Elektra on DVD - Thielemann, Watson, Uhl

Elektra. DVD. Baden-Baden 2010. Production: Herbert Wernike. Conductor: Christian Thielemann. Cast: Linda Watson (Elekta), Manuela Uhl (Chrysothemis), Jane Henschel (Klytemnestra), Albert Döhmen (Orest), René Kollo (Aegisth).

A setting seemingly fit for a Greek tragedy: The singers are under constant spotlights on an otherwise practically empty stage, continuously addressing themselves to the audience and never to each other. Stage design: Red vs. black, geometric shapes. Not at all an ineffective concept, but one that requires great stage presence of the singers to fill out these spotlights, which two (of the four protagonist) do well. Obviously, interpersonnel relations are not a focus in a production in which the singers deliver monologues to the audience. On the other hand it does render a certain perceived authenticity (fake or not) to the production.

Deceased in 2002, Herbert Wernicke obviously is not associated with revival (Bettina Göschl is) of a production originally seen at the Bavarian State Opera.

This production represented Linda Watson´s debut as Elektra as she filled in at the last minute for Katarina Dalayman (good choice Katarina, you are still in your prime and it will ruin your voice! - I know you have sung it later in Stockholm though....). Linda Watson is not bad at all as Elektra, but she suffers the same problems as most of her predecessors/contemporaries in this role: By taking it on very late in her career and well after her prime, she has difficulty meeting the vocal challenges as well as the bloom in her voice has diminished vastly. In addition she is a rather large woman and neither young nor youthful, nor gifted with a very compelling stage presence.

Albert Döhmen is neither particularly good nor particularly bad, him also past his prime.

And the two singers who fill out  their role in the spotlights well: Manuela Uhl a touching, and radiantly looking, though vocally less radiant Chrysothemis and Jane Henschel with demonic Klytemnestra in the tradition of Astrid Varnay. Also a good performance from René Kollo in the small role of Aegisth.

ChristianThielemann is wonderfully broad and expansive with more Rosenkavalier and Frau Ohne Schatten in Elektra than I have ever heard before. 

Though not a bad DVD as such, in recent years we have seen the release of several performances of Elektra superior to this one, such as from the Vienna StateOpera 1989 (Kupfer/Abbado), Zurich Opera 2006 (Kusej/Dohnanyi) and Salzburg 2010(Lehnhoff/Gatti).

Elektra trailer:

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

Linda Watson: 3-4
Manuela Uhl: 3-4
Jane Henschel: 4
Albert Döhmen: 3
René Kollo: 4

Wernicke´s production: 4
Christian Thielemann: 5

Overall impression: 4

DVD Walküre from The Thielemann Ring

Walküre. DVD. Bayreuth Festival 2010. Production: Tankred Dorst. Conductor: Christian Thielemann. Cast: Johan Botha (Siegmund), Edith Haller (Sieglinde), Linda Watson (Brünnhilde), Albert Döhmen (Wotan), Mihoko Fujimura (Fricka), Kwangchoul Yun (Hunding)

I have no doubt that this Bayreuth-Ring 2006-11, directed by Tankred Dorst will be known as The Thielemann Ring.

From the beginning, this Ring was planned for CD release only and released as a 14-CD boxset in 2009 with the doubful honour of being one of the strongest in terms of the conductor, as well as probably the weakest in terms of singers.
However, with the recent explosion of the DVD-operatic market it probably makes sense for the Bayreuth Festival to try and distribute it.

Tankred Dorst was universically criticized for lack of ideas and static concept upon the premiere in 2006.  However, I saw the Ring in Bayreuth in 2007 and have to agree: The only highligt was Christian Thielemann. Who, on the other hand was stunning.

Dorst´s main idea that The Gods live amongst us,but we cannot see them and that man destroy nature are neither novel nor exciting. Admittedly, his preparations were not optimal, having had to take over after the cancellation from Lars von Trier. But nevertheless, a Bayreuth Ring is a Bayreuth Ring and this Ring was disappointing. I have previously written a comprehensive review of the entire Dorst-Thielemann Ring including a detailed description of the staging.

Edith Haller took over Sieglinde´s part from the previous years Eva-Maria Westbroek and Adrianne Pieczonka, and though somewhat weak in expression she has a truly beautiful voice with a wonderful bloom and seems to raise easily over the orchestra.
Johan Botha has a large, effortless voice, but for the rest I completely agree with the message he got from  the Intendant of the Vienna State Opera. Both Albert Döhmen and Linda Watson performs in accordance with Tankred Dorst´s staging: Neither spectacular nor disastrous. While Mihoko Fujimura does not have a large, dramatic voice, it is very beautiful.

Christian Thielemann is the true revelation of this DVD and, indeed, hearing him conduct this Ring in Bayreuth was one of the major operatic experiences I have had. The glittering beauty, the broad tempi, the subtle changes in tempi. It becomes quite clear, however, how the acoustics of the Bayreuth Festival House with the covered pit actually works against the explosive and contrapunctual nature of the Ring and if you a a conductor don´t work against it, you risk to lose the momentum and make it sound like Parsifal. This, however, does not seem to bother Thielemann, who in fact conducts this Walküre much as he does Parsifal.
Nevertheless, together with Daniel Barenboim, no conductor today has a better understanding of Richard Wagner.

