MANON:Massenet
Original Air Date: 12/18/1954
Monteux; de los Angeles, Valletti, Corena
SID.19340211
This performance is notable for the special qualities of Monteux , de Los Angeles, and Valletti, a performance to treasure. Once again I will put in a plea for the December 1959 broadcast with de Los Angeles and Gedda under Jean Morel, which has not been heard on Sirius at all.This performance is notable for the special qualities of Monteux , de Los Angeles, and Valletti, a performance to treasure. Once again I will put in a plea for the December 1959 broadcast with de Los Angeles and Gedda under Jean Morel, which has not been heard on Sirius at all.
IL TROVATORE:Verdi
Original Air Date: 02/18/1967
Molinari-Pradelli; Tucker, Arroyo, Cvejic, Merrill, Michalski
SID.19340212
This is a pretty standard Met Trovatore cast, though Juntwait in her introduction indicates it was the only time Arroyo, Tucker, and Merrill were on the airwaves together; Cvejic did not make much of an impression as Azucena. Paul Jackson is pretty hard this performance, primarily because of Molinari-Pradelli, and I don’t disagree. Mediocre conducting and a faceless Azucena adds up to less than zero Trovatore. Tucker and Merrill are very much up to the music after more than two decades before the footlights. Arroyo was a solid Leonora, but for me this is the great Verdi soprano role. In terms of music, possibly even more interesting than Violetta (both written so closely together).
DON PASQUALE:Donizetti
Original Air Date: 12/05/1970
Franci; Corena, Grist, Kraus, Krause
MOD Audio SID.19340213
This is a fine performance, but I would love to hear Corena from 1956 with Peters and Valletti in Schippers debut season. I also notice Pinza did a broadcast in 1935 which I think does not survive. Love to hear Pinza and Donizetti, though for the patter duet Corena is absolutely the last word, closely followed by Baccaloni. Corena’s 1965 broadcast with Peters has been on Sirius and is on MOoD, but that’s with Alva, not Valletti.
DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER:Wagner
Original Air Date: 02/16/1963
Böhm; London, Rysanek, Kónya, Tozzi
MOD Audio SID.19340214
This is a legendary partnership of Bohm with London and Rysanek. Bohm and Rysanek are together for two later broadcasts in 1965 with David Ward, and 1970 with William Dooley. This 1963 broadcast was swapped with Ariadne two weeks earlier when the Hollander cast could not be assembled. That swap denied the broadcast audience the chance to hear Della Casa’s Ariadne. There is no Senta like Rysanek. Rysanek and London are certainly a remarkable pair, and the applause for their Act 2 duet (in the 3 act version) regularly seemed unending. The Met Hollander premiere three years earlier with Rysanek and London was with Schippers. There is nothing like the finale. Tthis performance is on Met Player, and is far more thrilling than the studio performance with much the same cast under Dorati.
TOSCA:Puccini
Original Air Date: 03/20/1999
Santi; Vaness, Pavarotti, Morris
MOD Audio SID.19340315
This is Pavarotti’s fifth and final Cavaradossi broadcast. I always find his voice a tad light for the role, but no one exceeds him in his honeyed delivery of the text. Vaness is a low wattage Tosca. Available on MOoD there is a 1995 performance of the Pav with Holleque and Pons. Best of all, at least for him is the 1978 telecast (on MOoD) and DVD with Verrett and MacNeil under Conlon.
FALSTAFF:Verdi
Original Air Date: 02/03/1996
Levine; Plishka, Daniels, Quilico, Horne, Bonney, Groves
MOD Audio SID.19340316
Levine, Plishka, Bonney, and Horne are all in the 1992 revival which is on MOoD, but with Freni for Daniels, and Bruno Pola for Quilico. My experience with almost all of the Falstaff casting in the Levine era is OK, but not really an ensemble. We still keep having the Bernstein performance overlooked (LB’s only other Met broadcast beside Cavalleria) from 1964. The bad luck continues with Rosenstock’s conducting from 1965 and Amaducci’s conducting fom 1967. The Dohnanyi performance from 1972 features Gobbi in one of HIS two Met broadcasts (the other is Otello, no Scarpia on the Met airwaves alas) with Tebaldi, Resnik, Paskalis in sterling support. This should be in MOoD.
