Met Opera NY: Pelleas et Melisande' 1/31/2019

     I heard the Met's rendition of 'Pelleas et Melisande' last night with Derrick Inouye standing in for Nézet-Séguin in the fifth and final performance of the season.   Inouye was an assistant conductor in the preparation of this run, so I can only guess how much of the reading was his own and how much was his beating time to the performance shaped by Nézet-Séguin.  I doubt he was given enough extra rehearsal time to shape his own interpretation for just one scheduled performance.  I couldn't help the feeling that the syncing of the orchestra with the admittedly difficult conversational patter was rather approximate for much of the evening. 

     In any case, this was a way too bloated, super Wagnerian approach for my tastes.  Paul Appleby as Pelleas was overwhelmed by the orchestra when he was pushed for low notes, as reviewers have already noted.  Isabel Leonard has a pleasant voice, but little command of French diction, and an approach to the role that calls to mind Waltraute more than the kind of Melisande I have gotten used to.  I don't require Melisande to be a simpering waif, but I still feel an aura of confusion supported by a meandering kind of subconscious rambling lends some much needed mystery to the character.  Ferruccio Furlanetto channeled Arkel via Wotan, with loud barking and dreadful diction to boot.  Kyle Ketelsen was superb vocally as many have noted and was in tune with the Edwardian era sensibility of the production in his stage prescence.  As Golaud he could switch from a stiff and formal manner to neurotic insecurity in a nanosecond.  The big orchestra sound helped in the scene with Yniold and Golaud, which I sometimes feel is underplayed.  Overall, I am hardly insisting on trying to recreate the sound world of the Desormiere recording of 1942, but I do think performers and listeners alike should be familiar with it to appreciate what is lost when a bigger, more modern approach is favored.  Oh, and I really dislike this Jonathan Miller production from 1995 as much as I loved its predecessor from the 1970s.

Julia Wolfe: Fire in my mouth

I heard 'Fire in my mouth' at the New York Philharmonic last night and found it to be an effective and even moving homage to the victims of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire,  The choral writing for 146 women is skillful and the texts were so well enunciated that they were audible even over some fairly dense and cacophonous orchestral writing.  The orchestra, often serving to provide uncannily realistic sound effects, also managed to maintain a forward momentum, sometimes using minimalist techniques where they worked well without getting stuck in a kind of musical rut with those techniques, as I feel often happens with other composers.  The discreet choreography and outstanding preparation on the part of all involved made the whole experience that much more compelling.