Review Roundup: The Met Opera's Controversial THE DEATH OF KLINGHOFFER

The Metropolitan Opera's 2014-15 season kicked off with the controversial John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer, conducted by David Robertson and directed by Tom Morris.

Let's see what the critics had to say:

Richard Sansanow of BroadwayWorld.com: The cast couldn't have been better in working with the material put before them. Baritone Paolo Szot was critical in the central role of the Captain of the ship--dramatically, musically strong, but, ultimately in a no-win position since he must lie to bring the ship to port with no further casualties. Alan Opie, also a baritone, brought fire to the role of Klinghoffer; it was too bad that Adams didn't provide him with a more worthy aria than "The Aria of the Falling Body" to better humanize the tragedy of his death. The terrorists were humanized but with their evil sides intact. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as "Rambo" used his bulk and booming voice to terrorize, while Aubrey Allicock, also a bass-baritone, brought some sympathy for Mamoud, who seemed out of his depth in the plot. Tenor Sean Panikkar as Molqui and dancer Jesse Kovarsky also impressed, filling out the quartet of terrorists.

David Cote of NY1: First things first: "The Death of Klinghoffer" is neither anti-Semitic nor pro-terrorist. It depicts four Palestine Liberation Front terrorists who are anti-Semitic, naturally, but the opera is a complex, prismatic, often mysterious mediation on tribal memory, revenge and the psychic toll of suffering... There are choruses of exiled Palestinians and Jews that begin the evening, which are hypnotically beautiful and terrifying. But also choruses of the desert, the ocean, of the day, and they're dense and poetic.

Alex Ross of The New Yorker: Inside the house, there were sporadic disruptions. When, midway through the first act, a man began yelling, "The murder of Klinghoffer will never be forgiven," the performance seemed on the verge of falling apart. But the Met was lucky to have David Robertson, a fearless and impassioned conductor, in the pit; through sheer will, he kept the music moving, and only a few more disturbances ensued. In the end, the vituperation led to the opposite of the desired outcome: listeners who had been berated on the plaza were more inclined to support the work. When Adams walked onstage, during the curtain calls, he received a huge ovation. I imagine that a similar roar would have greeted Gelb had he appeared. The embattled general manager-who had earlier removed "Klinghoffer" from the Met's "Live in HD" and radio-broadcast schedules, in the vain hope of defusing protests-held fast against the final onslaught. He is Jewish, and much of what was said of him at the rally was, to borrow a word from Governor Paterson, loathsome.

Heidi Waleson of the Wall Street Journal: Conductor David Robertson drew a potent and superbly nuanced performance from the Met orchestra, connecting the whip crack of current events with the oceanic resonances of the eternal verities. It set the stage with the low wind-instrument melismas that accompany Mamoud's soliloquy, the sound of rain in the Desert chorus, the British Dancer's sprightly tune. The Met chorus was equally imposing, infusing ritual with humanity. The chorus numbers in the interstices of the "contemporary" action became subtext, musical and staged evocations of this endless, seemingly unresolvable, impasse.

ANTHONY TOMMASINI of the NY Times: It was certainly a risky decision for Mr. Adams, Ms. Goodman and the original director, Peter Sellars, who helped conceive this work, to draw on recent history, especially a murderous act of terrorism, for a subject. Yet, in death, Leon Klinghoffer became a public figure, an innocent but defiant hero, lost to what still seems like a never-ending conflict in the Middle East... Of all the arts, opera can use the subliminal power of music to explore motivations, including seething hatreds. This opera tries to explore what drove these Palestinians to take that ship and murder its most vulnerable passenger... "Klinghoffer," though not without flaws, including a couple of satirical Western characters that could have been left out, is a searching, spiritual and humane work. The piece is as much a ruminative reflection on the events of the hijacked Achille Lauro cruise ship as a dramatization of them.

JOE DZIEMIANOWICZ of the NY Daily News: Performed by a superb cast, the production is anchored by Paulo Szot, who plays the captain. He brings great emotion to the role, in trying unsuccessfully to reason with the terrorists. Sean Panikkar, Aubrey Allicock and Ryan Speedo Green sing the roles of the terrorists with great conviction. Jesse Kovarsky is truly terrifying as the terrorist who pulls the trigger... The roles of Klinghoffer and his wife, Marilyn, are played by Alan Opie, who has a meditative aria following his murder, and Michaela Martens, whose final aria is filled with anguish and loss. She has the last word, and rightly so.

To post a comment, you must register and login.