Trailer:

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

Johan Botha: 2
Albert Döhmen: 3
Edith Haller: 3-4
Linda Watson: 3
Mihoko Fujimura: 4

Christian Thielemann: 5
Tankred Dorst´s production: 2-3

Diana Damrau Thielemann Strauss

Richard Strauss orchestral lieder. CD. Poesie. Diana Damrau with Christian Thielemann conducting the Munich Philharmonics. 2011

From the dazzling coloratura of Amor to the innigkeit of Morgen and the broad expressiveness of Zueiningung.
In this, her best disc until now, Diana Damrau sings a wide selection 22 of Richard Strauss´ songs accompanied by the Strauss-specialist Christian Thielemann, the leading Strauss conductor of our times. Diana Damrau has the legato lines this music demands as well as perfect textual understanding and projection. Together with perfect coloratura lines when when in demand, which are the songs she does best. In the heavier sungs, like Zueinigung she does sound slightly strained, but nevertheless her overall control is admirable.
Thielemann is simply perfect, sumptuous, detailed, as we know him in Richard Strauss, such as accompanying Renée Fleming on her Strauss disc.
I only have one problem with this disc: I simply do not really find Diana Damrau´s voice attractive. What some calls a silvery timbre, I find dry. Diana Damrau cannot be faulted for this, as she really uses what she has to perfection on this disc.
Small quibbles aside, this is an excellent introduction to Richard Strauss´ songs.

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average): 4

Wonderful Christian Thielemann in Salzburg Die Frau Ohne Schatten



© Monika Rittershaus for Salzburger Festspiele

Die Frau Ohne Schatten. Grosses Festspielhaus, August 17th, 2011, Salzburg Festival. Christian Thielemann conducts the Vienna Philharmonics. Director: Christoph Loy. Soloists: Anne Schwanewilms (Kaiserin), Stephen Gould (Kaiser), Wolfgang Koch (Barak), Evelyn Herlitzius (his wife), Michaela Schuster (Amme).

• Maximum points to Christian Thielemann for a marvellously conducted performance, powerful and detailed and with the uncut version.
• Minimum points to Christof Loy for his non-staging, placing the action in the famous recording studio Sofiensaal at the time of the first recording of the opera (1955), creating a static and ineffective staging adding no more to the opera than a concert performance. And, for some obscure reason, the end takes place in the middle of a Christmas concert. Or indeed, adding less, as the secondary daily day drama between the characters singing Barak and his Wife is both annoying and redundant. To reduce Richard Strauss´ epic fairy-tale to this is simply a shame. Christof Loy is well-known for his static stagings (among the recent a rather superb Lucio Silla), but this is by far the most extreme he has taken his directorial approach. The next step would indeed be a concert performance. A golden opportunity for a magnificent DVD thus wasted, as Die Frau really is a conductors opera and some may well feel that Thielemann surpasses both Sawallisch and Solti on previous DVDs (Sawallisch perhaps but not Solti, imho....)
• All singers were good, but none were real standouts. Anne Schwanewilms, who originally trained as a mezzo, has a simply wonderful voice and etwas altmodisch way of singing almost vibratoless in the middle register, though the voice may be in the smaller range for the Empress. Always dramatically effective, though not overly nuanced vocally was Michaela Schuster, while Stephen Gould delivered the best I have heard him do and in any respect ways above his rather dismal Siegfried in Bayreuth a couple of seasons ago. Evelyn Herlitzius received the second biggest ovation (after Thielemann) for a Wife of Barak (a somewhat vocally tired Wolfgang Koch), probably not to be seen much better today, despite occasional straining especially in the upper register. And I must admit to simply not really liking her voice.

Opening of Act 3:

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):
Christian Thielemann: 5
Christof Loy: 1
Stephen Gould: 3
Evelyn Herlitzius: 3
Anne Schwanewilms: 4
Michaela Schuster: 3-4
Wolfgang Koch: 3
Overall impression: 4 (because the conductor is really the crucial point in this opera)

Thielemann Rosenkavalier with Fleming, Damrau, Koch and Kaufmann

Rosenkavalier. DVD. Baden-Baden 2009. Production: Conductor: Christian Thielemann. Cast: Renée Fleming (Marschallin), Sophie Koch (Octavian), Diana Damrau (Sophie), Franz Hawlata (Ochs), Jonas Kaufmann (A Singer).

This production has so many things going for it and yet somehow it narrowly misses the mark.
First of all, Herbert Wernicke´s production is wonderful: First seen in Salzburg 1995 and later in Paris, it is visually superfluous and sumptuous making use of a back wall of rotating mirrors. Traditional in outlook, Wernicke simply tells the story in a seemingly timeless manner.
Renée Fleming is the Marschallin. Or as I originally intended to write: Renée Fleming is Renée Fleming. There is too much Renée Fleming in her Marschallin or perhaps too little Marschallin in Renée Fleming. Word games apart, this is not among her best roles in my opinion. Somehow she seems to artificial, too mannered and not sophisticated enough in her portrait. There is a subtle balance to the Marschallin and she does not nail it. Disappointing, since I have seen her give wonderfully committed performances in this repertoire. But extra points to Ms Fleming for giving interviews in German.

Sophie Koch, somewhat miscast being too feminine in both expression and singing and with too much vibrato especially in the higher register, her weakest, where a lot of the notes are. A wonderful Charlotte is rarely a wonderful Octavian. Diana Damrau sings beautifully, but she has really moved on from Sophie. Quite a few sopranos aged below 30 could have pulled of the same in addition to portraying a young and innocent Sophie, which Damrau does not.
And Franz Hawlata, in his second Rosenkavalier DVD lacks the crudeness and (most importantly) the deep notes.

Not to forget to mention Jonas Kaufmann´s brief appearance as the tenor.

Christian Thieleman is a superb Straussian Thielemann, but he conducts Rosenkavalier as he does Die Frau Ohne Schatten: Grandious, serious, transporting. Where are the bubbliness and the walz rhythms?

Renée Fleming and Sophie Koch in Act 1:

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

Renée Fleming: 4
Sophie Koch: 3-4
Diana Damrau: 3-4
Franz Hawlata: 3

Wernicke´s staging: 5
Christian Thielemann: 4

Overall impression: 4

Munich: Karita Mattila and Christian Thielemann in all-Strauss program

The past 4 days (March 5-8th) Karita Mattila and Christian Thielemann have appeared together in three concerts with the Munich Philharmonics in Munich. Karita Mattila´s contribution to this all-Strauss programme was to sing Drei Hymnen.

Volker Boser writes in Abendzeitung (not online):

You have to thank Christian Thielemann for finally allowing us to see this extraordinary Finnish soprano live again. The three Hölderlin-Hymnen op. 71 requires the utmost level of excellence to bring off: The voice is like an instrument and has to go against the explosions of the orchestra. As Karita Mattila did this with wonderful legato, blooming high notes and the utmost distinction, she was simply tremendously convincing. Not only Munich, but also Christian Thielemann lay at her feet.

Christian Thielemann

CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN - CAREER

Christian Thielemann, German conductor. Born 1959 in Berlin.
This post will focus on Christian Thielemann´s work in opera.

Education: After studying viola and piano in Berlin, in 1978 Christian Thielemann started as korrepetiteur and conductor at smaller German opera houses as well as working as an assistant to colleagues such as Herbert von Karajan (from 1981 in Berlin and Salzburg) and Daniel Barenboim (Bayreuth in the 1990´s).

1985-8 Thielemann was guest conductor at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein before becoming Musical Director of the Nürnberg Opera 1988-92, at which point the Nürnberg Opera chose not to renew his contract due him allegedly spending too little time in Nürnberg. Whether true or not, Thielemann´s international career did take off during these years with several important debuts such as his American debut 1991-2 with Elektra in San Francisco and a much-praised Metropolitan Opera debut with Rosenkavalier in 1993, returning several times to the Met, most notably with a much-celebrated Die Frau ohne Schatten in 2001.

1997-2004 Christian Thielemann served as Musical Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, which he left after a much-publicized controversy over funding to become Music Director of the Munich Philharmonics in 2004, a post he held until 2011, where he stepped down over equally much-publicized disputes regarding funding and choice of soloists. From 2012 he will become chief conductor of the Sächsisches Staatskapelle Dresden.

The major events in Christian Thielemann´s operatic career until now have probably been his triumphant 2000 Bayreuth debut with Meistersinger as well as the 2006 Bayreuth Ring and his universally acclaimed performances of Tristan (2004), Parsifal (2006,8) and Meistersinger (2008) at the Vienna State Opera.

In recent years Thielemann has collaborated extensively with Renée Fleming, resulting in several recordings such as Rosenkavalier (DVD from Baden-Baden 2009) and an album of Strauss songs (2008).


Christian Thielemann is an exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon and currently performs with all major orchestras, most frequently with the Vienna Philharmonics resulting in a DVD-released complete series of Beethoven Symphonies (2010-11).

Thielemann has polarized audiences as few other conductors, but he is without doubt among the most talented conductors today, and many considered him the worlds foremost Wagner conductor together with Daniel Barenboim.

Christian Thielemann has a reputation as an outspoken cultural conservative, based on his opposition to advanced Regietheater as well as his dislike for political correctness, keen historical interest as well as committing himself to a very narrow repertoire of German romantic composers.

Christian Thielemann on certain aspects of Regietheater:

"It is very interesting that in the word regietheater there is no mention of music. Obviously it is not necessary. There is too much happening on stage and it is so interesting that you forget there was an aria, or you say, 'Oh my God, she is singing!"

In many modern stagings you are not sure what piece you see. Often you could play Sommergäste, Wozzeck, Anna Bolena or Labiche´s Sparschwein in the same staging.
However, some aspects of Regietheater, he finds essential:

"This move [hiring Schlingensief and Lars von Trier to stage Parsifal and The Ring in Bayreuth] proves that Wolfgang Wagner is cunning. He has understood that provocative iconoclasts like Peter Konwitschny and Hans Neuenfels come a point at which their work is repetitive. Now it is time for someone to pursue new ideas, to place Wagner in new contexts. And perhaps it is even good that Schlingensief and von Trier do not come from the opera world. I am sure that both will proceed very conscientiously and with great reverence."

Thielemann on society in general and his image as a "conservative":

"The luxury of freedom is a major problem" .." we have to remember values and boundaries. We find ourselves in a spiral, leading to nowhere. In television or in Regietheater everything is now possible. What is then to follow? Everything not prohibited by law has been done. But why?
What does it mean to be conservative? Conservative means to conserve. And that I am happy to do..in these fast-paced times, many people need to belong. To have a home. Me as well. That doesn´t mean that you are reactionary.
We live in very politically correct times. How counterproductive is that for the art? It is counterproductive, if you are afraid of daring and subsequently marginalization.
I am as non-ideological as possible. Ideologies do not interest me.

Privately, he "collects books on Prussian architecture and art. Also etchings and engravings. And I would also like to have the time to see the Prussian palaces and parks". Thielemann is very historically conscious especially regarding German history with an particulary interest in Friedrich the Great, whose portrait hangs in his office: "His toughness, sense of duty, but also his sensitivity fascinates me"."These are the exact qualities a conductor needs".
In 2000, Christian Thielemann was involved in a rather unpleasant controversy surrounding the Berlin opera houses, in which he was rumoured to have characterized the potential departure of Daniel Barenboim as "the end of the Jewish mess in Berlin" (exact words: Jetzt hat die Juderei in Berlin ein Ende ).
The combination of Christian Thielemann´s unease expressing himself in interviews with his above-mentioned private and musical interests, led to rumours of nationalism and antisemitism. However, Christian Thielemann has vehemently denied these accusations, as well as accusations of nationalism, even taking the accusators to court.
Says Barenboim: "I believe Christian Thielemann as long as there is no concrete evidence against him. We are not rivals. I care much about him". Christian Thielemann has never publicly been quoted for anything remotely nationalistic.

All of the above points towards the same conclusion: That Christian Thielemann may be a cultural conservative, but nothing further, though perhaps not even extensively conservative, all things considered.

Christian Thielemann - on conducting:
I admire colleagues such as Welser-Möst, who may run an orchestra in the US as well as the Vienna State Opera simultaneously. I couldn´t do that.

