Anna Netrebko and Željko Lučić star in Verdi’sMacbethat the Metropolitan Opera. Photo: Marty Sohl
“In tonight’s performance ofMacbeth,the title role will be sung by Željko Lučić, replacing Plácido Domingo.” Were it not for that unassuming program insert, you might not have known that Wednesday evening’s performance of Verdi’sMacbethwas a historic one at the Metropolitan Opera—albeit notable more for who wasn’t on the stage than who was.
After a protracted saga that turned into a months-long will-he-or-won’t-he spectacle, Plácido Domingo finally withdrew from Wednesday’s performance with just over twenty-four hours’ notice, amid growing pressure over mounting allegations of sexual harassment.
Predictably, the allegations have caused deep divisions in the world of opera, between those committed to rooting out sexual misconduct in the industry and Domingo’s legions of admirers who stand by the legendary tenor.
But the one thing that everyone can agree on, it seems, is that the Met’s handling of the situation only made things worse. Whether the management asked Domingo to bow out voluntarily in the six weeks between the initial story and Tuesday’s announcement is unclear—they have declined to comment beyond a statement saying that his ultimate withdrawal was a mutual decision. Yet the Met was the only major American presenter not to immediately suspend or cancel its fall performances with Domingo once the charges became public. That allowed resentment to simmer within the company until furious musicians and staffers began making anonymous complaints to major news outlets, forcing the management’s hand at the last minute and leaving a shroud over the entire run.
In the event, there wasn’t much to overshadow in Wednesday night’s season premiere, though the performers can perhaps be excused under the circumstances. Željko Lučić, who was scheduled to take over the title role later in the run, has stepped in to cover Domingo’s three planned performances, as well. On Wednesday night the Serbian baritone looked and sounded exhausted from beginning to end. He lacked his usual consistency of tone, bellowing excessively in the early going and struggling to register in his soft voice. When he tried to rally his soldiers in Act IV, crying “la morte o la gloria!,” it sounded like a plea simply to get the fight over with.
Anna Netrebko, the remaining star attraction in the cast, did her best to compensate, feeding Lady Macbeth’s sense of aggravation with her husband’s fecklessness, though she let herself get carried away here and there. At times, it seemed as though she had decided to play the role as pure camp, while no one else had gotten the memo, leaving her alone to chew the scenery.
At her best, though, Netrebko showed the same captivating presence and vocal power that have made her performances so thrilling to watch over the years: her reprise of “Si colmi il calice” at the end of Act II’s banquet scene seethed with anger, as though to tell her husband “we’re going to stay here and have a good time, damn you.” Her sleepwalking scene was transfixing, showing the best qualities of her voice on a night that betrayed some wobbles and shaky intonation elsewhere. In “Una macchia è qui tuttora,” she boasted a full but clear upper range, thick velvet in her middle, and a bracing, meaty chest voice, crafting arching phrases and brilliant contrasts in a starkly dramatic rendition of the scene.
Matthew Polenzani is Macduff in Verdi’sMacbeth. Photo: Ken Howard
Tenor Matthew Polenzani gave a splendid performance as a dignified, warm-hearted Macduff. There was a bit of a cloud on his voice opening night, but he still showed bright vocal energy and exceptional musical sensitivity in his singing. His Act IV aria, “Ah, la paterna mano,” a moving tribute to his murdered wife and children, was the evening’s most emotionally subtle moment.
Otherwise, the evening saw competent if sleepy performances from the supporting cast. Ildar Abdrazakov was in excellent voice, rich and grainy, but his Banquo was rather nondescript, making his strongest impression in his non-singing appearances as a ghost. As Malcolm, tenor Giuseppe Filianoti sounded too weary to convince as the bright young hope of Scotland. Harold Wilson offered a warm, wooly bass as the Doctor, and Sarah Cambidge showed off a light and pleasing soprano in her debut as Lady Macbeth’s lady-in-waiting.
In the pit, Marco Armiliato sounded as tired as everyone else. While ensemble was generally tight, tempos were sluggish and energy lagged all night. In the banquet scene in Act II he finally found a little forward momentum, but lapsed back into ho-hum pacing after intermission.
