The Metropolitan Opera in Your Homes—Week 8
In Week 8 we begin with Figaro getting married in the sequel to The Barber of Seville—Mozart’s enchanting opera The Marriage of Figaro. Then we encounter a somewhat altered Shakespearean masterpiece, leap forward in time to a contemporary opera about love at a distance, debate with a composer and a poet whether words or music are more important, return to Paris and its bohemian lovers, learn about the creation of Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, and step into opera’s own “reality dramas” with verismo (realism) emblematic works, Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci. The operas start at 7:30 p.m. on the Met’s homepage and are available to stream for 20 hours. Please click on the title of each opera below for more information and the link to the full synopsis. To discover even more about the operas featured this week, check out the weekly guide along with articles, interviews, videos, podcasts, and educational resources.
Monday, May 4
Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro – Starring Renée Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Susanne Mentzer, Dwayne Croft, and Sir Bryn Terfel, conducted by James Levine. From November 11, 1998.
After his crafty schemes to help Count Almaviva win his Rosina in The Barber of Seville, it is time for Figaro to tie the knot! And for the Count to stop straying and remember how much he loves his wife. The sequel to The Barber of Seville, this opera is based on the play La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro (The Crazy Day or the Marriage of Figaro) by Pierre Beaumarchais—available on Amazon—a play initially banned in Vienna for its representation of class structure and its abuses. Heavenly, comedic, tender, and moving, Mozart’s music and Lorenzo Da Ponte’s lyrical libretto have created what many consider the greatest opera ever composed. In his 1991 opera, The Ghosts of Versailles, composer John Corigliano quotes musically from The Marriage of Figaro, and revisits its protagonists.
Tuesday, May 5
Thomas’s Hamlet – Starring Marlis Petersen, Jennifer Larmore, Simon Keenlyside, and James Morris, conducted by Louis Langrée. From March 27, 2010.
The opera is based on a French adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet by Alexandre Dumas, père, and Paul Meurice, a version that is more compact and somewhat different from the Shakespearean plot. French interest in Hamlet was greatly fueled in 1827 when Irish actress Harriet Smithson inspired an Ophelia craze in Paris—including fashion and hairstyles à la Ophelia—by her performance of Shakespeare’s unhappy heroine who goes mad and drowns herself. The play provided the composer with the opportunity to create a crowd-pleasing “mad scene” in accordance with grand opera tradition.
Wednesday, May 6
Saariaho’s L’Amour de Loin – Starring Susanna Phillips, Tamara Mumford, and Eric Owens, conducted by Susanna Mälkki. From December 10, 2016.
A contemporary opera by a woman composer. Kaija Anneli Saariaho’s L’amour de loin (Love from Afar) premiered in 2000 at the Salzburg Festival. It is based on the fictionalized biography La vida breve (The Short Life) of 12th-century Prince of Blaye and troubadour, Jaufré Rudel, who developed the theme of “love from afar” in his songs. Rudel’s idealization and worship of a woman from a distance, her own dreams of him, and their eventual, doomed meeting unfold on Saariaho’s hypnotic music and Amin Maalouf’s poetic libretto.
Thursday, May 7
Strauss’s Capriccio – Starring Renée Fleming, Sarah Connolly, Joseph Kaiser, Russell Braun, Morten Frank Larsen, and Peter Rose, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. From April 23, 2011.
Richard Strauss’ final opera, subtitled “A Conversation Piece For Music,” tells the story of a Countess divided between two suitors: a poet and a composer. It poses the question: which is the superior art, and more important in creating an opera, poetry or music?—a topic of debate that was popular during the 18th century Age of Enlightenment. The birth of the libretto came from Austrian writer Stefan Zweig and was also inspired by text from Antonio Salieri’s 1786 opera Prima la musica e poi le parole (First the Music and Then the Words). Here is an opera about opera, examining the very nature of its creation.
Friday, May 8
Puccini’s La Bohème – Starring Renata Scotto and Luciano Pavarotti, conducted by James Levine. From March 15, 1977.
We return to Paris and the Latin Quarter with another production of Puccini’s popular opera, a historic production that was the first “Live from the Met” telecast. Two of opera’s most acclaimed singers of all time portray the roles of Mimi and Rodolfo: Renata Scotto and Luciano Pavarotti. The plot is based on Henri Murger’s collection of stories Scènes de la vie de bohème (Scenes of Bohemian Life)—read or download it in English on Project Gutenberg.
Saturday May 9
The Opera House
A 2017 feature-length documentary by Susan Froemke about the creation and 1966 opening of the new Met at Lincoln Center.
Sunday, May 10
Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci – Cavalleria rusticana: Starring Eva-Maria Westbroek, Marcelo Álvarez, and George Gagnidze.
Pagliacci: Starring Patricia Racette, Marcelo Álvarez, and George Gagnidze.
Conducted by Fabio Luisi. From April 25, 2015.
A spectacular double treat of one-act operas, both brimming with passion and drama. Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana (Rustic Chivalry) is based on Giovanni Verga’s short story and subsequent play by the same name. It is considered to be the first verismo opera—verismo (realism) was a style of Italian opera that developed in the last decade of the 19th century and depicted frequently violent stories of everyday characters and situations. This Sicilian melodrama of revenge was Mascagni’s entry into a competition for composers who had never had an opera performed on stage. It won and became one of the most successful operas ever, bringing the young Mascagni a fame which he never matched again.
The opera is known for its superb “Intermezzo” and glorious Easter Hymn, both of which are often performed on their own in concerts. About seventy minutes-long, it is usually paired with Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci (Clowns), and the double bill is informally known as Cav/Pag. Leoncavallo was inspired by Mascagni’s success to compose his own verismo opera for which he also wrote the libretto. The composer claimed that the story was based on a true event from his childhood: specifically, the murder of his family servant. This play-within-a-play that digs behind the clown’s outer smile to reveal his inner sorrow blurs the lines between reality and theatre, with tragic outcomes. It is best known for the heartbreaking aria “Vesti la giubba” (Put on the costume), a showcase piece for the spinto tenor voice.
Top photo: Bigstock
