Entertainment

An unintended Greek tragedy

The Trojan Horse seemed like a great idea — that is, until it led to disaster. After a butt-numbing five hours, I thought the same thing about the Met’s revival of “Les Troyens.”

Hector Berlioz’s sprawling saga follows the hero Aeneas from the doomed city of Troy to Carthage, where he falls in love with Queen Dido. But destiny drives him onward — to found the city of Rome — leaving the abandoned monarch to heartbreak and suicide.

Musically, it’s a masterpiece that deserves far better than the slapdash performance it received Thursday night, even with divas Susan Graham and Deborah Voigt sharing star billing.

The company’s busy principal conductor, Fabio Luisi, showed little feeling for Berlioz’s romanticism, offering accuracy but not a flicker of passion.

Worse still was Francesca Zambello’s 2003 production, a jumble of running, jumping and spear-waving in front of Maria Bjørnson’s tatty set, which made both Troy and Carthage look like an explosion in a Venetian blind factory.

Of nearly an hour of Doug Varone’s clodhopping ballets, the nadir was a listless dance-off between boys in hammer pants and girls in yoga pants that dragged the fourth act to a screeching halt.

To be fair, there were bright spots, notably Graham’s elegantly sung Dido. After a timid opening aria, her lyric mezzo gradually gained heat until her final scene of rage and remorse throbbed with rich, molten tone.

Among the vast supporting cast, Karen Cargill stood out, her wine-dark mezzo bringing dignity and pathos to the role of Dido’s sister Anna. Another highlight was the little song for the homesick sailor Hylas in the last act, a perfect miniature of legato singing from tenor Paul Appleby.

Less consistent was Marcello Giordani’s Aeneas, whose tenor rang out like a trumpet in the many high B-flats of his last act scene “Inutiles regrets.” Unfortunately, he belted out the delicate love duets with Dido in the same barnstorming style.

Voigt, one of the Met’s favorite sopranos, hit a career low point with her small-voiced, tremulous singing as Cassandra. As the clairvoyant princess, her onstage manner was anything but grand — more like a peevish substitute teacher.

Greeks bearing gifts get a bad rap, but the real danger this season is the Met bearing “Troyens.”