Managerial caprice and artistic excellence are, of course, two entirely different enchiladi. To wit, the case of Dwayne Croft, one of the Metropolitan Opera’s greatest artists, but of late given the back of Peter Gelb’s hand.
We will recall of course last years’s episode in which Croft was covering the role of the Don in the Met’s new Don Giovanni. When the opening-night Don, Mariusz Kwiecien, became indisposed, Croft was not allowed to sing the premiere and instead Gelb substituted Peter Mattei, who was yanked out of his scheduled performances of Figaro in Barbiere. You follow me ?
Privileging of celebrity over all else may be a sign of lack of knowledge, lack of discernment, or simply the crassest commerical calculation. But it certainly didn’t improve this production, since Mattei, heavenly as his voice is, didn’t seem to entirely know what he supposed to do on stage. Croft, on the other hand, had participated in the entire rehearsal process.
This season, the Met is being slightly less dismissive of Croft. Earlier this month I heard him sing Ping in Turandot there. He was in superb voice and perfectly eqipped to suggest the many facets of this particular ministerial fellow, who plies some caprices of his own.