But Crumb's Ancient Voices was the stunning highlight of the evening.

And there were even some Beatle songs arranged by Luciano Berio that Pieczonka threw in for good measure. Szabó and Pieczonka matched their darkly-hued voices in some George Crumb arrangements of American folk songs, from Hush, Little Baby to When the Saints Go Marching In. “Pieczonka delivered a stunning, passionate, deeply committed performance of a taxing, and still startlingly original work… The abandon and courage with which she threw herself into this work and inhabited its spirit attests to a creative intelligence in tune with our century, as well as centuries past. …it would be hard to do better than Pieczonka’s radiant performance.” - GramophoneĪdrianne Pieczonka on Rusalka, Jenufa and KatyaĪdrianne on her two upcoming debuts as Amelia in Simon Boccanegra at the Met and her debut at the Opera Bastille as Senta in Der Fliegender Holländer, and her love of performing Czech roles. ‘Im Treibhaus’ and ‘Träume’ especially, the two studies for Tristan und Isolde, radiate glowing soprano warmth, sympathetically seconded by Zeger. ‘Du meines Herzens Krönelein’ is affectionately playful and accompanied with a light touch by Brian Zeger (compare Strauss himself at the piano, casually flamboyant). Heard under the close scrutiny of a Lieder recital, her soprano retains a bloom that is positively youthful…In loving or sensuous Strauss songs, such as ‘Einerlei’ and ‘Rote Rosen’, the basic warmth of Pieczonka’s luminous voice sets a sort of Straussian ideal.

“It is difficult to believe that Adrianne Pieczonka has built up some years of experience of singing taxing Strauss and Wagner roles in the opera house. This time, not only is Amelia Grimaldi a role debut for her, but the Met's HD cameras will simulcast her every note and move to a worldwide audience. When Adrianne Pieczonka steps onto the stage of the Metropolitan Opera to sing in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra on Saturday, things will be different. See our Adrianne's 'older' opera guy in HD

The paris opera normalcy forges ahead