“Slatkin deserves kudos for bringing it back in its uncut length for its first performance in decades. Equal praise is owed to the soprano Hila Plitmann for pulling off a work that has her onstage, alternately speaking, singing at stratospheric heights and screaming into a bullhorn for more than an hour. She has a wonderful speaking voice, sings like an angel (Del Tredici’s arias are like hyper bel canto; his main theme echoes an ornament from “Caro ome” in Verdi’s “Rigoletto”) and squeals like a guinea pig when the text compels her to do so.”
March 2, 2022
