Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Inspired music-making at Lincoln Center: Noseda conducts the NY PHILHARMONIC and the Met’s new staging of I PURITANI

• By drediman
• January 11, 2026
• No Comments

Last week at Lincoln Center, I was able to take in a pair of exceptional performances courtesy, respectively, of the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera, two of the performing arts campus’s anchoring constituents. As always, read on for my thoughts on these musically satisfying experiences.

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
David Geffen Hall

This past weekend at David Geffen Hall, the New York Philharmonic played a no-nonsense concert comprised of two powerful staples from the classical music canon, Tchaikovsky’s warhorse Piano Concerto No. 1 and Shostakovich’s towering Fourth Symphony (RECOMMENDED). As helmed by Gianandrea Noseda — who is currently serving as the music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. — the performance by the New York forces was invigorating and inspired throughout. The program commenced with the Tchaikovsky piece, which was headlined by superb Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov, whose playing was at once rapturous and well-balanced. Abduraimov and Noseda created an ideal partnership, both consciously downplaying the piece’s built-in sentimentality in favor of a clean and taut interpretation that brought the audience to its feet through the sheer prowess of the playing. Perhaps the more difficult task was taming Shostakovich’s seemingly unruly work — which utilizes the full orchestral force of the ensemble — with its layers of meaning and subtext undulating within its knotted construction. As the piece unfolded, Noseda brought clarity to the details — the musical themes beautifully delineated as they weaved in and out of the composition’s massive three movements — while also maintaining forward momentum and shape over the course of the sprawling, nearly 70-minute symphony. Indeed, there was an inevitability in the conducting that ensured that neither the epic blasts nor the subdued introspection felt out of place (the work’s coda was as stark and as haunting as I can recall).

I PURITANI
The Metropolitan Opera

Just next door playing in repertory is the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Bellini’s I Puritani (RECOMMENDED), which was unveiled — as the trend has been for new productions — on New Year’s Eve. In short, Charles Edwards’ staging is one of the more successful new productions presented by the Met in recent years. On the surface, it embraces the traditionalism that has historically been the opera company’s “go to” aesthetic. But look more closely, and you’ll see that Edwards’ directorial and design choices merely uses heightened naturalism as a gateway for some incisive commentary on the opera’s proceedings (concerning a romance brought about and dismantled by the political conflicts of the English Civil War), thoughtfully and stealthily incorporating impressionistic touches as events unfold. Luckily for bel canto opera fans, Bellini’s score is crammed with fabulous musical highlights. Thankfully, the current maiden cast is spectacular. Leading the way as the star-crossed lovers are a pair of hugely talented American singers — bright-voiced soprano Lisette Oropesa and ringing tenor Lawrence Brownlee — both of whom are deservedly coming into their own as bonafide opera stars. Although Brownlee seemed a bit stiff in his acting (certainly not the case for the sparkling Oropesa), both handled the considerable demands of the score with both thrilling attack and stylish finesse. Rounding out the cast are baritone Artur Ruciński and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn, who contrasted Oropesa and Brownlee’s vocal pyrotechnics with burnished, rock solid singing that beautifully balanced the overall musical performance. Firmly leading the mighty Met Orchestra is veteran Marco Armiliato, a conductor who is certainly knows his way around the Italian operatic repertoire.