This was an exciting night too! A premiere is always a special event at the MET, of course some (or most) go only to show off their dresses or tuxedos; but there are those who go for the music as well.

The production by Elijah Mojinsjy I don't know why reminded me of Rigoletto. If you take out the characters from Luisa and replace with those of Rigoletto in the same set no one will notice the difference! Act 1 took place in a small square with Luisa's house on the left side and on the right a huge wall and at the back a small bridge and some houses. Act 2 was the best looking, a huge fireplace and a huge flight of stairs, a desk with a chair at the center, representing the Count Walter office. Act 3 was rather poor, it was the interior of Luisa's house with a huge bench and a couple of tables and a small corridor from where the characters entered. It was well designed but not a lot of color and contrast (except for Act 2). The costumes were fine, that of the Countess looking particularly lovely. There wasn't anything new or exciting about this production, the singers were left to themselves and no special insight was provided.

The hero of the night was Neil Schicoff. It's been a long time since I last saw him (about 8 to 10 years ago in Zurich in Adriana Lecouvreur). His voice is in excellent shape, in Act 1 he does not sing much but sang well when required. In Act 2, the famous aria, "Quando le sere al placido" needed more lyricism, when he took the da capo for example, he did not soft his tone and sang consistenly mezzo-forte to forte. But the closing of the aria was spectacular, he took the unwritten high note at the end, like Pavarotti usually does. And from then on, sang his heart out. In the scene that follows ("L'aura o l'avello apressami"), he held on to the final note until the curtain went down. The audience loved it. In Act 3, Schicoff not only sang well but acted very well too, really menacing and bitter when poisoning Luisa and remorseful when he realized she was innocent.

Marianna Mescheriakova was totally eclipsed by Schicoff. It was the first time I saw her. Her voice projects well but it is not large as some critics have said. Her voice is that typical strange Russian voice, the middle is very strong and firm, but the top is a totally different voice and tends to shrillness. Her pianissimos were not very good and she did have a tendency to sing mezzo to forte. In Act 1 in "Tu puniscimi o Signore" she did not let her voice fly but held back and in the closing there was no piano or high note but sung only as written which makes the music boring. In Act 2 she fared better finding some stability and able to now sing piano. In Act 3 her acting was poor and although she sang well enough she was never exciting and a little bit on the boring side. Luisa is a difficult role and it was clear she was managing her way through it.

Nicola Pulitin was very good. His voice is huge and in his aria in Act 1 he had no trouble hittting the unwritten high note. In Act 3 he displayed worry and tenderness very vividly. At last it seems a truly Verdian voice.

Thiang and Ens were good as Walter and Wurm, respectively. They did have problems in the closing of their duet in Act 2 (the high notes were threadbare) but they both acted well.

Levine was in his element, it will be hard to find a better conductor for Luisa nowadays (maybe Muti). The MET Orchestra was superb as always and the Chorus was good too.