Above, a Marty Sohl/Met Opera photo from Act II of TURANDOT; click on the image to enlarge
Saturday May 7th, 2022 matinee - TURANDOT is one of my top-ten operas. I first saw it at the Old Met in 1965, with Mary Curtis-Verna, Jess Thomas, Lucine Amara, and Bonaldo Giaiotti in the main roles. Since then, I have seen it many times, both at The Met and in the New York City Opera's lovely Beni Montresor production...and once in Boston, with Eva Marton singing the title-role for the first time in her career.
This afternoon's Met matinee brought together an interesting group of singers; I did not mind in the least that Anna Netrebko had been removed from the cast: aside from her Met debut role as Natasha in WAR AND PEACE, I've never found Netrebko to be compelling as either singer or actress.
Sadly, today's was a disappointing TURANDOT, mainly because of Marco Armiliato's lacklustre conducting. For a conductor of such vast experience, he often seemed unaware of what would best support the singers in terms of tempo and orchestral volume, so that stage and pit were at times sadly out of sync.
Netrebko's replacement, the Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska, has been good Santuzza and Aida here...and a very good Tosca; but her vibrato seems to have widened since I last heard her. Her 'quiet' approach to the opening passages of "In questa reggia" was interesting, and Armiliato gave her good support here; but the vibrato was intrusive. Her most thrilling moments came in the two high-Cs over the chorus at "Mi vuoi nelle tue braccia a forza, riluttante, fremente?"
Above, in a Marty Sohl/Met Opera photo: Yonghoon Lee as Calaf, Ferruccio Furlanetto as Timur, and Ermonela Jaho as Liu
Yonghoon Lee, in my book the handsomest Calaf since Corelli, has a strong voice - and he needed it, with Mr. Armiliato sending up big sounds from the pit, often driving the tenor to force rather than singing naturally. Lee's "Non piangere Liu" in Act I went well, and was quite moving; and he could have made a great effect with his "No, no, Principessa altera! ti voglio ardente d’amor!" after winning the riddle game, had not the conductor decided to up the orchestral volume at that point. But Mr. Lee turned his generous offer to Turandot at "Il mio nome non sai! Dimmi il mio nome...prima dell’alba! E all’alba morirò!" into a moment of real poetry...very touching, and the most memorable moment of the performance.
Ferruccio Furlanetto was a sometimes cantankerous Timur, his voice strong and declamatory. There has always been a little sob in the Furlanetto sound, and he used it to fine effect today. As the big ensemble that closes Act I grew louder and louder, you could still hear the basso clearly, begging his son not to attempt Turandot's riddles.
Ermonela Jaho, an old-school verismo soprano in the Olivero/Kabaivanska tradition - and a magical Butterfly here in 2018 - was wonderfully expressive in Liu's music. Her voice has become very fluttery now, but her exquisitely floated B-flat at "Perché un dì...nella reggia, mi hai sorriso." was heaven-sent, as was her sublime ending of the "Signore, ascolta", though Armiliato could have been more attentive here.
Jeongcheol Cha was an impressive Mandarin, and Carlo Bosi a touchingly-sung Altoum, projecting as best he could from Amsterdam Avenue. Alexey Lavrov, Tony Stevenson and Eric Ferring as Ping, Pang, and Pong respectively, did well in their Act II scene, but Armiliato seemed to gloss over their music indifferently; the orchestra writing here is wonderfully vivid and subtle, but it needs an imaginative conductor to make its finest effect.
The interminable first intermission that Gelb has devised (45 minutes!) always kills the impetus of Puccini's carefully-crafted music. Having lost our patience with Armiliato in Act II - and even though I wanted to hear Lee's "Nessun dorma", Jaho's long scene as the heroic Liu, and the ever-touching despair of Timur/Furlanetto upon the death of his faithful servant - we headed out into the rainy afternoon.
CAST
Metropolitan Opera House
May 7th, 2022 matinee
TURANDOT
Giacomo Puccini
Turandot................Liudmyla Monastyrska
Calàf...................Yonghoon Lee
Liù.....................Ermonela Jaho
Timur...................Ferruccio Furlanetto
Ping....................Alexey Lavrov
Pang....................Tony Stevenson
Pong....................Eric Ferring
Emperor Altoum..........Carlo Bosi
Mandarin................Jeongcheol Cha
Maid....................Anne Nonnemacher
Maid....................Meredith Woodend
Prince of Persia........Jonathan Burwell
Executioner.............Arthur Lazalde
Three Masks: Elliott Reiland, Ilia Pankratov, Amir Levy,
Temptresses: Natalia Alonso, Jennifer Cadden La France, Réka Echerer, Katherine Hozier
Conductor...............Marco Armiliato
Production..............Franco Zeffirelli
~ Oberon