danielle de niese is poppea

L´Incoronazione di Poppea. DVD. Glyndebourne Festival, June 2008. Production: Robert Carsen. Conductor: Emmanuelle Haim with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Cast: Danielle de Niese (Poppea), Alice Coote (Nerone), Iestyn Davis (Ottone), Tamara Mumford (Ottavia), Paolo Battaglia (Seneca), Marie Arnet (Drusilla), Lucia Cirillo (Valletto), Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke (Arnalta), Dominique Visse (Nutrice).

I have always found the libretto to be one of the most impressive features of L´incoronazione di Poppea: Written around 1643, this story of love, desire and power struggle in ancient Rome remains as fresh as anything written today and with a contemporary ring to the many excellently conceived dialogues/monologues. Though the original score does not exist, there is generally agreement that this is  indeed a work by Monteverdi (and not by his students/contemporaries).

It is often discussed whether the morale of this story of Poppea who succeeds with her ruthless schemes and becomes Nero's Empress should be interpreted as a punishment of virtue and/or a victory of love and/or greed. In any case, if you know your Roman history (as Monteverdi no doubt did), the story of Poppea and Nero´s love triumph is indeed hollow, as 1) Nero allegedly kicked Poppea to death a few years later (although disputed by some historians) when she was pregnant with their second child (their first-born died in early childhood) 2) Poppea´s ex-husband Ottone, exiled in the opera, became emperor after the death of Nero (although only for a short while, then he committed suicide) and 3) after passing some time in exile, Nero finally had his ex-wife Ottavia killed.

Robert Carsen explores (again-again) the theatre-within-theatre concept as the main part of the production takes place in front of a velvet dark-red curtain on a naked stage, containing a bed occupied by the various protagonists in turn. Certainly, the production is very elegant, and the opening where the goddess Fortuna kicks out the goddess Virtue from her front-row seat is excellent,  but I still wonder if this spectator-to-ones-own-life concept does not restrict L´Incoronazione di Poppea rather than expand it. The best production I have seen of Poppea still remains DavidMcVicars wonderfully expansive staging, unfortunately not (yet) available on DVD.

Danielle de Niese is virtually perfect as the almost slutty Poppea. Completely insincere in her declarations of love for Nero, she schemes and plots and seems completely to inhabit the character. Vocally, she already shows signs of the shaky intonation and shrill top which is now evident in her performances, but in this production I can hardly imagine a better Poppea. Twenty years from now, we will probably say that this Poppea together with her Cleopatra represented the highlights of her career.

Though Alison Coote does not have the masculinity of a Sarah Connelly, she is a convincingly creepy Nero and vocally quite secure. Tamara Mumford is an expressive and elegant Ottavia and Iestyn Davis and Marie Arnet are sufficiently subdued as Ottone/Drusilla. For me, the only real disappointment was Paolo Battaglia, who neither vocally nor dramatically made a real impact as Seneca.

Among the minor roles, the hilarious Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke (some may remember him as a marvellous Witch in Hänsel and Gretel) stood out as Poppea´s nurse Arnalta.

Emmanuelle Haïm with the strange willowy movements in the pit lead an excellent, vivacious performance with the OAE. 

Danielle de Niese and Alice Coote:

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

Danielle De Niese: 5

Alison Coote: 4-5

Iestyn Davies: 4

Tamara Mumford: 4

Paolo Battaglia: 3

Robert Carsen´s production: 4

Emmanuelle Haïm: 5

Overall impression: 4-5

the authentic rigoletto from mantua with domingo, novikova and grigolo

Rigoletto. Palazzo Ducale di Mantua. 2010. Filmed for TV. Production: Marco Bellocchio. Conductor: Zubin Mehta. Cast: Plácido Domingo (Rigoletto), Julia Novikova (Gilda), Vittorio Grigolo (Duke), Ruggero Raimondi (Sparafucile), Nino Surguladze (Maddalena).

For those seeking authenticity, it does not come more authentic than this: A production of Verdi´s Rigoletto filmed on location in the beautiful Palazzo Ducale of Mantua, complete with gardens and a river. It is even filmed over two days as to place the action at the right time of day.

