"In this opera about monomania and desperation, the stakes somehow seem low."
"The vessel's rigging rises far above the deck, forming a cat's cradle of masts, ropes, and sails."
"Melville's Moby-Dick is a profoundly physical book, and his sentences haul parlor-bound readers into a world of swinging spars and slippery decks."
"The one-legged protagonist is a man of limited mobility who tends to clump on deck and deliver his arias."
The opera 'Moby-Dick,' composed by Jake Heggie and libretto by Gene Scheer, has transitioned from its initial success to a well-cultivated performance at the Met. Despite its impressive cast and strong production design, the opera's depiction of Ahab's obsessive quest feels lackluster, missing a sense of peril. Though the staging is dynamic, echoing the physicality of Melville's original text, the emotional gravitas required to convey monomania is subdued. Characters execute their roles in a manner that feels overly polished, leaving a lingering question about the necessity of retelling a story that results in tragedy without capturing the depths of its thematic richness.
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