Bad Met Revisited

I finally saw the first part of the repeat (of a repeat) of the Live from the Met Aida and what a horrible sight and sound it was. The tenor Johann Botha was a loud, stiff, (and in the long run) ludicrous Radames--and he was probably the best singer on the stage. What has happened to Violeta Urmana? Her voice was in tatters: shrill, unfocused, forced at any level about piano. This is a rather recent thing, because I've heard her within the last three years and she sounded nothing like this. Could she have just been so ill she couldn't sing well enough to support the sound? It was heart-breaking to hear her. And hiring Dolora Zajick again was just stupid. She sounded old and tired, she looked old and tired, she moved old and tired. And her costumes just accentuated her inappropriateness. The whole first scene was excruciating. Then The High Priestess sang flat the entire next scene. And then I had to turn it off. I couldn't stand any more. This is a tape that should be erased to save all concerned from embarrassment. Not a very good month for me and the Met.