The production was also infamous for the "that wig goes on stage with or without you"-comment to Angela Gheorghiu´s initial refusal to wear a blonde wig as Micaëla. In the end, she went on with the wig. Plácido Domingo was Don José. James Levine conducted. The whole ting was filmed, but will it also be released on DVD? Maybe not.
But what was it like? Two video excerpts are provided with Waltraud Meier´s Carmen.
Habanera:
And the wig with Angela Gheorghiu:
Parsifal. Berlin State Opera. March 6th 2009. Cast: Plácido Domingo (Parsifal), Waltraud Meier (Kundry), Matti Salminen (Gurnemanz), Christof Fischesser (Klingsor), Hanno Müller-Brachmann (Amfortas). Conductor: Daniel Barenboim. Further information here.
The Parsifal production of the Berlin State Opera is by film-maker Bernd Eichinger from 2005 and described in detail at my last visit two years ago. In brief, Eichinger sees Parsifal as a journey in time. Furthermore, he doesn´t really seem to know anything about directing opera, making Parsifal a display of filmic sets, leaving the singers free to create the characters. Which is why the appearance yesterday of three leads, all new to the production, didn´t really make any difference, despite a minimal rehearsing time.
As Parsifal, Plácido Domingo was notoriously underprepared, relying heavily on audible prompting, especially in the second act. Famous for his acting skills, he had no connection with the character at all, seemingly stretching himself to the maximum to get through it alive and pronounce the words at least partially correct. Has he ever been dramatically convincing as the innocent fool? I suspect not. But yesterday he was painfully unconvincing, almost downright terrible, I (as a staunch Domingo-Wagner fan) am very sorry to say. The tones, however, were beautiful and probably not to be heard better by anyone today in this part. In a concert performance he would have been stunning. However, is it really possible to watch a performance with no chemistry between Plácido Domingo and Waltraud Meier? I wouldn´t have thought so, but apparently it is.
Plácido Domingo has chosen to sing this role again in public. And hats off to him for not cancelling the performance in front of a sold-out house. But he should have been better prepared as this was far below his own standards.
Waltraud Meier was simply stunning as Kundry. Her magnetic stage presence and dramatic projections make me hope she can continue at least 1o years more with this part. That she may have choked on a couple of high notes I find entirely unimportant in the bigger picture, and furthermore the entire middle-lower register, occupying the majority of the part was as beautiful as ever.
The major draw-back to this evening, of course was René Pape´s cancellation and in my book I suspect these performances will go down as "the Berlin Parsifals René Pape didn´t sing". I would be lying if I said he wasn´t heavily missed.
That said, Matti Salminen was a rather smashing substitute. Salminen´s voice ages well and remains firm, entirely avoiding the vibrato marring the singing of colleagues such as John Tomlinson, Kurt Rydl and Samuel Ramey. Furthermore, he was in fine vocal shape and he is an intellingent singer, fully knowing that extended legato-lines and ringing top-notes (René Pape´s major strong points) are not his aces, converting some of these to sprech-gesang or cunning pianissimi letting Barenboim´s orchestra overshadow him (best example in the Gesegnet sei section, at which point I suspect he was down-right exhausted as well). Not unimportantly, Matti Salminen has the required stage authority and apart from he-who-was-not-here I don´t think a better Gurnemanz is around.
Hanno Müller-Brachmann is an Amfortas way above average with a warm, rounded, slightly lyrical approach. Also quite superb Christof Fischesser as Klingsor, though he was occasionally thrown off guard by Barenboim´s rugged tempi. Both on the highest international level.
Daniel Barenboim doesn´t really make things easy either. The orchestra hasn´t played Parsifal in two years and I strongly suspect he didn´t waste too much time rehearsing it either. On top, he applied some peculiar accentuations and rather rugged shift of tempi, not fully incorporated within all sections of the orchestra and which threw the singers off guard, contributing to the sense of unease prevailing in this performance. But he does get beneath the glittering beauty of a Thielemann Parsifal to the closest I can imagine to the core of the work.
However, the evening as a whole didn´t really take off. Still, a Parsifal vastly superior to the one in Bayreuth, but inferior to previous performances of the same production at this house.
The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 4=average):
Plácido Domingo: 3
Waltraud Meier: 5
Matti Salminen: 5
Hanno Müller-Brachmann: 5
Christof Fischesser: 5
Daniel Barenboim: 5
Overall impression: 4
Below photos and video excerpts from Achim Freyer´s upcoming Los Angeles Opera Ring:
Rheingold:
There are many fine aspects to Tan Dun´s opera The First Emperor, which received its world-premiere at the Metropolitan Opera 2006: The rhythms in the instrumental sections are incisive and oriental colorite as well as traditional Chinese instruments are well integrated into a standard Western symphonic orchestra. Furthermore, elements of Peking Opera are incorporated successfully. However, when the singers start to sing, the compository quality drops markedly. It seems Tan Dun´s composition for voice is limited to extended wailing legato lines. Which do in fact seem endless, when repeated...endlessly.
