Padre Sansón
After the acclaimed Met premiere of Thomas Adès's "The Tempest" in 2012, the composer returned with another masterpiece, this time inspired by filmmaker Luis Buñuel's seminal surrealist classic "El Ángel Exterminador", during the 2017–18 season. As the opera opens, a group of elegant socialites gather for a lavish dinner party, but when it is time to leave for the night, no one is able to escape. Soon, their behavior becomes increasingly erratic and savage. The large ensemble cast tackles both the vocal and dramatic demands of Adès's opera with one riveting performance after another. Tom Cairns, who also penned the work's libretto, directs an engrossing and inventive production, using a towering wooden archway to trap the characters onstage. And Adès himself takes the podium to conduct the frenzied score, which features a host of unconventional instruments, including the eerie electronic ondes Martenot.
Marquis d'Obigny
La Traviata’s sumptuous melodies and timeless depiction of doomed love have made the work a favorite of generations of operagoers. In his approach to this classic drama, director Willy Decker sets the action on a nearly bare stage, focusing the audience’s full attention on the three main characters. As Violetta, the ailing courtesan desperate to escape her past, soprano Sonya Yoncheva offers a fearless and sympathetic performance from beginning to end. American tenor Michael Fabiano sings with ardent longing as her devoted lover Alfredo, delivering emotionally wrought phrases and ringing top notes. Thomas Hampson brings a burnished baritone to Germont, Alfredo’s protective father whose stern demands spell disaster for the young couple. On the podium, maestro Nicola Luisotti leads an electric performance of Verdi’s unforgettable score.
Montano
La audaz producción de Bartlett Sher, la ganadora del premio Tony, investiga los fundamentos psicológicos del escenario dinámico de Verdi de la gran tragedia de Shakespeare. A la cabeza de esta actuación está Yannick Nézet-Séguin, quien saca a la luz todas las emociones en cascada en la turbulenta puntuación de Verdi. Aleksandrs Antonenko es Otello, el general triunfante del ejército veneciano que finalmente es derribado por las insinuaciones astutas de su amigo Iago (Željko Lučić). Sonya Yoncheva continúa ganando fans como Desdemona, la esposa fiel y duradera de Otello.