LA CLEMENZA DI TITO:Mozart
Original Air Date: 04/20/2019
Koenigs; Fang, van den Heever, DiDonato, Murrihy, Polenzani, Van Horn
SID.19340535
Mozart’s opera of ancient Rome, La Clemenza di Tito, returned to the Met starring Matthew Polenzani in the title role of the Roman emperor Tito, with Elza van den Heeveras the vengeful Vitellia, who plots his assassination. Joyce DiDonato sings the trouser role of Sesto, Tito’s most devoted friend, who is also in love with Vitellia. The trio of leading artists is reunited at the Met after their acclaimed performances together in the company’s new production of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda in 2013. Emily D’Angelo and Ying Fang sing the roles of thelovers Annio and Servilia, Sesto’s friend and sister, respectively, andChristian Van Horn portrays the captain of the Praetorian Guard, Publio. Lothar Koenigs conducts all six performances of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s 1984 staging, which ran March 30 through April 20, 2019.
?pubId=610394115001&videoId=5839999932001
AIDA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 10/06/2018
Luisotti; Netrebko, Rachvelishvili, Antonenko, Kelsey, Belosselskiy, Speedo Green
Live in HDMOD Video SID.19349992
In what should be a highlight of the new season, soprano Anna Netrebko sings her first Met Aida, going toe-to-toe with mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili as Amneris. Later in the season, a second star-studded cast takes over, with Sondra Radvanovsky and Dolora Zajick as the leading ladies.Tenors Aleksandrs Antonenko and Yonghoon Lee alternate as Radamès, and Nicola Luisotti and Plácido Domingo take the podium for the Met’s monumental production. Production a gift of Mrs. Donald D. Harrington Revival a gift of Viking Cruises
CARMEN:Bizet
Original Air Date: 01/16/2010
Nezet-Seguin; Frittoli, Garanca, Alagna, Tahu Rhodes
Live in HDMOD Video SID.19349993
RWW Review: Overall, I give the afternoon an A; not that there weren’t things to NOT like, but that I felt the balance of elements was extremely satisfying, and you understand why Carmen can survive anything from Spike Jones (set in a bubble gum factory decades before regie theatre was thought of) to Carmen Jones to whatever some crazy director somewhere in the EU is cooking up. What a score, even if you’re listening mostly to Choudens and Guiraud recitatives. The melodies, the characters, the everything. Almost every time I listen/watch Carmen at home, I am overwhelmed anew; in the theatre its length (no, not Wagnerian, but it isn’t short and as it used to be with 3 intervals with work the next day etc, etc. often the whole was not the sum of its parts. Today, it emphatically was. I have not yet seen the production in the house, and probably won’t be able to see the original cast when I do.
Now to the particulars. I loved Elina Garanca; her voice to me is both fruity and clear. Her middle and upper voice are technically very satisfying and if there is a little weakness at the bottom in a theare the size of the Met, she has baby blue eyes and a command of the role that clearly put her as one of my very favorite Carmens (never saw Stevens, but Resnik (Dallas, 1963 my first), Bumbry, Verrett, Borodina, De Los Angeles (Newark, and I enjoyed), Crespin, Horne, Baltsa are the ones most worthy of mention. Garanca wowed the Paramus audience besides me as well.
Alagna is such a theatre performer that you go with him even when everything is not perfect. He is a very fine Jose, had to make the high climax of the Flower song pure falsetto to avoid a crack, but overall one of my favorite Joses. That he is arguably the best with the text of any doesn’t hurt, and visually he’s quite a specimen at 47. Carmen has to give him up because he’s immature not because he isn’t the hottest guy in Seville.
Frittoli is a singer I like, having adored her Fiordiligi in the house, many
Desdemonas, and her wrenching Suor Angelica. Her vibrato is always 10% too “loose” to be ideal, but when she needs to get out a big climax, she’s right there, only Freni and Lidia Marimpietri (Dallas, 1963) have made a greater impact.
Teddy Tahu Rhodes was a late (10 am this morning) replacement for Kwiecien who was ill. Though he is often portrayed as a bari hunk, he looked skinny in the costume, and I wasn’t much impressed. The vocal if not stylistic standard is Merrill. The best Escamillos for me (all seen live) Jose van Dam, Sam Ramey, Rene Pape, Norman Treigle (also in that first Carmen). I’ve heard and seen worse Escamillos than Rhodes, MUCH worse.