In brief, the First Emperor (Domingo) orders his General to capture the composer Jianli (Paul Groves) and make him compose an Anthem in his honour. During the capture Jianlis family is killed and his village is ruined. In return, the General is promised the Emperors daughter. However, the Emperors daughter and Jianli falls in love, though the Emperor persuades Jianli to give her up temporarily. Believing she is betrayed, the Princess commits suicide before she finds out that Jianli has poisoned the General. Mad with grief, Jianli bites his tongue off in front of the Emperor, who kills him to spare him further pain. Now the Anthem is heard: It is a slave chorus, Jianli´s revenge.
Elizabeth Futral has the exact exquisite manners of an Oriental Princess, and though she is not given much to work with vocally, she makes the most of what she has. Also Plácido Domingo seemed to struggle with this eternal wailing, but has the bearing of an Emperor. Paul Groves is the only one, who occasionally is given more than endless legato lines in the part of Jianli.
Otello. Teatro alla Scala 2001. Production: Graham Vick. Cast: Plácido Domingo (Otello), Barbara Frittoli (Desdemona), Leo Nucci (Iago), Cesare Catani (Cassio). Conductor: Riccardo Muti. Further information here.
Graham Vicks Otello opened the 2001 La Scala season and was at the same time Plácido Domingos farewell to a role, he had dominated for more than 30 years.
Plácido Domingo is 60 years here, and in pure vocal terms he was in stronger voice on his earlier Otello DVDs from Covent Garden 1992 and Metropolitan Opera 1995. However, this seems a minor concern, when he presents with such a truly majestic Otello as seen here. Psychologically, his portrayal of the ultimately insecure stranger made leader, has never been better.
Barbara Frittoli´s Desdemona is youthful, but nevertheless a strong and unsentimental woman. And her relationship with Otello is entirely believable. How she compares to Renée Fleming at the competing Met DVD? Depends on tastes, I´d say. Where Renée Fleming is the more refined and multifacetted Desdemona, Barbara Frittoli wins by her freshness and youthfulness. However, the beauty of Renée Fleming´s Desdemona is almost unearthly.
Graham Vick provides a very spartan single set inside an ornamentated marble semicircle. Beautiful period costumes are applied. The focus, clearly is on the psychological drama. We clearly see, how Otello, despite his advanced age is genuinely insecure compared to his very young wife. Leo Nucci´s Iago works rather by scheming friendliness, as his appearance is rather un-menacing.
Riccardo Muti provides powerful conducting. I know from personal experience how his Otello may blow you away in the theater, however I feel he fails to extract the subtleties from the scores. That this may be done without losing any power, Solti is only one example of.
All in all, this Otello ties closely with the Metropolitan production as a recommendation as the best Otello on DVD.
Plácido Domingo - Niun mi tema:
The bottom line (scale from 1-5, 3=average):
Plácido Domingo: 5
Barbara Frittoli: 5
Leo Nucci: 4
Graham Vicks production: 4
Riccardo Muti: 4
Overall impression: 5
First of all, this is not a filmed production of Wagner´s last opera Parsifal, but rather a 90-minute documentary centered around the sources of Parsifal - primarily the Grail legend and its treatment in modern culture, mixed with selected scenes from he opera.
The documentary is filmed on location in Bayreuth, St. Petersburg and Ravello (Southern Italy), and includes a brief interview with Wolfgang Wagner (grandson of Richard) on the Bayreuth Festival stage in an (almost) understandable German. Modern works inspired by the Grail legend are also presented, such as Monty Python and Indiana Jones.
Then, however, so-called experts comment on various aspects on the Grail legend and Wagner´s treatment of the sources, mainly resulting in simplistic and naive comments revealing a minimum of insight into the complexity of Wagner´s score: Conclusions on how Parsifal carries a message of universal peace and the racial messages of Parsifal and their influence on Hitler and Holocaust also seem simplistic and I am not at all convinced they are substantiated by facts.
The highlight of the documentary is the passages from a live Parsifal performance in St Petersburg featuring Plácido Domingo, Violeta Urmana, Matti Salminen, Nikolai Putilin and Valery Gergiev. Unfortunately, these clips are far too short.
The film is narrated by Plácido Domingo, whom I generally consider an intelligent man. Though also he makes some very simplistic comments on the universal messages of Parsifal, which I will do everyone a favor of not repeating here..