I conduct 70 evenings a year. That is enough. I also have a private life and other interests. I don´t want to only make music.
I am very much a rehearsal conductor!

The life of an artist is a dogs life.
No, conducting has nothing to do with power. It is a tremendous responsibility, in which it may be hard find flexibility. And, of course, it is tremendous fun. But it is not about power.

I don´t want to surprise at all. I would like people to accept me as I am.
[Furtwängler´s] Beethoven Nine in 1942 with the Berlin Philharmonic cannot be bettered. Either you have to give up conducting or you have to acknowledge that someone has done it in a near-perfect way.[biggest wish for the future]: Good nerves. The further you get, the bigger the pressure of the expectations. You have to be able to handle that.

[Heinz Tietjen] was a man who didn't worry too much about his appearance. Poker-faced, austere, almost pallid. At the same time, he was an incomparable rogue. That fascinates me..I would like to be just a bit like that. So that I wouldn't get so upset.

[on attending Christoph Schlingensief´s Wagner-rally in the Ruhr-district]: No, Christoph send me an SMS asking if I´d come, but unfortunately I didn´t have time. As far as I know, the first prize was a ticket for the Bayreuth Festival - and there I already have a rather good seat.

CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN - WAGNER AND BAYREUTH

When you hear a Wagner opera for the first time at the age of 13-14 and are blown away, it marks you for life. When I wanted to conduct such operas, when I was 20, the Intendants said: "But, Mr. Thielemann, that is for the older colleagues". Eventually, I was allowed to take over the Tristan in the Berghaus-staging in Hamburg and from this moment I was repeatedly offered Wagner. I have to admit, that my fascination with Wagner has not diminished. There is something narcotic in this music. And then, as I am virtually the only in my generation who conducts so much Wagner, I was affixed with a Wagner-label, which has remained. I can live with that.

During the 1990´s, Christian Thielemann worked as an assistant to Daniel Barenboim in Bayreuth (Tristan and Isolde), making a triumphant debut at the Bayreuth Festival in 2000 with Meistersinger. Since then, Christian Thielemann has appeared every year in Bayreuth, conducting Meistersinger 2000-2, Parsifal 2001, Tannhäuser 2002-5 and a much praised Nibelungen Ring (2006-11). Christian Thielemann had looked forward to the collaboration with Lars von Trier on the 2006 Bayreuth Ring visiting Trier several times in Copenhagen: "His concept evolved around the ultimate reduction. That appealed very much to me". In the end von Trier cancelled, and Tankred Dorst directed.
In 2012 he will conduct the new production of the Flying Dutchman 
As part of his prepatations, Christian Thielemann meticulously researches the background of the works he conducts. From the Director of the Richard Wagner National Archive in Bayreuth:
Christian Thielemann was here very often because he is somebody who deals very seriously with the musicological world. He sometimes looks into the handwritten scores to compare the printed score he uses for conducting, to check that it is correct. For example, when he conducted Tannhäuser, I suggested to him that he could include a special English horn solo which has never been performed before, because Wagner eliminated it from the score before the printing. Thielemann was fascinated by this solo, and he used it.
Christian Thielemann on the various editions of Wagner´s scores:

The complete edition of Richard Wagner's works has a decisive disadvantage: you have to turn way too many pages. I've ordered some old Schott scores, three from the 1930s, from before the war, and one from the postwar period. Those are real editions! Have you seen the new one? Greyish notes on yellowish hectographed paper with a chemical smell! Appalling! The annoying thing is that all of the Festspielhaus scores were stolen in 1945. I'd give a lot to be able to work with Heinz Tietjens' notations.

On conducting in Bayreuth:

It's such a tremendous honour to conduct the "Ring" at Bayreuth. What can possibly follow that: The Ring in Bayreuth!
Thielemann is a close collaborator of Katharina Wagner, with whom he made a successful bid for Bayreuth Festival leadership, effective from 2008. The role of Thielemann in Bayreuth is uncertain as of now, though he may in effect serve as music director of the Bayreuth Featival:"That I shall have a more important function than that of mere guest conductor is certain. What this function shal contain, we shall see" . For future Bayreuth seasons he plans to conduct the new Flying Dutchmann in 2012 and a new production of Tristan and Isolde in 2015. He will not, by his own admission, conduct the 2013 Bayreuth Ring celebrating the bicentennial of Richard Wagner´s birth. The current Bayreuth Nibelungen Ring is to be released on CD in 2009.
Apart from Bayreuth, Christian Thielemann has only conducted opera in Vienna (the aforementioned Tristan and Parsifal as well as Meistersinger, all triumphantly received) in recent seasons. Both the Tristan and especially the 2006 Parsifal performances were released on CD (see below), and are among the finest in history.

On Parsifal:
What really happens in the first Act (of Parsifal)? Nothing - an it takes 1 hour and 40 minutes. The action: A dead swan is carried across the state and we see some old men suffer. On TV this would have been covered in 10 seconds. But in opera we are forced to go through a physical-spiritual process of concentration.
On Tristan:Wagner can become toxic. You really have to give yourself up the music. But what happens afterwards? That's why I've decided to decline all "Tristans" for the time being. I can't endure the piece any more, it just wears me out. I have to avoid things that bore right into me. That's why I'm having so much fun with the "Ring:" It bores in, but not only that.
Prelude to Tristan and Isolde, Vienna Philharmonics 2003:

Christian Thielemann concentrates on a very narrow range of romantic-late romantic German composers, in particular Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Pfitzner, Bruckner, Brahms and Beethoven, composers of which several are associated with Nazism.
"When I first conducted Palestrina in Nürnberg, someone said, 'This is a nationalistic piece of shit.' This score, this beautiful, beautiful piece. What has C sharp minor to do with fascism? Nothing. Does Meistersinger have anything to do with politics? Can a tonality be political?"

"If you had a Russian conductor and he conducted Russian works, you wouldn't say a word. Why do people say a word when a German conductor conducts German works ?"

