Florencia en el Amazonas, Dec 2023

I saw Florencia en el Amazonas at the Met on Dec 5, 2023. It's an opera from 1996 with music by Daniel Catán and a libretto by Marcela Fuentes-Berain. The opera has been performed numerous times worldwide, somewhat unusual for a new opera. This was the Met premiere.

The opera takes place in the first years of the 20th century on a riverboat sailing through the Amazon River Basin. The passengers are going to Manaus to hear opera diva Florencia Grimaldi perform at the reopening of the opera house. They are unaware that Grimaldi is on the ship herself. This is her first return to Manaus after the disappearance years before of her lover Cristóbal.

I was crazy for it. The music was sumptuous, opulent, fragrant, always involving, always caressing the ear. The vocal writing was expertly done, it gave wonderful opportunities for the singers to display. Soprano Ailyn Pérez gets top marks as Florencia. I'd heard her on TV a few times but never in person. She's the real deal, she has a supple, tangy voice and really delivered the style. She was unafraid to be overt - - some of her soaring vocal lines became swooping, just on the brink of too much, which is the knife edge where I like to live. Brava diva.

Baritone Mattia Olivieri had the first showy solo moment, an opening aria setting the scene. Lovely writing and a handsome voice. Soprano Gabriella Reyes and tenor Mario Chang played the amorous young couple. Their second act duet was a highlight - - it felt like both a vibrant, ardent love duet and somehow also a parody of a vibrant, ardent love duet. Another knife edge where I like to live.

The conductor was Yannick Nézet-Séguin, music director of the Met. Clearly he loved the score and the orchestra loved playing it and playing for him. The orchestra surged with expression and flowery drama. The production was directed by Mary Zimmerman, her sixth production at the Met - - she made her debut with a brilliant production of Lucia di Lammermoor in 2007. Her productions are always imaginative, challenging, but never wacky for the sake of wackiness. She perfectly captured the opera's tone of magical realism.

Here's Pérez in an excerpt from her final aria. You can hear a flight of fancy up to a quiet high note and lots of stroganoff middle voice. Creamy yet meaty. I just made that up, I think that's a keeper.