Conducting. I liked Yannick Nezet-Seguin very much. The musical preparation was outstanding. He started the first act prelude like a house of fire, but as he was accompanying the singers, came into more traditional tempi; he got a nice Gallic tang out of the orchestra. Where the preparation showed was in the many numbers that mix in the quintet of smugglers with chorus and 1 or more of the principals. Elizabeth Caballero as Frasquita sounded VERY good; I want to hear more of her, but the ensemble was really terrific today.
I have to cut this short, but except for the final tableau , i found the production very satisfactory, and easily the best visual Carmen of my experience (i liked John Bury’s sets in the Peter Hall production but not a lot else). I didn’t mind the dancing (might not feel so on repeated viewings) This is the 5th Met production I’ve seen (I alas never saw the Guthrie which showcased Stevens and Tucker (plus on some occasions others, but mostly RS and RT for the whole of the 50s.”
DON GIOVANNI:Mozart
Original Air Date: 02/15/2003
Cambreling; Mattei, Radvanovsky, Furlanetto, Diener, Trost, Netrebko
MOD Audio SID.19350102
This Don Giovanni is a solid performance especially in key roles, and proof that not all fine performances are pre-1980. Radvanovsky and Netrebko have gone on to extraordinary careers, but Mattei and Furlanetto make for a fresh and effective pairing as the Don and Leporello (Mattei will reprise his DON later in the 2014-2015 season, but I don’t think Furlanetto does Leporello so much these days. I’ve listened to this performance thanks to previous Sirius appearances. Recommended. This performance is on Met Player, it’s a splendid afternoon. I saw an earlier performance with Mattei and found him one of the very best of recent Giovannis. I’m not forgetting Siepi, but Mattei managed to be both dark of drama and sunny of voice. The women are among the very best of recent trios, with Radvanovsky just starting to take off, Diener very solid, and Netrebko one of the lushest Zerlinas ever. Furlanetto is not chopped liver as Leporello, and Trost is OK. Not all fine performances took place 40 years ago.
ERNANI:Verdi
Original Air Date: 12/17/1983
Levine; Pavarotti, Mitchell, Milnes, Raimondi
MOD Audio SID.19350103
This is the audio that goes with the video available on DVD. I love Ernani, and Pavarotti and Mitchell are quite good. Milnes and Raimondi are not my usual choices in this music; I prefer by a lot MacNeil and Siepi. Levine is lively, and a week with Ernani always makes me feel better. I think Pavarotti may only have one other run in this role (Verona?)but unusually Domingo’s Ernani total at the Met is lower — one.
MANON LESCAUT:Puccini
Original Air Date: 03/23/1968
Molinari-Pradelli; Tebaldi, Alexander, Guarrera, Michalski
SID.19350104
I am always happy to hear Manon Lescaut, and Alexander is an under-appreciated singer so happy to have him here, BUT Tebaldi’s greatness in the role is in the 1959 broadcast with Tucker (not yet broadcast on Sirius). Also on Met Player . Although this performance is available on Met Player, for some reason the Met keeps avoiding the 1959 performance with Tucker– he is represented with Kabaiwanska in a very decent performance from 1966. Once again I would call on the Met to restore to broadcast availability one of the remarkable unions of two Met legends of Tebaldi and Tucker. This 1968 performance captures Tebaldi after two long runs in Gioconda, and the voice was simply not the same. I yield to no one in my admiration of John Alexander, but it is still inexplicable to me that the 1959 broadcast with Tebaldi and Tucker remains un-rebroadcast, and this performance is in MOoD and regularly on Sirius. For Tebaldi, the 9 year span makes a huge difference. By the time of this broadcast she is well on her way through her Gioconda marathon after a vocal crisis in the early 60s. She has many wonderful moments, but surely Met listeners deserve to hear the Tucker/Tebaldi/Puccini combination one more time (I’ve written on the 1956 Tosca many times).