"I am rooted in German culture, why should I fight against that ?"
"If people say that because you have a certain choice of repertoire, it has to be connected with your political view, it s is a sick thing. I choose the scores because I like them, and I conduct Hans Werner Henze in the same way as I do Pfitzner and Beethoven. I have done many contemporary pieces. I am not interested in what composers have eaten or what their political beliefs were. Music doesn't get better because one person was better than another person."
"Life is much too serious to be nihilistic. That is why I'm more at home with Richard Strauss than with Mahler. As I've said, I like these brilliantly playful figures who never get lost in the House of Agamemnon, but instead find their way back, as far as I'm concerned, to the lederhosen idyll of Garmisch-Partenkirchen."
Christian Thielemann sees himself as continuing the Austro-German conducting tradition of the likes of Furtwängler, Knappertsbusch, Böhm and Herbert von Karajan: "For me this is the highest of all possible honors" ."This sound, which set the standards of the past, the width and power has always appealed to me".Today we're familiar only with the rudiments of the tradition, or else with ill-intentioned defamations of it. Who has the confidence nowadays to use pathos, who even knows what pathos is? When the orchestra really lets it all out it very quickly sounds just loud or empty.
"I was raised in this ambience. I heard these wonderful concerts; people gave Furtwängler recordings to me and I felt at home with them, just as every Italian growing up with Italian opera feels at home with it. But you have to build the tradition anew, not just carry it on."

With the Munich Philharmonics, Christian Thielemann primarily conducts the aforementioned composers, with a current emphasis on Richard Strauss and Pfitzner.
On the podium, Christian Thielemann conducts in a very individual way (see clips below), which tends to draw attention to himself, whether intentional or not.
In my opinion, the often-quoted comparison between Furtwängler, Karajan and Thielemann is inacurrate as Christian Thielemann creates a distinctly different sound-world: Thielemann is far more glittery and with ample space than the heavy string-rubato of Furtwängler or the dense sound-world of Karajan. Occasionally I may personally feel that Thielemann aims to create superficial beauty at the expense of emotional depth. But what beauty...
No doubt, Christian Thielemann is a conductor of the Austro-German tradition. And one of the best in the world.
Final of Bruckner´s 7th symphony, Munich Philharmonics:

CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN - THE FUTURE

From 2012 he will assume his position as Chief Conductor of the Staatskapelle in Dresden.

CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN - COMPLETE OPERAS ON CD AND DVD

Arabella, Metropolitan Opera 1995 (DVD)
Parsifal, Vienna State Opera 2006 (CD) Astonishing performance from Thielemann in this live-recording from the Vienna State Opera. The beauty is ethereal and for many, this is the finest recorded Parsifal in history.
Tristan and Isolde, Vienna State Opera 2004 (CD)
Vienna State Opera Gala concert (2006 - on DVD)
Meistersinger, Vienna State Opera 2008 (DVD)
Nibelungen Ring, Bayreuth 2009 (CD)
Rosenkavalier, Baden-Baden 2009 (DVD)
Elektra, Baden-Baden 2010 (DVD)
Walküre, Bayreuth 2010 (DVD)

CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN - NON-OPERATIC RECORDINGS (SELECTED)

Richard Strauss - Four last songs and opera excerpts with Renée Fleming (2008 on CD)
Mozart Requiem, Munich Philharmonics 2006
Brahms 1st Symphony and Egmont Ouverture, Munich Philharmonics 2007
Strauss: Alpensymphonie, Rosenkavalier-Suite, Vienna Philharmonics 2001
Strauss: Ein Heldenleben, Die Frau ohne Schatten-Fantasie, Vienna Philharmonics 2003Richard Wagner: Ouvertures and excerpts, Philadelphia Orchestra 1998
Strauss: Lieder (with Diana Damrau) 2010 on CD

CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN - LIVE PERFORMANCES REVIEWED BY MOSTLY OPERA

Nibelungen Ring - Bayreuth 2007 (Rheingold, Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung)
Parsifal - Vienna State Opera 2008
Beethoven and Richard Strauss concert with Renée Fleming, Munich 2008
Die Frau Ohne Schatten, Salzburg 2011

CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN - LINKS

All posts on mostly opera related to Christian Thielemann
An extensive biography on Thielemann may be found via DG here.
Wikipedia biography on Christian Thielemann

Top 20 favourite operas revisited

The below revised list, is obviously not intended to reflect on the greatest operas composed – it simply reflects the 20 operas I, for the moment prefer to listen to, together with a brief mentioning of some of my favorite recordings of those operas on CD and DVD.

To be updated, when necessary..

Operas are listed in alphabetical order by the composer:

Bartok: Bluebeard´s Castle. CD: Kertesz with Christa Ludwig/Walter Berry. DVD: Still looking. In the meantime the Solti conducted film is rather fine, especially on the musical side.

Berg: Lulu. CD: Boulez w/Stratas. DVD: Christine Schäfer in the Glyndebourne production. Bechtolf´s Zurich production with Laura Aikin is a viable alternative.

Debussy: Pelléas and Melisande. CD: Karajan w/von Stade. DVD: Boulez/Stein from Welsh National Opera.

Dvorak: Rusalka. CD: Mackerras with Fleming/Heppner. DVD: The Paris Carsen production with Renée Fleming.

Gounod: Faust. CD: Undecided. DVD: Ken Russell´s Vienna production, but basically I am waiting.

Mozart: Don Giovanni. CD: Furtwängler w/Siepi. DVD: Essentiallly still waiting. Kusej´s 2006 Salzburg production will do in the meantime.

Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov. CD: Undecided. Probably Abbado (Shostakovich version). DVD: Matti Salminen in Willy Decker´s Barcelona production. The alternative is the Gergiev-conducted Tarkovsky production.

Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina. CD: Abbado from Vienna. DVD: Waiting. In the meantime Abbado´s Vienna production is not a bad choice (the only alternative is Winge´s production from Barcelona)

Offenbach: Les Contes d´Hoffmann. CD: Undecided. DVD: The Paris Carsen production until hopefully David McVicar´s 2003 Salzburg production will be released.

Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth from Mtsensk. CD: Undecided. DVD: Jansons/Kusej with Westbroek/Ventris from Amsterdam.

Strauss: Salome. CD (difficult choice) - on top probably Reiner w/Welitsch, Böhm w/Rysanek. Other fine discs are Solti w/Birgit Nilsson, Schønwandt w/Inga Nielsen, Sinopoli w/Cheryl Studer. Welitsch first. DVD: Waiting for Karita Mattila. For an interesting directorial take, see David McVicar´s London production. Some may prefer Götz Friedrich´s 1974 film with Teresa Stratas.

Strauss: Die Frau Ohne Schatten. CD: Solti or Böhm w/Rysanek. DVD: Solti conducting Götz Friedrich´s Salzburg staging. The only alternative is Sawallisch with a Kabuki-inspired staging.

Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin. CD: Undecided. DVD: The Salzburg Breth/Barenboim production with Peter Mattei. As a close second, the Carsen MET production with Renée Fleming/Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

Verdi: Macbeth. CD: Abbado w/Verrett, Cappucilli. DVD: Claude D´Anna´s film with Leo Nucci and Shirley Verrett, for once is a convincing opera film.

Verdi: Don Carlo. CD: Giulini w/Domingo, Caballé, Verrett, Raimondi. DVD: Still waiting.

Verdi: Otello. CD: Chung w/Domingo or Levine w/Domingo. DVD: La Scala/Domingo.

Wagner: Tristan and Isolde. CD: Furtwängler or Barenboim (no order). And Pappano for René Pape and Plácido Domingo. DVD: Chéreau/Barenboim with Waltraud Meier from La Scala 2007. Alternatively the Heine Müller/Barenboim 1995 Bayreuth production. Other fine alternatives are the Ponelle/Barenboim Bayreuth production, the Munich Konwitschny production or the Lehnhoff Glyndebourne production.

Wagner: Meistersinger. CD: Solti (~1996). DVD: I am not really happy with any of the available choices, though ultimately I prefer the Schenk/Levine version from the Met.

Wagner: Ring des Nibelungen – counts as one opera. CD: Solti or Keilberth (in that order, probably). DVD: Kupfer/Barenboim from Bayreuth as first choice. Chéreau/Boulez from Bayreuth as second. For a traditional ring, the Schenk/Levine Met production is the only available choice.

Wagner: Parsifal. CD: Knappertsbusch 1962, Barenboim or Thielemann (no order). DVD: Still waiting. Of the available choices, I´d narrowly prefer the Lehhoff/Nagano production from Baden-Baden.

And the runners-up: Simon Boccanegra, Elektra, Jenufa, Le damnation de Faust, The rake´s progress, A handmaid´s tale, Flying Dutchman, Lohengrin, Wozzeck, Tannhäuser, The magic flute, Peter Grimes, Samson et Dalila, Billy Budd, L´amour de loin, Prince Igor, Carmen.

Renée Fleming CD: Four last songs with Christian Thielemann - an all Richard Strauss programme

Renée Fleming: Four last songs. Songs and arias by Richard Strauss. Accompanied by Christian Thielemann with the Munich Philharmonics. April 2008 (released September 2008). Further information here.

Renée Fleming has repeatedly called Richard Strauss her favourite composer and in my view she is first and foremost a Richard Strauss soprano. Exquisite and elegant, she is a great Richard Strauss interpreter, most recently seen as a superb Capriccio-Countess in Vienna.

This is Renée Fleming´s second recording of Vier letzte lieder (VLL - Four last songs), the first from 1995 with Christoph Eschenbach, with whom she also recorded an all-Straus heroines (Arabella, Capriccio, Rosenkavalier) album. At the time of her first VLL-recording she had never sung the VLL in public, now her most frequently performed concert piece.

This all-Richard Strauss album was recorded in Munich in April 2008 from a series of concerts with Christian Thielemann and the Munich Philharmonics and contains the Vier letzte lieder as well as four orchestral songs and selections from Aradne auf Naxos (track list below) and Ägyptische Helena. I attended one of the concerts in Munich (with Ariadne and some orchestral songs) and found both Renée Fleming and Christian Thielemann superb.

However, Renée Fleming´s singing on this album is generally not to my taste. Worst are the Vier letzte lieder. I find her style both mannered and artificial, she has a peculiar way of breathing with very sharp intakes of breath and there are no legato-lines to speak of. In short, I find it disappointing. She relies quite heavily on portamento, basically not a problem but together with what I perceive as artificial phrasings the overall impression is not what I would have hoped it to be. Though I am willing to cut Renée Fleming quite a lot of slack here, interpretatively she has crossed the imaginary line between elegance, sophistication and.. well, whatever is on the other side.

Much of the creamy beauty of her voice from ten years back is gone, however this was also so on her last album Homage and doesn´t apply specifically to this disc. Thus it comes as no surprise that she vocally is no match for her 1995 Vier letzte lieder disc, recorded in her prime and which furthermore comes with a much more straight-forward approach to the songs.

Interpretatively one may argue how deep she gets, both in 1995 and here in 2008 and in that regard I find no apparent differences between these two recordings.

After Vier letzte lieder, it gets better. The Ariadne selections sound less mannered, however as I hear it Renée Fleming doesn´t have the required expressive range or support in her middle register to be a great Ariadne or to carry the more expressive of the orchestral songs such as Zueinigung. Zweite brautnacht is Richard Strauss at his most tasteless, however Renée Fleming seems sufficiently challenged by the piece to minimize her mannered expressions and odd breathing. However, the orchestral songs are no match for her previous release either.

Personal preferences will dictate how one finds her in comparison to the numerous other versions of the Vier letzte lieder - such as Lisa della Casa, Lucia Popp and Jessye Norman all very different interpretations. Not to mention the all-time classics of Gundula Janowitz and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.

