BARITONE BRYN TERFEL AND SOPRANO ANGELA GHEORGHIU TRIUMPH AS MET OPERA OPENS SEASON
By Mike Silverman; Associated Press Writer

Associated Press Worldstream
September 20, 2005 Tuesday 1:51 AM Eastern Time

Figaro prepared for his marriage, Tosca stabbed the villain in the
heart, and a shorn Samson regained his strength just long enough to
bring the temple crashing down on the Philistines.

Oh, and along the way the Metropolitan Opera kicked off its 2005-06
season Monday, and Placido Domingo extended his own record by
performing in his 21st opening night. (Enrico Caruso managed only 17.)

The gala audience, which paid up to $1,000 ([euro]824) a ticket, had
to wait quite a while to hear Domingo. In a program that consisted
of three acts from three different operas, his appearance in Act III
of Saint-Saens’ “Samson et Dalila” marked the finale.

Before he appeared, the company performed Act I of Mozart’s “Le Nozze
di Figaro” (“The Marriage of Figaro”) and Act II of Puccini’s “Tosca.”

Both the first two starred the Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel, whose
enormous, effortless voice and charismatic stage presence were as
irresistible as ever.

As a Figaro brimming with good humor and self-confidence, he was
partnered by the delightful Susanna of Isabel Bayrakdarian, a rising
young Armenian-Canadian soprano. Luxury casting brought mezzo Susan
Graham to the trousers role of Cherubino, and she invested her aria
with plush tone and impeccable timing.

But the dramatic high point of the evening unquestionably came after
the first intermission, when Terfel returned as the sadistic Baron
Scarpia in the middle act of Puccini’s musical melodrama. Gone was the
affable, open-hearted sound of Figaro; in its place, the chilling,
cavernous tones of a man in love with his own power and willing to
use it without scruple.

His goal was the seduction of Tosca, a beautiful singer portrayed
here by Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu. Her performance, if
anything, surpassed Terfel’s in intensity, and together their extended
confrontation made for theater as gripping as you’re likely to see
on the Met stage.

Gheorghiu’s voice is several sizes smaller than her co-star’s, but she
makes every decibel count, from her cries of despair as she listens
to her lover being tortured offstage, to her famous “Vissi d’arte,”
in which she protests that she has dedicated her life to art. She
sang the aria faster and less showily than it is often done, and it
was devastating in its simple pathos. And she was totally persuasive
in her desperate courage as she grabbed a knife from a table and
plunged it into Scarpia’s heart as he tried to embrace her.

After that, “Samson et Dalila” was something of an anticlimax. For
one thing, the best music is in Dalila’s arias in the first two acts.

About all Act III has to offer is an orgy scene in which the Met
dancers get to writhe about energetically and a final bit of stage
gimmickry when the central pillar of the temple topples under Samson’s
exertions.

Domingo’s singing was perhaps more businesslike than compelling,
though as he nears the traditional retirement age of 65, one has to
be grateful for each performance he gives. He was partnered by mezzo
Denyce Graves as Dalila and baritone Frederick Burchinal as the High
Priest, neither of them having their best night, either.

James Levine conducted the Met orchestra through the oddly varied
program with utmost consideration and support for the singers.

The remainder of the opening week offers some more substantial fare –
Massenet’s “Manon” with Renee Fleming, Puccini’s “La Boheme,” Strauss’
“Ariadne auf Naxos,” and Verdi’s Falstaff, starring Terfel in another
of his signature roles.