The 2007 production by Adrian Noble is superficial and tacky. There are a handful of striking set images—notably Lady Macbeth’s bedchamber, with flanking columns that seem to stretch endlessly upward into the night—but the staging mostly makes half-hearted attempts at generic spookiness, often with comic results. The prophetic visions that appear before Macbeth in the woods are projected in what looks like a giant snow globe. As for the witches, they’re a pack of old ladies in slightly distressed knit jackets, waving their purses menacingly at passers-by and writhing for no apparent reason. There’s nothing terrifying or supernatural about them—they’re just plain weird, and not in the Shakespearean sense.
Macbethruns through October 12 at the Metropolitan Opera. Anna Pirozzi appears as Lady Macbeth on October 1.metopera.org
(Credit: Ken Howard / Metropolitan Opera)
It was supposed to be the hottest ticket in town.
It was the first time Anna Netrebko and Plácido Domingo would grace the Metropolitan Opera together in a production. But we all know how thatturned out.
For weeks, Met audiences had no clue what to expect. The company said nothing as it awaited aninvestigationfrom the LA Opera. And then, less than a week before the sold-out opening, areportcame out stating that Domingo was destined for the Met and the orchestra and chorus members were angry. Domingo then proceeded to sing the dress rehearsal for “Macbeth” before general manager Peter Gelb finally made his first (and to this point only) cameo appearance in this lengthy drama todefendthe famed singer. But then, a day before “Macbeth” was set to open, Domingowithdrew, effectively ending his career with the company.
It was the inevitable outcome ever since the AP made its announcement back in August, but the emotional roller coaster of the past few days, especially for those involved in this production, didn’t stop on Tuesday with Domingo’s departure; the final stop came in Wednesday’s opening night, which for better or worse could be considered a public dress rehearsal. Baritone Željko Lučić, despite being scheduled for later performances, did not really get much time to rehearse the revival with the cast for the opening.
And the effects of that were visible on this night, which was very challenging to review given the circumstances. As follows, we will relate what was experienced on opening night with the rare but essential caveat that things are likely to be better in future shows.
Underpowered Couple
Verdi’s Macbeth hinges on the relationship between the two central characters. Unlike Shakespeare who gave Macbeth and Lady Macbeth a few scenes together, Verdi developed the couple’s relationship through various recitatives, duets, and concertatos. The tension builds within each scene with Lady Macbeth’s dominance exploding at the end of the opera in their final duet. Without a power couple to explore the dynamics of this relationship, the work could feel static and uneventful. This was definitely the case on opening night of this run.
In their opening scene together, Netrebko attempted to sexually seduce her Macbeth by lying on the bed and grabbing his arms. But Lučić did not respond and it was clear that his focus was on the maestro. During the following duet, after which Macbeth commits the murder, Netrebko hovered over Lučić, kicking him and placing her legs over his body. But he would not respond in anyway to her.
Most telling was the scene at the opening of Act two where Netrebko toyed with a gun in her hands as she attempted to seduce him once again. Lučić didn’t look at her in any instance and instead looked like a weakened tyrant that was near the end of his reign. The same lack of chemistry continued through the banquet scene at the end of Act two where the Serbian baritone did not react to Netrebko’s fury as she forced him to dance. Lučić remained stiff, barely moving and more compelled to lay on the ground. The awkward interactions came to a head in the Act three duet “Ora di Morte e di Vendetta.” Netrebko burst into the scene with urgency, pushing away her guard with such vehement frustration that the audience exploded with laughter. That explosion of energy, however, was immediately snuffed out with the two barely interacting in what followed. Throughout the duet, Netrebko moved around him like a predator trying to galvanize its prey, but Lučić looked distressed weakened and lacked that same drive for “Vendetta” as the text states. During the final High C, Netrebko opened his shirt and pushed him to the floor attempting to finally consummate her building lust; but again there was no response.
Netrebko and Lučić first performed the title roles together during the 2014 revival and later reprised them in 2018 at the Royal Opera. So they do have a history of performing this role together and their interpretations in 2014 on this very stage were quite incredible (just watch the DVD). Despite the situation they were thrown into, it was surprising to see them this disconnected. But this is likely to shift in the right direction over the course of the run.
A Maddeningly Inconsistent Diva
But it wasn’t just their interactions with one another that were off. Individual performances were sloppy, at best.
