Rienzi

Rienzi. DVD. 2009. Deutsche Oper Berlin. Production: Stölzl. Conductor: Sebastian Lang-Lessing. Cast: Torsten Kerl (Rienzi), Camilla Nylund (Irene), Kate Aldrich (Adriano)

A stunning production of a less than stunning work, one might say. Even Richard Wagner himself saw Rienzi as a youthful experiment, not worthy of performing in Bayreuth. And he was right of course. While many elements in both the libretto and music points forward, especially to Lohengrin, the history of the rise and fall of the Roman Tribune Rienzi in itself is just a bit too disorganized, dramatically as well as musically.

This Deutsche Oper production by Philipp Stölzl is even more stunning than his staging of Benvenuto Cellini some years ago in Salzburg.

By pseudo-historic video footage in the style of Riefenstahl´s propaganda films, Stölzl has created the universal dictator – however with an abundance of references to Adolf Hitler, to begin with the ouverture where we see the general Rienzi with imperialistic attitude surveying the mountains in a setting close to Berghof and ending with Rienzi´s downfall in a subterranean bunker.  The white angular R seen on helmets, banners and clothes of course represents Rienzi . With an ever so slight irony seen throughout the production as well: They did not use real historic footage, but rather stylish caricatures.

But what a streamlined production and what a good decision of the production team to shorten the opera to a little more than 2 hours (unabridged it would have been Wagner´s longest opera).

Torsten Kerl´s interpretation of Rienzi is almost uncanny and very believable and Camilla Nylund is becoming more and more mature voiced as the “heidi”–type sister Irene, with clear incestuous references. In contrast Kate Aldrich is a youthful and well-sung, though not large-voiced Adriano, in a trouser role not common for Richard Wagner.

I cannot imagine a better production of this opera.

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

Torsten Kerl: 4
Camilla Nylund: 4
Kate Aldrich: 4

Lang-Lessing: 4

Philipp Stölzl: 5

Overall impression: 5

Baden-Baden Lehnhoff Tannhäuser with Waltraud Meier, Stephen Milling, Philippe Jordan

Tannhäuser. DVD. Festspielhaus Baden-Baden 2008. Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin conducted by Philippe Jordan. Nikolaus Lehnhoff (Director). With Robert Gambill (T), Camilla Nylund (E), Waltraud Meier (V), Stephen Milling (G), Roman Trekel (W).

Baden-Baden, a bit further south-east from Bayreuth was one of the locations, Richard Wagner initially considered for his Festival House, and the Wagner performances here has recently tended to outshine those of the proper Bayreuth Festival. The year of 2008 was no exception, at least regarding the ability to attract top singers.

Audiences here have gotten used to Nikolaus Lehnhoff, having already staged Lohengrin and Parsifal here in previous years. And in comparison, he seems to have run out of ideas for this Tannhäuser.

A spiral staircase appears throughout the semi-abstract sets where the period-styled actors appears. Aesthetic as always with Lehnhoff, but is there a deeper meaning. Knowing Lehnhoffs work, the answer most probably is yes, however I didn´t manage to find out what it was.

While Robert Gambill looks reasonable, they days where he could actually sing Tannhäuser are long gone.
Camilla Nylund´s Elisabeth verges on the too mature and though she looks the part I wonder if she really moved the audience. Though Venus, with the sumptuous singing really is not among the best parts for Waltraud Meier from a vocal part of view, no-one looks and acts the part better as she does, thus it is no surprise that this is the second Tannhäuser DVD with her participation.
Stephen Milling in a Landgraf his prime and however golden Roman Trekel is dressed up cannot hide the fact that his voice does not have the innigkeit and beauty of a really good Wolfran.

Philippe Jordan was swift and effective, though perhaps not transporting.

Apart from Rokoko-Meier, a relatively static affair. Admittedly, Tannhäuser is not an easy work to pull off and the ideal DVD is not yet on the market.

