Led by Lise Davidsen’s glorious Leonora, the Met’s new Forza benefitted from strong singing, good conducting, and an interesting new production. I caught Forza on it’s second and third performances (yes, I saw it twice in 3 days).
My main attraction to this production, like I suspect everyone who sees it, is the Leonora of Lise Davidsen. Davidsen has shot up in the scene and hers is a voice that’s being touted as perhaps the next great Brunnhilde and/or Isolde. Regardless of repertoire, her voice is a major one. Being only recently 37, Davidsen is waiting to take on Wagner’s heaviest roles. Known primarily for her Wagner and Strauss singing, Verdi is relatively new to Davidsen. Last year she sung Elisabetta in Don Carlo to good reviews, and with this run in New York, she adds the Forza Leonora to her repertoire.
The plot of Forza is notoriously clunky at best. Spanning 10 years in this production, the time jumps can be severe and disorienting. Coincidence is also extremely high, with characters running into each other randomly, and later coincidentally joining the same monastery. It’s the titular destiny, but it’s not brought out particularly clearly in the plot. The music can also be a little all over the place with a militaristic vein, the main conflict, the random extended passage for Trabuco, the attempts at lightening the mood with Preziosilla, and the attempts at humor with Fra Melitone. I personally cared the least about Fra Melitone, and if all his music was cut, I wouldn’t complain. Preziosilla is less annoying, but her whole plotline doesn’t really serve a purpose. The main plot, however, has by far the best music. Leonora has four arias, there are three tenor-baritone duets, a couple short tenor-soprano duets, and the tenor and baritone each have arias. It’s great Verdi, but admittedly it’s not necessarily my favorite, as I think there’s too much superfluous action.
Mariusz Treliński’s production is not nearly as egregious as some might make you think it is. The Marquis’ death in this production not only destroys the lives of Leonora, Alvaro, and Carlo, but also plunges the world into war that destroys the Earth over the 4 Acts. While conceptually, this choice may not sound feasible, Treliński’s clear vision ultimately enhances the work rather than burden the already clunky plot. Before the overture plays, Leonora runs out of the Hotel Calatrava, seeking to get away from her own birthday party thrown by her overbearing father. In starting the action before the music, Treliński immediately establishes the angst, and desire to run away that Leonora possesses. The men in the production are all dicks, including Padre Guardiano, and power is a recurring theme in this production, whether it be the Marquis’ command of his subordinates in act I, Padre Guardiano’s iron-handed rule of the monastery, or the glorification of war in the music. This kind of power, we see, destroys the world, and upends the lives of everyone, with no clear end or goal. It’s power for power’s sake and nobody is a winner. Not everything worked, and my biggest gripes with the production were the car crash sequence, which I found unnecessary, and the turntable being worked to death. Overall, I found the production to be an interesting, incisive reading that didn’t fire on all cylinders, but fired on most. A-
With these performances, Judit Kutasi makes her Met debut as Preziosilla. I had high hopes for her after her excellent Ortrud earlier this season in San Francisco. Unfortunately, her Preziosilla was not ideal. With her thick and heavy voice, she sounds more like an Ulrica, an Amneris, or an Azucena, than Prezi, and it’s a shame that NY audiences are hearing her house debut in a role that’s really not suited for her. Her first aria “Al suon del tamburo” lacked flexibility in the voice, and it seemed at times she struggled to get through the aria. Similarly, her “Rataplan” felt labored. High notes were lunged at with varying degrees of success and the vibrato was too thick and intrusive to convey Preziosilla’s charm. Perhaps it was an off night for Kutasi, compounded by a role that’s not ideal.
Despite her vocal troubles, Kutasi did the best with what she was given in terms of Prezi’s character. She tones down Prezi’s antics, and here Prezi isn’t a Romani girl, but is instead a nightclub entertainer for the troops. Kutasi does her best to bring a flirtatious energy to the role, but the voice was not in line with the character. B-
Solomon Howard (hottie alert!) pulls double duty in this production as both the Marquis of Calatrava (here a general), and as Padre Guardiano. I enjoyed his performance, and his booming bass easily filled the hall. Further, his dark sound was well-suited for the characters he played and for Treliński’s production. A towering, and imposing figure throughout the opera, Howard easily conveyed the dominating nature of his characters, and his interactions with Davidsen in Act II were a highlight (minus the gratuitous slap). I particularly enjoyed the decision to have Howard roam around in Act IV as the ghost of Calatrava, and it produced a horror-like effect. A
Igor Golovatenko’s Carlo was well-sung though his character is basically the terminator if he was really bad at his job. Golovatenko’s voice is well-suited to Verdi, and his baritone is dark and rich. At times, if closed my eyes, the similarity in timbre between him and Jagde was such that I couldn’t tell them apart. Singing with fluent legato, Golovatenko improved as the night went on, and he, like Jagde, was best in their duets. He handled his arias well, but they didn’t bring the house down like they could have. Golovatenko also occasionally swallowed his vowels producing a more Slavic sound, but it was not too noticeable, nor distracting.
