1/ I think the big difference betw this (current) production and the former one seen at the beginning of Strauss Week is that, setting aside all arguments about updating and "Regie," standards for plain, character-on-character direction have gotten higher. Another, linked to 1st,
https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1414344001801670660
2/ is that - at least as long as Gunter Groissbrock is this production's Baron Ochs, or another bass with his profile - Ochs here is less obviously repellent than usual, and hence a little more dangerous. So while I esteem the old Nat Merrill/Bob O'Hearn production, I also
3/ welcome this one by Robert Carsen. In these performances, our Marschallin, sopran Renee Fleming, and our Octavian, mezzo Elina Garanca, said farewell to these role: Renee bc she's on glidepath to retirement, and Elina - not sure why, but she's def into heavier mezzo roles now,
3/ like Dalila. (And I think she's lined up for Amneris whenever the new AIDA gets off the ground?) A shame, rly, bc she dudes up at least as well as Marie McLaughlin did in last night's 2003 ARABELLA. Erin Morley is Sophie; Sebastian Weigle conducts.
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