The Metropolitan Opera mourns the death of Franco Zeffirelli, the
great Italian director and designer, who passed away at his home in Rome at the
age of 96.
Zeffirelli was one of the most significant directors and designers
in the history of the Metropolitan Opera, and his productions helped define the
company’s theatrical identity for more than 30 years. His productions aimed to
faithfully recount the opera’s story as the creators specified, often in the
most opulent manner possible. Breathtakingly beautiful and intricate, they have
always been immensely popular with audiences and remain touchstones of the
realistic style.
From his Met debut in 1964 with Verdi’s Falstaff, every Zeffirelli
production was an event. His second production for the company, Samuel Barber’s
Antony and Cleopatra, opened the Lincoln Center opera house in 1966 in grand
style. He also fashioned the work’s libretto using excerpts from Shakespeare’s
play.
His next two productions—the double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana
and Pagliacci in 1970 and Otello in 1972—were immediate hits, but it was his
staging of La Bohème in 1981 that became the hallmark of his legacy. With 486
performances to date, it is the most-performed of any production in Met history,
and is still in the repertory. The ecstatic audience reception it received was
matched by his Tosca in 1985, and by his Turandot in 1987.
Zeffirelli’s 1989 Met La Traviata was a stage adaptation of his
1983 film of Verdi’s opera, and was replaced in 1998—by a new, more ornate
Zeffirelli Traviata that would be his final Met production. Between those two
premieres, he also added Don Giovanni (1990) and Carmen (1996) to his Met
repertoire.
In addition to directing his Met productions, Zeffirelli always
designed his own sets, with astounding detail and elaborate flourishes of
color. His was above all the work of a dedicated showman. He also designed
costumes for four of his Met productions.
His admiration for star singers was legendary. From his early
collaborations with Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland to his later ones with
Plácido Domingo and Teresa Stratas, he adored working with great singers to bring
opera to life on the stage.
At the Met, Franco Zeffirelli was admired and highly respected by
his collaborators on all levels. He knew the music and libretto of every piece
he directed as well as anyone in the company. He was an expert on the time
periods, performance traditions, and technical difficulties of the works, and
could explain his vision to everyone concerned. His grand ideas were accepted
by the performers and stage crew as creative challenges that they were proud to
accomplish. No one on the team was more energetic or dedicated to the success
of the production than Zeffirelli himself. He was beloved for his big and
warm-hearted personality, and he knew the names of the choristers, stagehands,
and staff, as well as those of the star performers.
In addition to his productions of La Bohème and Turandot, which are
still staged, his continuing Met legacy includes video recordings of eight of
his 11 productions (only Antony and Cleopatra and the two La Traviata
productions were never telecast in full).
Photo: A tribute to Zeffirelli, center, on the Met stage between
acts of a 2008 performance of his beloved production of La Bohème. With him,
from left to right, are Rosalind Elias, Paul Plishka, Angela Gheorghiu, Justino
Díaz, and Peter Gelb. (Marty Sohl / Met Opera)
https://www.metopera.org/user-information/franco-zeffirelli/
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario