This won't end well. Macbeth, Act II. Photo (c) Met Opera |
Noah Baetge acquitted himself well as Malcolm. I confess that I sometimes think of Malcolm as "that other tenor in the room," and Baetge sang with a flair, and a ringing tone, that made this impossible. Joseph Calleja sang with accustomed ease and beauty as Macduff. His is an exciting voice to me, and he was on fine vocal form, showing appropriately ominous ardor in the scene of indignation at Duncan's death. I missed, however, seeing his transformation in the second half. He sang "Ah! la paterna mano!" with exquisite phrasing, but I did not believe that Macduff's world had been unmade. Rene Pape, on the other hand, made me care more about Banquo than I have in multiple readings of Macbeth. Even in silence he was impressive; we learn about his relationship to Macbeth even before the duettino, about his identity as a parent already in the moments around Duncan's corpse, where he's torn between a desire to shelter Fleance and a recognition of the adolescent's need for even painful, even dangerous knowledge. Not only in ensembles, but in small exchanges, Pape sang with rich expressivity, as well as unfailingly rich sound. "Come dal ciel precipita" was a genuinely profound meditation, a confrontation with evil and with mortality (and I cried.) The assassination was so well-done that I was mentally cheering on the eventual haunting.
Anna Netrebko sang a Lady Macbeth equally credible in her sensuality and in her self-imposed ruthlessness. Her register integration wasn't perfectly even, but she sang the role confidently and effectively from top to bottom. Again and again I thrilled to hear Netrebko make the unexpected, improbable vocal lines sound inevitable, from an erotic "Ambitioso spirto" to a deeply chilling "La luce langue." (I think I held my breath during the pause before "È necessario!" She was compelling in the banquet scene, brilliant when sleepwalking, looking for a murdered man in a sea of faces... and maintaining regal composure when some idiot "Brava-ed" mid-scene. Zeljko Lucic sang a moving Macbeth, with full-bodied singing, and good use of text. Although his phrasing was a bit rocky at the start, matters rapidly improved, and he didn't shout out of his lines, or sound gravelly. (I like Lucic, but sometimes feel he doesn't sound his best at the Met; I was pleased that he acquitted himself so well in this role.) Choreography didn't help his acting, but the role was thoughtfully, richly sung. Not least, Lucic built the emotional intensity inexorably to a climax, an accomplishment unusual in a role with so many crises. Watching his descent was compelling and moving; once he has confronted the betrayal of his own humanity in "Pietà, rispetto, onore," there is nowhere for him to end but as a triumphed-over tyrant.
Anna Netrebko sang a Lady Macbeth equally credible in her sensuality and in her self-imposed ruthlessness. Her register integration wasn't perfectly even, but she sang the role confidently and effectively from top to bottom. Again and again I thrilled to hear Netrebko make the unexpected, improbable vocal lines sound inevitable, from an erotic "Ambitioso spirto" to a deeply chilling "La luce langue." (I think I held my breath during the pause before "È necessario!" She was compelling in the banquet scene, brilliant when sleepwalking, looking for a murdered man in a sea of faces... and maintaining regal composure when some idiot "Brava-ed" mid-scene. Zeljko Lucic sang a moving Macbeth, with full-bodied singing, and good use of text. Although his phrasing was a bit rocky at the start, matters rapidly improved, and he didn't shout out of his lines, or sound gravelly. (I like Lucic, but sometimes feel he doesn't sound his best at the Met; I was pleased that he acquitted himself so well in this role.) Choreography didn't help his acting, but the role was thoughtfully, richly sung. Not least, Lucic built the emotional intensity inexorably to a climax, an accomplishment unusual in a role with so many crises. Watching his descent was compelling and moving; once he has confronted the betrayal of his own humanity in "Pietà, rispetto, onore," there is nowhere for him to end but as a triumphed-over tyrant.
I'm very much looking forward to seeing this next week.
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