Christian Thielemann however, is superb. He shines in Richard Strauss and I cannot imagine a better accompaniement that the glittering, beautiful and exquisite sound he draws from the Munich Philharmonics. In the live performances, he drowned Renée Fleming completely. Something the recording engineers, as expected, have fixed.

It´s worth noting that this disc also is available in a 2-disc version, the second disc labelled: Signature roles at the MET containing releases of old DECCA recordings of excerpts from Eugene Onegin, Capriccio, Otello, Thaïs and Rusalka. Combined with the upcoming Renée Fleming-opens-the-MET-season-with-three-designer-dresses-and-three-roles HD transmitted season opening galla next week, crossing the imaginary line again comes to mind.

The good thing is however, that the entire disc is available for free listening via Renée Fleming´s website.

Promotional video, with interviews and excerpts from the Munich live performances:

Track list:

1. Frühling (Vier letzte lieder)
2. September (Vier letzte lieder)
3. Beim Schlafengehen (Vier letzte lieder)
4. Im Abendrot (Vier letzte lieder)
5. Ach! Ach! Wo war ich? Tot? (Ariadne auf Naxos)
6. Ein schönes war: hieß Theseus (Ariadne auf Naxos)
7. "Es gibt ein Reich" (Ariadne auf Naxos)
8. Verführung
9. Freundliche Vision
10. Winterweihe
11. Zueignung
12. Zweite Brautnacht (Ägyptische Helena)


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

3

DVD: Gala concert at the Vienna State Opera

Gala for the 50th anniversary of the reopening of the Vienna State Opera. Vienna State Opera, November 5th 2005
Excerpts from: Don Giovanni, Rosenkavalier, Aida, Meistersinger, Frau Ohne Schatten, Fidelio

Artists include: Agnes Baltsa, Plácido Domingo, Thomas Hampson, Bryn Terfel, Violeta Urmana, Edita Gruberova, Angelika Kirchschlager. Conducting: Daniele Gatti, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Christian Thielemann, Franz Welser-Möst. More information here.

No matter how high the quality of the individual performances, these galas, in my opinion, tend to border on the tedious. Not the least due to the excessive applause between the contributions, at several points outlasting these in time. At least you get an impression of the atmosphere in the packed house, I suppose. During these applause session the camera repeatedly lingered on selected guests, of whom I only recognized Christa Ludwig, seated next to the entrance of the soloists and greeting many as they passed.

Is it worth watching? Definitely yes. Is it worth owning? I suppose that depends your affinity for this sort of thing and degree of liking for the individual performers.

Of particular note:

Bryn Terfel, despite a beautiful voice, is (still) not at his best in the Wagnerian repertoire (here as Hans Sachs).

Violeta Urmana - a really fine dramatic soprano. Couldn´t she be an option to resolve the much-talked-about Norma crisis at the Metropolitan Opera? I am sure she´d be great (here as Aida).

Agnes Baltsa - an immense presence on stage. She must have been completely mesmerizing to experience live in her prime, and was in impressively fine voice here (as Amneris).

Plácido Domingo - in very fine voice (as Radamés).

Angelika Kirchschlager - perhaps the ideal Octavian of today? (here as Octavian).

Christian Thielemann - does have a rather attention-seeking way of conducting (whether intentional is not for me to say), but the orchestra played gloriously with him (Meistersinger and Rosenkavalier).

Angelika Kirchschlager and Genia Kühmeier in the final scene of Rosenkavalier, Thielemann conducts:

Renée Fleming drowned by Thielemann (or possibly the acoustics) in otherwise magnificent Strauss programme in Munich

Renée Fleming with Christian Thielemann, April 13th 2008 in Munich

Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich, April 13 2008
Christian Thielemann (c), Renée Fleming (soprano)

Programme:
Pfitzner: Ouverture from "Käthchen von Heilbronn"
Richard Strauss orchestral songs: Freundliche vision, Verführung, Winterweihe, Zueiningung
Richard Strauss: Scene from Ariadne auf Naxos
Beethoven: Symphony no 7


Pfitzner, Richard Strauss and Beethoven are typical programming choice for Munich Philharmonic chief conductor Christian Thielemann. This Sunday matinée programme was repeated twice this week and next week will feature another three concerts with Renée Fleming singing Richard Strauss orchestral songs and an opera scene (this time from Die ägyptische Helena).

No doubt, Renée Fleming has the exact right voice and expression for Richard Strauss´ orchestral songs, and the way her voice blended in with Thielemann´s gloriously beautiful orchestra sound came close to perfection. The only, and unfortunately not minor, problem was, that she was barely audible. What we heard was Richard Strauss orchestral pieces with the occasional soprano adding beautiful sound to the woodwinds and strings. According to the locals we spoke to this was a problem regardless of seating. The lyrics were understood by no one, not because Flemings diction is substandard, but because she simply was not heard. Even in the big scene from Ariadne (accompanied with a reduced 30-man orchestra) she was not heard properly.
I do not, based on previous live experiences with Fleming, believe the problem lies mainly within the size of her voice. I was told by regular Munich concertgoers that this may be blamed on the acoustics of the Philharmonic Hall, but I do not believe Christian Thielemann to be an entirely innocent bystander either.

Christian Thielemann is no accompanist in the sense that with him the orchestra does not simply accompany, but takes on a role at least equivalent to that of the soloist. And, in my opinion, he is right to do so, particularly in Richard Strauss, where the orchestral textures are essential in creating a successful performance. And indeed, the sheer beauty and colours he extracts from the orchestra are just marvellous. However, one must expect a conductor of Thielemann´s caliber to be well acquainted with the acoustics of his own house and to be able to control the orchestra accordingly, thus I strongly suspect he could diminish the orchestral volume if he wanted to. Furthermore he has previously been known to drown out singers with considerably larger voices than Renée Fleming, such as René Pape last year in the same hall, believe it or not. On the other hand, in the Parsifal, I just heard him conduct in Vienna, all singers went through fine, even the very small voiced Mihoko Fujimura as Kundry. So, I guess the jury is still out...