RODELINDA:Handel
Original Air Date: 05/06/2006
Summers; Fleming, Scholl, van Rensburg, Blythe, Dumaux, Relyea
MOD Video SID.19350105
This performance in the second season of the production and Scholl’s first appearance at the Met. There was a third broadcast which includes an HD moviecast of Rodelinda with Fleming and Scholl under Bicket (whom I prefer to Summers) but the intervening 4 years do not benefit either Fleming or Scholl. This video is available also in MOoD so you can compare for yourself. I like Scholl much more than David Daniels so this is my preferred Rodelinda.
RIGOLETTO:Verdi
Original Air Date: 12/07/1968
Cleva; Merrill, Moffo, Bergonzi, Michalski, Love
SID.19350106
A bit of a mini-Robert Merrill festival with his Scarpia and Rigoletto in one week. While RM may be a good shot away from the dramatic demands of Scarpia, Rigoletto worked better for him, not least because of the richness of his voice. I remember this performance well, and while neither Bergonzi nor Merrill are perfect, they brought me much pleasure. Moffo is not in especially good voice (Lucia awaits her before the broadcast microphones 8 weeks later).
DAS RHEINGOLD:Wagner
Original Air Date: 10/09/2010
Levine; Terfel, Croft, Owens, Blythe
Live in HD SID.19359991
RWW Review: My qualifications on Monday’s performance centered on the Giants, the Alberich, Wotan and the Loge, all OK, but not stellar. I thought all were much better this afternoon. I can’t explain the booing of Croft, but maybe he understood broadcast mics were there and was intent on best possible tone. His performance was one of the best vocal Loges I’ve ever heard today. Eric Owens’ voice sounded better and the Giants MUCH better. As for Terfel, I though his miking was a little muffled (only one of the singers) at times, but clearly this is was in the best voice of the performances I’ve heard (Opening Night-Sirius only for me), Monday, and today. Adam Diegel (Froh) and Dwayne Croft (Donner) even better today, and the split second hammerblow that was just a half second off on Monday was perfect today. There were lots of close-ups today, but also lots of framed scenes of two or more characters interacting.
My only real cavil about today was that the lighting for the NIbelheim scene was mostly washed out. In the theatre, it has a coppery ambience; the first and third scenes came off very well in the house. The final scene seemed even better today, and credit to LePage for timing the final moments to keep applause mostly out until the music has done.
I would be remiss if I did not congratulate Levine on a tremendous performance, and Diegel and Blythe helped him on to the stage for bows at the end. I would call this the Legato Rheingold, not a clinker in the cast. The Met Orchestra is one of the elements that distinguishes their live broadcasts so much. LePage honored the text — there’s a RIng, there’s Rhinegold, a serpent (that came off better in the theatre than on the HD transmission), and a toad (even though it looked more like a bullfrog), and a rainbow bridge.
Strauss
Original Air Date: 04/18/1992
Levine; Daner, Voigt, Rysanek, Rootering, King
SID.19350107
This broadcast is best as a document of Rysanek’s only Met broadcast Klytemnestra, and Voigt in young, fresh voice. Daner sang all other performances of this new production, when Behrens cancelled after the premiere. I was at the premiere and kept wondering when the performance would be halted. Daner is a competent replacement, but nothing memorable. An annual cycling seems a bit excessive to me.
BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE:Bartók
Original Air Date: 01/28/1989
Levine; Ramey, Norman
SID.19350208
What is defective about this is that in March of 2013 [and March 2015] the rebroadcast included the second work of the afternoon Schoenberg’s Erwartung with Norman. Rebroadcasting half the afternoon? I’ll try to be up and check and see if both works are actually on. Bluebeard with a much weaker cast is scheduled in a new production in 2014-2015 (the starrier fare of this season is Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta with Netrebko and Beczala. I find it a bit tone deaf to be honoring Norman’s 70th birthday with a broadcast that is incomplete and not yet honored in Met Opera on Demand or DVD for both the Bluebeard and the Erwartung. Although the Bartok is done in an English translation it was telecast as well. Norman is at her considerable best, and it would be nice if this performance could be issued somehow. Ramey is a very strong Bluebeard. It’s one of the few post 1977 videos not available in any form, either MOoD or DVD.
Wagner
Original Air Date: 04/17/1993
Levine; Jones, Johns, Salminen, Held, Plette, Troyanos
SID.19350209
This is one of Jones best Met performances, and 15 years after I saw her do it at Bayreuth. She’s in better voice for this than at the Festspielhaus. This is Troyanos’ farewell broadcast and her last run of anything at the Met. Johns is a very decent Siegfried,and Salminen a thrilling Hagen. The Three Norns are Mignon Dunn, Hanna Schwarz, and Susan Neves. That’s a lot of Stimme from all three ladies.
