SOPRANOS come and go, but great divas linger as grace notes in music history. So we’ll remember Anna Netrebko fondly for her part Tuesday in the Metropolitan Opera’s otherwise miserable production of Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette.”
Interestingly enough, the last time the Gounod was seen at the Met, the Juliette happened to be Natalie Dessay, who opened the season Monday in “Lucia di Lammermoor.”
Tuesday it was Netrebko’s turn, though it would be crass to call them rivals – even Shakespeare deplored comparisons.
In any event, this “Roméo et Juliette” is so awful – with inarticulate astrologically themed staging by Belgian director Guy Joosten, ridiculous settings by Johannes Leiacker, and dowdy costumes by Jorge Jara – that nothing short of summary extinction could save it.
The sugary Gounod music, which replaces Shakespeare’s tragedy with a soppily appealing poignancy, was all the same beautifully given, with conductor Placido Domingo supervising the sad images with loving care.
As for Netrebko – here was stardom personified, almost justifying the idiotic astrology!
She starts off with her giddying coloratura waltz adding a touch of jet-propulsion to Gounod’s flighty minx. But love deepens this sexy charmer into a sensual passion, and her lustrous voice commands the music, giving it a dramatic depth it rarely attains and scarcely deserves.
During the season, Netrebko will be paired with no fewer than four Romeos, starting with a sterling Roberto Alagna, whose sincerity, good looks and bright-toned tenor Tuesday proved just right for the role.
With Gounod, virtually all the other characters fade into generic blobbery. But Stephane Degout returned as Mercutio with a nimble account of his Queen Mab bit, Kristinn Sigmundsson was sonorous as a telescope-toting Frére Laurent, and Isabel Leonard made a bright career start as Stephano.
But why isn’t the Met adventurous enough to try the Swiss composer Heinrich Sutermeister’s 20th-century version? It’s a more interesting opera than the Gounod – although, with no vocal fireworks, it wouldn’t fit so exultantly into the playbooks of the world’s Netrebkos.
ROM?O ET JULIETTE
Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center; (212) 362-6000. Performances through Dec. 31.