User:The Cardigan Kid/sandbox
Performances
| Performer(s) | Piece | Opera | Composer | CD? | VHS/Laserdisc? | DVD? | |
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| Metropolitan Opera Orchestra | Overture | Rienzi, der letzte der Tribunen ("Rienzi, the last of the tribunes", WWV 49, Dresden, 1842) | Richard Wagner (1813–1883) , with a libretto by Wagner after Rienzi, the last of the Roman tribunes (1835) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803–1873) |  |
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| Deborah Voigt (Elisabeth) | "Dich, teure Halle" | Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg ("Tannhäuser and the Wartburg song contest", WWV 70, Dresden, 1845) | Richard Wagner, with a libretto by Wagner after the German legends of Tannhäuser and the Wartburg Sängerkrieg (minstrels' contest) | |
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| Vladimir Chernov (Figaro) | Largo al factotum | Il Barbiere di Siviglia | Rossini | |
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| Frederica von Stade (Cherubino) | Voi che sapete | Le Nozze di Figaro | Mozart | |
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| Thomas Hampson (Rodrigo) and Roberto Scandiuzzi (Filippo II) | "Restate!... O Signor, di Fiandra arrivo" | Don Carlo (Paris, 1867) | Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901), with an Italian libretto by Achille de Lauzieres and Angelo Zanardini, translated from the French of Joseph Méry (1797–1866) and Camille du Locle (1832–1903), after the play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien ("Don Carlos, Infante of Spain", Hamburg, 1787) by Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) | |
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| Renée Fleming (Louise) | "Depuis le jour où je me suis donnée" | Louise (Paris, 1900) | Gustave Charpentier (1860–1956), , with a libretto by Charpentier and Saint-Pol-Roux (1861–1940) | |
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| Richard Leech | È la solita storia | L'Arlesiana | Ch? | |
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| Hei-Kyung Hong (Rosina), Wendy White (Cherubino), Christine Goerke (Marie Antoinette) and Håkan Hagegård (Pierre Beaumarchais) | "Cherubino...", "Now we go back in time" | The ghosts of Versailles (New York, 1991) | John Corigliano (born 1938), , with a libretto by William M. Hoffman (1939–2017) after L'autre Tartuffe, ou La mère coupable ("The other Tartuffe, or The guilty mother", Paris, 1792) by Pierre Beaumarchais | |
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| Ghena Dimitrova (Amelia), Franco Farina (Riccardo) and Juan Pons (Renato) | "Ahimè! S'appressa alcun!" | Un ballo in maschera (Rome, 1859) | Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Antonio Somma (1809–1864) after that written by Eugène Scribe (1791–1861) for Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué by Daniel Auber (1782–1871) | |
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| Gabriela Beňačková (Rusalka) | Song to the Moon: "Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém" | Rusalka ("The water spirit", Prague, 1901) | Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904), ), with a libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil (1868–1950) after Undine (1811) by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué (1777–1843), Den lille havfreu ("The little mermaid", 1837) by Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) and the north-west European folk tradition of Melusine | |
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| Angela Gheorghiu (Suzel) and Roberto Alagna (Fritz) | "Suzel, buon di" (Cherry Duet) | L'amico Fritz ("Friend Fritz", Rome, 1891) | Pietro Mascagni (1863–1945), with a libretto by Nicola Daspuro (1853–1941, writing as P. Suardon) and Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti (1863–1934) after L'ami Fritz by Émile Erckmann (1822–1899) and Pierre-Alexandre Chatrian | |
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| Ileana Cotrubas (Giuditta) | "Ich weiß es selber nicht... Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß" | Giuditta (Vienna, 1934) | Franz Lehár (1870–1948), with a libretto by Paul Knepler (1879–1967) and Fritz Löhner-Beda (1883–1942) | |
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| Dolora Zajick (Eboli) | "Ah, più non vedrò... O don fatale" | Don Carlo | Verdi | |
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| James Morris (Wotan) | "Leb wohl, du kühnes, herrliches Kind!” (Wotan’s Farewell) | Die Walküre ("The Valkyrie", WWV 86B, Munich, 1870) | Wagner | |
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| Deborah Voigt (Elvira), Plácido Domingo (Ernani) and Roberto Scandiuzzi (Silva) | "Cessaro i suoni" | Ernani (Venice, 1844) | Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave (1810–1876) after Hernani (1830) by Victor Hugo (1802–1885) | |
