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Disillusioning in All its Grandeur
New York Metropolitan Opera's
current production of Giuseppe Verdi's 'Attila'
elicits a mixed reaction
from REBECCA SCHMID
For Riccardo Muti's début at the Metropolitan Opera, one wouldn't expect anything less than a cast of booming voices, monumental sets dreamed by the Swiss architect firm Herzog & de Meuron and costumes by none other than Miuccia Prada.
Muti never ceases to execute less popular Italian operas with elegance, clarity and depth. Tuesday's performance of Attila [9 March 2010, New York, USA] was no exception. He brought natural coherence to Verdi's musical style which joins early bel canto lyricism with shades of the heavy dramaticism from his last operas, spinning out delicate passages from the Met Orchestra with subtle grace while mastering the tempestuous, triumphant moments with Toscanini-like authority. He commanded a precise musical fusion between the singers and the orchestra, guiding the heavy voices under his baton to produce clean, well-sculpted phrases...
Copyright © 13 March 2010
Rebecca Schmid,
Syracuse, USA
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