Wagner
Original Air Date: 04/17/1993
Levine; Jones, Johns, Salminen, Held, Plette, Troyanos
SID.19350210
This is one of Jones best Met performances, and 15 years after I saw her do it at Bayreuth. She’s in better voice for this than at the Festspielhaus. This is Troyanos’ farewell broadcast and her last run of anything at the Met. Johns is a very decent Siegfried,and Salminen a thrilling Hagen. The Three Norns are Mignon Dunn, Hanna Schwarz, and Susan Neves. That’s a lot of Stimme from all three ladies.
Donizetti
Original Air Date: 12/04/1982
Bonynge; Sutherland, Kraus, Elvira, Morris
MOD Video SID.19350211
Most people are very familiar with the telecast from November 13, 1982 which is on MOoD. The telecast which is also available on DVD features Plishka instead of Morris, and while Sutherland (age 56) and Kraus (55) are certainly veterans they have a lot to offer. MOD is video from 11-13-82 performance with Plishka for Morris
UN BALLO IN MASCHERA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/17/1962
Santi; Bergonzi, Rysanek, Merrill, Rothenberger, Madeira
SID.19350212
This is the cast that premiered the new production a few weeks earlier, and brought Bergonzi’s matchless Riccardo to Met audiences. He would go on to sing it with the Met 33 times, a house record. Bergonzi has two distinguished studio recordings, and for anyone who saw his performance, it was one of the great assumptions of the postwar Met. He had no better Verdian role, and no other tenor so epitomized the virtues of Verdi’s music. July 13, was Bergonzi’s birthday, and we all truly wish him Cent’anni. Rysanek received good reviews, but the scrutiny of the broadcast microphones show more of a mixed bag. Rysanek does two more Amelias the following season and with a broadcast Don Carlo in 1964, Rysanek is done with Verdi at the Met. She continues at the Met for another 32 years with many distinguished performances, but Italian opera which was her original calling card (as Lady Macbeth) is gone from her repertory. Renato was one of Merrill’s best roles, and recently hearing him in 1963 with Nilsson and Tucker in this Ballo production on Sirius, Merrill makes a strong case for this as the third starring role. He dominated the broadcast airwaves in this role for close to two decades, and especially when he gets to Eri tu and the drawing of the lots, he really leaves competition inside and outside the Met far to the rear (Cappuccilli has a distinguished video from Covent Garden, and his mostly non-Met presence (debut and farewell as Germont on the same night) remains a great loss for the Met. Only Santi and Bergonzi are still with us, and I think Santi is still conducting. This is the cast of the premiere of the new production, and finds Rysanek in uneven form. Bergonzi, Merrill and Rothenberger are just about as good as you can get. Merrill is here in his 3d of 8 broadcasts of Renato from 1955-1975. Milnes breaks the chronology for 1 broadcast in 1973, otherwise if Ballo is on the radio, it’s Bob on board. The conspiracy scene is further strengthened by Giaiotti’s Sam.
SAMSON ET DALILA:Saint-Saëns
Original Air Date: 02/25/2006
Villaume; Forbis, Borodina, Lafont
SID.19350213
This is one of only two Met broadcasts of Samson with Borodina. The earlier one is the opening night of the 1998-1999 season (not a matinee broadcast) with Domingo which was subsequently issued on DVD and is available in MOoD. For my money Borodina is the best Dalila since Gorr, and one is better off with the 1998 performance. Villaume’s conducting of the 2006 performance is not without elan, but Borodina is who you want to hear on both performances, and she’s better in 1998. This is the most recent Samson broadcast, and is certainly worth a listen for Borodina, the most glamorous voice to have ever graced a Samson broadcast. Let me put in a pitch for the 1972 broadcast with Bumbry and McCracken in parts they are not widely heard in and you still have Bacquier setting the standard for High Priest.