However, for those inclined to watch traditional productions, the Metropolitan Opera Tannhäuser is probably the best of Otto Schenk´s Wagner stagings.

Trailer:

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):


Robert Gambill: 2
Waltraud Meier: 4-5
Camilla Nylund: 3-4
Roman Trekel: 2
Stephen Milling: 5


Lehnhoffs staging: 3
Philippe Jordan: 4


Overall impression: 4

New Salzburg Rusalka by Wieler and Morabito

Haus für Mozart. Salzburg Festival. August 20th, 2008. Production: Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito. Cast: Camilla Nylund (Rusalka), Piotr Beczala (The Prince), Emily Magee (Foreign Princess), Alan Held (Water Demon), Birgit Remmert (Jezibaba), Eva Liebau (kitchen-maid). Conductor: Franz Welser-Möst with the Cleveland Orchestra. Further information here.

Rusalka.

Despite the unconventional sauna cum brothel cum church setting, Wieler and Morabito in fact are rather conventional in their take on Dvôrak´s opera Rusalka, which premiered on August 17th at the Salzburg Festival. In essence, they emphasize the rather obvious duality of the story (the world of the prince vs. Rusalka) as done on several previous occasions, such as Robert Carsen´s Paris production.

The revolving sets of a pine-covered sauna approximation turned into a brothel with underwater images projected on the wall depicting Rusalka´s world. With the subsequent 180 degree rotation of the set we see the world of the Prince - a Christian church environment. Neither Rusalka nor the Prince belong in their respective societies.
Rusalka´s change into a human is symbolized by the shoes - from the swimming mermaid she turns into a stiff doll-like girl on far too high heels, clearly not belonging in the Christian environment of the Prince, who on the other hand happily roll on the floor with Rusalka to the horror of the wedding guests when she finally shows some emotion.
Another symbol is the toy cat, which Rusalka initially caresses before it grows into a giant cat probably symbolizing the pagean religion vs. Christianity angle. In the end, Rusalka throws the dead Prince away (I didn´t see what happened to the cross).
Ultimately, this production is not entirely successful, as these ideas, fine as they are, could have been transmitted to the audience with more clarity. In addition, in particular the Christian vs. pagean symbolism was handled rather heavy-handed. As a premiere without booing is no real premiere in Salzburg, the directors, of course, were booed. However, this production is entirely in line with previous work from the pair (such as their Ballo di Maschera in Berlin previously this season) and thus should not come as a surprise for anyone reasonably acquainted with recent trends in opera productions.

Finnish Camilla Nylund with the silvery soprano voice is an intelligent singer, who created a very fine Rusalka on her own terms: She never pushes her not particularly large and essentially lyrical voice and she is a very fine actress. Ideally, however she´d have more expressivity to her voice. She made a very fine contrast, dramatically as well as vocally, to Emily Magee´s Foreign Princess.
Lyrical tenor Piotr Beczala made a fine, lyrical Prince, a part he said he wouldn´t have accepted had Rusalka been performed in the larger Grosses Festspielhaus. Alan Held was a forceful Waterdemon and Eva Liebau also stood out as the kitchen-maid. Birgit Remmert seemed rather tame, perhaps intentionally, as Jezibaba. At this point I should probably comment on the czech interpretation of the protagonists, which I however will gladly leave to others.

Americans are loud. Is the Cleveland Orchestra also loud? was one of the intelligent questions Piotr Beczala was asked by an Austrian journalist. In fact they were not as they were very solid and sensitive. Exactly why Franz Welser-Möst received such massive applause I didn´t entirely understand either as they by no standards were spectacular conveying almost nothing of the sumptuousness of Dvôrak´s score.

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

Camilla Nylund: 4
Piotr Beczala: 4
Emily Magee: 4
Alan Held: 4
Birgit Remmert: 3-4
Eva Liebau: 4

Franz Welser-Möst and the orchestra: 3-4
Wieler/Morabito´s production: 3-4

Overall impression: 4

All photographs @ A.T. Schaefer on www. salzburgerfestspiele.at