Back to Renée Fleming, I seriously doubt whether Ariadne is a right role for her, although, by all standards she would perform it more than well should she decide to take it on. She seem to focus on producing a very beautiful sound with endlessly floating notes, entirely right for the Strauss song selection, but for Ariadne, I felt a lack of vocal projection and drama.

Christian Thielemann is a Pfitzner-champion to a degree that he conducts the Ouverture from Kätchen von Heilbronn without a score. Or maybe it´s just very straight forward to conduct, since the piece seems relatively monodimensial. I seriously doubt that the quality of Pfitzner´s music, at least based on this piece, deserves this much energy from Thielemann´s side. But it´s always appreciated to hear a non-standard repertoire piece in a concert like this.

Thielemann´s Beethoven was exactly as I expected it would be (and conducted without a score, of course): His primary focus also seems set on creating a glorious sound, which sweeps anything and anyone away. And it is indeed glorious, but at some points I´d like to take a look beneath that beautiful surface. The orchestra played with great enthusiasm and he is obviously well liked by both the orchestra player. And by the audience. Deservedly so. And I am certain a potential Strauss recording with Fleming and Thielemann will be marvellous, especially since the sound balances may be regulated...

All photographs by me from the concert in Munich

The Bayreuth Succession part 18: Götterdämmerung on the Green Hill - Nike refuses to give up

Previous episodes of this Wagnerian docu-soap may be read here, and for new readers the background of this unique Wagnerian docu-soap is written up here.

Nike Wagner (daughter of Wieland) and thus cousin of Eva and Katharina understandably feels side-tracked by the recently announced partnership of Eva and Katharina to bid for Bayreuth Festival leadership.

She tells the respected German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine that she learned of the new partnership via a journalist on a German television channel, but she was aware that Eva Wagner-Pasquier had spent Easter in Bayreuth with Wolfgang and Katharina.

Furthermore, Nike Wagner refuses to give up, claiming that she and Eva already have submitted a proposition for Bayreuth Festival leadership to the Board of Directors on March 31. According to the newspaper Kurier, this proposition is however invalid, since it lacks Eva Wagner-Pasquiers signature.

Nike furthermore says to Berliner Morgenpost, that the Eva-Katharina partnership is in her opinion a pseudo-partnership, since she claims that Eva will retire in a couple of years, leaving Katharina in charge alone.

Whatever way one chooses to look at it, there cannot be much doubt that Nike Wagner is out. Not that she was ever really "in" in the first place.

The influential "Friends of Bayreuth" organization, on which the Festival rely on a certain degree for economical support, are very positive towards the Eva Wagner-Pasquier/Katharina Wagner constellation.

Renowned German conductor and Chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonics Christian Thielemann is still very much a member of this team. In an interview with Tagesspiegel yesterday Christian Thielemann says:

"What is closer than his solution? You could at a maximum bring forward the accusation that they had not come together much sooner. Both Eva and Katharina are Wolfgang Wagner's daughters. It may be that over time one or another wedge has been driven into their relationship. But the sisters are not so different."

He continues: "With Eva, we must first talk. I, for example, would be interested to know by what criteria the singers were cast for the "Ring" of the Berlin Philharmonic in Aix-en-Provence for which she is responsible." [I would be even more interested to know by what criteria the singers for his own Bayreuth Ring were selected..]

"First of all, this whole unworthy dispute must end", he says.

The Bayreuth Succession part 17: Wolfgang Wagner hints at retirement and suggests a joint leadership between Katharina and Eva

Previous episodes of this Wagnerian docu-soap may be read here, and for new readers the background of this unique Wagnerian docu-soap is written up here.

After a long break, the docu-soap on the leadership to the Bayreuth Festival seems to continue.

Festival Manager (and grandson to Richard Wagner) the 88-year old (and ailing, judged on the photographs from his wife´s funeral last year) Wolfgang Wagner has now for the first time hinted that he might retire as head of the Festival. He suggests a joint leadership consisting of his two daughters Katharina Wagner (29) and Eva Wagner-Pasquier (63).

In contrast to previous reports from the two ladies, in which they strongly denied any possibility of teaming up for the Festival leadership, they now state that cooperation may be possible "under certain circumstances". In this leadership structure there may still be room for both German star-conductor Christian Thielemann and ex-Salzburg Festival Intendant Peter Ruzicka. Apparently Wolfgang Wagner has presented this suggestion to the State of Bavaria, who, through Minister of Culture and Science Thomas Goppel, in a letter to Wolfgang Wagner has supported the suggestion (according to Katharina Wagner).

Peter Ruzicka comments: "I think this is the best solution. The two ladies may start immediately. I will then concentrate on composing and look forward to receive honorary tickets for the Festival productions".

This is surprising news indeed, and I may only interpret it as a combination of 1) that Wolfgang Wagner is indeed not capable of continuing to run the Festival, 2) that Wolfgang Wagner is unsure whether the Katharina Wagner-Christian Thielemann-Peter Ruzicka bill may gain sufficient support at the Board Meeting, 3) that Eva Wagner-Pasquier is equally unsure of her own victory, and (maybe most importantly) 4) that the Board are working on options that completely exclude the Wagner Family from Future Festival leadership.

So in order to keep the business "in the family", this is the secure option. And it looks like a winning ticket, indeed. But, as events during the last year have shown, nothing is certain, and new players may emerge at any time.


The meeting of the Board of Directors to (allegedly) decide on future Festival leadership will take place on the 29th of April. At this meeting it appears that Katharina Wagner and Eva Wagner-Pasquier will present their visions for the future of the Bayreuth Festival.

Sources:

Die Welt, Spiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Kurier, Abendzeitung (all in German). Also covered at Sounds and Fury (in English).