DVD: Rattle Walküre from Aix

Die Walküre. Aix-en-Provence 2007. Production: Stéphane Braunschweig. Cast: Eva Johansson (Brünnhilde), Robert Gambill (Siegmund), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Sieglinde), Sir Willard White (Wotan), Lilli Paasikivi (Fricka). Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle with the Berlin Philharmonics.

Stéphane Braunschweig´s Walküre may perhaps best be described as Wotan´s human test tube, conceptually rather similar to Claus Guth´s recent Walküre in Hamburg but executed with an additional touch of aesthetic psychoanalysis.
A postmodern Freudian test tube with the characters moving in confined, virtually bare and closed Freudian spaces limited by elegant geometrical lines, symbol-laden steps and with stunning light effects applied. A very beautiful production allowing for focus on the music without losing scope of the drama on stage.

Robert Gambill both looks and acts the part as the weary Siegmund, but struggles with actually singing it. Eva-Maria Westbroek is simply superb as Sieglinde and is probably the finest jugendlich-dramatische soprano of today. Mikhail Petrenko looks like a second-rate Russian mobster with ditto authority as Hunding. Sir Willard White is dramatically, if not at all times vocally, superb. If Eva Johansson manages to control her quavering notes under pressure and her tendency to neurotic acting she will be a great Brünnhilde. Lilli Paasikivi was furthermore fine as Fricka.

Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonics were simply splendid in what will be Sir Simon´s first Ring Cycle in 2010. Slow tempi, poignant string and brass sections with plenty of energy and tension. I´ve previously considered Sir Simon Rattle more proficient in the non-conducting areas of his job (communication, programming etc) than in actually making the music. That he is such a fine Wagnerian conductor is the surprise of the year, so far. At least to me.

The complete televised performance on which this DVD is based is now available for free viewing at YouTube.

This is a review of the DVD release, also available on bluray.

Eva-Maria Westbroek and Robert Gambill from Act 1:

Ride of the Valkyries:

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

Sir Willard White: 4
Eva Johansson: 4
Eva-Maria Westbroek: 5
Mikhail Petrenko: 3-4
Lilli Paasikivi: 4-5
Robert Gambill: 3

Stephane Braunschweig´s production: 4

Sir Simon Rattle: 5

Overall impression: 4

DVD: The 1995 Götz Friedrich Meistersinger

Meistersinger. Director: Götz Friedrich. Deutsche Oper Berlin 1995. Cast: Wolfgang Brendel (Sachs), Gösta Winbergh (Walther), Eva Johansson (Eva), Victor von Halem (Pogner), Eike Wilm Schulte (Beckmesser). Conductor: Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. More details here.

This 1995 Götz Friedrich Meistersinger production from Deutsche Oper is still on the repertoire, most recently in February 2008, where I attended a rather fine live performance in Berlin.

Why several reviewers have praised this DVD as both insightful, interesting and revelatory is beyond me. I simply find it boring, though not as much as Wolfgang Wagner´s un-dead Bayreuth productions.

The staging is simplistic with a declining toy village image of the city of Nürnberg in the backgounrd as well as some images of 1945 Nürnberg apparently serving to distance the staging from the nationalistic aspects associated with the work, allegedly Hitler´s favourite Wagner opera and performed during the 1930´s party rallies in Nürnberg. Other than that, Götz Friedrich´s ideas seemed rather sparse.

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos is an interesting conductor, and musically many aspects work rather well. However, Meistersinger is above all a conductors opera and both James Levine and Daniel Barenboim are hard to beat on DVD, the latter in particular.

Wolfgang Brendel is a rather fine Sachs, though I´d personally prefer more sparkle as well as more (some?) chemistry with Eva Johansson´s Eva, a part she can sing, but which doesn´t seem ideal for her. Best was Gösta Winbergh as a both vocally solid and dramatically believable (though not too young) Walther. The additional cast all performed well, without stealing the show.

For those not keen on the Metropolitan Opera Schenk production, this may be worth exploring.

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

Wolfgang Brendel: 4
Eva Johansson: 3-4
Gösta Winberg: 4
Eike Wilm Schulte: 3

Götz Friedrich´s production: 3

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos: 4

Overall impression: 3

Elektra on DVD: Superb Eva Johansson in Kusej staging from Zurich

Elektra. Zurich Opera House 2006. Director: Martin Kusej. Cast: Eva Johansson (Elektra), Melanie Diener (Chrysothemis), Marjana Lipovsek (Klytemnestra), Alfred Muff (Orestes). Conductor: Christoph van Dohnanyi. More details here.

Martin Kusej´s Zurich production of Elektra is surprisingly traditional - while the exterior may have changed from Ancient Greece to a proxy-swinger-orgy complete with the standard dose of nudity/seminudity, the core remains: Elektra, at the center of a society, rotten with depravity.

Everything all takes place in a room with a buckly floor lined by seven doors, polstered on the outside. Transvestites, Parisian Cabaret dancer look-a -ikes, nudes (and semi-nudes) constantly exit and enter the part-brothel, part-asýlum, part-swinger club room. The psychopathic mother, the dreamily unrealistic sister, the repugnant stepfather, the eerie brother all seem to belong in this place of sadism, incest and suicide. The recognition scene is beautiful - when the roof opens, a silvery shimmer descends on the blue room.

Elektra in semi-punk hooded sweater and baggy pants appear the sanest of them all. And Eva Johansson is simply a superb Elektra, probably her best part. Her tendency to neurotic and wild acting suits the part perfectly, as does the sometimes shrill ring to her occasionally sharp tone. With almost no vibrato, she is virtually on pitch throughout and nails the high C like few others. I cannot imagine a better interpreter of the part on stage today.
Marjana Lipovsek´s very strong Klytemnestra is not as decadent as often seen, and the former mightly Queen has now most of all become a Drag Queen.

Next to these hyperintense women, Melanie Diener is refreshingly human as Chrysothemis.
Christoph von Dohnányi has a no-nonsense approach to the score - stringent and with clear lines.

Compared to the other Elektra DVDs on the market, I personally prefer this one together with the Kupfer/Abbado production from Vienna. The alternatives are the Götz Friedrich film with Leonie Rysanek and the MET 1980 production with Birgit Nilsson/Leonie Rysanek.

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

Eva Johansson: 5
Melanie Diener: 4
Marjana Lipovsek: 4-5
Alfred Muff: 3

Christoph von Dohnanyi: 4
Martin Kusej: 5

Overall impression: 4-5

The Copenhagen Ring - Die Walküre

This post is part of a series of posts on The Copenhagen Ring, consisting of:
The Copenhagen Ring - overview and concept.
The Copenhagen Ring - Rheingold.
The Copenhagen Ring - Walküre.
The Copenhagen Ring - Siegfried.
The Copenhagen Ring - Götterdämmerung.

Reviews of The Copenhagen Ring DVD here.

Die Walküre. Premiere 2003. Part of The Copenhagen Ring Cycles 2006. Royal Danish Opera. Michael Schönwandt, conductor. Kasper Bech Holten, director.

Cast on The Copenhagen Ring DVD (scheduled for release July 2008): Stig Fogh Andersen (Siegmund), Gitta-Maria Sjöberg (Sieglinde), James Johnson (Wotan), Irene Théorin(Brünnhilde), Stephen Milling (Hunding), Randi Stene (Fricka). Full cast information here.

We have now moved forward from the 1920´s of Rheingold to the conform and frozen 1950´s. Everything literally takes place within confined boxes- even Hunding and Sieglinde´s home only occupy a small fraction of the stage, which then turns around to expose a hill covered in flowers later in Act 1. Sieglinde is a nervous and insecure German hausfrau, but being part of a A Femine Ring she does manage to pull the sword and hand it to Siegmund.
We see Wotan in his command centre, on the bridge, moving around with casts of Siegmund and Sieglinde beneath him. On both sides of the stage the bookshelves are present, reminding us, that this is part of Brünnhildes recollection of her past. Not a man of action, Wotan does not kill the one Hunding on stage I´ve seen that truly deserves to die...
The emerging of Brünnhilde within a blue mist to warn Siegmund is one of the most beautiful scenes of the Cycle. Curiously the lights used to achieve this quite spectacular effect, according to Jesper Kongshaug (the light director), comes from one of the few artificial light sources stronger than the sun (!).
The huge black wings of the Valkyries are one of the easiest recognizable features of the production, with Wotan symbolically tearing them off Brünnhilde as she goes to sleep.

The Walküre Rock was loosely inspired by the cupula of the New Carlsberg Glyptotek (an art museum in Copenhagen), and (unfortunately for me, as I find it rather ugly) is to reappear virtually unaltered in both Siegfried and Götterdämmerung...

It was in this Walküre that Plácido Domingo appeared once in the new opera house in 2006 - apparently stepping into the staging without problems after virtually no rehearsals.
Originally Poul Elming was scheduled as Siegmund, but he pulled out at short notice due to illness and was replaced by Stig Andersen, who thus sang Siegmund and Siegfried both on stage and in the DVD production. Tina Kiberg´s lyrical (and better looking) Brünnhilde alternated with Iréne Théorin´s more dramatically inclined one. A mix of the best of these two interpretations would really have been something..Iréne Théorin will appear on the DVD, the right choice in my opinion. James Johnson created a convincing Wotan opposite Randi Stene´s elegant Fricka. Gitta-Maria Sjöberg´s Sieglinde I have seen only once (as both Iréne Théorin and Eva Johansson also appeared in the part) and remember very little about.

But the absolute highlight of this Walküre (and perhaps of the entire cycle) was Stephen Milling as Hunding. The meanest characyter I have ever seen on stage - perhaps with the exception of the late Aage Haugland, but nobody else even comes close...

The staging step by step with photographs:

The meanest Hunding alive:

Sieglinde and Hunding´s house has turned 180 degrees to expose a flowery hill on which we see Siegmund and Sieglinde:

Wotan and Brünnhilde - at that brief moment where everything is going well (they believe)..

Before Fricka enters on Wotan´s commando bridge:

Brunnhilde in front of the casts of Siegmund and Sieglinde:

Brünnhilde to foretell Siegmund´s death:

The appearance of Brünnhilde from the blue mist was one of the most beautiful scenes in the entire cycle. Note the bookshelves of Wotan´s attic at both sides emphasizing the whole cycle as a flash-back of Brünnhildes mind:

Modeled on the New Carlsberg Glyptotek we see the Walkure Rock - my biggest objection to the staging of the entire cycle as I simply finds it unattractive. Unfortunately it reappears in both Siegfried and Götterdämmerung:

Wotan arrives to punish Brünnhilde:

Wotan´s goodbye to Brünnhilde:

Photographs from the Royal Danish Opera and the website of The Copenhagen Ring.

Vienna: New Walküre in which Uusitalo looses his voice

A nightmare for Finnish bass-barytone Juha Uusitalo: At the premiere of Walküre, the first installment of the new Ring at the Vienna State Opera , Uusitalo was apparently singing with a cold and lost his voice during the Monologue. In the third act he could only whisper, and Oskar Hillebrandt, seemingly in the process of eating a pizza at the Westbahnhof, was brough in to sing the remainder of the part. Terje Stensvold, an excellent Wotan, is scheduled as Wotan in the next performance on Thursday.

The production is by Sven-Eric Bechtolf. Franz Welser-Möst conducts. The cast: Nina Stemme, Eva Johansson, Juha Uusitalo, Johan Botha and Michaela Schuster.

Reviews:

Der Standard thought the staging to be uninspired and naive in the conception. However particular praise to Johan Botha and Nina Stemme as the Wälsung twins.

Financial Times also was rather unimpressed with Bechtolfs staging, but even less impressed with Holender´s tackling of Uusitalo´s lost voice. Quote:

"Holender was greeted with storms of boos, a reception not inappropriate for a man who had failed to organise an understudy for the opera’s heaviest role. He held up both hands and talked. When he had hired Uusitalo four years ago, the man had been in fine voice. He has sung the role well in other houses. He was fine at the dress rehearsal. He, Holender, had advised Uusitalo to be more careful with his voice in the last rehearsals. Oskar Hillebrand had answered his mobile phone and agreed to sing the part from the pit, while Uusitalo acted his role silently on the stage, a solution that he, Holender, did not especially like, but what else can you do with such a production?The boos were tamed, but the cost was high. Uusitalo was just having a bad night. It can happen to anyone."

Marvellous Elektra at The Royal Danish Opera

Elektra. Royal Danish Opera 2006. Director: Peter Konwitschny. Cast: Eva Johansson (Elektra), Tina Kiberg (Chrysothemis), Susanne Resmark (Klytemnestra). Conductor: Michael Schønwandt.

After more than 20 years as a regular at the Royal Danish Opera, this Elektra is probably the best production I have ever seen here. A genuine artistic triumph, dramatically as well as musically staged at the new water-front Copenhagen Opera House.

