Its main asset, though, is that even the young Verdi-for this was his fifth opera-has endless arias and choruses and soliloquies. Still, with enough propulsion, the sneers and swordplay are enough to give the stage enough interest-as well as a few near-thrilling arias. It begins with a scene of banditos who sing pillage and vengeance with all the emotion of the Smurfs it ends with a very preventable suicide, and in the meantime, the four protagonists speak of honor, honor and honor, while pulling out their swords and daggers at even the intimation of a sneer or a trill. But this is a fatuous argument, since the great operas, from Monteverdi to Glass and beyond, have stories which have cohesive drama, interesting (if sometimes irrational) characters, and the emotions which make singing inevitable.īut Ernani, based on a Victor Hugo drama, has little of the above. Yes, the platitude is that opera by definition is absurd, since nobody sings when they should talk. But the opera is rarely played and, again as shown at the Met last night, the reason is that Ernani is a very silly opera. Hall (costume designer), Gil Wechsler (lighting designer), Pier-Luigi Samaritani (production and set designer)Įrnani should be one of the most exciting operas in the repertory, and the Metropolitan Opera production had the voices to validate that. Metropolitan Opera Chorus, Don Palumbo (Director), Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Roberto Abbado (Conductor) Marcello Giordani (Ernani), Sondra Radvanovsky (Elvira), Thomas Hampson (Don Carlo), Ferrrucio Furlanetto (Don Guy Gomez de Silva), Wendy White (Giovanna), Keith Miller (Jiago), Ryan Smith (Don Ricardo).
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