Review: Beczala and Golovatenko Make Met’s CHENIER a Memorable Night under Rustioni

For those of us who like verismo opera—combining the raw emotions of everyday people with historical splendor—but have heard one too many BOHEMEs, TOSCAs, TURANDOTs and BUTTERFLYs in this lifetime, noting Giordano’s ANDREA CHENIER in the Met’s repertoire for this season seemed like a godsend. Not seen in these parts since 2014, this tale of the French Revolution, a poet (the title role, sung by tenor Piotr Beczala) and blinding love set to a sweeping score was something to look forward to.

It didn’t quite work out as well in this production by Nicolas Joel (directed now by J. Knighten Smit) with Duane Schuler’s lighting. Still, it’s filled with some gorgeous music from the Met orchestra, under new Principal Guest Conductor Daniele Rustioni, and notable performances by Beczala and baritone Igor Golovatenko, alongside soprano Sonya Yoncheva.

Honestly, I haven’t seen enough other performances of the work to tell if Joel’s setting caused the problem—with two short-ish, choppy acts with intermissions, followed by two more acts performed straight through—or whether it’s the opera itself.

After all, while librettist Luigi Illica was busy writing CHENIER—considered a cornerstone of verismo—he was also working with Puccini (and co-writer Guiseppe Giacosa) on LA BOHEME and TOSCA. Even if the creators didn’t think so at the time, something had to give—and CHENIER, might have gotten a bit short-changed.

While laying out the story, Act I seems to have, simultaneously, too little action and not enough oomph before the first intermission; Act II perks up a bit but it is also on the short side before the action is interrupted for another break. Then the combined Acts III-IV tie it all up in a nice little bow.

This was one time where I didn’t have any problems with how long the performers needed to warm up before the action began in earnest. Perhaps best of the principals was baritone Golovatenko, whose good acting and forceful singing makes a strong case for the character who starts as a servant and ends as an insurgent and leader of the revolution. The only thing missing is more of his relation to Maddalena. Illica and Giacosa could have filled in details of his crush on her but they chose not to do so.

I was happy to hear Beczala sounding and looking good (he had been ill the last two times he was set to sing when I was attending). He may have sounded a bit too loud at the start of the opera but soon was doing some fine modulation of his voice, every inch the poet (a real character) that he is portraying. He is an elegance presence, in the costumes by Hubert Monloup, even as he changes into a more political animal.

Yoncheva is a little problematic. She first came to note at the Met when she took over the title role in the newest iteration of TOSCA, as Netrebko feel from grace. But these are two very different singers. Netrebko’s voice kept growing exponentially and booked far in advance as many stars are, her voice often seemed too big for the roles she had been scheduled to sing. Yoncheva is not like that.

As Maddalena de di Coigny, the aristocrat with whom Chenier falls in love, her voice needs to change its character fairly often. When singing in moderate volume, her vocal production can often be ravishing, but when she pushed her voice too hard, at least during this performance, the more dramatically involved she became, she tended to sing flat. Still, more often than not, she was fine.

Of the supporting roles, I found mezzo Siphokazi Molteno most appealing as Maddalena’s maid/confidente, while tenor Brenton Ryan, as the informer, Incredibile, was properly slimy, with a voice that still made him an engaging performer. The Met chorus was a strong presence in the opera under chorus master Tilman Michael.

ANDREA CHENIER will continue performances through the matinee of December 13. For more information and tickets, please see the Met’s website.

Caption: (center) Piotr Beczala and Sonya Yoncheva

Photo credit: Karen Almond/Met Opera