Not only is this an impressive technical accomplishment as all the singers sing live with Zubin Metha´s excellent orchestra, located in another part of the castle, relying on on monitors and advanced auditory equipment. It is also, in itself, a both extraordinary and spectacular production, where we follow the singers moving through the various parts of the castle in real time creating a very authentic and realistic atmosphere. For those not familiar with Rigoletto, this is a good place to start. Especially since the musical, but above all the theatrical aspects of this production were were impressive:

First, Plácido Domingo, who succeeds in bringing his personality and life experience to the part of Rigoletto. This was the positive part. A baritone, of course, he is not, and if  judged by his singing alone, he really does not have the voice anymore to play in the major league for these parts. While he is reasonable in the higher-lying Act 1, once he gets to his major moment in “Cortigiani” (see the video clip below), there is no way to hide that this role is, in fact, quite too deep for him. Had I been casting director, Leo Nucci would have been my first choice. Nucci, of course, could have been first choice here as well, but somehow I doubt it.

At least Ruggero Raimondo´s voice has faded into something not unpleasant, an dramatically he is a superb Sparafucile, though with a quite younger sister in the wonderful Maddalena from Nino Surguladze

As Gilda, Julia Novikova is virtually perfect. She even looks about the right age and is entirely convincing as  the naive girl locked in her house every evening by her father. 

Vittorio Grigolo seems perfect as well as the selfposessed, arrogant Duke. A Duke entirely without sophistication, Grigolo´s voice seems shallow and constrained however. 

All in all, a Rigoletto with much to enjoy for everybody.

Plácido Domingo with "Cortigiano":

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

Plácido Domingo: 3

Julia Novikova: 5

Vittorio Grigolo: 3

Ruggero Raimondi: 4

Nino Surguladze: 5

Marco Bellocchio´s film: 5

Zubin Mehta: 4

Overall impression: 5

waltraud meier shines as fidelio in dark production

Fidelio. DVD. Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Valencia. 2006. Production: Pierluigi Pier´Alli. Conductor: Zubin Mehta. Cast: Waltraud Meier (Leonore), Peter Seiffert (Florestan), Matti Salminen (Rocco), Ildiko Raimondi (Marzelline), Juha Uusitalo (Pizzarro), Rainer Trost (Jaquino), Carsten Stabell (Don Fernando).

A largely traditional dark, greenish production with no obvious raison d´être as I see it, if not for the possibility to see Waltraud Meier in top voice in one of her best-loved roles. To be honest I have never found Leonore-Fidelio an obvious fit for Waltraud Meier´s voice. Nowadays, very much an on-or-off artist, I heard her live in the part about five yearsago on an off night, which was no pleasure, believe me. This DVD was recorded around the same time, and here, luckily she is in top shape with an effortless “Abscheulicher” and an overall very moving character portrayal.

Peter Seiffert sings his one aria reasonably well, both Matti Salminen and Juha Uusitalo are in fine voice as Rocco and Pizzarro respectively and I have nothing to reproach the other performers.

However, the personenregie seems altmodisch and the production is very, very dark. While I realize that it most likely was equally dark in the prison in which the opera takes place, it nevertheless does not make for exciting theater.

Zubin Metha represents old-school Beethoven and without being extraordinary, the orchestra nevertheless is almost as dense as the staging.

Nevertheless, a DVD mostly for fans of Waltraud Meier.

Waltraud Meier: "Abscheulicher".

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

Peter Seiffert: 3

Waltraud Meier: 4-5

Matti Salminen: 4

Ildiko Raimondi: 4

Juha Uusitalo: 4

Pier´Alli´s production: 2-3

Zubin Mehta: 4

fura dels baus disappoint with futuristic les troyens

Les Troyens. DVD. Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Valencia, 2009. Production : Fura del Baus (Carlus Padrissa stage director). Conductor: Valery Gergiev. Cast: Elisabete Matos (Cassandre), Daniela Barcellona (Didon), Lance Ryan (Enee), Zlata Bulicheva (Anna), Gabriele Viviani (Chorebe), Stephen Milling (Narbal), Giorgio Giuseppini (Pantheée).

