opera notebook
some operas I have seen on videoGiuseppe Verdi, Un Ballo in Maschera (1859)
libretto by by Antonio Somma
Metropolitan Opera, New York, 2012
- Conductor: Fabio Luisi
- Director: David Alden
- Set Designer: Paul Steinberg
- Gustav: Marcelo Álvarez
- Amelia: Sondra Radvanovsky
- Oscar: Kathleen Kim
- Anckarström: Dmitri Hvorostovsky
- Ulrica: Stephanie Blythe
David Alden's production is somewhat offbeat. It begins with most of the characters mugging exaggeratedly through the first act, greatly playing up the frivolousness of King Gustav's court. Then a fairly somber, conventional tone takes over for most of the rest of the way, punctuated with odd moments where the appealing soprano Kathleen Kim, as Oscar, dons wings and is carried around by supernumeraries. Alden plays up the attraction between Amelia and her own husband Anckarström, in contrast to the more obvious love connection between Amelia and Gustav. This gives Dmitri Horostovsky as Anckarström more menace and bite, but it somewhat underplays what Amelia sees in Gustav to begin with.