{"id":1601644,"date":"2025-11-21T18:02:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T23:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observer.com\/?p=1601644"},"modified":"2025-11-21T18:02:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T23:02:13","slug":"opera-traditionalists-will-adore-the-mets-opulent-1980s-arabella","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/11\/opera-traditionalists-will-adore-the-mets-opulent-1980s-arabella\/","title":{"rendered":"Opera Traditionalists Will Adore the Met\u2019s Opulent 1980s \u2018Arabella\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_1601651\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1601651\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/11\/opera-traditionalists-will-adore-the-mets-opulent-1980s-arabella\/arabella_4844s\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1601651\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-1601651\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_4844s.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A female singer in a large black-and-white gown sings expressively at the center of a crowded ballroom scene as male and female cast members look on, capturing an ensemble moment from the Metropolitan Opera\u2019s Arabella.\" width=\"970\" height=\"647\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_4844s.jpg 4500w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_4844s.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_4844s.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_4844s.jpg?resize=635,423 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_4844s.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_4844s.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_4844s.jpg?resize=970,647 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_4844s.jpg?resize=320,213 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_4844s.jpg?resize=1920,1280 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_4844s.jpg?resize=50,33 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1601651\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Evan LeRoy Johnson, Julie Roset, Ben Brady and Ricardo Jos\u00e9 Rivera as Count Elemer, Fiakermilli, Count Lamoral and Count Dominick. <span class=\"media-credit\">Photo: Marty Sohl\/Met Opera<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Metropolitan Opera\u2019s production style from the 1970s through the 1990s could best be described as lavishly (and expensively) realistic. Audiences enthusiastically applauded works luxuriously mounted by Franco Zeffirelli, who embraced primarily Italian opera, and Otto Schenk, who took care of German opera\u2014most notably Wagner\u2019s masterpieces. Since Peter Gelb took over in 2006, however, there\u2019s been a determined shift toward a sparer, cheaper, more contemporary aesthetic, one that hasn\u2019t always been welcomed by conservative Met audiences.<\/p>\n<p>After Luc Bondy\u2019s much-reviled <i>Tosca<\/i>, which replaced Zeffirelli\u2019s, was dropped, Gelb admitted he will never drop the Italian director-designer\u2019s beloved <i>La Boh\u00e8me<\/i> and <i>Turandot<\/i>. The flop of <a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2019\/04\/gotterdammerung-met-opera-ring-cycle-review-success-despite-lepage-set\/\">Robert Lepage\u2019s scandalously expensive <i>Ring<\/i> cycle<\/a> likely also convinced the Met that it should cancel a provocative new production of Wagner\u2019s <i>Die Meistersinger von N\u00fcrnberg<\/i> by Stefan Herheim and instead revive Schenk\u2019s 1993 version as well as his 1977 <i>Tannh\u00e4user<\/i>. This season, after an absence of eleven years, <a target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.metopera.org\/season\/2025-26-season\/arabella\/\">November\u2019s delicious revival of Richard Strauss\u2019s <i>Arabella<\/i><\/a> again reminded audiences how much they miss Schenk, who died early this year at 94.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Strauss\u2019s Arabella: Trailer\" width=\"635\" height=\"357\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NXCfiMjtXgc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><i>Arabella<\/i>, which premiered in 1933, is the sixth and final work created by Strauss with Hugo von Hofmannsthal, one of opera\u2019s most successful composer-librettist partnerships. Of their works that also include <i>Elektra<\/i> and <i>Die Frau ohne Schatten<\/i>, <i>Arabella<\/i> most resembles <i>Der Rosenkavalier<\/i>, another romantic comedy of manners playing out among the upper echelons of Viennese society. Count Waldner\u2019s family, however, has suffered financial reverses and is desperately trying to hold on by finding a rich husband for Arabella, their eldest daughter. In a quirky Hofmannsthal twist, the younger daughter, Zdenka, has been introduced to all as a boy named Zdenko in a money-saving scheme.<\/p>\n<p>In the first act, Strauss, who relished composing for female voices, gives one of his most ravishing duets to the soprano sisters who both yearn for \u201cder Richtige\u201d (the Right One), and by the opera\u2019s end, after tragi-comic complications, both will find their ideal mate.