TV REVIEW : Two Tenors, Two Operas at the One and Only Met

It wasn’t just another op’nin’, another show when the Metropolitan Opera began its current season on Sept. 26. Nothin’ of the kind.

The stellar bill, which was taped for presentation on PBS tonight, offered two verismo thrillers in an unusual pairing. First came Puccini’s gritty “Il Tabarro,” a relative rarity that normally turns up in tandem with the same composer’s “Suor Angelica” and “Gianni Schicchi.” This was followed, after intermission, by Leoncavallo’s tear-stained “Pagliacci,” which customarily accompanies Mascagni’s complementary slice of lyrical life, “Cavalleria Rusticana.”

“Cav” and “Pag” will indeed return to normal cohabitation later in the Met season, with everyday casts. After two introductory performances in September, “Il Tabarro” again disappeared from the Met repertory.

The reason for the temporary creation of these strange billfellows wasn’t difficult to isolate. The mighty Met likes to show off its two tenorissimos on festive occasions, and there doesn’t seem to be a single opera big enough for both of them.

Ergo, Placido Domingo was drafted for a single “Tabarro” (Luis Lima took over the second), and Luciano Pavarotti agreed to put on the clown costume for the first time on any stage in “Pagliacci.” (In case anyone is wondering, the other tenorissimo of our times, Jose Carreras, doesn’t seem to be working at the Met these days.)

The inaugural event served as a grateful celebratory indulgence for the rival pirates of the high Cs (neither of whom had to sing one). Both artists made their house debuts in 1968 (though Domingo had appeared with the company at an outdoor concert two years earlier). Moreover, Teresa Stratas, the prima donna for all seasons, turned out to be enjoying a milestone of her own, having made her Met debut 35 years ago at the age of 21.

Given all the extra-operatic hoopla, no realist would have been surprised if the actual performances had been dutiful rather than beautiful. As a kind fate would have it, however, the performances turned out to be beautiful, much of the time, and passionate too.

The binding credit belongs to James Levine, who sustains rare urgency in the pit without slighting any passing opportunities for grandeur or grace. Many companies relegate these challenges to tired hacks. Levine, who wields top baton at the Met, approaches Puccini and Leoncavallo as if they ranked with Wagner and Mozart, and he directs the proceedings as if lives were at stake. Important lives. It’s a good way.

“Il Tabarro” may be a tawdry little exercise in Grand Guignol banality, but its easy effects are treated with respect and re-created with vivid authority here. Domingo at 53 may look a little jowly and beefy--some artful corseting notwithstanding--as the dashing stevedore in love with the young wife of the old boss on the Parisian barge. Luckily, he sings with constant ardor and with enough plangent force to compensate for any illusion problems.

The cameras are even less kind to Stratas as his beloved Giorgetta. Close-ups make the frequent references to her insomnia seem all too credible, and, complicating matters further, her soprano betrays signs of wear under pressure. Nevertheless, her dramatic intensity, her concern for textual detail and her refusal to accept traditional solutions to traditional problems enhance her appeal significantly. She may no longer be a perfect singer, but she remains a fascinating singing-actress.

Juan Pons--ironically, the most youthful of the principals--holds his own sturdily, even sympathetically as old Michele, the betrayed husband driven to well-timed murder. Florence Quivar makes much of the hearty cameo allotted Frugola.

Fabrizio Melano’s quasi-realistic production, first seen in 1975, still seems eminently functional. David Reppa’s spare decors accommodate the inaction neatly, and Brian Large directs the TV cameras with flexible aplomb.

“Pagliacci” finds Pavarotti at his most restrained. He sings with ringing bel-canto fervor, keeps the sobs to a minimum and tries desperately (in this context, needlessly) to look younger than his 59 years. In the process, he articulates the text with utmost clarity and moves as little as possible. This is a conscientious effort to make the heroic Canio effective on his own less-than-heroic terms. The results are often convincing, occasionally illuminating.

Stratas partners him as an irresistibly flighty, unabashedly erotic, essentially ageless and uninhibited Nedda (and who cares about those fudged trills?). Pons returns as a big, burly, dangerous Tonio who commands all the right equipment except really ringing top tones.

The effective supporting cast includes Dwayne Croft as a suave and credible Silvio, Kenn Chester as a sweet and elegant Beppe.

Franco Zeffirelli’s 1970 production looks properly picturesque, even when it is cluttered with too many extra bodies. Fabrizio Melano serves as traffic cop on duty.

* The Metropolitan Opera presents “Il Tabarro” and “Pagliacci,” sponsored by Texaco, tonight at 7 p.m. on KVCR (Channel 24) and 8 p.m. on KCET (Channel 28) .