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| Roberto Alagna (Nadir) and Bryn Terfel (Zurga) | "Au fond du temple saint" | Les pêcheurs de perles ("The pearl fishers", Paris, 1867) | Georges Bizet (1838–1875), , with a libretto by Eugène Cormon (1810–1903) and Michel Carré (1821–1872) | |
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| Ruth Ann Swenson (Juliette) | "Je veux vivre dans ce rêve" | Roméo et Juliette (Paris, 1867) | Charles Gounod (1818–1893), , with a libretto by Jules Barbier (1825–1901) and Michel Carré after Romeo and Juliet (circa 1593) by William Shakespeare (1564–1616) | |
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| Alfredo Kraus (Werther) | "Pourquoi me réveiller" | Werther (Geneva, 1892) | Jules Massenet (1842–1912), , with a libretto by Édouard Blau (1836–1906), Paul Milliet (1848–1924) and Georges Hartmann (1843–1900, writing as Henri Grémont) after Die Leiden des jungen Werthers ("The sorrows of young Werther", 1774) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe | |
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| Jessye Norman | D'amour l'ardente flamme | La Damnation de Faust | Berlioz | |
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| Dawn Upshaw (Susanna) | "Giunse alfin il momento... Deh! Vieni, non tardar" | Le nozze di Figaro ("The marriage of Figaro", K. 492, Vienna, 1786) | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte after La folle journée, ou Le Mariage de Figaro ("The mad day, or The marriage of Figaro", 1784) by Pierre Beaumarchais (1732–1799) | |
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| Jerry Hadley | Dein ist mein ganzes Herz | The Land of Smiles | Lehar | |
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| Karita Mattila (Rosalinde) and Håkan Hagegård (Eisenstein) | "Dieser Anstand, so manierlich" | Die Fledermaus ("The Bat", Vienna, 1874) | Johann Strauss II (1825–1899) , with a libretto by Karl Haffner (1804–1876) and Richard Genée (1823–1895) after Le réveillon ("The supper party", Paris, 1872) by Henri Meilhac (1830–1897) and Ludovic Halévy (1834–1908), after Das Gefängnis ("The prison", Berlin, 1851) by Julius Roderich Benedix (1811–1873) | Example | |
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| Sherrill Milnes | Nemico della patria | Andrea Chénier (Milan, 1896) | Umberto Giordano (1867–1948) , with a libretto by Luigi Illica (1857–1919) based on the life of the poet André Chénier (1762–1794) | |
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| Waltraud Meier (Isolde) | "Wie lachend sie mir Lieder singen" (Isolde’s Narrative and Curse) | Tristan und Isolde (WWV 90, Munich, 1865) | Richard Wagner, with a libretto by Wagner after Tristan by Gottfried von Strassburg (d. circa 1210) | |
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| Mark Oswald (Malatesta) and Paul Plishka (Don Pasquale) | "Don Pasquale?... Cheti, cheti, immantinente" | Don Pasquale (Paris, 1843) | Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848), with a libretto by Donizetti and Giovanni Ruffini (1807–1881) after that written by Angelo Anelli (1761–1820) for Ser Marcantonio (Milan, 1810) by Stefano Pavesi (1779–1850) | |
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| Carlo Bergonzi (Rodolfo) | "Oh! Fede negar potessi agl'occhi miei!... Quando le sere al placido" | Luisa Miller (Naples, 1849) | Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano (1801–1852) after Kabale und Liebe ("Intrigue and love", Frankfurt am Main, 1784) by Friedrich Schiller | |
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| Florence Quivar (Giulietta), Rosalind Elias (Niklausse), Alfredo Kraus (Hoffmann), Charles Anthony (Pitichinaccio), James Courtney (Schlémil), Paul Plishka (Dapertutto) and the Metropolitan Opera Chorus | "Hélas, mon cœur s'égare encore" (Sextet) | Les contes d'Hoffmann ("The tales of Hoffmann", Paris, 1881) | Jacques Offenbach, with a libretto by Jules Barbier, after Les contes fantastiques d'Hoffmann ("The fantastic tales of Hofmann") by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, after Der Sandmann ("The Sandman", 1816), Rath Krespel ("Councillor Krespel", 1818) and Das verlorene Spiegelbild ("The lost reflection", from Die Abenteuer der Sylvester-Nacht, ["The adventures of New Year's Eve", 1814]) by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776–1822) | |
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| Sharon Sweet and the Metropolitan Opera Chorus | Madre, pietosa Vergine | La Forza del Destino | Verdi | |
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| Gwyneth Jones and the Metropolitan Opera Chorus | In questa reggia | Turandot | Puccini | |
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| Metropolitan Opera Chorus | Va Pensiero | Nabucco | Verdi | |