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Strauss\u2019s Arabella: \u201cAber der Richtige\u201d (Rachel Willis-S\u00f8rensen)\" width=\"635\" height=\"357\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XlkgUQFOODw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Later in the opera, Arabella duets with Mandryka, and they are among the most moving moments in all of Strauss. Although <i>Arabella<\/i> shares <i>Der Rosenkavalier<\/i>\u2019s fondness for waltzes, it has never achieved the frequent repertoire status of its popular predecessor. Hofmannsthal\u2019s prolix libretto features many trying pages of sumptuously accompanied stark parlando, helpfully translated by the Met\u2019s back-of-the-seat titles.<\/p>\n<p>A challenge for performances of <i>Arabella<\/i> remains finding the ideal soprano for its title role, an alluring beauty desired by all men but whose wise self-possession leads her to find her many suitors unworthy until she encounters Mandryka, an outsider with whom she instantly feels an unbreakable bond. The Met\u2019s premiere production in the old house served as a showcase for notable Straussians Eleanor Steber and Lisa Della Casa. After an absence of nearly twenty years, the opera finally returned in 1983 in Schenk\u2019s striking new production for Kiri Te Kanawa. Nearly two decades would pass before the company found its next \u201cRight One\u201d: Ren\u00e9e Fleming.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1601652\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1601652\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/11\/opera-traditionalists-will-adore-the-mets-opulent-1980s-arabella\/dsc_9645\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1601652\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601652\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A wide view of an opulent nineteenth-century interior set shows two singers standing far apart beneath chandeliers and towering columns, representing a formal scene from the Metropolitan Opera\u2019s staging of Arabella.\" width=\"970\" height=\"439\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg 4500w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=300,136 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=768,347 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=635,287 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=1536,695 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=2048,926 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=970,439 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=320,145 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=1920,868 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=50,23 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601652\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A wide view of an opulent nineteenth-century interior set shows two singers standing far apart beneath chandeliers and towering columns, representing a formal scene from the Metropolitan Opera\u2019s staging of Arabella.\" width=\"970\" height=\"439\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg 4500w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=300,136 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=768,347 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=635,287 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=1536,695 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=2048,926 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=970,439 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=320,145 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=1920,868 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSC_9645.jpg?resize=50,23 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1601652\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tomasz Konieczny and Rachel Willis-S\u00f8rensen as Mandryka and Arabella. <span class=\"media-credit\">Photo: Marty Sohl\/Met Opera<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Subsequent Met revivals arrived without their originally planned soprano: by 2014, the elusive Anja Harteros had canceled all her U.S. appearances, and in her place we heard Malin Bystr\u00f6m, while this season\u2019s revival was planned for Lise Davidsen, who dropped out to care for twins born in June. In between feedings, she\u2019s preparing her first <i>Isolde<\/i>, due in Barcelona in January, followed in March by Yuval Sharon\u2019s new Met <i>Tristan<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>In Davidsen\u2019s absence, the company turned to Rachel Willis-S\u00f8rense,n who in her first-ever <i>Arabella<\/i> gave the finest performance of her thus-far uneven Met career, which last season included a wayward Leonora in Verdi\u2019s <i>Il Trovatore<\/i>. The first act found the American soprano still nervously finding her footing in the duet with Zdenka and her introspective monologue \u201cMein Elemer.