A Scene from Iolanta (Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczala)

Anna Netrebko (Iolanta) and Piotr Beczala (Vaudémont) in a scene from the Met premiere of Tchaikovsky’s ”Iolanta.” Production: Mariusz Trelinski. Conductor: Valery Gergiev. 2014-15 season.

[Jaydoggy]

I saw it live, and I have to say that these microphones or at least the sound mix is surprisingly low-quality. I think they're good at picking up diction, but terrible at picking up tone and reverb. I think the met should really pass this suggestion to its mixer: think about the quality of the tone too, because hearing it in person sounded a thousand times better - whereas it should only sound a hundred times better with the equipment they have.

[chocolatesouljah]

I root for Anna Netrebko. My late great mother was found of her Elvira in "I Puritani." She's a person who I wish had stopped performing for 2 years, rested her voice and studied with great voice teachers and older singers. I can't blame her for keeping her momentum and taking the work that comes her way but by this in 2015 she sounds "over sung."

[chaconne]

Someone please refresh my memory - was the Live in HD performance of this aria outside the "house" or inside?  Because I seem to remember them singing this outside, which was a better artistic choice IMHO.

[MrSkylark]

An evident wobble. It would wise for her to LISTEN to NEZHDANOVAand for the tenor to SERGEI LEMESHEV.

[terrycreagh]

Beczala is one of the better tenors of today - personally I would like to hear more from him and a little less of Netrebko. Just an opinion.