Though this documentary may serve as a fine introduction to the opera Parsifal, it definitely does not hold for repeated viewing.
Waltraud Meier (center) with Evelyn Herlitzius, Alan Held, Jane Henschel, René Pape and the Valkyries. At this point Plácido Domingo is still having dinner....
Die Walküre. Concert performance. Teatro Liceu, Barcelona. May 31th 2008.
Cast: Plàcido Domingo (Siegmund), Waltraud Meier (Sieglinde), Renè Pape (Hunding), Alan Held (Wotan), Evelyn Herlitzius (Brünnhilde), Jane Henschel (Fricka). Cond: Sebastian Weigle. Further information here.
Scheduled as a concert performance, this was in fact a semi-staged performance: Three (or more) chairs placed on the stage in front of a brown screen. With the orchestra in the pit and the singers moving and acting as in a fully staged performance, the difference between this and a "modern" stage production may have been very small indeed..
The beautifully restored Liceu Opera House, of course was packed. The atmosphere was electric. None of the protagonists had cancelled. The performance was marvellous. The drinks were cheap. The auditorium was fantastic, being perhaps the most beautiful traditional opera house I have been in. What more can you ask for, except cheaper tickets?
Well, mainly a better conducted performance. Sebastian Weigle was actually booed by some at the end of the evening, and while I strongly disagree with this type of behaviour, I appreciate the underlying point: He was not good. This was in fact one of the most boringly conducted Wagner performances, I´ve heard in a theatre of this level. And a pity, really, since the quality of the orchestra seems to be rather high. And especially since his sleepwalking Wagner reading prevented the first act to be truly electric, despite fabulous performances from the singers. He was equally boring last year in the Bayreuth Meistersinger, which I then attributed to his unfamiliarity with the special covered pit...
This was in theory a complete performance of Die Walküre, but in reality the performance was built upon a dream-team Act 1, as I don't expect anyone payed the steep 150+ Euro ticket prices (my only real complaint about this performance apart from the conductor) to see Alan Held (who was in fact a very fine Wotan) or Evelyn Herlitzius´ lively Brünnhilde, once again demonstrating that huge sounds may be produced by slim singers. Otherwise Jane Henschel was a fine Fricka.
Now, to the point: Why does Plàcido Domingo keep singing Siegmund at 67+ years? The simple answer: I suppose, because nobody does it as well as he does...
If singing Siegmund was a competition on generating the loudest sound or displaying the freshest voice, he would perhaps be pressed by some his younger colleagues. But then there is the characterization, the vocal drama, the intensity. In fact, the only one beating Plàcido Domingo's Siegmund today, is his own Siegmund 15 years ago..
In this respect, it is incomprehensible that we do not have his Siegmund (preferably with Waltraud Meier's Sieglinde) on disc or DVD from his prime, but hopefully this will change..
I have now heard Plàcido Domingo as Siegmund four times within the last year, and he seemed in equally fine shape here in Barcelona as he was in London last autumn, with a Wälse cry (almost) effortlessly filling the auditorium and a thrilling dramatic intensity including superb chemistry with Waltraud Meier.
And again, no: Domingo's German diction is not bad. He has, in fact, excellent diction of a heavily accented German, of which I understood anything. How many times have I not heard native German tenors sing Siegmund and not being able to understand a word? Countless. Next to Renè Pape, who probably has the most perfect German diction seen on stage today, German speakers (as myself) probably cannot help occasionally noticing his somewhat strange German. But more as a curiosity than anything flawing his performance, in my opinion.
Should he stop singing the part, just because he was better 15 years ago? I don`t think so. If several significantly better singers were around, then maybe...
Plácido Domingo curiously only turned up at the second Third Act curtain call (thus missing the first), which I´ve been told was due to him having dinner outside the Theatre during Act 3 and simply not hearing the cell phone call for him to return!
Nevertheless, Plàcido Domingo was not the best singer of the evening. That was Renè Pape.
You don't need a beautiful voice to sing Hunding - most basses just yell their way (and quite effectively) through it. But it does help and it's refreshing for once, to hear all the words sung in full noble Wotan-type voice with complete command of the stage. But completely, 100% mean, he just cannot be with that beautiful voice...And, while he has the low notes well within his grasp, they are clearly outside his comfort zone. Which is just fine, since Renè Pape has really moved on from this part, and with his upcoming Wotan (about time!), I suspect his Metropolitan Opera performances of Hunding next season will be among his last ones, for the foreseeable future.