\u201d But when she entered the Coachman\u2019s Ball resplendent in all white, the heretofore chilly Willis-S\u00f8rensen melted most winningly as she was introduced to Tomasz Konieczny as her Mandryka.<\/p>\n<p>Her commanding Arabella clearly knew how to handle men, as we saw in touching farewells to her three unsuccessful suitors, whom the Met cast with special care, each making their Met debuts. Ben Brady suavely pivoted from September\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/10\/music-review-opera-philadelphia-il-viaggio-a-reims-la-sonnambula-met\/\">bravura Rossini in Philadelphia<\/a> to November\u2019s charming Strauss as Lamoral, while Ricardo Jos\u00e9 Rivera\u2019s randy Dominik didn\u2019t allow him to display the really impressive baritone we\u2019ve experienced in <a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2024\/08\/teatro-nuovo-anna-di-resburgo-carolina-uccelli\/\">Teatro Nuovo\u2019s summer revivals<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Given the best opportunity of the three, Evan LeRoy Johnson nearly stole the show with a handsomely ringing tenor as Elemer. Strauss is kinder to him than to Matteo, Zdenka\u2019s hoodwinked suitor, whose cruelly high music Pavol Breslik tackled with noticeable effort.<\/p>\n<p>Best known for her <a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/05\/handel-giulio-cesare-versus-antony-and-cleopatra-samuel-barber-met-opera\/\">Handel<\/a>, English soprano Louise Alder made her highly successful Met debut as an achingly vulnerable Zdenka, dashing in her male garb while soaring with hidden love for the distracted Matteo. Young French soprano Julie Roset, in the evening\u2019s fifth debut, happily made Fiakermilli\u2019s fits of coloratura frivolity less annoying than they can be.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1601650\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1601650\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/11\/opera-traditionalists-will-adore-the-mets-opulent-1980s-arabella\/arabella_2046as\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1601650\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601650\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A soprano dressed in a dark tailcoat stands face to face with a baritone in a military-style uniform on an ornate staircase set, depicting a scene between Zdenka and Matteo in the Metropolitan Opera\u2019s production of Arabella.\" width=\"970\" height=\"776\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg 4215w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=300,240 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=768,614 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=635,508 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=1536,1229 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=2048,1638 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=970,776 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=320,256 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=1920,1536 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=50,40 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601650\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A soprano dressed in a dark tailcoat stands face to face with a baritone in a military-style uniform on an ornate staircase set, depicting a scene between Zdenka and Matteo in the Metropolitan Opera\u2019s production of Arabella.\" width=\"970\" height=\"776\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg 4215w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=300,240 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=768,614 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=635,508 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=1536,1229 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=2048,1638 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=970,776 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=320,256 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=1920,1536 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_2046As.jpg?resize=50,40 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1601650\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Louise Alder and Pavol Breslik as Zdenko and Matteo. <span class=\"media-credit\">Photo: Marty Sohl\/Met Opera<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Who knew that Karen Cargill was such an accomplished comedienne? As the girls\u2019s irrepressible mother Adelaide, the Scottish mezzo dithered and flirted with zest, leaving Brindley Sherratt, sonorous as her husband Waldner, to fuss and fume amusingly.<\/p>\n<p>Like Willis-S\u00f8rensen, Konieczny found Mandryka a most congenial role, at least since his acclaimed debut as Alberich in 2019. Though his pungent, craggy bass-baritone could never be called beautiful, he readily took on his role\u2019s punishingly high tessitura while his shyly determined courting of Arabella easily won over both her and the audience. His infatuation clearly brought out the best in Willis-S\u00f8rensen, whose voice bloomed as he forgave her alleged indiscretions and ended the evening in self-confident triumph as she exclaimed to her future husband: \u201cI cannot help it. Take me as I am!