Verdi’s Evangelical Preacher Stiffelio, Brooding & Raging, Returns to the Met
by Bruce-Michael Gelbert
On January 11, the Metropolitan Opera revived Giuseppe Verdi’s “Stiffelio” (1850) and Plácido Domingo, protagonist of the 1993 Met premiere and 1998 revival, this time presided in the pit. For the work, Verdi set the then contemporary tale of a German protestant minister, Stiffelio (Stiffelius), also called Rodolfo Müller, whose wife, Lina, has an affair with Raffaele von Leuthold, a young nobleman, in her spouse’s absence. Lina’s father, Count Stankar, avenges the family ‘honor’ by killing Raffaele Read more
Met Unveils Fresh New “Carmen,” Starring Garana & Alagna
By Bruce-Michael Gelbert
For the second time this season, the Metropolitan Opera has replaced a large-scale Franco Zeffirelli production of a repertory standard with a lower-key restudied version. The Luc Bondi-Richard Peduzzi “Tosca,” which opened the season and weds gratuitous sensationalism to drab trappings, has been justly condemned as an unworthy successor to Zeffirellli’s monumental “Tosca.” The new “Carmen,” which succeeds Zeffirelli’s busy one, makes for a much more satisfying reconsideration, save for one grievous miscalculation at the climax, than the Read more
The Wall Street Journal- The New York Times
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