New York
Review: Two Sopranos Make an ‘Elektra’ Both Mythic and Human
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Behind the wonderful extra of Strauss’s “Elektra” — the libretto’s mythic setting, the rating’s unsparing terror — is one thing smaller: a starkly framed household portrait, albeit one knocked off the wall and scratched up by shards of shattered glass.
That has at all times been on the core of Patrice Chéreau’s manufacturing, which returned to the Metropolitan Opera on Friday night time. However on this revival, you would residence in even nearer to only its two sisters, antipodal soprano roles sung by Nina Stemme and Lise Davidsen with floodlight luminosity and painfully human sensitivity.
Chéreau’s staging, which premiered on the Aix-en-Provence Competition in 2013 earlier than coming to the Met six years in the past, doesn’t appear to have aged a day. And it’s tough to think about that occuring quickly with a placeless manufacturing that fits the timelessness Sophocles’ traditional tragedy — which Hugo von Hofmannsthal tailored right into a play for the age of Freud, then right into a libretto for Strauss’s opera.
The set, by Richard Peduzzi, is the grand and extreme courtyard of the vaguely Mediterranean residence of a vaguely elite household in vaguely modern costume (designed by Caroline de Vivaise). The place the manufacturing will get extra particular is in its departures from the libretto: its absence of caricature and villainy, its climactic dance of loss of life as an alternative a scene of stillness and life persevering with in agony. Largely cold the place it might be a bloodbath, it’s a examine of a household irreparably fractured by trauma.
This idea calls for singers who can actually act. And Stemme rises to satisfy it, if not at all times in voice then in dramatic depth, which has solely grown since she sang the title position within the Chéreau manufacturing’s first outing on the Met. She isn’t at relaxation: rocking as she stares straight forward, her eyes extensive open with laser concentrate on avenging her father, Agamemnon.
When Stemme sang of his loss of life — a homicide dedicated by Elektra’s mom, Klytämnestra, and her lover, Aegisth — her voice didn’t at all times cooperate, particularly on the low finish of her vary. At instances she visibly braced herself for the position’s most punishing outbursts. But she delivered them as if with dragon’s breath, matched solely by passages of aching delicacy.
Davidsen, as Elektra’s sister Chrysothemis, gave her greatest efficiency on the Met this season — in a position to present a fuller vary than in Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” final fall, and extra in command of her immense instrument than throughout a current run of Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos” and a profit live performance for Ukraine, wherein she sang that composer’s “4 Final Songs.” Sometimes a greater actor by her voice than her physicality, right here she carried as a lot character on her sorrowful face as Stemme did in her eyes.
Relaying the information that her brother, Orest, had died, “thrown and trampled by his personal horses,” Davidsen set free a chilling wail — not for the final time within the night. Initially educated as a mezzo-soprano, she has a full-bodied decrease vary that’s simply as thrilling to witness as her candescent excessive notes, and a commanding softness in additional conversational moments.
She and Stemme had been supported all through by a Met Orchestra in glorious kind beneath the baton of Donald Runnicles, whose studying of the rating was sensitively aligned with that of Chéreau. The opera has sounded scarier and extra chaotic — its blood bathtub met with bombast in lots of interpretations — however Runnicles insisted on the potential of dramatic momentum at a extra restrained scale. And the night was no much less thrilling for it; if something, it was riveting in its revelatory transparency, the layers of expressionistic coloration, sweetness and Wagnerian abundance stacking in counterpoint or weaving out and in of each other with grace.
There have been standouts elsewhere — Hei-Kyung Hong as an authoritative and rending Fifth Maid — but additionally lapses among the many principals. Michaela Schuster’s Klytämnestra was certainly one of apparent gestures and a strained voice, which she often sought to salvage with near-Sprechstimme declamation. Chéreau’s manufacturing hinges on a sympathetic Klytämnestra; she didn’t fairly obtain that. And males had been shadows of their previous appearances. Greer Grimsley’s resonant bass-baritone was right here light and effortful, and never at all times straightforward to observe. As Aegisth, Stefan Vinke was barely audible — an upsetting flip for a tenor who has sung roles like Siegfried, maybe barking however not less than with penetrating energy.
You couldn’t assist however really feel unhealthy each time they sang alongside one of many starring sisters. Which is at all times: Stemme by no means leaves the stage. It’s, in spite of everything, her present — and, for this run, Davidsen’s, too.
Elektra
By April 20 on the Metropolitan Opera; metopera.org.
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New York
Trump Tries to Move Hush-Money Case to Federal Court Before Sentencing
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Former President Donald J. Trump sought to move his Manhattan criminal case into federal court on Thursday, filing the unusual request three months after he was convicted in state court.
The long-shot bid marks Mr. Trump’s latest effort to stave off his sentencing in state court in his hush-money trial, in which he was convicted of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal.
He is scheduled to receive his punishment on Sept. 18, just seven weeks before Election Day, when he will square off against Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency.
“The ongoing proceedings will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to President Trump — the leading candidate in the 2024 presidential election — and voters located far beyond Manhattan,” Mr. Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, wrote in the filing.
Their filing came even as the Trump legal team is awaiting the result of a separate effort to postpone the sentencing; it opened a second front that could complicate the first.
