THERE was an unsung question hanging over the Metropolitan Opera House Wednesday night when Placido Domingo returned to give the first of three performances in Franco Alfano’s “Cyrano de Bergerac.”
Earlier, a throat ailment had forced him to cancel performances of both “Cyrano” and “Samson and Delilah.” Would he still sound vocally under the weather?
No worries. The superstar tenor, looking and sounding far younger than his 65 years, was effortlessly at the top of his game, singing with a robust tone and that infinitude of emotional shadings we have over the years come to admire and expect.
The performance also showed another important aspect of Domingo’s reign among opera’s most-wanted: his willingness to use his clout to expand the operatic repertory, often moving away from the hack-worn and taking his audience to world premieres and lesser-known territory, such as Verdi’s “Stiffelo.”
Interestingly, although Domingo returns to the Met as a conductor next season, the only role he is due to sing is the Emperor in the world premiere of Tan Dun’s “The First Emperor” in December.
Alfano’s opera itself is certainly a rarity, but wonderfully worth hearing. Composed by the man best-known for completing the last act of Puccini’s “Turandot” – and often maligned for that – its French libretto clings closely to Edmund Rostand’s play.
It’s a well-known story: Cyrano, a soldier/poet with the legendary huge nose, woos his beloved Roxane (a full-voiced and passionate Cynthia Lawrence) on behalf of his dimwitted but handsome friend Christian (the perhaps appropriately dull Fernando de la Mora).
The score, alertly and sensitively conducted by Marco Armiliato, is almost unexpectedly beautiful, with its underlying sense of full-blooded, 20th-century verismo Italian opera shot through with a shimmer of French impressionism that is both moving and beguiling.
Director Francesca Zambello, responsible for this season’s over-fancified “An American Tragedy” and, more than a decade ago, an unforgettably awful “Lucia di Lammermoor,” redeems herself here, with a delightfully unaffected production, featuring handsome sets by Peter J. Davison and costumes by Anita Yavich.
But face it: The audience had come for Domingo, and the tenor gave full value. He had in abundance – what was that Cyrano called it? – ah, yes: panache.
—
CYRANO DE BERGERAC
The Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center; (212) 362-6000. Performances tomorrow night and March 16.