His Carlo is almost as tortured as Davidsen, and you feel the intense sense of duty he has to find and kill Leonora and Alvaro. His character is incredible single-minded and it’d be easy for Golovatenko to lean to much into this. Instead, Golovatenko showed Carlo have been affected by the Marquis’ death just as much as his siter, and it was through this characterization that Golvatenko’s singing and characterization gained depth. A
Brian Jagde’s Alvaro mostly benefitted from Jagde’s stentorian nature as a tenor. His instrument is loud, muscular, and heroic. High notes sounded easy, and there’s never a risk of him being drowned out by the orchestra, even at its heaviest moments. Initially trained as a baritone, Jagde’s voice still retains a baritonal quality that adds a pleasing darkness and richness to the voice. He, unlike other tenors, doesn’t suffer in his lower range, and the voice is even throughout. Jagde’s biggest flaw, and one that’s been noted everywhere, is his lack of dynamic variability. Piano singing was almost nonexistent which I don’t really understand as the few times he did sing piano, it was beautiful. Jagde also seemed to have the least amount of chemistry with Nezet-Seguin, and there was some awkward phrasing a couple times as there seemed to be a disconnect between the two. His Alvaro, though, was an overall vocal success with the kind of unwavering stamina, and ringing high notes that work so well in this repertoire.
Due to his lack of dynamic variability, Jagde’s characterization of Alvaro suffered at times. His big scene in Act III, though sung well, lacked the kind of emotional intensity and pathos that a singer with more dynamic variability could bring. Though ultimately thrilling, the aria lacked inwardness and vulnerability that would’ve been welcome. Though he was Leonora’s love interest, I felt that he and Davidsen lacked chemistry in their opening scene, but they fared better together in Act IV. The real romance, however, is the bromance, and with Golovatenko, Jagde provided his best paired singing of the night. With their similar timbres and dueling energies, Jagde and Golovatenko provided highlights for the night. A-
Davidsen is a sensational singer. Her voice is a grand and majestic column of sound resonating strongly from the middle to the top. When she opened her mouth, I felt myself getting pinned to the back of my seat, sound cascading around me. Questions arose about the suitability of Davidsen whose instrument is glorious and grand, but perhaps lacking Italianate velvetiness. I’ve never heard her live in Strauss or Wagner, the roles which she’s known for, but I can see why people prefer her there. The grand, majestic sound is splendid and apt for, say Ariadne auf Naxos, but that by no means precludes it from being great in Verdi as well. In all her arias, her voice adapted to the text and the moment. “Madre pietosa vergine” was sung with long, legato lines, emphasizing her pleas, while “La vergine degli angeli” saw Davidsen slim her voice down for the long prayer. Her long-awaited, and the show stopping aria of the night “Pace, pace mio dio” was the event it should be. Opening with a superbly resonant and even crescendo to decrescendo, Davidsen showed exceptional vocal control. She took the time to bring alive the torment Leonora has faced over the course of the opera. Her fil di voce on “Invan la pace” was heavenly, and the final b-flat was thunderous, delivered with conviction, that filled the house. I also must comment on Davidsen’s incredible breath control, which I think is an underrated aspect of her artistry. Throughout the night she was able to take long phrases in one breath where most sopranos would do it in two. It was truly glorious singing. My only complaints are Davidsen’s tendency to swallow her vowels so words like “signore” were sometimes sung with the “i” sounding constricted, and her relatively weak low register, which resulted in some of her singing losing dramatic bite like in her interactions with Padre Guardiano and in Act I with Alvaro.
In addition to a glorious voice, Davidsen is also an above average actress, and an exceptional opera actor. Davidsen’s physical and vocal portrayal of Leonora captured the anxiety, and conflict in her character, but missed, for me, the desperation. Perhaps it’s the reported “Nordic coolness” but her “Pace, pace mio dio” lacked the last bit of intensity as she conveyed the torment, but not necessarily the desperation for salvation. This is, however, Davidsen’s first Leonora, and only her second Verdi. She’s still relatively young and has plenty of time to grow into the role and gain more insights into the character. Even if Forza is just a stepping stone in her career, it’s without a doubt a successful step in my eyes. A+
After an unremarkable Lohengrin that I saw last year, Nézet-Seguin tackles Verdi here which seems more in line with his strengths. Throughout the night, I was generally never in need of more oomph, or drama and NS did a good job of bringing Verdi’s work alive. Without having to really consider if his singers would be drowned out, NS was able to infuse fire and passion into a score that requires it. I thought his best work was done with Davidsen, where he supported her well, but allowed her the space to breath the way she wanted to. A
Stray Thoughts
They did Davidsen so dirty with the wigs and the clothes. First act was fine, but I don’t get why she changed from a purple mermaid dress to a black one to escape, like what was the point they’re both hard to move in. Act two they had her in a black trench coat which was a serve, and then she runs out to flee in her car, but has time to change into some ugly business casual pants a casual overcoat, and a purple hoodie, like bfr she’s fleeing for her life, but has time to change into comfy clothing?
With the Maria von Trapp pussycat wig in Act II Davidsen looked like if Maria was a power forward in the WNBA.
Jagde was also given terrible wigs for reasons I couldn’t tell you.
Jagde Lohengrin when?