DIALOGUES DES CARMÉLITES:Poulenc
Original Air Date: 05/11/2019
Nézet-Séguin; Leonard, Pieczonka, Morley, Cargill, Mattila, Portillo, Croft
Live in HD SID.19359992
LA TRAVIATA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 01/24/1959
Adler; Albanese, Valletti, Sereni
SID.19350214
This Is Albanese’s final Violetta broadcast her 10th. She is also the Met champion Violetta at 87 (Moffo has 80, then the ranks start to disperse rapidly. This is not my first choice Violetta (I never saw her in the part) but she is part of a Violetta tradition that has vanished. Happy that Sirius is broadcasting it. A few further Albanese Traviata notes– although she is the Violetta for Robert Merrill’s debut in 1945 (with Tucker but never with a broadcast microphone. Tucker, whose Alfredos go from 1945-1972 does not appear on the broadcast microphones for it after 1954 when the trio is Albanese, Tucker, Warren. Albanese also has a broadcast VIoletta with Bastianini and Prandelli in 1955. Sadly for the #1 Violetta in performances is not represented in MOoD. This 1959 is ok, but I would love to hear either the 1954 or 1955 on Sirius first.
LOHENGRIN:Wagner
Original Air Date: 02/01/1964
Rosenstock; Kónya, Crespin, Rankin, Cassel, Wiemann
SID.19350315
Bing generally avoided broadcasts as the first performance in a run, and this one could certainly have done with a few performances for the ensemble to gel. More cuts than we are used to, and Rosenstock is not the most inspiring leader. Konya is in excellent voice, and stands up to the best of the Lohengrins ever. Crespin is one of my favorites, and already by 1964 she could be uneven. Still I like an Elsa with metal for the second act confrontation with Ortrud and also the full throated singing she and Konya bring to the Bridal Chamber. Rankin and Cassel are up to the vocal demands if not always the distinction one would like, and Wiemann was an excellent house bass ready for all the Wagner roles. His phrasing is often a good deal more pleasing than Hines who had more significant vocal equipment. *** Bing generally avoided first performances of repertory as broadcasts, and sometimes things go rather bumpily (most infamously the Schwarzkopf Don Giovanni and the Moffo Lucia). This one does not find Crespin (a huge personal favorite) at her most settled, but she has her moments. Konya really is a fine Lohengrin and for a solid decade #1. The performance has some cuts as well, but by the middle of the second act, things are starting to fall into place.
THE RAKE’S PROGRESS:Stravinsky
Original Air Date: 01/17/1998
Levine; Hadley, Upshaw, Ramey, Blythe
SID.19350316
This is a solid cast, but I find the Stravinsky work rather cold. We are not finished with the first quarter of 2016 and already we are on our second Rake’s Progress rotation for the year (different cast and performance) Is there a Stravinsky anniversary I’ve missed?
SAMSON ET DALILA:Saint-Saëns
Original Air Date: 10/20/2018
Elder; Garanca, Algana, Naouri, Azizov, Belosselskiy
Live in HDMOD Video SID.19359993
CENDRILLON:Massenet
Original Air Date: 04/28/2018
de Billy; DiDonato, Coote, Kim, Blythe, Naouri
Live in HD SID.19359994
?pubId=610394115001&videoId=5839999932001
AIDA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 10/02/2018
Luisotti; Netrebko, Rachvelishvili, Antonenko, Kelsey, Belosselskiy, Green
SID.19350535
In what should be a highlight of the new season, soprano Anna Netrebko sings her first Met Aida, going toe-to-toe with mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili as Amneris. Later in the season, a second star-studded cast takes over, with Sondra Radvanovsky and Dolora Zajick as the leading ladies.Tenors Aleksandrs Antonenko and Yonghoon Lee alternate as Radamès, and Nicola Luisotti and Plácido Domingo take the podium for the Met’s monumental production. Production a gift of Mrs. Donald D. Harrington Revival a gift of Viking Cruises
LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST:Puccini
Original Air Date: 10/04/2018
Armiliato; Westbroek, Eyvazov, Bosi, Lucic, Simpson, Rose, Gradus
Live in HDMOD Video SID.19359995
Soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek sings Puccini’s gun-slinging heroine in this romantic epic of the Wild West, with the heralded return of tenor Jonas Kaufmann in the role of the outlaw she loves. Tenor Yusif Eyvazov also sings some performances. Baritone Željko Lučić is the vigilante sheriff Jack Rance, and Marco Armiliato conducts.