On Aug. 15, Mr. Trump asked the state court judge who presided over the trial, Juan M. Merchan, to delay the sentencing until after Election Day. Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that they needed more time to challenge his conviction on the basis of a recent Supreme Court ruling granting presidents broad immunity for official acts.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which won the conviction of Mr. Trump on May 30, has argued that the Supreme Court’s ruling has “no bearing” on their case, which centers on Mr. Trump’s cover- up of a sex scandal involving a porn star. But the Manhattan prosecutors deferred to the judge on whether to delay the sentencing, leaving the door open for Justice Merchan to punt until after the election.
Justice Merchan was expected to rule on the delay request next week, and it is unclear whether Mr. Trump’s federal petition would disrupt that. In the federal filing, the former president’s lawyers asked a judge to find that Justice Merchan was barred by law from sentencing Mr. Trump while their attempt to move the case was underway.
It seemed possible that effort might backfire. If the federal judge does not grant the lawyers’ request, they will have further alienated Justice Merchan as he prepares to sentence their client. Mr. Trump faces up to four years in prison, though he could receive a shorter sentence, or merely probation.
There are signs the federal judge might be skeptical. Mr. Trump already tried — and failed — to move the case to federal court. Last year, soon after the former president was indicted, he asked the same federal judge to remove the case from Justice Merchan, arguing that it concerned official acts as president.
The judge, Alvin K. Hellerstein, rejected that argument.
“The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely personal item of the president — a cover-up of an embarrassing event,” Judge Hellerstein wrote in an opinion last year. “Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a president’s official acts. It does not reflect in any way the color of the president’s official duties.”
It is unclear how soon Judge Hellerstein might take up Thursday’s request, or whether he will hold a hearing to entertain it. In their filing, Mr. Trump’s lawyers cast aspersions on the New York State court system, saying its procedures had “proven inadequate” to protect federal interests and, if allowed to continue, would “result in further irreparable harm to President Trump.”
The unorthodox filing suggested that Mr. Trump’s lawyers are likely to make any and every attempt they can to delay the sentencing, even if Judge Hellerstein balks.
A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office declined to comment.
The filing on Thursday captured two of Mr. Trump’s favorite legal strategies: delay, and attacks on Justice Merchan.
The former president has on three occasions sought to oust Justice Merchan from the case, claiming he is biased, and lobbing personal attacks at the judge’s daughter, who is a Democratic political consultant. The judge has rejected each request and assailed the claims as “rife with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims.”
New York
Video: Heavy Downpour Floods New York City Streets
![Video: Heavy Downpour Floods New York City Streets Video: Heavy Downpour Floods New York City Streets](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/08/07/multimedia/07hurricane-debby-nycrains1-bwmh/07hurricane-debby-nycrains1-bwmh-facebookJumbo.jpg?video-overlay)
new video loaded: Heavy Downpour Floods New York City Streets
transcript
transcript
Heavy Downpour Floods New York City Streets
Drivers navigated flooded roads, including major highways, as a storm hit the New York City region.
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Announcement: Bainbridge Avenue Jerome Avenue.
Recent episodes in Extreme Weather
New York
Senator Menendez’s Resignation Letter
![Senator Menendez’s Resignation Letter Senator Menendez’s Resignation Letter](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/07/23/doc-4ddf28bf-7055-4adb-bc76-b-promo/doc-4ddf28bf-7055-4adb-bc76-b-promo-facebookJumbo.png)
ROBERT MENENDEZ
NEW JERSEY
COMMITTEES:
BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN
AFFAIRS
FINANCE
FOREIGN RELATIONS
The Honorable Phil Murphy
Governor of New Jersey
Office of the Governor
Trenton, N.J. 08625
Dear Governor Murphy,
United States Senate
WASHINGTON, DC 20510-3005
July 23, 2024
528 SENATE HART OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20510
(202) 224-4744
210 HUDSON STREET
HARBORSIDE 3, SUITE #1000
JERSEY CITY, NJ 07311
(973) 645-3030
208 WHITE HORSE PIKE
SUITE 18-19
BARRINGTON, NJ 08007
(856) 757-5353
This is to advise you that I will be resigning from my office as the United States Senator from
New Jersey, effective on the close of business on August 20, 2024.
This will give time for my staff to transition to other possibilities, transfer constituent files that
are pending, allow for an orderly process to choose an interim replacement, and for me to close
out my Senate affairs.
While I fully intend to appeal the jury’s verdict, all the way and including to the Supreme Court,
I do not want the Senate to be involved in a lengthy process that will detract from its important
work. Furthermore, I cannot preserve my rights upon a successful appeal, because factual matters
before the ethics committee are not privileged. This is evidenced by the Committee’s Staff
Director and Chief Counsel being called to testify at my trial.
I am proud of the many accomplishments I’ve had on behalf of New Jersey, such as leading the
federal effort for Superstorm Sandy recovery, preserving and funding Gateway and leading the
federal efforts to help save our hospitals, State and municipalities, as well as New Jersey families
through a once in a century COVID pandemic. These successes led you, Governor, to call me the
“Indispensable Senator.”
I thank the citizens of New Jersey for the extraordinary privilege of representing them in the
United States Senate.
Sincerely,
Pabet Menang.
Robert Menendez
United States Senator
New Jersey
cc: The Honorable Kamala Harris, President of the Senate
The Honorable Ann Berry, Secretary of the Senate
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