Andrea Chenier Review

Umberto Giordano's "Andrea Chenier" is a major part of the operatic canon, but has rarely been performed regularly at the Metropolitan Opera. The last time Met audiences got a chance to see the verismo masterpiece was in 2007 when American tenor Ben Heppner took on the title role. For the revival on Monday, March 24, Argentinean tenor Marcelo Alvarez took on the work's eponymous character with Patricia Racette and Zeljko Lucic filling out the cast.

The production Nicolas Joel debuted back in 1996 and despite being inherently traditional in its trappings, remains modern in its intelligent use of space. "Chenier" does not really lend itself to a modern update or transposition of the action to a different locale of time period. The French Revolution is not simply mentioned in a few passing statements, but dominates the action of the work from the start to the finish. Continue Reading 

Andrea Chenier Opens Tonight

Giordano's masterpiece opens at the Metropolitan Opera with Marcelo Alvarez in the title role, Patricia Racette as Maddalena and Zeljko Lucic as Gerard. The production by Nicolas Joel will be conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. The opera will be livestreamed on the Met website and on Sirius. Tell us what you think of the performance!  

Breaking News: Met To Announce New Season Tonight

Here is a preview of the upcoming season with only six new productions this year which is an all time low. The HD season looks like it will also be cut down to nine and all the new productions except Death of a Klinghoffer will be on HD as well as Don Carlos in French, Meistersingers, Caremen, and Les Contes de Hoffman. Once again these are only speculations and more details wil be given out tonight. 

Notable DVD and CD Releases for the Month of February

January did not have many great releases but February promises to show diverse operas and rarities for people explore. 

The first release is of Rossini's rarely heard work Mose in Egitto. The production by Graham Vick was one of the most controversial at the Pesaro festival receiving a round of boos at the opening night. The Cast however is exceptional starring Sonia Ganassi, Riccardo Zanellato, Alex Esposito and Dimtry Korchak. Roberto Abbado leads over the Bologna Orchestra.   

Met Opera Review: Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera is David Alden's Trash Can!

By Francisco Salazar
(for November 27, 2012 performance)

Over the last few weeks since the Met premiered it's new Un Ballo in Maschera I have heard wonders about how amazing David Alden was as a director. Therefore I went into last night's performance of the Verdi work with high expectations. The result was no where near it. What I saw was a travesty trying to take it self seriously.

The Met opened its season to a new production of Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore that elicited boredom because it tried to take the light-hearted work as a drama and ultimately failed to do so. David Alden attempted the opposite. He tried to treat Verdi's dramatic work Un Ballo in Maschera as an operetta but ultimately made the work numb of any drama. Yes Verdi's work has some comic elements but so do many other dramas such Adriana Lecouvreuer and Il Tabarro. I don't mean to compare these minor works to Verdi's masterpiece but no one ever attempted to approach these as operettas. The comparison of Verdi to operetta is an incredibly pretentious analysis because the title Un Ballo in Maschera does not only pertain to the final act, it pertains to the complete opera as every character hides behind a mask. The music equally demonstrates this with its sarcasm. The finale to the first scene is music of a cynical king who takes Ulrica as a joke. The act 2 conspirator chorus couldn't be more sarcastic and Gustavo's "Scherzo di folie" could be interpreted as a fearful king trying to calm his people down and trying to ignore what Ulrica has told him of his impending death. The Masked Ball is probably the only place where the music can be taken lightheartedly but in that circumstance David Alden does the opposite; he gives us a demonic dance that with a rugged and laughable choreography.

Un Ballo in Maschera opens tonight

Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera opens tonight starring Marcelo Alvarez, Sondra Radvanovsky, Dimitri Hvorotsovsky, and Dolora Zajick. Fabio Luisi conducts David Alden's new production 

For more information click here to read our preview.

For more on Dimitri Hvorostovsky read our Ernani Preview.

For more on Dolora Zajick read our Il Trovatore Review

Un Ballo in Maschera Preview 2012-2013

Marcelo Alvarez, Dimitri Hvorostovsky and Sondra Radvanovsky lead the cast in David Alden's new Un Ballo in Maschera.

The Production 

The last time Un Ballo in Maschera had a new production was in 1990 with Piero Faggioni's traditional production. The production was lavish with many striking images but many complained over Ulrica's lair and the fact that many of the sets were too similar. For example Renato and Gustavo's palaces were the same stage with different furniture. Twenty two years later Peter Gelb has commissioned a new production by one today's most acclaimed director's David Alden. Alden made his Met debut in 1980 as the stage director to Otto Schenk's production of Fidelio and since then became famed for his post-modern direction. For his Un Ballo in Maschera Alden has decided to bring the action to the early 20th century in a Film Noir setting. According to Alden the piece has a nightmarish quality and as a result has decided to set all the action in King Gustavo's room. Images change in the background and a painting of the fallen Icarus predominates throughout representing the fall of the king. The production designers is Paul Steinberg and the costume designer is Brigitte Reiffenstuel. It will be interesting to see how audiences respond to this concept considering it will be the first modern production of Un Ballo in Maschera at the Met. One only hopes David Alden will be as successful as he is in Europe. The HD transmission represents the third recording of Un Ballo in Maschera for the Met.