On Wednesday night “I Puritani,” Bellini’s last and musically richest work, returned to the Metropolitan Opera after an absence of 10 years. But for once, the villains in this story, about a besieged band of Puritans during the English Civil War, were not members of the royal House of Stuart in London. No, the real villains were other unseen creatures: microbes.
The singer Anna Netrebko stars as Elvira in “I Puritani” at the Met.
Fear not, fans of Anna Netrebko. That glamorous Russian soprano appeared as scheduled in the touchstone role of Elvira. Indeed, the prolonged ovation she received after the Act II mad scene threatened to stop the performance midway.
But the young tenor Eric Cutler, who was to sing the role of Arturo, Elvira’s love, was recuperating from a bout of bronchitis. He was replaced by Gregory Kunde. In addition, before the performance, a Met spokesman announced from the stage that John Relyea, a fine young bass-baritone, also grappling with the lingering effects of bronchitis, would perform the role of Giorgio, Elvira’s uncle, as scheduled, and that Mr. Relyea had requested the audience’s indulgence. So, even more than usual, the opera was dominated by Elvira, and Ms. Netrebko seemed and sounded in radiant health. Patrick Summers conducted a vibrant, sensitive performance.
Not much happens in “I Puritani.” A stronghold of Puritans is encamped in a fortress in Plymouth, England. Elvira, the daughter of Lord Walton (Valerian Ruminski), is distraught because her father seems determined to marry her to a Puritan colonel she does not love, Riccardo (Franco Vassallo), rather than the dashing Stuart sympathizer she does love, Arturo. But her kindly uncle persuades her father to relent, and the union with Arturo is blessed.
Everything seems fine, until Arturo assists a mysterious woman who turns out to be Queen Henrietta, the widow of Charles I. Thinking her betrothed is unfaithful, Elvira loses her sanity. All ends happily, though, after Cromwell routs the royalists.
A great Elvira must convey emotional turmoil and the story’s psychological subtleties through the intense expressivity of her singing. With the smoky colorings and throbbing richness of her sumptuous voice, Ms. Netrebko was an unusually vulnerable Elvira. Bel Canto purists may find fault with her sometimes imprecise execution of coloratura runs and roulades. But I admired her way of treating florid passagework as organic extensions of an arching vocal line, not as a series of fast notes to be nailed with cool accuracy.
In a recent interview Ms. Netrebko criticized her own tendency to let her pitch turn sharp. She is being hard on herself. She sings with such a focused vibrato that even a slight wavering of pitch stands out more than it would with a soprano whose thick vibrato masks imperfections. At the climax of soaring melodic phrases Ms. Netrebko easily filled the house with shimmering sound. A couple of top notes might have been shaky, but what mattered more was the courageous intensity of her singing.
My guess is that Ms. Netrebko took on Elvira, her fourth new role this year alone, because she simply had to perform the Act II mad scene. When she wandered into the public hall at the Puritan compound in a delusional state, mistaking Riccardo for Arturo, Ms. Netrebko sang Elvira’s wafting melodies with an uncanny combination of touching fragility and plush tone.
Dramatically, she was essentially on her own all night. The dusty 1976 production by Sandro Sequi employs the stand-and-deliver school of directing. At one point during the mad scene, Ms. Netrebko sang while lying on her back on the stage floor near the orchestra pit, her head and arms dangling over the edge. But while she engaged in this Method acting moment, the Met choristers stood stiffly in assigned places on a stairway in the background. They looked as if they were posing for a yearbook photo.
The only other leading member of the cast who seemed to be acting in the same production as Ms. Netrebko was Mr. Relyea, who, despite his health problems, still sang the role of Giorgio with elegance and great dramatic conviction, fully embodying the austere but good-hearted Puritan nobleman.
As Arturo, Mr. Kunde had a very uneven night. His essentially bright lyric tenor voice has a reedy, slightly nasal tone, and some of his top notes were worrisomely tight. Nevertheless, he sang with consistent energy and involvement.
Mr. Vassallo, an Italian baritone, made a thoroughly dull Riccardo. His voice boasts a robust sound, though his lower range was gravelly. Unfortunately, when he sang of his anguish over losing Elvira, he might as well have been doing vocal warm-ups.
It is best for Bellini buffs to forget for now that when this production was new, the four leads were Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes and James Morris. Today we have Ms. Netrebko to be thankful for. As the run continues, and everyone’s health improves, the overall performance may improve as well.
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