For a certain type of New Yorker, yesterday evening may have presented a bit of a scheduling conundrum: The 12th of November was the date of two major Met moments, across the park from one another—a tale of two Mets, if you will.
On the West Side, the Metropolitan Opera celebrated its rich history with the work of Giacomo Puccini with a gala dinner for the latest production of Tosca. Over on the East Side, meanwhile, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened “Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now,” a sweeping exhibition surveying the many ways Egyptomania has been manifested by Black artists. Given that the 6:30 p.m. curtain for Tosca waits for no one (not even Angelina Jolie, who was in the audience) and the museum reception also kicked off at 6:30 sharp, it was impossible for even the most ardent Met fan to make both events. Thus, a recap for those who missed one (or both!), below:
Tosca Gala at the Met Opera
This season at the Met, the legacy of Giacomo Puccini and his contributions to the New York institution are on glorious display. On Tuesday, a pre-performance video screened onstage inside the majestic, mid-century opera house set the scene: It was through the Met Opera that Puccini enjoyed his entrée to the New World when Manon Lescaut premiered there in 1907 and soon became a sensation. Last night, his Tosca drew a crowd eager to see Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen in the titular character; the Met’s music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conducted the piece, which also included tenor Freddie De Tommaso as Cavaradossi and baritone Quinn Kelsey as Scarpia.
Guests arriving for the show or gala dinner may have spotted Angelina Jolie, elegant in all black and a Maria Callas-esque cateye. This was apropos, given Jolie’s turn as the legendary Greek soprano in Pablo Larraín’s forthcoming Maria (out in the US in select cinemas on November 27)—and the fact that Callas’s performance of the “Vissi d’arte” aria in Tosca is one of her most celebrated. Other guests who enjoyed the evening, which culminated with a late-night post-show supper, included Christine Baranski and Barbara Tober.
