Because of the aurally enhanced circumstances, I cannot tell you anything definitive about the singing, and in any event the vocal setting for both soloists was predominantly of a declarative, low-to-midrange type. But the bass-baritone Davóne Tines sounded solid and warm-timbred, with well-formed words. He had the heavier burden of mimetic acting, which he bore easily and expressively. Jaroussky made what seemed a stronger, more secure sound than Davies had managed (more penetrating, in any case, with much straight, white tone that sometimes clung just under the intended pitch), and with better verbal profile. But of course this was in a smaller theatre, and electronics were involved; I couldn’t always be sure when a voice was in the clear. Here the choice of falsettist has, I suppose, some justification as the voice of a shade. Still: these are the sounds of the mighty warrior?

Tsunemasa was among the most excruciating hours I have ever spent in a theatre. So, even though the evening’s second half, called Feather Mantle, held promise of a dancer and more revelatory scoring for Mr. Jaroussky, I decided to cut my losses of time, if not money, and vacated the premises.

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A Recommendation: For some time, Will Crutchfield has been running a feature off the website of Teatro Nuovo, of which he is Artistic Director, called Will’s Record of the Week. (If you search it under that name, or as “Teatro Nuovo Record of the Week,” it’ll pop up.) For each installment, Will selects a 78-rpm side or two from the acoustic era—that is, before the sea change in vocalities from brighter/leaner/tauter to darker/plumper/looser I write about in Opera as Opera—to play and discuss. His selections of both famous and obscure artists are invariably to good purpose, and his knowledge of what to listen for in early recordings, his ear for what’s going on in them, his awareness of stylistic and technical context, and his ability to convey expert insight in plain English have no superior I know of. All lovers of singing should give this a look and listen.

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NEXT TIME: Two weeks from today, I’ll be writing about the revival of the Met’s production of Puccini’s Il Trittico. Come what may, that’ll be more fun. In posts to come, I’ll be doing one of my occasional Now-and-Then comparisons, this one on one of opera’s MIA masterworks, Gounod’s Faust. And when it’s good and ready, we’ll dive into Marston’s just-released complete Chaliapin.

NOTE: Next week, in conjunction with the availability of Opera as Opera‘s second printing, I’ll publish a mini-post of the errata detected in the first printing. Owners of the second may gloat over their perfected copies, while those of the first may download and/or print out this list and be smugly in possession of all the “points” that mark theirs as super-collectibles. Both printings, of course, are true first editions.

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