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Gala performance to be transmitted live in HD to 600 theaters in North and South America as well as to Times Square and Fordham University’s Lincoln Center Plaza, and broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio SIRIUS channel 78; Music Director James Levine, Marco Armiliato, and Patrick Summers conduct, with Ramón Vargas, Thomas Hampson, and Dwayne Croft singing leading roles in scenes from La Traviata, Manon, and Capriccio; Legendary designers John Galliano, Christian Lacroix, and Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel create costumes for Fleming

August 28, 2008

New York, NY (August 28, 2008) – The Metropolitan Opera opens its 2008-09 season on September 22 with a gala performance that kicks off its 125th anniversary, starring Renée Fleming in three fully-staged scenes, including some of her most acclaimed portrayals. Costumes for Fleming have been specially created for each of the scenes in the Opening Night Gala by three of the world’s legendary fashion designers: John Galliano, Christian Lacroix, and Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel.

The program opens with Act II of Verdi’s La Traviata, and continues with Act III of Massenet’s Manon, and the final scene of Richard Strauss’s one act opera, Capriccio. Met Music Director James Levine conducts the second act of La Traviata, which has two scenes: the first at Violetta’s country house and the second at a grand Parisian mansion in the elaborate staging by Franco Zeffirelli. Ramón Vargas sings the role of Alfredo Germont, and Thomas Hampson that of his father, Giorgio. Christian Lacroix has designed two costumes for Fleming, one for each scene.

The Manon act is also in two parts: the first is the spectacular “Cours-la-Reine” scene featuring the heroine’s famous “Gavotte,” followed by the searingly dramatic scene in the church of St. Sulpice. Ramón Vargas is Manon’s lover, the Chevalier des Grieux, Dwayne Croft her cousin, Lescaut, and Robert Lloyd the Chevalier’s father, the Comte des Grieux, with Marco Armiliato conducting. Fleming’s costume for scene one and an additional cloak for the second scene are by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel.

The musically transcendent finale of Capriccio, conducted by Patrick Summers, music director of the Houston Grand Opera, concludes the evening, with Fleming in a costume created by John Galliano.

Renee Fleming as Violetta and Thomas Hampson as Germont perform in “La Traviata” in New York, on Sept. 19, 2008. Photographer: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera via Bloomberg News

By Manuela Hoelterhoff Enlarge Image/Details

Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) – Usually the setting for shouting matches around the prompt box between temperamental divas and short tenors, the Metropolitan Opera opening last night featured three haute-couture designers and one shape-changing soprano, the fabled Renee Fleming.

Dressed by Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel and John Galliano, Fleming sailed through scenes from three operas by three very different composers: Verdi, Massenet, Strauss. All were staged in wonderfully opulent productions (Franco Zeffirelli, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, John Cox) that showed off the company at its grandest along with Fleming's astonishing versatility and dramatically reduced embonpoint.

As Violetta, she wore a floral gathered dress with cinched waist by Lacroix, very suitable indeed for the gardening the briefly reformed courtesan takes up in Act II.

An intermission later, she turned into Manon, Massenet's material girl, shopping on the Cour de la Reine in a subtly sparkling mauve rococo number with lace sleeves by Lagerfeld. Finally, in perhaps the most startling transformation, she topped herself off with page-boy wig, and sauntered into the Countess's salon wearing Galliano's art deco sheath to sing the last scene from ``Capriccio, a wordy opera from which most people don't wish to hear more. Table for Ten Why the fuss? For the Met, the opening gala is a big fundraiser and these frocks were finished long before the titans who love this place had a few holes in their pockets. Just what the future holds for the Met is anybody's guess, but last night raked in a record-breaking $6.2 million. Tickets zoomed up to $100,000 (which included chicken dinner for ten in an outdoor tent). Early on, a funny assortment of celebrities paraded along the red carpet, people like Henry Kissinger, Jane Fonda and Martha Stewart, who could do her TV show from Violetta's country house with those perfect potted plants and that couch with a fringe (knit by the girl herself on a rainy day). Martha later held court on the Grand Tier with mezzo Susan Graham, who hosted the live transmission to various movie theaters in this hemisphere and also Times Square and the Fordham campus across the street. Fondling one perfect orange, Martha promised Susan she would make her a new drink called The Grande Dame. Thomas Hampson What about us? I could have used some kind of elixir during the four-hour marathon whose early highlight was an emotionally affecting duet between Violetta and Alfredo's provincial father, sung by Thomas Hampson, one of the few singers around with Fleming's linguistic range, stylistic command, and riveting looks. He surely merited a designer of his own. Did no-one think of Ralph Lauren to kit him out – and also dissuade feisty tenor Ramon Vargas from those high-heeled boots? Making a surprise appearance were the sets from ``Manon. I had quite forgotten how magical they were, such a phantasmagoric assemblage of 18th-century architecture, acrobats, hawkers, festively dressed crowds. Fleming sang the showy aria a little carefully, but then pulled out all the stops in the next scene set in the church of St. Sulpice.

You may remember that the feckless des Grieux has fled here to escape her wiles and become a priest. As Fleming threw open her cape to reveal that tight Lagerfeld dress, the poor man just didn't stand a chance. Vargas did some impressive emoting before high-tailing it out the door with her.

After a short interview with Susan Graham, and a trip to her dressing room, Fleming returned with the ``Capriccio'' finale which has the autumnal glow of the Last Songs without their searching texts. Are words or music more important as we proceed through life – or write an opera?

1942 Clunker

By the time this clunker arrived in Munich in 1942, Strauss was really old and beaten down by the Nazis. More urgent topics could obviously not be discussed in this climate of fear. Of course, Strauss answered his own question. Who can remember a single line from the piece? But all of us at the Met last night will remember Fleming's radiant singing.

Three conductors ably supported the diva: James Levine, looking buoyant after his health scare this summer, Marco Armiliato and Patrick Summers.

(Manuela Hoelterhoff is executive editor of Muse, Bloomberg's leisure and arts section. Any opinions expressed are her own.)