But here's the more interesting datum: Verdi didn't really hit his stride until #17—Rigoletto, produced when he was 36, i.e., three years after the age at which Bellini died. Question: what if Bellini had lived until 87, and Verdi had died at 33?
Okay, it's pointless. But it does help to reflect on the possibilities of a career so cruelly cut off so early. For the plain truth is that Bellini can be a disappointment: one of the most listenable composers ever, yet at the same time, one of the slackest. Whatever else you can say about Bellini operas, they lack sinews and a rib cage—in a word, drama, precisely the quality that makes Verdi so distinctive.
I mulled this point over in mind last Tuesday night at the Met—more precisely in the Director's Circle, that's two flights up--as I listened to Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez in La Sonnambula. That's our customary location and I will always remember my first visit in 1996 I heard Carol Vaness and Susanne Mentzer sing “Soave Sia Il Vento” in Cosi Fan Tutti (and here it is!).
Cosi was a magical moment. But here's the thing: watching La Sonnambula was the first time I've ever wished I were watching the movie-theater performance in HD. This isn't any kind of general rule: I don't intend to abandon the live performance, and some of the Hds have been just way too gimmicky. But for Bellini, a few of the in-your-face doodads would have been a help.
A second invidious comparison: Flórez and Dessay did a fine job here, but it was hard not to compare this presentation with their last Met outing, in Fille du Regiment a year ago (link). They may be singing just as well this time, but you couldn't quite tell because there isn't nearly as much to do
Fn: Looks like I will get my chance to see if it is better in HD, next Wednesday night. Now, if I can rejigger my schedule...