Back in 2014, Anna Netrebko had one of the greatest successes of her career in this role. She gave a provocative performance of Lady Macbeth that she would later repeat on various occasions around the world to great acclaim. But on this evening when she was repeating the role for the first time since then, Netrebko seemed to be having an off-night.
When Netrebko entered the stage she came in with imposing fashion, ripping a letter away from her lady-in-waiting and initiating her recitative with clear diction that emphasized and accented consonants. It was fiery and dramatic reading of the latter that suggested a demonic and vengeful quality.
But then she started to sing and this imposing and daring Lady Macbeth fell short during her opening aria and cabaletta “Vieni t’afretta” and “Or tutti sorgete.” Netrebko’s intonation was consistently spotty, her high notes pushed, and her coloratura (which has never been a strong point) exceedingly sloppy. Her ascensions into the top of her register never seemed to connect with her middle range and the vocal line never flowed with the muscular quality the music asks for. More telling was sometimes she seemed underpowered in her lower range. She also looked visibly lost on stage and sometimes fell out of character as she attempted to sing through the coloratura lines in the cabaletta. She moved about the stage in routine fashion walking side to side with no real motivation or emphasis on character and made a number of stock gestures that would emphasize her power. At one point she threw herself to the floor only to get right back up and to continue walking around before jumping awkwardly onto the bed. In another, she grabbed the bed sheet for no real reason, wrapped herself in it for a moment and then threw it away. It was a rather awkward and frustrating scene from a singer who had utterly brought the house down when she had previously done it.
Her “La Luce Langue” was a visible and aural improvement as she chewed into the text and brought all the rawness of her sound even to the point of making the sound hollow and coarse in the lower register of her chest voice. During the second part of the aria “O voluttà del soglio,”Netrebko let out her full volume, blasting imposing and terrifying sounds that finally showed the frightening and manipulative Lady Macbeth she is capable of.
Her drinking song “Si colmi il calice” was full of contrasts. The first iteration was sung with glimmering coloratura runs that showed a brighter and more refined texture. While she wan’t always at ease, the voice seemed to finally bloom and high notes gleamed into the stage. Then in the second repeat, she delivered accented phrases that emphasized her anger and fury.
But in Act four Netrebko’s energy seemed to wane after her aforementioned duet. During the famed sleepwalking scene “Una macchia è qui tuttora,” Netrebko walked on the row of chairs looking possessed and transfixed. And as she began to sing, she gave shimmering pianissimo sounds that resonated with haunting effect. But after these opening lines, her movements started to become predictable and somewhat robotic. When she threw herself to the floor and placed the light against the audience, it seemed calculated. Vocally she delivered glimmering sound and a connected middle voice but it seemed too safe for a diva known for bringing power and unpredictability to the stage. Her upper register also seemed constrained as she missed one of her high notes and final D flat sounded tentative with iffy intonation.
A Rigid Ruler
In the title role, Željko Lučić had a very uneven performance that did little to convey a character. Again, context is everything with this particular performance and it was undeniably hard for him to enter the arena with little preparation. Still, he was brought in mainly because he is a Macbeth veteran and it was somewhat surprising to find such inconsistency in a role that has been developed for nearly a decade. In this case, Lučić’s Macbeth did not develop beyond a hesitant king.
Vocally he had some fine moments, especially his monologue in Act one. He sang with piano sounds that emphasized the sense of terror and dread. It brought to life the hesitance that Macbeth feels about killing the king. In the Act two concertato, he also sang with powerful phrases and his timbre gleamed with lush sound that easily went over the ensemble. There was also an expressive moment in Act three, “Fuggi regal fantasima,” where Lučić seemed possessed and frightened, singing with detached phrases and airy sound that brought to life Macbeth’s impending doom.
But the overall vocal quality was never quite solid. In the opening duet Lučić’s phrases flowed between a pianissimo sound and accented fortes. It created a chaotic and ultimately mannered approach to a legato line. In his final aria “Pietà, rispetto, amore,” it was clear that the baritone was giving it all emotionally, but there was a lot of spotty intonation, especially during the ascension to F flat on “Sol la bestemia,” with ensuing phrases sounding like they were in the wrong key. His sound started to lose its brightness, the harshness making for a tough listen.
Audiences of future performances are likely to benefit from the baritone warming back up into the role and production.
No comments:
Post a Comment