Review by Operaman!
Rating:
It’s easy to be cynical about contemporary opera productions. There’s lots of Regietheater and contempoconcept productions and stagings, some creative but most of them intentionally disturbing to traditional audiences (case in point the trainwreck Hansel and Gretel, and recent Tosca and Sonnambula stagings where I’ve never heard such booing for the production team). It’s getting to a point that an opera production in period-appropriate costumes and settings and “traditional” stage direction is now a novelty instead of the norm.

The Met’s latest Thais is neither. It could be argued that the production concept is an amalgam of tradition and modern – the costumes and decors are certainly not what was envisoned for Anatole France’s novel or Massenet’s exotic opera, but it all seems to work together. Derived from the HD Transmission production from 2008, the viewer is allowed to see the backstage workings putting this production together while the opera is in progress – interesting, but it seems to diminish the magic of opera on the stage. I’d rather have the audience perspective during the performance, and look at the “interior” stuff as an appendix. The only point of the staging that did not convince me was Thais’ “redemption” at the end of the opera.

That said, America’s Opera Queen Renee Fleming makes the most of this role . . . she looks spectacular and has the true vocal “soul” to bring this strange and decadent character to life. The real star of the show is Thomas Hampson. I confess to not being a fan of this attractive, aristocratic, musical, note-perfect but often bland-sounding baritone. On stage in Thais it’s another story, and this is the kind of performance that makes you wonder why Massenet didn’t call this opera “Athanael”.

Arguably the best of the Met’s recent video productions.

Review by David D. Dollinger
Rating:
There are only two other DVD’s of Thais in the current catalogue. There may be others in the future, but it is highly unlikely that they (it) will unseat the position that this Met production enjoys. That is not to say that it is perfect. Indeed almost any production of a French opera is in a quandry because of the lack of French singers and the ability to project the text as only a French trained singer can do. The recent Carmen managed to meet this problem head on and do a very good job of. Of course Carmen is a masterpiece and Thais while highly enjoyable and ranking almost with Manon and Werther is a more fragile work.

Aside from the fact that neither lead is French my main bone of contention with the DVD is the very generic production. Fourth century Hellenic Egypt! Not even close. Why in heaven’s name was Nicias wearing a white bow tie and white vest and what looked like a thirties lounging robe. This is nit picking, but even so it is glaring because he never changes his costume. Fleming is a diva and I suppose is entitled to all the perks that attend to the position. Her costumes are no more evocative of the setting than those of Nicias, especially her Act I costume. Only those of Hampson’s are apt. Fleming’s were designed for her and probably cost a lot of money; they are somewhat glitzy and I can’t imagine any other opera that would find them acceptable.

What is more important are the singers up to the job, something that previous productions were only able to do with marginal success. Leaving aside French style, both Fleming and Hampson deliver the goods. Renee still has a top that allows her to negotiate the difficult passages without strain. She sings the two high D’s in the finale with ease. It is almost incredible to realize that at her age (very ungallant of me to even bring this up)she not only looks far younger than she is, but sings as well as she does–and may she continue to. Dramatically she may skate over the role but to anyone who can sing this role after the wretched attempts of Frittoli and Mei I couldn’t care less. Ideally Anathael should be sung by a more heroic baritone than Hampson, but he is such a canny artist and with many years behind him he is able to manage not only this role but a number of others that one would not associate with his lyric baritone. Think Amfortas, Macbeth, Mandryka, et.al. Ideally my Anathael would be sung by Michel Dens, but France is not delivering this kind of singer, so I am more than happy to have an artist of the distinction of Hampson. Nicias is almost a thankless role and Schade performs it well.

Supporting the opera is one of the great opera orchestras in the world and a conductor, though Spanish is at one with the Massenet idiom. We are lucky to have this DVD.

Review by Brian Clever
Rating:
The only thing I want to review is the quality of the DVD production

which is unfortunately horrible. They packed the entire opera,

all the set changes and interviews that were part of the HD broadcast

and all the bonus features onto one disc. This dramatically reduces

the quality of the video to barely better than VHS quality.

I was really looking forward to this professional release to replace

the copy I recorded at low quality from broadcast non-digital PBS a year ago

but alas this one is not better.

P.S. If you disagree with my review and you feel strongly that I’m just

wrong, please leave a comment. If I agree with your assessment I will remove

this review.