Name: Les Troyens
Start: 1983-10-08T00:00:00.000Z
End: 1984-02-18T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Metropolitan Opera House

Organization

Conductor

James Levine

Mezzo-soprano

Jessye Norman

Cassandra

Tenor

Plácido Domingo

Aeneas

Baritone

Allan Monk

Coroebus

The Metropolitan Opera

Others

Metropolitan Opera Choir

Orchestra

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

French

Les Troyens -  (The Trojans)

New York City

United States

Metropolitan Opera House

Berlioz’s colossal masterpiece requires stupendous forces—dozens of soloists, enormous chorus, orchestra and ballet, a superb conductor who understands the uniqueness of the score—plus a production that does visual justice to the work. “A stupendous achievement” was one critic’s assessment of Peter Wexler’s inventive production. And with James Levine’s wizardry galvanizing the marvelous all-star cast, this is truly a gem. Plácido Domingo is the legendary hero Aeneas, Jessye Norman the obsessed prophetess Cassandra, and Tatiana Troyanos is Queen Dido, who commits suicide when Aeneas leaves her.

One of the foremost Berlioz interpreters of our time, Music Director James Levine leads a dramatic performance of this epic score, with the combined forces of the Met Orchestra and Chorus and a superb ensemble. Heading the cast is Jessye Norman, who takes on both leading female roles: in Part I she is Cassandra, the Trojan priestess whose dire warnings of impending disaster go unheeded. In Part II she is Dido, Queen of Carthage, whose love for the Trojan hero Aeneas—sung by Edward Sooter—destroys her. Norman (who made her Met debut as Cassandra a few months before this broadcast) and Sooter are joined by Allen Monk as Coroebus, Cassandra’s fiancé, Jocelyne Taillon as Anna, Dido’s sister, and Paul Plishka as Narbal, Dido’s minister.

Production booklet

Further reading