With this production of Les Troyens in Valencia, Fura dels Baus with director Carlus Padrissa has created a visually stunning production, along the same lines as theirprevious Nibelungen Ring, with essentially the same  strenghts and weaknesses.

There is plenty of Star Wars in this production, which ends with Aeneas, himself a visitor from another planet, failing to recognize the paradise which is Carthage, and instead leaves for Mars.

Troy is a dark and doomed place: Skeletons fill the shores, dark threatening clouds and post-war smoking images fill the screen. Additional elements: Barbed wires, an eerie boxing contest, Cassandra being wheeled in an out in wheelchair. The Troyan horse is metallic and menacing. VIRUS ALERT!! pops up on the screen just before the final breakdown.

On the contrary, Carthage an idealised place, modelled upon the particle accelerator in CERN (near Geneva), dominated by large red-and-grey tubes and with images of wind-mills in the background and . A clean society relying on natural energy resources, obviously. However, all may not be that well perhaps: Several uncanny images shows us the human dogs tracing their prey in the Royal Hunt.

The costume designer Chu Uroz dresses most of the characters as ice hockey players or well-padded aliens, thus making the same mistakes he made in the Nibelungen Ring (anyone still remember Brünnhildesbreastplates?) by distancing the characters from any human interaction. Dido simply looks silly with her odd three knot hair style and the lack of interaction between Dido and Aeneas is appalling.

At times, the images are stunning. But the lasting impression is that of a cold production where the ultimate weakness lies in the failure to find a balance between imagery and human interaction.

Perhaps a stronger cast could have carried this staging. However, unfortunately we are presented with weak performances from all three protagonists, worst in fact from Lance Ryan, who is massively overparted as Anaeas, no matter how many excuses one may wish to make for him, well knowing how tough the part is.

Elisabete Matos has heft, but no beauty of tone and is no match for colleagues such as Anna Caterina Antonacci and Eva-Maria Westbroek (not yet on DVD). Daniela Barcellona struggles as well with a vibrato that borders on the offensive, though not as bad as Zlata Bulicheva´s as Anna.

It is far from enough that minor parts are well taken care of with  Stephen Milling and Gabriele Viviani, especially since Valery Gergiev also disappoints in the pit. Though the orchestra seemed to love him and he received a massive ovation, being very much an on-or-off conductor, this was definitely a day off, where he entirely failed to bring out the grandness in Berlioz´ score.

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

Elisabete Matos: 3

Daniela Barcellona: 3

Lance Ryan: 2

Fura dels Baus´ production: 3-4

Valery Gergiev: 3
Overall impression: 3

first (and last?) mireille on dvd

Mireille. DVD. Paris Opera Bastille 2009. Production: Nicolas Joel, Conductor: Marc Minkowski. Cast: Inva Mula (Mireille), Charles Castronovo (Vincent), Alain Vernhes (Ramon), Sylvie Brunet (Taven), Franck Ferrari (Qurrias).

For this, the first production for Nicolas Joel after taking over the Paris Opera, he chose a largely unknown work by Gounod: Mireille. Based on Mistral´s poem and composed in 1864, 5 years after Faust and 3 years before Roméo et Juliette, Mireille had never before performed at the Paris Opera.

This is the story of a rich girl (Mireille) who loves a poor boy (Vincent). She is also loved by a villain (Qurrias) who injures the poor boy, but later drowns. While Vincent does not die, Mireille does, from sun stroke (!) when she exhausted joins him at the end of the opera after obtaining forgiveness of her father.

A quick look in the opera performance register shows that of Gounod's 13 operas, only Faust and Roméo and Juliette has been performed anywhere in the last three seasons. This production of Mireille will not change that, I believe, not even in France.

Nicolas Joel has opted for a largely traditional mise-en-scene, where I was transported back to the operatic productions of the 1970´s. Had the personenregie only been interesting, but here also Nicolas Joel seems to add nothing even remotely new or exciting.