Had Richard Wagner been alive today, one of the singers that would have made him really happy (he would probably have tried to have an affair with her as well!) would have been the superb Waltraud Meier. In superb voice, completely unstrained, Sieglinde remains one of her most moving portraits. She has everything this part asks for: The vulnerability, the passion, the slight madness, the capability of going over the edge..And as always with Waltraud Meier, I know perfectly well what her vocal flaws are, I just don´t care about them..
And finally, to the really important issues:
Plàcido Domingo looked fine. Renè Pape looked great. Waltraud Meier looked..well, as much as I hate to say it: Disappointingly plain. She was wearing the same type flowery dress, as last year in the same team's Munich Walkure, and it just makes her look unsophisticated, which is the last thing she is, being one of the most beautiful and sophisticated women on stage today. Hopefully, she'll take the opportunity to change it before this summer's Walküre performances with Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra...
Other reviews in Spanish/Catalán from Barcelona-based bloggers GTL torn T and In fernem Land.
Otello. Royal Opera Covent Garden 1992. Production: Moshinsky. Cast: Plácido Domingo (Otello), Kiri Te Kanawa (Desdemona), Sergei Leiferkus (Iago), Robin Leggate (Cassio). Conductor: Sir Georg Solti. Further information here.
The Prince and Princess of Wales (Princess Diana) was present at this Otello-performance to celebrate Sir Georg Solti´s 80th birthday in what turned out to be their last official public appearance together. And as some will know, Sir Georg Solti and Princess Diana died within the same week some years later.
On Moshinsky´s production it can be said that it is traditional, however on the minimalistic side avoiding the excesses of a Zeffirelli.
On Plácido Domingos Otello I offer nothing which hasn´t been put in writing numerous times already: In my opinion, Otello is his best part, in which he has been unrivalled for about thirty years and his performance here could not be bettered. A superb singing-actor with Shakesperean singing and acting. Opposing him is Sergei Leiferkus, who presents a vocally convincing characterization of Iago, however with a weak stage presence entirely without menace.
While Kiri Te Kanawa vocally is fine as Desdemona, though without the bloom or vocal expressiveness of a truly great one, she is, in my opinion, among the most boring singing-actresses to have had a major career. There is no chemistry between her and Plácido Domingo, something I am not inclined to blame on him. She is far inferior to both Barbara Frittoli at La Scala and Renée Fleming at the Met on the competing DVDs featuring Plácido Domingo as Otello.
Sir Georg Solti, on the contrary, is inferior to no-one being typically explosive and dramatic. Furthermore, he manages to shape the lyric phrases as well and creates thrilling dramatic intensity in a way Riccardo Muti may only dream of. It may be his 80th birthday, but he conducts as if he was half that age.
Plácido Domingo aso Otello is the way to go on DVD with the choice between this version, the MET and Scala. Personally, I´d opt for the Scala version.
Plácido Domingo and Kiri Te Kanawa, Gia nella notte densa:
The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):
Plácido Domingo: 5
Kiri Te Kanawa: 3
Segei Leiferkus: 4
Moshinsky´s production: 3
Sir Georg Solti: 5
Overall impression: 4
Angelika Kirchschlager and Genia Kühmeier in the final scene of Rosenkavalier, Thielemann conducts:
Moshinsky´s Metropolitan Opera production of Otello is a rather traditional affair, not overly spectacular, however not excessively overstuffed. In short a production fitting for a standard "bread and butter" opera, where the cast is bound to change continuously for years to come. Though I do not think a better cast has been assembled for this Otello, than the present one.
Renée Fleming has stated that Desdemona fits her voice so well, that it in fact could be written for her. And she is indeed extremely well-suited to this part with her blooming, creamy voice, here in her absolute prime. I have never seen a better performance from her than this. Furthermore, she has superb stage chemistry with Plácido Domingo, who appears (as of now) on three Otello DVDs: The 2001 Scala production with Barbara Frittoli and Riccardo Muti and the 1992 Covent Garden production with Kiri Te Kanawa and Georg Solti.
Something may be said for each of those versions. Focusing solely on Plácido Domingo, I´d say that he is in better voice than in 2001 and has more poignancy to the interpretation as well as infinitely more chemistry with the Desdemona here than at Covent Garden. So often has it been stated the Plácido Domingo is Otello, that it seems rather redundant to repeat.
Of James Morris´ Iago I am slightly uncertain as of what to say. He can sing the part and he is sly and cunning, but somehow he doesn´t really seem vocally at ease.
Superb performance from the chorus, and an engaged performance from the orchestra under James Levine.
Many may prefer this as their favourite Otello DVD. Personally I may narrowly prefer the Scala version due to the slightly more inventive staging. Again, among the Domingo versions some may chose the Covent Garden Otello, though the lack of interaction between Domingo and Te Kanawa is a major liability in my book.
Renée Fleming "Ave Maria":
