Met Opera Batting 1000 with Rossini's Bel Canto Farce 'Le Comte Ory' Movie in HD

Put together a phenomenal Bel Canto cast, a Tony Award-winning innovative director, delicious costuming and the first-rate Met orchestra, and you simply can’t miss. Even with opera buffs who prefer  heavier, “grand” opera, Le Comte Ory—recently screened in HD—scored marvelously.

Incredibly, Le Comte Ory—Gioachino Rossini’s last opera—has never been performed at the Met before and has not entered the standard repertory in most opera houses  around the world. 

Why are we getting the privilege of seeing it now? Because we are blessed  with a whole slew of remarkably talented Bel Canto singers.  And the Met is willing to stick its neck out because they all can act and happen to be exceptionally good looking—one might say they were ready for the unforgiving HD camera in every way.

The  story line of the melodic “Ory” is pretty simplistic: The Crusades are on and the women left behind have sworn to be chaste until their heroes return.  The libidinous Comte (the fabulous “High C’s” tenor Juan Diego Flórez) intends to take full advantage of the situation. He disguises himself first as a sacred hermit  and subsequently as a nun in order to  seduce “Countess Adele” (the absolutely enchanting  super-soprano Diana Damrau.)  But he runs into trouble when his page Isolier—the delightful mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato—has the same idea. We are privy to great comedic goings on that include a whole regiment of nuns in drag and a hilarious “ménage a trois” in bed.

We see it all as a play within a play, the ingenious idea of Bartlett Sher, whom you might remember for his staging of the Met’s highly acclaimed Barber of Seville in the 2006-2007 season. Incidentally that sported this same cast, so the obvious familiarity may also have been helpful in the creation of this successful production.  Maybe some of you saw the fairly recent award-winning  Broadway revival of South Pacific—Mr. Sher is a talented director indeed!

Instead of setting this romp in the actual time of the Crusades, Sher places it in a non-specified 19th-Century-type setting. A witty touch is the invention of a sort of prompter—a decrepit old geezer—who silently gives elaborate stage directions and not so silently provides  thunder during a quite humorous  storm scene. 

I found special delight in the way characters entered through door-frames with nothing behind them, yet still manage to convince our imaginations to conjure up  the exact type of  structure of which they are supposed to be part.

The inside joke of  chandeliers going up and down, a la the famed Met crystal chandelier spectacular, was not lost on many an experienced Met patron in the audience.

Another delightful aspect of this comedy comedy was the costuming by Catherine Zuber. Exquisite in it colorings and absolutely beautiful where called for, it also uses deliberate hilarity in that Ory and his bevy of male nuns wear the type of wimples that were so outrageously exploited in  “The Flying Nun” of TV fame.

Picture all this with glorious voices, singing typical Rossini melodies that bridge everything from sensual aria to his recognizable racer-fast “patter song/arias,”  and you can see it adds up to fine entertainment.

Conductor Maurizio Benini commanded the orchestra in a most winning way, and indeed with the rest of the cast and the chorus delivering in top form, a great time was had by all.

A special sparkle was added when we learned that tenor Flórez  had become a father a half hour prior to curtain time. His interview with hostess Renee Fleming revealed that he had not slept a wink all the night before.  Fantastic discipline and adrenalin obviously work wonders!

One note of discord must be mentioned because it may well influence future performances of Le Comte Ory.   Philip Gossett, a highly respected Rossini expert, has accused the Met of ignoring additional, original music to the opera recently discovered.

Gossett insists  that the musical version we were offered , which the tenor Flórez performed to great success in Pesaro in 2003, was a watered-down version that Rossini prepared for the ”provincially” limited Parisian Opera of his time.  The additional music has been found and Gossett claims the Met had ample time to work it  in. The Met chose not to for this production. But who knows?—When we get to see the opera in the future, the First Act Finale  may flaunt 13 singers and two competing choruses, a “Tempest in an Ory Romp-up,” but something for which to look forward.

Here are some comments from members of the  “Ory” audience:

Barbara Nachman  of Rye Brook called it a “brilliant gem.” She thought the plot was charming, admired the staging and was especially impressed by the gloriously hued costumes.  She mentioned that she does not attend the Met often these days. “Too expensive and too time-consuming.”  She found it difficult to get HD tickets, but understands that that is because it has caught on so.  She is a Wagner lover but had a good time at “Ory.”

Barbara Ames of Hartsdale appreciated the glorious voices, thought the production charming and very amusing.  “I think the choreographed 3-in-bed scene one of the funniest scenes in all opera.  It was good to see a comedy after all the tragic operas I have seen,” she said. ”I had good Balcony seats at the Met for years, but that meant I had to use binoculars which made me miss some of the subtitles. With the HD's that's all taken care of."  She added, “I was especially excited about Flórez becoming a father just before curtain time.”

Georgette G. Gouveia of White Plains referred to the performance  as a “Master Class” in Bel Canto.  “I am a fan of good singing and I also appreciate that everyone here acted with true ‘brio’.  That Florez was able to pull off this performance so soon after the birth of his child, showed tremendous discipline and true Character.”

Harriet Ross of Scarsdale thought the opera  “absolutely delightful; so sophisticated, real fun!”  She attended the Met for years and years, gave up good seats and was never able to get good seats again. A widow now, she welcomes and considers the HD movies a brilliant idea.

Claire Adelman of Ardsley said she absolutely loved it. “I felt I was a teenager rooting for Florez “Sinatra!”  She thought every voice superb and adored the 25 singers “in Drag.”  “I have attended every single Met HD movie for the past three years and have enjoyed the experience immensely,” she said.

Ann Kaufman of White Plains explained that “after seeing three Holocaust movies in a row, I was absolutely delighted to see a comedy.  I thought everything so well done; found the music and staging just marvelous and especially loved the ‘take off’ of the chandeliers going up and down.” 

(Recommendation to the Establishment: More than one HD viewer has expressed surprise that before the opera starts, as the camera survey’s the audience at the actual Met,  it never shows the spectacular raising of the crystal  chandeliers that seems to be a unique Met feature.  Is it a timing problem?  Be advised that people would love to see it if it can be done.)

An encore presentation of "Le Comte Ory" will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 27 at White Plains City Center and New Rochelle New Roc Cinema Complexes.