OK, I’m  guilty. I confess. I really like Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur provided it’s performed by great singers as it was today. No qualifiers like some critics who try to disguise their taste for Adriana as if it were a sugary drink. So what if Cilea repeats a lot of his tunes. They’re all very good. Don’t hide your guilty pleasures – life doesn’t have enough of them.

Peter Gelb in an interview with director David McVicar said the opera was over the top. Does he think he’s the GM of the Metropolitan Museum rather than the Opera? All opera is over the top; that’s why people continue to go even though almost nothing really new has happened for almost a century.

Cilea’s opera has an interesting history at the Met. It received three performances by the company in 1907 just a little over four years after its premiere at the Teatro Lirico in Milan. Enrico Caruso was in both runs; but his presence did not save the opera from more than half a century of oblivion. It did not return until the Met staged it in 1962 for Renata Tebaldi and Franco Corelli. Since then it has received 74 performances and counting. Placido Domingo made his Met debut as Maurizio substituting for an indisposed Corelli. Today the opera is a standard in the operatic repertory.

David McVicar’s production, a cooperative venture with half the opera companies between New York and Alpha Centauri, put the Comedie Française on the Met’s stage which is bigger than the main runway at LaGuardia Airport. He also placed the action in the early 18th century where it’s supposed to be. In today’s world this is a revolutionary concept. Charles Edwards baronial sets took a lot of time to change. It looked like most of the Met’s stage hands were actually working during the backstage shots, unlike the usual relaxed standing around that characterizes the HD set change visuals.

AL can succeed if it has a great soprano in the title role along with an equally outstanding tenor as Maurizio. Today there were four great performers led by a conductor who paced the action with passion and lyricism. Anna Netrebko’s voluptuous voice is well suited for this part which requires volume, shading, and emotional involvement but which never goes above A5. Brigitte Reiffenstuel’s period costumes were flattering to her current generous figure. She played the role of a diva with all the godlike accoutrements the part requires.

The same was true of the other leading lady, Anita Rachvelishvili (the Princess di Bouillon) – both with respect to garb and voice. The Georgian mezzo, only 34 years old, is having an MVP year in the opera world. Her second act confrontation with Adriana was riveting. Rachvelishvili has a voice that could defy a soundproof room. She made a lot out of a relatively small role that is often overlooked by audiences locked onto the work’s lovers.

Piotr Beczala’s voice varies from show to show. Today he seemed to have morphed into a fully developed spinto with ringing high notes. He was up to the standard set by Corelli and Domingo. His slender figure needed no camouflage.

The genial stage manager, Michonnet, was played by Ambrogio Maestri. No amount of costume magic could disguise the Italian baritone’s girth. His size is an active threat to his health. The cane he used was not a prop. He is particularly known for his definitive portrayal of Verdi’s Falstaff. He gave a sensitive and appealing reading of Adriana’s friend and secret lover. He knows he’s too old and low status for her. His part usually goes unnoticed, Maestri made his character a real life person. His voice is a superb instrument that sounds like he could sing anything he wished. A real artist.

Maurizio Muraro and Carlo Bosi were first rate in the comprimario roles of the Prince di Bouillon and the Abbé, respectively. There was a ballet in the third act, but I dozed off during it and can’t comment on its merit. Ballet in opera always has a soporific effect on me.

Gianandrea Noseda is a conductor with great experience in both opera and orchestral music. He led the Met’s great band in a dynamic performance that underscored and amplified every important part of the score. He is a conductor with the insight and the skill to transfer intelligence to both singers and players. He got a great performance out of all involved. If you missed the live show, be sure to catch the repeat. If it shows up on PBS’s Great Performances series watch it again.

Metropolitan Opera House
January 12, 2019

ADRIANA LECOUVREUR
Francesco Cilea-Arturo Colautti

Adriana Lecouvreur……Anna Netrebko
Maurizio…………….Piotr Beczala
Princess di Bouillon….Anita Rachvelishvili
Michonnet……………Ambrogio Maestri
Bouillon…………….Maurizio Muraro
Abbé………………..Carlo Bosi
Jouvenot…………….Sarah Joy Miller
Dangeville…………..Samantha Hankey
Poisson……………..Tony Stevenson
Quinault…………….Patrick Carfizzi
Major-domo…………..Christian Rozakis
Chambermaid………….Anne Dyas
Duclos………………Snezhana Chernova
Pantalone……………Bill Corry

Act III Ballet: Judgement of Paris
Paris……………….Kfir Danieli
Shepherdesses………..Jennifer Cadden, Cara Seymour
Mercury……………..Bradley Shelver
Jupiter……………..Arthur Lazalde
Juno………………..Erin Monteleone
Venus……………….Cajai Fellows Johnson
Minerva……………..Sarah Kay Marchetti
Discor………………Maria Phegan

Conductor……………Gianandrea Noseda

Production…………..David McVicar
Set Designer…………Charles Edwards
Costume Designer……..Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Lighting Designer…….Adam Silvermann
Choreographer………..Andrew George
Associate Director……Justin Way
Video Director………..Gary Halvorson

Production a gift of the Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund

Co-Production of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London;
Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona; Wiener Staatsoper; San Francisco Opera;
L’Opera National de Paris

Production first shown at the Royal Opera House, London,
November 20, 2010