The original setting is Provence, and Nicolas Joel has kept it like this showing us ripe fields, dark medieval cities and moonlit rivers. There is, however, beautiful music to be found here, even work as a whole lacks drama. Competing with a Devil (Faust) and a story by Shakespeare (Roméo), some peasants in Provence does not quite seem to do it.

As the protagonists Charles Castronovo is both naive and sympathetic as the poor Vincent and while Inva Mula was overacting, she still turned in a convincing performance.  

This is a first on DVD, so do you want to see Mireille, this is it as I doubt there will be competition in the immediate future.

Inva Mula as Mireille:

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

Inva Mula: 3-4

Charles Castronovo: 4

Alain Vernhes: 4

Franck Ferrari: 4

Nicolas Joel: 2

Marc Minkowski: 4

Overall impression: 3

alcina: splendid harteros, odd kasarova in duchess of devonshire ballroom performance

Alcina, DVD. Vienna State Opera 2010. Production: Adrian Noble. Conductor: Marc Minkowski with Les Musiciens du Louvre. Cast: Anja Harteros (Alcina), Vesselina Kasarova (Ruggiero), Kristina Hammarström (Bradamante), Veronica Cangemi (Morgana), Benjamin Bruns (Oronte), Adam Plachetka (Melisso), Alois Mühlbacher (Oberto).

Well-educated British readers (I know there are some out there) will need no explanation as to who was Georgiana Cavendish (1757-1806), the Duchess of Devonshire, famous for her soirées in the Devonshire House in London. Some may know her from Keira Knightly´s portrait in The Duchess, 

And we are, in fact, witness to such a soirée in The Duchess´ ballroom in London Piccadilly, where she is staging a performance by Händel´s Alcina (written in 1735 it could well have been performed here) performed by herself (as Alcina obviously) and her friends.

An intimate dining-room atmosphere, which suits the piece well, especially as it opens up into a field of almost neon-green grass and a clear blue sky (see above), which contrasts with the dark dining room atmosphere complete with servants and (perhaps?) her dissatisfied husband, the Duke, who seems to pop up a couple of times.

The director is Adrian Noble, British and former director of Royal Shakespeare company, also responsible for the staging of Macbeth at theMetropolitan opera in 2008.

Would it not have been obvious to make Ruggiero into Charles Grey, 2^nd Earl of Grey, the gentleman with whom The Duchess has an illegitimate child after he had courted her in her saloon for some time? But no, this seems not to have been Adrian Nobles errand, as Ruggiero, as played by Vesselina Kasarova, in the beginning of the opera, clearly is a female friend of the Duchess.

To begin with Vesselina Kasarova: This woman´s singing is downright strange and peculiar. In fact, it is one of the most peculiar things I have heard on stage for a long time. When I heard her live in this part five years ago I found her “absolutely brilliant”. Now she is absolutely bizarre. Did these, almost yodling peculiarities really develop within the latest five years or did I just not have the ear for them then? 

Her Alcina five years ago as well as now is Anja Harteros, who is a splendid Alcina, and an elegant Duchess of Devonshire, adapting to baroque style with an almost vibratoless top. Probably not the kind of role she will continue singing if she also wants to move into the heavier Wagner, as she has said (Senta).

While Veronica Cangemi was  far too thin-voiced, especially in the top as Morgana, Kristina Hammarström was a solid Bradamante. Most impressive, though was boy soprano Alois Mühlbacher as Oberto, with spot-on coloratura and solid intonation. He is 15..

Baroque operas are not plat du jour in Vienna. Before this production the latest one being L´incoronazione di Poppea in the 1060´s. Accordingly, it is not the Vienna State Opera Orchestra in the pit but the baroque specialists Les Musiciens du Louvre effectively conducted by Marc Minkowski.

Vesselina Kasarova with Mi lusinga il dolce affetto, judge for yourself:

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

Anja Harteros: 4-5

Vesselina Kasarova: 2-3, perhaps to be re-evaluated

Veronica Cangemi: 3

Kristina Hammarström: 4

Adrian Noble´s production: 4

Marc Minkowski: 4-5

Overall impression: 4

Natalie Dessay and Laurent Pelly disappoints in Pelleas and Melisande

Pélleas and Mélisande. DVD, 2009. Theater an der Wien. Production: Laurent Pelly. Conductor: Bertrand de Billy.Cast: Natalie Dessay (Melisande), Stephane Degout (Pelleas), Laurent Naouri (Golaud), Philip Ens (Arkel), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Genevieve).

How does one evoke the otherworldly ambiance of Pélleas and Mélisande? Not easily and I have yet to see a staging which does full justice to the work, though a few do come close.

The french director Laurent Pelly is well-known for straightforward and fast-paced productions such as  Donizetti´s Filledu Regiment and Hänsel und Gretel, both released on DVD. Not an obvious choice to stage an understated, introspective work such as Pélleas and Melisande. Thus, it is not unsurprising that Laurent Pelly seems a bit at loss with this opera that thrives on understating rather than the opposite. By Pelly´s usual high-paced standards, however, the production really is very tranquil. Departing from realism, he has created a rotating stage containing a mix of columns, rocks and the occasional chamber, in effort to create an alluring, ambiguous environment. However, for me, the allure remains absent throughout not the least due to Nathalie Dessay´s Mélisande.

No wonder Laurent Pelly is Nathalie Dessay´s favourite opera director, as they share a lot of qualities: She is a straight-forward, face-paced singing-actress and the role of Mélisande lies relatively well for her with much beautiful singing in the middle section,of her voice. But she cannot hide that her upper register is in ruins and whatever her qualities, understatement and allure are not her strong points. Just in recent years I have heard much superior Mélisandes in both Copenhagen (Elisabeth Jansson), Berlin (Magdalena Kozena) and Paris (Elena Tsallagova). And then there are the ones on CD such as Frederica von Stade, just to mention one.

Stéphane Degout with his rich voice and wonderful introspective way is the ideal Pélleas, but he is not helped by Laurent Pelly´s production.

Best is Laurent Naouri Native French-speakers in major parts. Best are Laurent Naouri (real life husband of Natalie Dessay) in excellent voice with an sufficient underlying menacing air of both menace but also desperation to him that one feels with him and the unfortunate choices that he makes.

Bertrand de Billy captures the moods well but again I have both heard and seen far better in recent years (Simon Rattle, Philippe Jordan and Pierre Boulez on DVD).

I don´t believe the market for Pélleas DVDs has been exhausted with this release. In fact, one of the best stagings I have seen was that of Robert Wilson in Paris a couple of years ago – a static, beautiful staging capturing the moods almost to perfection and with the wonderful Elena Tsallagova as an otherworldly Mélisande matched by Stéphane Degout as Pélleas. Hopefully this will be released on DVD at some point.

Nous sommes venus ici il y a bien longtemps:

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

Natalie Dessay: 3

Stephane Degout: 4

Laurent Naouri: 4-5

Marie-Nicole Lemieux: 4

Philip Ens: 4

Laurent Pelly´s production: 3

Betrand de Billy: 3-4

Overall impression: 3

malena ernman and christopher maltman shine in superb dido and aeneas

Dido and Aeneas, DVD, Opéra Comique 2008. Production: Deborah Warner. Conductor: William Christie with Les Arts Florissants. Cast: Malena Ernman (Dido), Christopher Maltman (Aeneas), Judith van Wanroij (Belinda), Hilary Sumnners (Sorceress).

The first known performance of Dido and Aeneas took place at a girls´school in London around 1688. In a superb production combining 17^th century with present day, Deborah Warner takes advantage of this fact in an innovative way without loosing scope of the story. A production first seen in Vienna in 2005, later in Amsterdam before being filmed in Paris in 2008.

Not much is left from Virgil´s poem Aeneid  in Purcells version (based on Marlowe´s The Tragedie of Dido), apart from the frame of Dido and Aeneas love story including Dido´s death. Is the idea that Aeneas is tricked to leave Dido by some witches (instead of by the command of Jupiter), perhaps an attempt by Marlowe and Purcell to make his character less noble?

In this case, Christopher Maltman is perfect, as his portrayal is sufficiently ambiguous with more than a hint of uncertainty to give real depth to Aeneas.

