At first thought, the heroines of Tchaikovsky's Iolanta and Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle wouldn't seem to have a lot in common. But as the Metropolitan Opera's snow-delayed opening of those two seemingly disparate one-acts showed, both are simply looking for love in a couple of very unlikely places, especially in the Bartok.
With Anna Netrebko singing the title role in Iolanta, and Nadja Michael as Judith in Bluebeard's Castle, this unlikely double-bill turns into a captivating study of obsession that is as thrilling and chilling as any fairy tale or horror story, one ending happily and the other not so much.
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