Eugene Onegin at the Met
November 24, 2013
With the opening gala, this is my second Eugene Onegin of the
season, essentially because I’m a devout Villazón fan and could just not miss
his comeback performance at the Met.
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| Photo Credit: Ken Howard / The Metropolitan Opera |
The first (and last) time I saw Rolando live was in a Lucia
di Lammermoor at the Met in 2009, when he bewitched me with his powerful warmth
and visceral musical sweetness, all while making me cry copiously. Back then I
got out of the Met transformed, having for the very first time experienced live
how an Italian-style tenor, like no other singer, can have a “streak of animal
sensuality which cuts through all operatic politesse and leaves the listener
gasping.”* Shortly thereafter, during a later performance of that
same run of Lucia di Lammermoor, Rolando’s voice failed to respond and cracked
instead of producing a high note. In front of a full house at the
Met, he stopped singing for several seconds, cleared his throat and then
repeated the note. Villazón’s vocal chords
cysts saga unfolded, he underwent surgery and stopped singing for a while, then resuming performances only in Europe. Though I became an avid listener of
all of his recordings, I was longing to see him perform again, so much that I
toyed with the idea of flying from NYC to Vienna or Barcelona for a week-end
just to hear him in Don Giovanni or Elisir.
It was such joy (though tainted by trepidation) to see Villazón
perform again on that very stage where his vocal chords first so publicly
failed him. He was the expressive singer and charming actor I remembered and
managed to heat up Russian singing with his always rich and warm tone. His
power may not be exactly where it used to, but I blame the size of the Met for
that (and my family circle seat). While his Lensky died tragically in Act II,
Rolando movingly looked like the happiest singer in the world at the curtain
call, high-fiving Peter Mattei, hugging everybody, double fist-pumping in the air and
jumping up and down, rightly excited for having finally dominated the Met
again. I cannot but join in such excitement, relieved that one of my very few
favorite living tenors can still do it!
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| Photo Credit: Ken Howard / The Metropolitan Opera |
While there’s scarcity of great tenors, lately I’ve come to
realize that there are plenty of awesome baritones around ready to knock my
socks off. This time it was Peter Mattei. While I think I saw him before,
probably in a good Barbiere a few years ago, this time I was blown away by how he
absolutely owned Onegin, with charismatic manly stage presence, effortless
spotless signing, dynamic acting and deep musical Russian phrasing. Mattei was
truly magnificent as he fleshed out Onegin, bringing the character to a whole
new level of depth. His transformation from cold, snotty and cynical to ardent,
passionate and love-crazed was one of the most convincing and heart-wrenching
performances I've seen at the Met.
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| Photo Credit: Ken Howard / The Metropolitan Opera |
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| Photo Credit: Ken Howard / The Metropolitan Opera |
Marina Poplavskaya was a vocally solid Tatyana, however
pretty pale next to my recent memories of Netrebko singing this same role. I
will say, though, that Poplavskaya has less of a diva stage presence than Netrebko
that, oddly, led to more effective acting with respect to the shy dreamy
characterizations of Tatyana in the first two acts.
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| Photo Credit: Ken Howard / The Metropolitan Opera |
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| Photo Credit: Ken Howard / The Metropolitan Opera |
Bass Stefan Kocán as Prince Gremin was as always excellent
and commanding, my only critique being to the Met’s make-up and wig department:
he is supposed to be an old retired soldier but he looked like the youngest,
sleekest and hottest of all men on stage. Grey hair and some wrinkles were much
needed to make his character credible.
The production may have been the same, but the different
cast really transformed Eugene Onegin into a whole new experience. Also,
without the gala distractions (tiaras-spotting, gay protesters and the like), I
was able to better focus and appreciate even more the deep romanticism of this
opera. The outbursts of passion really came through as the backbone of the
piece: Lensky’s declaration of love to Olga, Tatyana’s letter, Lensky’s jealous
fight with Onegin and his nostalgic aria before dieing, Gremin’s bit on the
joys of married love and Onegin’s final desperate love confession to Tatyana.
Tchaikovsky’s adaptation of Pushkin’s novel in verse really does pack in a lot
of quintessential operatic drama, and I am grateful to the Met for having lured
me twice to enjoy it.
I may have gone to this second Eugene Onegin to check on Rolando
(very glad to see he’s in good form), but came out having fallen head over
heels for Peter. I should start scheduling some operatic travel to catch more
Mattei. It looks like the only other opportunity this season to see this dreamy
baritone will be in Berlin for Tannhäuser in April – who knows, he may even help overcome my Wagner fears.
– Lei
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| Photo credit: Maria Protopopov / Blog Villazonista |
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| Photo credit: Maria Protopopov / Blog Villazonista |
* A Night at the Opera: An Irreverent Guide to The Plots, The Singers, The Composers, The Recordings, Modern Library, 1998, p. 852
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