I saw the February 27th, 2019 encore performance of Francesco Cilea‘s Adriana Lecouvreur from the Met Opera at the cinema.

The performance starred Anna Netrebko as Adriana Lecouvreur, Piotr Beczała as Maurizio, and Anita Rachvelishvili as the Princess de Bouillon.  This was a new production by David McVicar and the opera was conducted by Gianandrea Noseda

The performance was breathtaking from beginning to end and all three principals, plus Ambrogio Maestri as Michonnet, performed beautifully.  They all seemed to totally understand their roles and made them all believable.  Both Adriana and the Princess both loved Maurizio and while her still cared about the Princess, he loved Adriana.  It is a shame that this opera is not performed more often as there is a lot of wonderful music and provides a lot of arias and duets for the main three performers.  Maestro Noseda provided upbeat tempi that kept the music flowing.  But at the same time, it did not feel rushed at all.

The production is rather traditional with staging that serves as a vehicle for the performers and did not take away from the performance at all.  Then again, with how the singers were performing, it might have been hard for people to notice the sets anyway – but then again I believe the sets served their purpose to enhance the performers’ portrayals instead of being a distraction.

Here are some highlights provided by the Met Opera: