DVD: Met Manon Lescaut

Manon Lescaut. Cast: Karita Mattila (Manon), Marcelo Giordani (des Grieux). Conductor: James Levine. Further information here.

Not a production adding to Peter Gelb´s image of The Met as a modern opera house, this Manon Lescaut looks mostly like the dusty interiors of a museum, and by the way has already been released on DVD decades ago with Plácido Domingo and Renata Scotto.

As Manon, Karita Mattila pretty much misses the boat sounding downright odd in her normally brilliant middle register, though once again demonstrating astonishing range of expressivity, particulary in an entirely convincing "sola, perduta, abbandonata". Partnered by committed, though perhaps not particularly elegant, singing from Marcello Giordano and a solid performance from Dwayne Croft was as voice as Manon´s brother.

All accompanied by a dynamic and spirited performance by James Levine.

And now The Met could use a new production of Manon Lescaut. Please.

Karita Mattila "In quelle trine morbide":

Berlin: Success for Angelika Kirchschlager debut as Carmen

Carmen. Deutsche Oper Berlin, March 8th 2009. Production: Schumacher revision of 1979 production. Cast: Angelika Kirchschlager (Carmen), Massimo Giordano (Don José), Michaela Kaune (Micaëla), Raymond Aceta (Escamillo). Conductor: Yves Abel. Further information here.

Not even 3 months ago, director Jürgen Gosch had to cancel this new Carmen at the Deutsche Oper due to illness, leaving the house with two choices: Either cancelling the whole thing or mounting a revival of the old 1979 production. They chose the last option and mounted a so-called "refreshened" version of their drearily realistic 1979 Carmen production. As I have not seen the originial version, I may not comment on exactly what constituted the "refreshments", though suffice to say the production looked drearily realistic and is better forgotten than mentioned.

I believe the house had offered a refund to ticketholders, however I came for Angelika Kirchschlager´s Carmen. Originally scheduled a couple of searons ago at the London Royal Opera (where she was replaced by Anna Caterina Antonacci), this performance marked her debut in the role.

And in short, Angelika Kirchschlager is a wonderful Carmen. Not the obvious choice of role for her as a predominantly lyrical mezzo-soprano basing her career primarly around such parts as Octavian (Rosenkavalier), her approach is nevertheless far from timid. Though essentially a lyrical voice, she clearly puts characterization over beautiful sound and projects well throughout her entire range. The dramatic punch some may miss in her interpretation, she makes up for with distinctive characterization. And she never forces her voice. Furthermore, her acting is fabulous in what is probably her most challenging part on stage as yet. This Carmen is certainly not a slut, she is an ordinary, elegant woman insisting on her freedom. In an accompanying interview Angelika Kirchschlager stated that: "There is nothing in Carmen, I do not see in myself. The figure is only positive." And this is exactly how she plays it.

Local favourite and ensemble member Michaela Kaune sang a touching Micaëla while American bass Raymond Aceto made an excellent impression with a both voluminous and steady voice and seems destined for greater things in the future.

Major applause also for Massimo Giordano. He has the notes, he looks fine, but ultimately I found him relatively uninteresting, mainly due to the lack of expressivity and engaged acting.

A bit more punch from Yves Abel in the pit would have contributed greatly to the creating of drama on-stage as the orchestra played almost too nicely. But they played well.

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

Angelika Kirchschlager: 5
Massimo Giordano: 3-4
Michaela Kaune: 4
Raymond Aceto: 4-5

The staging: 2

Overall impression: 3-4

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.

Berlin: Magdalena Kozena in Octavian role debut

Rosenkavalier. Berlin State Opera, March 7th 2009. Production: Nicolas Brieger. Cast: Angela Denoke (Marschallin), Magdalena Kožená (Octavian), Sylvia Schwartz (Sophie), Peter Rose (Ochs), Hans-Joachim Ketelsen (Faninal). Conductor: Asher Fisch. Further information here.

The main interest in this revival of Briegers stylish Rosenkavalier production at the Berlin State Opera was Dorothea Röschmann and Magdalena Kožená in their role debuts as Marschallin and Octavian, respectively. In the end, Röschmann cancelled her participation and was replaced in all performances by Angela Denoke.

Magdalena Kožená´s stage presence is a mixture of neurotic hyperenergy and shyness, not entirely inappropriate for an Octavian. And her voice is clearly among the most beautiful lyrical mezzo-sopranos on stage today, light as well as even. However, as Octavian she is stretched beyond her vocal limits, almost retorting to shrieking out the high notes and with seemingly no vocal reserves left. Bearing in mind the relatively small size of this house, any attempts at this part at a larger house would seem hazardous. As she is clearly no comic actress there may not be many operatic parts suitable to showcase her immense vocal qualities. I believe ms. Kožená has previously stated that she considers lieder singing her strongest asset, a field where she is matched by few.

Rather superb performance from the slightly cool-voiced Angela Denoke as the Marschallin, capturing the essence of the part with extraordinary vocal characterization in addition to looking great and acting well. A slight unsteadiness towards the top is of far less importance here than in the heavier repertoire (Leonore-Fidelio, Kundry etc.), she unfortunately takes on as well.
Also Sylvia Schwartz, a company member who was declared indisposed due to a a muscle fiber neck injury, made a very fine Sophie. Peter Rose is as fine an Ochs as any and while subtlety may not be Asher Fish´s strongest asset, the piece does move along in a refreshingly no-nonsense reading.

The bottom line:

Angela Denoke: 4-5
Peter Rose: 4-5
Magdalena Kozena: 4
Sylvia Schwartz: 4

Brieger´s production: 4

Asher Fish: 4

Overall impression: 4

Berlin: Embarrassingly underprepared Domingo as Parsifal with Meier, Salminen and Barenboim

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

damn, double damn

Worst possible (well almost) opera news of the week (the season??, the year??):
Matti Salminen replaces René Pape in the Barenboim-conducted Berlin Parsifal on Friday. Notwithstanding I am a big fan of Salminen, and Plácido Domingo and Waltraud Meier are both appearing as well, I must admit I shall probably have to sell my ticket. Which at least shouldn´t be a problem.

And, as of Wednesday, a look in the comments section will reveal that he will be replaced by Robert Holl Monday. And by Robert Holl also next Thursday with Gergive at the Barbican.

Well...opera is only entertainment after all. I suppose that is the rational way to go about this. But I would be lying to say this isn´t a major disappointment.

Los Angeles Ring 2009-2010

The 2009-10 Los Angeles Opera Ring will be directed by Achim Freyer and conducted by James Conlon.

Rheingold and Walküre opens Spring 2009. Three complete cycles will be given in 2010.

A website has been set up for the LA Ring with plenty of information.

75-year German director Achim Freyer, a former pupil of Bertold Brecht has worked with opera for 30 years, staging many world premieres. Freyer´s most important stagings may be seen here. One of Freyer´s greatest successes to date is Mozart´s Magic Flute, which he has reinterpreted for several theaters, currently on the schedule in Dresden.
Achim Freyer´s most recent staging was Eugen Onegin in Berlin ealier this season. In 2007 he staged the world premiere of Alice in Wonderland in Munich.

Achim Freyer works with his 1992-founded Freyer ensemble and has developed a highly individual theatrical language emphasizing strictly formalized gestures and movements within a colourful geometric environment of almost childlike simplicity.

What to expect from Achim Freyer´s Nibelungen Ring?

I am relatively well acquainted with Achim Freyer´s work and the below Nibelungen Ring photos as well as the promotional video, a video from the Munich Alice in Wonderland and photographs from previous Achim Freyer productions including extensive Eugen Onegin photos (and review) will provide a reasonable idea. What one does not get from the photographs is the highly stylized movements of the singers, almost like string puppets, one of Freyer´s trademarks which I´d be very surprised if he didn´t continue for this Ring.

Below photos and video excerpts from Achim Freyer´s upcoming Los Angeles Opera Ring:

Rheingold:

Walküre:

Siegfried:

Götterdämmerung:

Birgit Nilsson Prize: One million dollars to Plácido Domingo

The biggest prize (in monetary terms) of the classical music world, The Birgit Nilsson Prize, awarding one million dollars to the winner was awarded for the first time, the winner being: Plácido Domingo.

The identity of the first winner was already decided by Birgit Nilsson before her death and has until now been kept in a sealed envelope. The prize will be awarded every second or third year, the winner from now on to be chosen by an international committee.

To be considered for the award: A male or female opera or concert singer, or conductor within the same area. Or a specific production for an opera company.

Rutbert Reisch of the Birgit Nilsson Foundation explains that it was at Birgit Nilsson´s specific request that the prize should only be awarded three years after her death to avoid unwanted focus on Birgit Nilsson´s person as opposed to the purpose of the award (to promote opera and culture). He furthermore explains that there is enough money to award the prize in many years to come.

Further information (in Swedish) here.

Christianne Stotijn: Tchaikovsky romances

Christianne Stotijn with Julius Drake: Tchaikovsky romances. Released January 2009. Further information here.

Dutch mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn (born 1977) seems set on making an international singing career centered around concert- and liedsinging and just released her fourth solo album "Tchaikovsky romances" on Onyx.

What genuinely places Christianne Stotijn apart from the vast majority of her colleagues is not fundamentally the voice. Though Christianne Stotijn´s voice is beautiful as well as first-rate, it doesn´t have the even, creamy beauty of colleagues such as Angelika Kirchschlager or Magdalena Kozena.
What she does have, though, is a genuinely unique expressivity based around a seemingly deep understanding of the text and musical structures. The myriads of moods and colours she applies to these Tchaikovsky songs are quite extraordinary, always emphasizing the words and clearly chosing expressivity over beauty of tone, when faced with the choice.

Highly recommended.

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

5

Faust in Berlin: Superb singing in confusing production

Faust. Berlin State Opera, February 15th, 2009 (premiere). Production: Karsten Wiegand. Cast: Charles Castronovo (Faust), René Pape (Méphistophéles), Marina Poplavskaya (Marguerite), Silvia de la Muela (Siebel), Roman Trekel (Valentin). Conductor: Alain Altinoglu. Further information here.

Initially we see Méphistopheles and Faust as Franciscan monks in front of a black wall, Méphistophéles covering his face from the audience. Upon being summoned by Faust, he initiates the action by activating a slot machine, after which a three-storey set inhabited with punk-look-alikes in a casino is revealed, Marguerite lying in her bed upstage.
Quite unusually, the music as well as the stage movements occasionally ceases only to begin when activated by Méphistophéles. In this rather boring white-trash environment including a procession of dophin masks (point unkonwn), Marguerite is easily seduced by a few pieces of fake jewelry supplied by Méphistopheles, now dressed like a catholic priest.

After the intermission things get more interesting when the choristers form a crucifix around Méphistophéles, now in seemingly Russian orthodox church regalia, in a rather effective church scene. Faust remains a passive character throughout, far too passive to kill Valentin, which Méphistophéles does for him. As Marguerite, covered in blood, displays the body of her dead child, she is substituted for a parade of hookers in the Walpurgis night and ultimately kills herself. Is she saved? I think not: Upon Marguerite falling lifeless to the floor on the empty stage, the stage walls are removed to display a dinner party, behind which Méphistophéles disappears with Faust. Theater within the theater, presumably.

Karsten Wiegand´s overall point being? I am not sure, though my first guess would be a statement against organized religion. Where this staging fails however, is with the characterization of the protagonists and though Wiegand has some interesting points, there is simply not enough dramatic tension to keep this the boat floating throughout. Not to mention a more stringent dramaturgy in order to understand what is going on without having to rely on programme notes etc.

The singers, however were first rate.

Marina Poplavskaya was announced as indisposed with a cold, but nevertheless sang beautifully with her dusky soprano and strangely intense stage appearance.

René Pape was not initially announced as indisposed (at his own request apparently), though he clearly should have been, strangely unfocused in appearance, dashing aimlessly around the stage, forgetting the text and entrances as well as occasionally intonating flat, something I have never previously heard from him. Furthermore his entrances and exits from stage seemed very uncoordinated, particularly in Act 2, though perhaps he left as he was unwell. Immediately after the intermission came the announcement that he was indisposed and needed treatment for "circulatory problems", but would continue after an additional 10 minutes. Indisposed or not, he remains a smashing Méphistophéles, though, knowing his usual standards, this was not his evening.

Charles Castronovo was a wonderful Faust with beautiful tone, fine phrasings, understandable French, effortless high notes as well as a sympathetic, though not overly engaged stage presence. Silvia de la Muela was a sympathetic Siebel and Roman Trekel a dramatically convincing, though dry Valentin.

Much applause for Alain Altinoglu in the pit, the only intrinsic French element to this performance. He obviously has plenty of ideas with this score, though his shift in tempi were rather abrupt and lacked consistency. But the orchestra played well for him, though at times he was almost intolerably slow.

Exactly what version of Faust was played I am not sure, but it is one I have never heard before. Both Marguerite´s spinning wheel scene and the Walpurgis night was included, both abridged, however and by more than just the ballet. And several small spoken recitatives were included, as well as plainly spoken sentences within some of the arias, most notably Siebels.

I was surrounded by (as well as deafened by) very loud booers, and it is my clear impression that they won out, for what it is worth.

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

Marina Poplavskaya: 4-5
Charles Castronovo: 4-5
René Pape: na
Silvia de la Muela: 3
Roman Trekel: 3-4

Karsten Wiegand: 2-3

Alain Altinoglu: 3-4

Overall impression: 4

Photographs from the company website