Broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday March 9 to cinemas around the world, Mariusz Trelinski’s new production transposes the action into a contemporary dictatorship. Under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the field is dominated by the great Lise Davidsen.
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The Force of Destiny by Verdi
Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera
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The Force of Destiny by Verdi
Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera
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The Force of Destiny by Verdi
Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera
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The Force of Destiny by Verdi
Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera
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The Force of Destiny by Verdi
Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera
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The Force of Destiny by Verdi
Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera
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The Force of Destiny by Verdi
Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera
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The Force of Destiny by Verdi
Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera
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The Force of Destiny by Verdi
Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera
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The Force of Destiny by Verdi
Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera
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The Force of Destiny by Verdi
Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera
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The Force of Destiny by Verdi
Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera
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The Force of Destiny by Verdi
Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera
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The Force of Destiny by Verdi
Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera
The traditional theatrical aesthetic long cultivated by the Metropolitan Opera is over, as this new production of The Force of Destiny. Mariusz Trelinski places the action in a contemporary dictatorship, evoking both Italian fascism and Putinist Russia. Visually very polished, the show is based on the diversity of the sets, arranged on a turntable which never stops… rotating, without these movements always seeming justified – in particular during the Overture, disrupted by a very long mimodrama and quite clumsy, which takes us through the different rooms of the Calatrava Hotel over which the marquis of the same name reigns. We then discover from every angle a trendy bar where Carlo is looking for his sister Leonora, the road on which she is the victim of a car accident while fleeing, then the convent where she took refuge (act II), a field of sordid battle (act III), a station gutted by bombings, with striking realism (act IV).
Efficiency
These permanent changes of atmosphere give the whole thing an almost cinematographic fluidity, underlined by videos which are not always perfect, like this helicopter ballet worthy ofApocalypse Now to signify that war has broken out. Speaking of ballet, the recurring interventions of six short-dressed dancers, decked out in rabbit masks with oversized ears, bring a touch of triviality that we would gladly do without. Despite these reservations, let us recognize that the production is quite effective from start to finish, the readability of the plot being perfectly respected, the characters and situations drawn with a firm line.
The vocal plateau is dominated by the great Lise Davidsen, who after so many triumphs with Wagner or Richard Strauss, puts his exceptional gifts at the service of Verdian singing. The volume of this soprano is as supernatural as ever, the projection of the high notes phenomenal, fortunately tempered by incessant gradations of intensity and colors which adorn the phrasings with a whole rainbow of feelings and nuances. But do we dare to admit that so many facilities, by depriving this Leonora of an ounce of fragility, prevent her from rising to the heights of emotion to which her most illustrious predecessors have reached?
Dramatic ambiguity
And Brian Jagde seduced by his tone (certainly not very Latin, but it is a fault shared by the entire cast) as well as by his power, this Don Alvaro should further cultivate the art of half-tone to convey the emotional instability of the unfortunate lover. Despite a slightly weak bass, the Carlo d’Igor Golovatenko shows more subtlety, in addition to an insolent upper third and an inexhaustible legato across the entire range. Phrasing with the bow his noble and beautiful bass, Soloman Howard triumphs as both Marquis de Calatrava and Padre Guardiano – this doubling adding an interesting dramatic ambiguity, as if the heroine’s father had been reincarnated in the ecclesiastic who will offer her salvation. Without having the truculence of the most unforgettable Fra Melitone, Patrick Carfizzi thrives in this paying role, and Judit Kutasi distills the imprecations and the “ Beach plan » de Preziosilla of a mezzo that is both full-bodied and agile.
The Met Orchestra remains one of the most flamboyant operatic groups on the planet, as much for its exemplary cohesion as for the excellence of its individualities – each solo is a jewel. Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads it with a firm arm that ignores drops in tension, while ennobling the score with a vast range of delicacies, perpetual variations of pace and dynamics which, over four acts, make the pulse of the theater beat and breathe the great wind of the romantic epic.
The Force of Destiny by Verdi. New York, Metropolitan Opera, March 9. Performances until March 29.
2024-03-11 07:28:00
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