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dylan Evans skillfully revived Schenk\u2019s busy but pleasingly naturalistic staging, but the most popular stars of the revival were the dazzlingly detailed, stage-filling Cinemascope sets of the director\u2019s frequent collaborator G\u00fcnther Schneider-Siemssen, abetted by entrancing costumes by four-time Oscar winner Milena Canonero. Before both the first and second acts, nakedly inviting applause, the curtain rose in silence. Only after the grateful ovations did conductor Nicholas Carter begin Strauss\u2019s bustling music. The Australian maestro who has been so impressive at the Met in Brett Dean\u2019s <i>Hamlet<\/i> and Britten\u2019s <i>Peter Grimes<\/i> drew superbly assured playing from his orchestra, though at times his brisk tempi rushed the singers, particularly Willis-S\u00f8rensen, who clearly wanted more leisure to savor Arabella\u2019s grateful music.<\/p>\n<p>The Met eschews an edition sanctioned by Strauss that eliminates one intermission by joining the second and third acts, which makes for a nearly four-hour opera. Nonetheless, this season\u2019s fresh and vivid cast makes <i>Arabella<\/i> an especially entertaining enterprise, one that will be shown live in HD in theaters worldwide on 22 November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sopranos Rachel Willis-S\u00f8rensen and Louise Alder find their \u201cRight Ones\u201d in Strauss\u2019s winning comedy.<\/p>\n <a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/11\/opera-traditionalists-will-adore-the-mets-opulent-1980s-arabella\/\">Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":177935309,"featured_media":1601651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"post_tag":[423807711],"company":[],"channel":[1906,423868969],"location":[],"nyo_column":[],"person":[423887089,423930744,2987396,423894053,423934815,423938268,423898248,423970857,423909344,424004914,423961906,423900199,424004915,424004916,423957463,423959306,423949047,423950145,424002968,423985960,424004917,424004918,423995862,424004919,423951232,424004920,424004921,424004922,423971848,423962647,423851440],"nyo_post_hidden":[],"coauthor":[423961481],"class_list":{"0":"post-1601644","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-metropolitan-opera","8":"channel-opera","9":"channel-culture","10":"nyo_person-franco-zeffirelli","11":"nyo_person-otto-schenk","12":"nyo_person-peter-gelb","13":"nyo_person-luc-bondy","14":"nyo_person-robert-lepage","15":"nyo_person-stefan-herheim","16":"nyo_person-richard-strauss","17":"nyo_person-hugo-von-hofmannsthal","18":"nyo_person-eleanor-steber","19":"nyo_person-lisa-della-casa","20":"nyo_person-kiri-te-kanawa","21":"nyo_person-renee-fleming","22":"nyo_person-anja-harteros","23":"nyo_person-malin-bystrom","24":"nyo_person-lise-davidsen","25":"nyo_person-yuval-sharon","26":"nyo_person-rachel-willis-sorensen","27":"nyo_person-tomasz-konieczny","28":"nyo_person-ben-brady","29":"nyo_person-ricardo-jose-rivera","30":"nyo_person-evan-leroy-johnson","31":"nyo_person-pavol-breslik","32":"nyo_person-louise-alder","33":"nyo_person-julie-roset","34":"nyo_person-karen-cargill","35":"nyo_person-brindley-sherratt","36":"nyo_person-gunther-schneider-siemssen","37":"nyo_person-milena-canonero","38":"nyo_person-nicholas-carter","39":"nyo_person-brett-dean","40":"nyo_person-benjamin-britten"},"acf":{"homepage_position":"","homepage_title":"","homepage_excerpt":"","alternative_og_image":"","headline":{"seo_headline":""},"subheadline":{"optimized_seo_description":"","optimized_social_excerpt":""}},"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/11\/opera-traditionalists-will-adore-the-mets-opulent-1980s-arabella\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":[],"rendered":"","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/observer.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_4844s.jpg?quality=80","coauthors_byline":"By Christopher Corwin","display_channel":"","thumbnail":"<img width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_4844s.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=300&amp;h=225&amp;crop=1\" class=\"lazyload attachment-grid-thumbnail size-grid-thumbnail\" alt=\"A female singer in a large black-and-white gown sings expressively at the center of a crowded ballroom scene as male and female cast members look on, capturing an ensemble moment from the Metropolitan Opera\u2019s Arabella.\" decoding=\"async\" \/><noscript><img width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Arabella_4844s.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=300&amp;h=225&amp;crop=1\" class=\"lazyload attachment-grid-thumbnail size-grid-thumbnail\" alt=\"A female singer in a large black-and-white gown sings expressively at the center of a crowded ballroom scene as male and 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Rachel Willis-S\u00f8rensen and Louise Alder find their \u201cRight Ones\u201d in Strauss\u2019s winning comedy.","is_sponsored":false,"formatted_date":"Nov 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