Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a well known lover of opera, as is Antonin Scalia (personal note: the last time I was at the Santa Fe Opera. she was at all three of my performances and sat a few rows away from me!!! I studied abroad with Scalia...but that wasn't as cool.)
I just wrote a longer piece on Parterre.com, so I'll just post it again below: but the long and short of it is this was simply a remarkable night of opera. I have often been very critical of the Gelb era, but this was a high point of his tenure.
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Just back from the house and settling in with a nice glass of bourbon…and yet I can’t stop thinking about tonight’s performance. Such a fantastic night of music and elegant stage craftsmanship: this production is going to be hard to top this season and a rare artistic triumph for Peter Gelb.
As expected: kudos to the Met Orchestra and the Met Chorus for performing John Adam’s hypnotic music with such skill and clarity (more impressive that this was the first performance of “Kilinghoffer” at the Met) and to David Robertson for keeping it all together. There were so many fantastic movements throughout the evening -- both prologues and the act I finale Night Chorus in particular -- but I was most impressed with the collective’s ability not let the (incredibly inappropriate and often crass) comments coming from the audience affect the performance.
At the moment a protester started repeatedly screaming “The Murder of Klinghoffer will not be Forgiven!”, it seemed as though the show was about to come to a scratching halt. But Robertson kept the orchestra playing and signaled to the performers on stage that the show was absolutely not stopping. Perhaps there may have been a hiccup in the tempi at that point -- impossible to be sure as the screaming jackass was distracting everyone but the performers -- but once the histrionic outburst was over (and apparently, was followed by an arrest), the orchestra continued performing the delicate, haunting, passage of music.
I am one of the few people I knew that did not care for “War Horse” so I was concerned that Tom Morris’ production might be bombastic and showy. I could not have been more wrong. This production of “Klinghoffer” (my first) was somehow subtle and, at the same time, expressionistic. Morris’ production depicted two distinct ethos for both the Palestinians and the Jews (/passengers) framed by concrete walls that served a duel purpose as projection screens. The walls were evocative of the Israeli West Bank barrier but also served as a literal representation of the Achille Lauro. Morris’ work with his principal singers was equally impressive: particularly Michaela Martens’ incredible performance at the finale. Often, directors new to opera don't know what or how to direct their singers on stage (this is likely a problem caused more by singer than director…but whatever): Morris had no such shortcomings with his cast.
One quick point about the politics of the opera. As much as I listen to its music and now having finally seen the opera, I simply do not understand how this piece can be viewed as anti-Semitic. Yes, perhaps there exists a certain amount of cultural equivalence and relativism that some might find offense (and others might find fair), but I never felt as though Adams nor Goodman were trying to be so…predictable. Neither artist, set out to say “hey…they’re both kinda the same…see it??? See it?????” If that was their goal -- in my case anyway -- both failed miserably as the disgusting acts presented on stage were not made blunt by music or libretto.
I feel as though we Parterrians have been inundated with “Klinghoffer” articles for the past few month now. And yet, I really look forward to reading more about people’s reactions to this incredibly thoughtful and moving production. This isn’t said often about Gelb on these pages (nor is it generally deserved…), but he has done a very wonderful thing bringing “The Death of Klinghoffer” to the Met, particularly this production.
Updated On: 10/21/14 at 12:29 AM
