Last night we attended the opening performance of L'Italiana at the Met. The last time I saw it at the Met it was with Marilyn Horne; I do not recall the other singers. But if someone were to ask me now about that opera, I would say(2023 Youtube upload):
that I saw it at the Met with Juan Diego Florez.
This is not to denigrate the performance of Olga Borodina, who sang the title role, and sang and acted very well indeed. (but not well enough to eclipse my memories of Ms. Horne) And Ferruccio Furlanetto was hilarious and wonderful as
Mustafa. But from his very first few notes, Florez sang at a different level. The voice is not overpoweringly strong; it is pure and true, with a sweetness of tone like no one else's, IMO.
If you can get in, go and see this production. Great cast, well directed. Minor quibble - I did not think that the Met orchestra performed up to its usual standard - It will be interesting to read the reviews, Even more interesting to read the comments of the RMO experts.
Regards,
Paul
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