Word: admetus
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...Admetus, fated for untimely death, received an out from Apollo, who out of love for Admetus' punch-bowl tricked the Fates into accepting a substitute. He voiced an ironic distress at the death of his wife, Alcestis, who volunteered to die for him after his senile parents declined the gambit. She was revived by the demi-god Heracles, also out of love for the punch-bowl. But Admetus saw his monstrousness and found little happiness at her return...
...ultimate despair of Admetus, by Michael Sugarman, unaffected by his wife's return touches on awareness that the bisceptic actions of the gods offer no real solution to his trouble. But his tone does not vary throughout the play and in this he is typical of the rest of the cast...
...simple story of Alcestis offers nothing too difficult in the way of dramatic movement-indeed, there is little action for anyone, a chief reason the opera is not performed more often. Dying King Admetus is condemned by Apollo to the Styx unless someone can be found to die in his place. None of the citizenry volunteers, so wife Alcestis sacrifices herself. Admetus follows her to the underworld, and Apollo is so impressed by their devotion that he reprieves them both...
...white robes of the Grecian queen, yet touchingly human at the same time. As always, her voice filled the cavernous Met with its thrilling power. But it was also rich with an expressiveness that seems to grow more poignant with the years. Tenor Brian Sullivan sang his role of Admetus powerfully, if not always as cleanly as the classical style demands. The staging was a trifle fussy, and the corps de ballet postured like so many figures on a Grecian urn. But alongside the triumphs of the performance, the defects were minor. Top honors: Kirsten Flagstad and Christoph Gluck...
...whole rehearsals have been quiet and orderly. Lawrence O'Donnell and Betty Davis who play Admetus' children go through their scene like little lambs. They're a little smug about their first stage appearance, though...