Peter Konwitschny´s concept is simply brilliant: A giant electric timer dominates the stage continually counting down to time=zero with Oreste´s slaying of Aegisth. The murder of Agamemnon is played out in front of the curtain immediately before the music sets in with Agamemnon´s body in the bathtub present on stage throughout the opera, being pushed around by Elektra (psychologically explanatory notes redundant).

The sets are neutral with a strict geometrical aesthetism, rather unusual for Konwitschny, at least compared to his previous productions of Lohengrin, Parsifal and The Flying Dutchman. A sofa and a table in the otherwise naked living-room of Aegisth and Klytemnestra. Bodyguards thoroughly searching all visitors before granting them entrance to these futuristic rulers of society. With the death of Aegisth a new world begins, necessitating the eradication of any traces of the old. Thus, it is only logical that the men of Orest kill both Elektra and Chrysothemis as well as everybody else in an impressive inferno of machine gun salves marking the new beginning.

On the musical side, the Royal Danish Orchestra with Michael Schønwandt has never been better – with excellent attention to detail as well as to the overall dramatic drive. Especially the woodwind section seem very strong at the moment.

Eva Johansson is simply the strongest Elektra imaginable on stage today, vocally as well as dramatically as documented on the recently released Zurich Elektra DVD. Her steely soprano with minimal vibrato, easy top-notes as well as slightly neurotic acting are simply perfect for the part. Furthermore as Chrysothemis, Tina Kiberg delivers her best performance in several seasons. Susanne Resmark´s dramatic mezzo and commanding presence is ideal for Klytemnestra. Admittedly a great Klytemnestra does not need a great voice to convince, but it doesn´t hurt either.

In summary, a major success for the Royal Danish Opera.

Photograph: http://www.kglteater.dk/

The post-nuclear Ring - Deutsche Oper Berlin

This is Götz Friedrich´s ”cold-war” Ring from 1984, still in the repertoire at Deutsche Oper Berlin. I attended a Cycle during the second week of February 2007:

The Gods have escaped into a tunnel after the nuclear war has destroyed the world. This tunnel is a constant feature in the cycle serving as backdrop of the end-game of the Gods: The end is like the beginning, and the bomb detonates once again in the end of Götterdämmerung, sending Alberich scrambling for the gold once more.

The relatively bare stage brings a certain mythologic quality to the work, although I find the whole set-up dusty and the direction of the singers uninteresting (difficult to say if this was the original intention of Götz Friedrich since he died in 2000).

I suspect that Donald Runnicles may actually be a quite competent Wagner conductor, although his style is a bit too passive and distant for my liking.There were glimpses of fine playing by the orchestra, but generally it was close to disastrous: Imprecise to an embarassing degree combined with odd changes in tempi not followed by the singers. Worst in Rheingold, gradually improving however, with Götterdämmerung the absolute highlight, after 12 hours rehearsing, I suppose. To Runnicles´ defence I must add, that it was the first time he conducted the orchestra and being a revival production, rehearsing time probably was limited. But there is no doubt, that in Wagner, the leading orchestra is at the Berlin State Opera, especially when Daniel Barenboim is on the podium.

The singers were the usual suspects: Evelyn Herlitzius (Brünnhilde)-very lively and engaging, Eva Johansson (a fine, though neurotic Sieglinde), Robert Dean Smith (quite moving as Siegmund, making excellent use of his not too large voice), Alfons Eberz (vocally a fine Siegfried, but otherwise rather stiff ). And Terje Stensvold as a vocally magnificent Wotan. Voc. Impressively how this man´s international career seems to have started at a time where most others´ end.

But the most impressive performance was Matti Salminen´s excellent Hagen, stepping in for an indisposed Hans Peter König. Moving in and out between magnifying glasses, showing his face in grotesque proportions, he was the absolute center of Götterdämmerung, personifying evil and with subtle irony as well. And vocally – no problems at all with Hagen´s Call. Incidentally, Matti Salminen also sang Hagen, when this production premiered in 1984 and is the most convincing Hagen I have seen since the late Aage Haugland in Aarhus in the late 1980´s.

This is in fact, a relatively visitor-friendly Ring Cycle scheduled in one week only. However, the Deutsche Oper is not a very attractive venue, especially when compared to competing venues such as the State Opera, not to mention the Dresden Semperoper, only 2 hours away.

Although the staging still holds a certain interest, as well as serving as a historic doument of Friedrich´s work and being an important production in the history of Ring stagings, I´d say that for artistic reasons a new Deutsche Oper Ring would not be out of place, but for monetary reasons this looks not very realistic.