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| Samuel Ramey | Del futuro nel buio discerno | Nabucco | Verdi | |
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| June Anderson (Giselda), Carlo Bergonzi (Oronte), Ferruccio Furlanetto (Pagano) and Raymond Gniewek (violin solo) | "Qui posa il fianco... Qual voluttà trascorrere" | I Lombardi alla prima crociata ("The Lombards in the first crusade", Milan, 1843) | Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Temistocle Solera (1815–1878) after I Lombardi alla prima crociata (1826) by Tommaso Grossi (1791–1853) | |
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| Catherine Malfitano (Tatyana) and Dwayne Croft (Eugene Onegin) | "O! Kak mnye tyazhelo" | Eugene Onegin (Op. 24, Moscow, 1879) | Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893), with a libretto by Tchaikovsky and Konstantin Shilovsky after Eugene Onegin (published serially, 1825–1832) by Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837) | |
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| Carol Vaness (Fiordiligi) and Susanne Mentzer (Dorabella) | "Sorella, cosa dici?... Prenderò quel brunettino" | Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti ("Thus do all women, or The school for lovers", K. 588, Vienna, 1790) | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte | |
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| Grace Bumbry (Dalila) | "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" | Samson et Dalila (Op. 47, Weimar, 1877) | Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921), with a libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire (1832–1879) after the story of Samson and Delilah in Chapter 16 of the Book of Judges in the Old Testament | |
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| Aprile Millo (Amelia) | "Morrò, ma prima in grazia" | Un ballo in maschera (Rome, 1859) | Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Antonio Somma (1809–1864) after that written by Eugène Scribe (1791–1861) for Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué by Daniel Auber (1782–1871) | |
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| Maria Ewing | My man's gone now | Porgy and Bess | Gershwin | |
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| Jane Eaglen (Brünnhilde) | "Starke Scheite schichtet mir dort" (Immolation Scene) | Götterdämmerung ("Twilight of the gods", WWV 86D, Bayreuth, 1876) | Richard Wagner | |
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| Frederica von Stade (La Périchole) | "Ah! Quel dîner je viens de faire" | La Périchole ("The Peruvienne", Paris, 1868) | Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880), with a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy after Le carrosse de Saint-Sacrement ("The Saint-Sacrement coach") by Prosper Mérimée (1803–1871) | |
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| Kiri Te Kanawa (Donna Elvira) | "In quali eccessi, o numi... Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata" | Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni ("The rake punished, or Don Giovanni", K. 527, Prague, 1787) | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) with a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte (1749–1838) after El burlador de Seville y convivado de piedra ("The trickster of Seville and the stone guest", ?1616) by Tirso de Molina (1579–1648) | |
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| Renée Fleming (Feldmarschallin), Anne Sofie von Otter (Octavian) and Heidi Grant Murphy (Sophie von Faninal) | "Hab mir's gelobt" | Der Rosenkavalier ("The knight of the rose", Op. 59, Dresden, 1911) | Richard Strauss (1864–1949), with a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1929) after Les amours du chevalier de Faubles by Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai (1760–1797) and Monsieur de Pourceaugnac (1669) by Molière (1622–1673) | |
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| Plácido Domingo (Faust) and Samuel Ramey (Méphistophélès) | "Mais ce Dieu, que peut-il pour moi?" | Faust (Paris, 1859) | Charles Gounod, with a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite after Faust: Eine Tragödie ("Faust, a tragedy", 1808) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) | |
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| Renée Fleming (Donna Anna), Kiri Te Kanawa (Donne Elvira), Hei-Kyung Hong (Zerlina), Jerry Hadley (Don Ottavio), Bryn Terfel (Leporello) and Julien Robbins (Masetto) | "Di molte faci il lume... Sola, sola in buio loco" (Sextet) | 'Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte (1749–1838) after El burlador de Seville y convivado de piedra ("The trickster of Seville and the stone guest", ?1616) by Tirso de Molina (1579–1648) | |
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| Birgit Nilsson | Spoken tribute | N/A | N/A | |
