First Time Rossini's Armida Met On Demand

[lennygoran]

First Time Rossini's Armida Met On Demand

Somehow this Rossini opera slipped past me-fortunately the Met On Demand had it. A spectacular production, a fine cast-Fleming was incredible! Regards, Len

Here's how its described by the Met

It is a rare opera indeed that calls for one soprano diva and no fewer than six tenors. Mary Zimmerman’s fanciful production of Rossini’s drama, designed by Richard Hudson and with choreography by Graciela Daniele, provides the perfect setting for superstar Renée Fleming’s captivating performance of the title role. A beautiful but evil sorceress in the times of the Crusades, Armida sets out to regain the love of the Frankish knight Rinaldo (Lawrence Brownlee) by putting her magical spells on him. She at first succeeds to draw him into her web of sorcery, but ultimately divine intervention—and his fellow soldiers—free Rinaldo from his enchantment—much to the vengeful fury of Armida and her demons.


Performance DateMay 01, 2010

Run Time 2 HRS 51 MIN


Here's the review from the NYTimes-I almost completely disagree with it. Regards, Len



Renée Fleming Returns to Rossini’s Tale of a Sorceress and Her Crusader

“Armida,” with Renée Fleming in the title role and Lawrence Brownlee as her lover, in the Metropolitan Opera production of the Rossini work.Credit...Ruby Washington/The New York Times

By Zachary Woolfe

Feb. 20, 2011

In Rossini’s operas coloratura is character. When critics mention singer X’s trills, Y’s roulades and Z’s runs, they are not just being nitpicky. Qualities like joy and anger are expressed here entirely through those purely vocal means. The emotions are in the notes.

This is particularly true for the title character of Rossini’s “Armida,” an Arab sorceress who falls in love with a Christian crusader and is finally abandoned by him. Armida dominates the opera, encompassing seduction, happiness, despair and rage, and Rossini translates her magic powers and charisma into dazzling music.


In recordings, especially one from a 1996 performance at Carnegie Hall, the soprano Renée Fleming brought to the notoriously difficult role the bright flexibility and plush, penetrating tone of her prime, and also a thrilling riskiness. Armida lay on the outskirts of her repertory, but it was a triumph.

Now in a later stage of her career, Ms. Fleming seemingly wanted to recapture some of that earlier magic, and last year the Metropolitan Opera mounted its first production of the opera for her. Her performance then was uneven, and she fares little better in a dull, disappointing revival that opened on Friday evening.


With a voice of reduced agility, size and power, Ms. Fleming now paces herself cautiously, simplifying or dodging many of the coloratura fireworks. In the first and second acts she limits her singing in full voice, clearly saving herself for Act III, in which Rossini ingeniously relaxes the ornamentation as Armida’s powers disappear, and she is left a mere woman. Here, the line lyrical and the range congenial, Ms. Fleming is finally persuasive.

But caution isn’t what you want in an Armida, and singing the opera like a one-act misses Act I’s glittering runs and the great Act II aria “D’amore al dolce impero,” moments that establish the commanding and loving sides of this complex character. Ms. Fleming acts naturally, but in this repertory acting and singing are even more unified than elsewhere in opera. Since she doesn’t seduce or dazzle — do what Rossini has built into the music — her later humiliation and rage lose their impact, and the character loses its depth.

Mary Zimmerman’s wanly Neo-Classical production doesn’t help locate the depths of an opera about intense emotions and the possibilities and limits of illusion. Instead of passion or fantasy, Ms. Zimmerman tries cuteness: animatronic insects, demons in tutus, a winsome girl personifying love.

While adorable may suffice for the frolics in Armida’s enchanted garden, when the opera takes on more heart-wrenching dimensions, the production is stumped. Ms. Zimmerman seems more interested in winking at operatic style — with antiqued footlights, Italianized placards reading “Ballo” and “Fine,” the conceit that Armida is reading her aria from sheet music — than in believing in its complexities.

Riccardo Frizza conducted sluggishly, and while the opera features no fewer than six tenors, only Lawrence Brownlee, as Armida’s lover, Rinaldo, sang with freedom and fervor. His Act III solo was the highlight of the evening, a reminder of the infectious excitement Rossini makes possible, if only you do what he tells you.


This review from Bachtrack is more like it!


The Met in HD, Armida, 2010
By Nahoko Gotoh, 01 December 2013

Rossini’s Armida is a rarely-performed gem. One of the reasons why this opera is not often performed is that it requires no fewer than six tenors, but despite the male-dominated cast, it is in fact a brilliant showcase for a soprano – in this case for Renée Fleming. When the Met staged it in 2010, it was specifically for the celebrated American soprano, making this production a must-see for all Fleming fans, as well as for fans of Rossini and bel canto operas.

Armida was first performed in Naples in 1817, a productive year for Rossini in which he composed four operas including the better known La Cenerentola and La gazza ladra. The subject of the Saracen sorceress Armida who falls in love with a Christian knight Rinaldo during the time of the Crusades – taken from Tasso’s epic poem La Gerusalemme liberata – was a popular one in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and was set by Handel (Rinaldo), Gluck, Haydn and many others. Rossini’s setting is in three acts. In Act I, Armida seduces Rinaldo, who kills his rival Gernando in a duel and flees with Armida. Act II takes place in an enchanted forest (here more of an underworld setting) which is transformed into a palace where Armida and Rinaldo enjoy their love. In the last act, Rinaldo’s fellow knights come to rescue him and finally he is freed from Armida’s spells. Her virtuosic fury aria in the final scene forms a spectacular climax.

Although theoretically this is an opera seria, it is not, under Mary Zimmerman’s direction, taken too seriously. The stylized and colourful set by Richard Hudson vaguely represents the Middle East with its mosques and palm trees, but it is certainly not set in the time of the Crusades, but probably in a more recent Imperialist era. Zimmerman’s shrewd idea is to introduce acting roles for “Love” and “Revenge” who shade and manipulate the action of the characters, and come to a head in the final scene.

It is fair to say that Renée Fleming is not a Rossini specialist, although she has sung a number of bel canto roles in her career. But she has a captivating presence on stage as the beautiful sorceress and she sings with passion and dramatic flair, pulling off most of her coloraturas, if at times lacking a little in agility. She is very impressive in Act II “D’amore al dolce impero”, though she saves her best for her tour-de-force final scene. The real vocal fireworks come from the three main tenors: Lawrence Brownlee as Rinaldo, John Osborn as Goffredo, and Barry Banks, who doubles as Gernando and Carlo. Each displays technical brilliance as well as emotional sincerity. In particular, Brownlee’s singing is both spectacular and tender, and he achieves his high notes with ease. In the numerous duets, the creamy-voiced Fleming and the bright-toned Brownlee blend well, and the famous trio for three tenors in Act III, “In quale aspetto imbelle”, is also delightfully sung.

The opera features fine playing from the pit too, led by the Italian Riccardo Frizza. There is a beautiful horn obbligato in Gernando’s aria in Act I, a virtuosic violin solo in the Act III love duet “Soavi catene” and various woodwind solos in the Act II ballet sequence. Frizza’s affinity with this repertoire is evident and he conducts with both dynamism and tenderness, the orchestra responding with articulate playing. His tempi are crisp but never hurried, giving support to the singers yet maintaining forward momentum. The Metropolitan Opera chorus is also on great form and if, for an opera of 2 hours 50 minutes duration, the plot is sometimes slow-moving, lots of virtuosic singing and a dramatic denouement means there is plenty to relish here.