onstage was deeply committed and thoroughly involved in the drama and the poetry at every single moment. And Louis Langree's orchestra was a key factor in the musical success of the afternoon.
The three principal singers were thrilling vocally and - even more importantly - in the expressive depth of their singing. Susan Graham handled the tessitura of this role, which is just a bit too high for her absolute comfort, with skill by relying on dynamics and never straining the tone. I've always liked Susan and I especially enjoyed her Composer in ARIADNE; today's performance was really on an exalted level. And her acting was spectacular in its range from vulnerability to fury. This is a great triumph for her. Paul Groves as Pylade sang with wonderfully plaintive colours and great tenderness in expressing his love for Oreste. The clarity and warmth of his voice suited the music and the character ideally. One of Placido Domingo's greatest assets as a singer is the utterly unmistakable sound of his voice; you only need to hear a note or two and you know it's him. As a tenor always described as 'baritonal', today he took on a baritone role and sounded 'tenorial'. His passionate and extremely moving vocalizing of the character's madness and longing for death were perfectly expressed by the Domingo instrument. All three of these wonderful artists were profoundly convincing in the desperation of their situation.
William Shimell was a hectoring Thoas, the cruel king plagued by the demands of the gods. Michele Losier was an attractive Diana. The mimed murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra - probably an expendable device - was strongly played by actors Mark Capri and Jacqueline Antaramian; I remembered Capri from a superb production of CYMBELINE at the Hartford Stage Company. In the photo, the goddess Diana intervenes and puts an end to the ritual sacrifices. Photo from the Seattle performances of this shared production.
Current and recent singers from the Met Lindemann Young Artists Program were exceptional in supporting roles. David Won looked sternly exotic in a marvelous costume, and his voice 'speaks' beautifully in the big House. The luminous-eyed Sasha Cooke is such a distinctive singer (I think l've said that about her before!). And Lisette sounds so intrinsically lyrical in every utterance, her French diction always elegant and her simple dignity and sympathetic expression really making an impression.
The opera begins in silence with the priestesses asleep in the Temple of Diana. Suddenly two soldiers appear, select a maiden at random and she is instantly murdered on the altar. The goddess herself descends from the flies and bears the victim aloft. And then the music begins.
Comments