A prince/troubadour in Aquitaine longs for love. A pilgrim matches him with a princess in Tripoli. A death occurs.
Director: Gary Halvorson
Conductor: Susanna Mälkki
This recording has several brief (less than a second each) audio interruptions, and rarely also pixelated image. I think I'll leave this on the dvr, and not invest the time, electricity and storage space to burn it to dvd.
Synopses: Wikipedia article; Composer's website (she is Finnish, b. '52). Per the Wikipedia article: "the first opera by a female composer, and the first opera conducted by a female conductor, in this series". The Met Live in HD series had just over 100 episodes by then. In the interview after the opera, they said this was the 2nd ever Met production composed by a woman.
First performance 2000.
Place: In Aquitaine, Tripoli, and at sea
Time: 12th century
Cast:
Jaufré Rudel, Prince of Blaye, and troubadour Baritone :: Eric Owens
Clémence, the Countess of Tripoli Soprano :: Susanna Phillips
The Pilgrim, the go-between Mezzo-soprano :: Tamara Mumford
Yes, only 3 principals, plus a chorus, and the 3 characters only get together in Act 5 (last). So this is all solos and duets (sometimes the other "person" is the chorus). How do they memorize all that stuff, especially with such non-melodic music?
Not atonal, but not melodic either; rather what you'd expect from a late 20th century composition. The emotions don't change much during the piece, and neither does the music - until one of them dies.
The set is sparse, representing water most of the time, but with Technicolor lighting on set and chorus.
Not horrible, but I'm not going to sit in rapt attention reading all the subtitles, and je ne comprends pas le français.
Rated 7.7 (7)
MetOpera, cond. Mälkki; 6-
