With long, thin arms and legs, an expressive face and graceful movement, Nadja Michael commands the stage in a manner few sopranos do. Michael's Metropolitan Opera debut was the chief attraction of the company's visually compelling, vocally flawed but always entertaining revival of Verdi's “Macbeth,” which opened Thursday night. A 43-year-old German who started as a mezzo, Michael was a smoldering Lady Macbeth in a nightgown, slinky dresses and dark pantsuit. With facial contortions and jerky mannerisms as she slithered around, Michael conveyed her character's vile lust for power and contempt of vulnerability. Her pitch was uncertain, especially during the difficult Letter Scene in the first act, but got more precise as the night went on. Still, it was an exciting, vibrant performance, and she drew a large ovation during curtain calls. — AP Discovering a new performing style for Paul Kelly NEW YORK — Singer Paul Kelly was asked to come up with something special when he was booked for a series of shows eight years ago in his native Australia. His idea changed his performing career. Kelly, an Australian icon who has written hundreds of songs during a career that stretches back into the 1980s, decided to explore much of his catalog in alphabetical order, some 100 different songs over a four-night run. “I thought it was going to be a one-off event,” the 57-year-old said. “At the end of it I realized I had discovered a new way to do shows, and a new way for the audience to approach the shows themselves.” In what Kelly jokes is a “slowly unfolding accident,” there's now a box set of live “A to Z” recordings and an accompanying memoir on his song writing. He on an “A to Z” tour in the United States, four nights in some cities, two compressed nights in others.
