Today’s telecast of Bellini’s soprano showcase revealed the numerous problems that have been afflicting the Met during the tenure of its general manager, Peter Gelb. Not that there was a problem with the show – which was fine, it’s issues surrounding the production that reflect the company’s difficulties.
First is the need for a new production of an opera that the company has given only 82 times (counting today’s presentation) since it first appeared in the Met’s inaugural season in 1883. Its last production was in 2009. It was so awful that it lasted for only 15 performances. La Sonnambula persists only if a star soprano wants to do it. Nadine Sierra is such a soprano and obviously wanted to sing the role of Amina. The 2009 production was beyond resucitation and an expensive redo was required. This pattern of bad productions followed by a premature new one happens a lot at the Met and ruptures the company’s budget. Who’s responsible for these messes – Peter Gelb.
The GM opened the telecast with an unnecessary foray into a political topic. Such detours are a regular part of Gelb’s administration. He drove the world’s greatest soprano (Anna Netrebko) away because she was Russian. She’s suing both the Met and Gelb for breach of contract, defamation, and discrimination (national origin and gender). Since he let Netrebko go, he’s cast a carload of Russians, including Alexander Vinogradov who appeared in today’s show as Count Rodolfo.
Enough! How was the performance? Fine if you can get past the silly story which director Rolando Villazón took far too seriously. His Swiss villagers, all clad in black and with a mien to match, looked as if they had been hijacked from Lancaster County. In his intermission interview he found meaning where there was none. He had Amina reject Elvino at the opera’s end and climb a ladder instead of reuniting with him. Still, it was nothing like Mary Zimmerman’s 2009 catastrophe. It won’t need replacement the next time a star soprano feels a yen for La Sonnambula.
Nadine Sierra is now at the peak of her vocal powers. and it’s very high. She’s also as good to look at as she is to hear. Her portrayal of the sleepwalking soprano was as close to perfect as a soprano can be when charged with emitting Bellini’s famously “long, long long” melodies (Verdi’s description). Her acting, not that acting is very important in this opera, gave us a loveable dimwit given to grimaces and other strange faces that Gary Halvorson’s closeups made easily visible to the TV audience. Those in the Met’s auditorium may not have noticed. These quirks didn’t matter when matched to glorious singing. Soft, loud, high notes and higher, all were spun by Sierra with ease.
Spanish tenor Xabier Anduaga made his Met debut as Elvino this season. He has a solid lyric tenor that has all the notes Bellini needs. All he lacks is a brighter sound that would allow him to spin a gentler line. The dry sound aside, he was quite good as the jealous villager whom he portrayed as nasty and unfriendly. He said during the intermission interview that Elvino wasn’t a very likable character, which is how he was portrayed.
Alexander Vinogradov, mentioned above, has a beautiful lyric bass. He got as much as possible from his role. He also is a convincing actor, even allowing for the low acting bar set in this opera.
Sydney Mancasola was quite good in the seconda donna role of Lise. Also convincing was Deborah Nansteel as Amina’s stepmother. Nicholas Newton was appropriately surly given Villazón’s overly grim pseudo-Amish setting.
Maestro Riccardo Frizza has a good feel for bel canto opera. He supported the singers with sensitivity and helped realize the beauty of Bellini’s extraordinary melodies. But without a soprano of Sierra’s ability there is little reason to perform this opera. Two new productions of La Sonnambula over just 15 years is an extravagance the cash-strapped Met cannot afford.
The sets were largely devoid of furniture. Instead of houses, there were doors. Snow-capped peaks were in the background. An alter ego of Amina pranced about ostensibly on the mountain tops. Amina and her alter ego were twirling around in the cold, clad only in night gowns. Were this a serious opera they’d both be dead from TB before the final curtain. But both seemed impervious to snow and frost in this production.
The Met is doing six new productions this year. Three are almost certain to lose money. Only one of them will be on the HD telecasts this year. The final offering on May 30, 2026 will be Gabriela Lena Franks’s El último sueño de Frida y Diego.
La Sonnambula
Vincenzo Bellini | Felice Romani
Amina……….Nadine Sierra
Elvino ……….Xabier Anduaga
Rodolfo……….Alexander Vinogradov
Lisa……….Sydney Mancasola
Teresa……….Deborah Nansteel
Alessio……….Nicholas Newton
Notary………. Scott Scully
Conductor……….Riccardo Frizza
Production……….Rolando Villazón
Set Designer……….Johannes Leiacker
Costume Designer……….Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Lighting Designer………Donald Holder
Projection Designer……….Renaud Rubiano
Choreographer……….Leah Hausman
Video Director……….Gary Halvorson
I thought the ‘repression of the villagers’ idea and Amina’s escape into the snows (surely to perish almost immediately?) at the end were interesting ideas, and (at least!) ones that didn’t fight with the libretto. (If we’re on Amina’s side, do we really rejoice to have her taken back, however grudgingly, by those seriously-repressed villagers at the end?)
But, as you say, the point of such an opera has to be the singing. I thought the tenor went well with Nadine Sierra, who is a real star–what work she’s done for us, in the recent HD’s: Romeo et Juliette last year, Traviata and Lucia a few years ago. It is a joy to watch and hear her.