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| Metropolitan Opera chorus with James King, Bernd Weikl, John Macurdy (solo recitatives cut from video) | "Wach auf, es nahet gen den Tag!", | Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg ("The mastersingers of Nuremberg", WWV 96, Munich, 1868) | Richard Wagner | |
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Production
The gala began at 6PM and ended shortly before 2AM. [3] Levine’s choice of repertory was dominated by Mozart, Verdi and Wagner, which Tim Page in The Washington Post felt reflected the choice of operas doing his time in the house.[4] The range of singers included veterans such as 71-year-old Carlo Bergonzi through to newcomers like 32-year-old Roberto Alagna.[5] Renée Fleming was heard three times, the only singer with a solo number to be heard more than twice over the evening.[5]
Neil Crory reviewing the gala on Laserdisc in the Fall 1997 issue of Opera Canada, stated that the programme booklet's cancellation list alone deserved a mention in the Guinness Book of Records. Singers who had to cancel their appearance included Ben Heppner and José Carreras due to scheduling clashes, and several due to health issues, including Cecilia Bartoli, Luciano Pavarotti, Montserrat Caballé, Marilyn Horne, Teresa Stratas, and Nicolai Ghiaurov.[5][4][6] Hildegard Behrens also cancelled due to illness however James Jorden, writing in Parterre Box, reported rumours that Behrens had cancelled due to jealousy that Jane Eaglen had "usurped" her repertoire by being given the lengthy Immolation Scene from Götterdämmerung.[7] Kathleen Battle, one of the Met's biggest stars of recent years, did not attend as she had been fired in 1994.[4]
James Levine did not avail himself of the opportunity to make any speeches. Instead, Birgit Nilsson gave the closing speech, which Martin Bernheimer in The Los Angeles Times felt was the "most exhilarating tribute" of the night[8], ending with some unaccompanied Valkyrie war-cries from Die Walküre.[9] Jorden criticised Levine's decision to take his curtain call in front of a specially-designed, autographed drop curtain, advising that Levine's pride would lead to a fall - one of the few direct references in reviews of the gala to the sexual misconduct allegations that would end Levine's career two directions later.[7]
The gala was the last appearance on the Met stage for Bergonzi, Ileana Cotrubas, Gwyneth Jones, Grace Bumbry, and James King.[3]
Critical Reception
The gala was positively reviewed overall. Tim Page called it a “glorious, crazy, songful party” [4], while Martin Bernheimer described it as a "mega-monster concert", a "shameless, shapeless, formless smorgasbord of arias and ensembles", "a parade of disparate singers striking poses in competitive evening attire" in which "the assembled women blew a crescendo of kisses to their beaming boss out front". [8] For Neil Croryr it was “the gala-to-end-all-galas”. [6] J.B. Steane, reviewing the CD release in ‘’Gramophone in December 1998, wrote: "[o]ut come the stars, one by one or two by two and then six of them in a galaxy. Some have been in the firmament a long time, others are almost new. But all are there ... to pay tribute". [9] Reviewing Levine’s performance at the podium, Mike Silverman, for ‘’The Associated Press’’, said he "conducted the Met's wonderful orchestra with love and enthusiasm".[5]. Bernheimer wrote that Levine’s guidance of the excellent orchestra was “sympathetic if sometimes loud and sometimes inflexible” but that the gala began with a somewhat lethargic treatment of the overture to Rienzi. [8] Page believed that none of the soloists could outshine the orchestra and their conductor. Thanks to Levine, the Met's pit was home to "one of the most responsive and virtuosic ensembles in the world", and it was remarkable that he could "preside so effortlessly and so idiomatically over such a range of musical styles, over so many hours". [4]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
cdwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
dvdwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "James Levine Gala". Metropolitan Opera Archives. Metropolitan Opera. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Page, Tim: "At the Met, a career high note", 29 April 1996". The Washington Post.
- ^ a b c d "Silverman, Mike: "Met celebrates 25 years of James Levine with all-star gala", 28 April 1996". Associated Press.
- ^ a b "Crory, Neil: "James Levine 25th Anniversary Metropolitan Opera Gala", Opera Canada, Vol. 38, No. 3, Fall 1997".[dead link]
- ^ a b Jorden, James (1997). "Issue 20: Post-gala depression" (PDF). Parterre Box. New York City. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
- ^ a b c "Bernheimer, Martin: "Levine's silver jubilee: a marathon at the Met", 29 April 1996". The Los Angeles Times. 29 April 1996.
- ^ a b Steane, J. B.: Gramophone, December 1996, p. 154