Met Opera Triumph: Romeo and Juliet by Gounod Live in Cinemas March 23

Alongside Nadine Sierra, our tenorissimo triumphs at the Metropolitan Opera in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette which will be broadcast in cinemas on March 23.

• Romeo and Juliet by Gounod

  Photo credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

• Romeo and Juliet by Gounod

  Photo credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

• Romeo and Juliet by Gounod

  Photo credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

• Romeo and Juliet by Gounod

  Photo credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

• Romeo and Juliet by Gounod

  Photo credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

• Romeo and Juliet by Gounod

  Photo credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

• Romeo and Juliet by Gounod

  Photo credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

• Romeo and Juliet by Gounod

  Photo credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

• Romeo and Juliet by Gounod

  Photo credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

• Romeo and Juliet by Gounod

  Photo credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

• Romeo and Juliet by Gounod

  Photo credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

• Romeo and Juliet by Gounod

  Photo credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

Released in 2016, this Romeo and Juliet will delight those nostalgic for a time when traditional shows were the prerogative of the Met. Bartlett Sher surrounds the action in an imposing setting, an Italian square bordered by the monumental facades of classical buildings, adorned with a clever array of modeling. Of the four levels of these constructions, whose shadows weigh like fate on the characters, the director does not do much, the theatrical action most often converging in the center of the stage space, only a few elements of furniture transformed into a chapel, Juliet’s room or a tomb. If nothing disturbs the narration, the attitudes remain the most conventional, certainly regulated with an undeniable craft – thus brawls, worthy of a cloak and dagger film. The only audacity: the shimmering costumes, which lack neither embroidery nor a lace ruffle, place the opera in the 18th century rather than in the Renaissance of the Shakespearean original.

Jewels of singing

The setting matters little when the jewels of song shine. We find the Romeo of Benjamin Bernheim, as ideal in New York as in Paris last spring, by the youthful look, the impeccable style, the superlative carving of the word. On the breath, traversed by an electrifying sensitive vibration, “ Ah! rise, sun! » reaches heights of poetry that capsize the room. And in the duets, this silver timbre, impeccably projected, blends wonderfully with that of Nadine Sierra, more pulpy, full of irresistible eroticism which is further underlined by a line of stunning plasticity – too bad if the consonants are sometimes blurred. This Juliet spins her waltz with a virtuosity as prodigious as her golden treble, shows a phenomenal lyrical breadth in the air of poison, dies away with treasures of delicacy, in symbiosis with her Romeo – and that they These cursed lovers are beautiful to see !

If there are no French artists around these two stars, our language is not too badly abused – by the choir in particular, very well prepared on this point. Nathan Berg (Capulet) and Richard Bernstein (Duke of Verona) compete for natural authority. Despite a somewhat unstable broadcast, Brother Laurent ofAlfred Walker is a mountain of goodness with an imposing volume. The Mercutio of Will Liverman tells the Ballad of Queen Mab with carnivorous accents tempered by a generous cantabile. The Tybalt of Frederick Ballentine shines with agility in his phrasing and clarity in his pronunciation. The Stéphano of Samantha Hankey, finally, makes his “fly” White dove » with a lot of grace in the melodic design, enhanced by a small, tasty vibrating grain.

Waiting for Yannick

If the Met Orchestra distills its usual splendors, Pierre Vallet directs it with excess caution, particularly in the first two acts – it is true that this is the first and only performance entrusted to the French conductor. This always flexible battle breathes with the board, but only really reaches its cruising speed from the clashes in III. There is no doubt that Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who will take over the musical direction when it is broadcast in cinemas on March 23, will further raise the fever. And that, through the cameras, the show will offer the material for beautiful images, around a couple of protagonists who have everything to set the screens on fire.

Romeo and Juliet by Gounod. New York, Metropolitan Opera, March 10. Performances until March 30.
Rebroadcast in cinemas on March 23 (list of theaters on www.pathelive.com).

2024-03-13 13:40:00
#York #American #dream #Benjamin #Bernheim