However, the real highlight in this production, where school-children enter and exit the stage in various capacities and where past and present is mixed, is the interaction between Malena Ernman and Christopher Maltman. It simply has to seen to be believed and they make one of the most moving couples I have yet seen on DVD. Furthermore, Malena Ernman´s portrayal of Dido is unforgettable and the images rest with you long times after the DVD is back on the shelf.

Veteran conductor William Christie never fails with Les Art Florissants in a production of Dido and Aeneas, which will be hard to surpass.

Dido´s Lament:

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

Malena Ernman: 5

Christopher Maltman: 5

The rest: 5

Deborah Warner´s staging: 5

William Christie: 5

Overall impression: 5

poppea: surrealistic, bizarre, magnificent

L´Incoronazione di Poppea. DVD. 2009. Barcelona Liceu. Production: David Alden. Conductor: Harry Bicket with Baroque Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu. Cast: Miah Persson (Poppea), Sarah Connolly (Nerone), Jordi Domènech (Ottone), Maite Beaumont (Ottavia), Ruth Rusique (Drusilla), Franz-Josef Selig (Seneca).

Finally available on DVD: David Alden´s deservedly acclaimed staging of L´Incoronazione di Poppea previously seen in Munich, Paris, Welsh National Opera, New Israeli Opera and now filmed in Barcelona.

I have often heard this staging referred to as the “chess-board” production. However, I find this hard to justify as only during the last 20 minutes do we see quadrants of black and white, which in any care to me were more reminiscent of a kitchen floor than a chess-board. That Poppea and Nero are somehow pieces in a game of chess, is something I do not read into this production at all, in fact.

The superb libretto is relatively straight-forward: Poppea, previously married to Ottone, schemes to become Nero´s Empress. First, however, she has to get rid of his present wife (Ottavia), whom Nero expels from Rome after a failed attempt on Poppea´s life ordered by Ottavia and executed by Ottone. Thus a happy end where Nero marries Poppea. And in real-life a less than happy end, as Nero allegedly kicked the pregnant Poppea to death a couple of years later.

I find this staging more intuitive than intellectual, set in no specific time, presenting a mix between the authentically modern and the surrealistic, the serious and the comic/grotesque, the elegant and the tasteless. Often these ambiguities may be seen in the same scene. In one of the best scenes, we see Seneca (Nero´s adviser, whom he has ordered to commit suicide), just before his death, surrounded is surrounded by grotesquely clad pupils, who in the end play yo-yo. The empress Ottavia´s nurse is a parody of a Red Cross nurse, while Poppea´s nurse is in tasteless drag. Decors are simple, often red or purple with a single chair or sofa. Not to mention the Goddesses of Fortune and Virtue in tasteless party dress with plateau heels.

It is a truly remarkable staging in which David Alden succeeds in striking the exact right chord between the grotesque and the serious. I do believe he has a valid: There is much grotesqueness an excessiveness to be found in the plot amid all the seriousness. I found the personenregie is exciting as well. Here Nero is clearly a disturbed, narcissistic character with virtually no physical interaction between him and Poppea, who on the other hand is less a manipulator than seen with  Carsen in his Glyndebourne production.

I have been told that Nero´s part lies vastly better for a mezzo-soprano than for the counter-tenor, which, for dramatical reasons I normally prefer in these parts. In any case, Sarah Connelly is just as convincing as a Roman Emperor here as she was as Giulio Cesare. Miah Persson is a wonderful Poppea with excellent vocal characterization and then she is very beautiful as well, which obviously does not detract from he performance. Of the others I especially found Franz-Josef Selig´s Seneca imposing, with the appropriate sonorous ring to his low notes.

Of the alternatives on DVD I would recommend Robert Carsen´s production from Glyndebourne as well, more elegant perhaps, though this is the most challenging production of the two.

Death of Seneca, one of the best scenes where Alden strikes the right balance between the grotesque and the deadly (no pun intended) serious:

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

Miah Persson: 5

Sarah Connelly: 5

Maite Beaumont: 3-4

Franz-Josef Selig: 5

Jordi Deménech: 3

Ruth Rusique: 3-4

David Alden´s production: 5

Harry Bicket: 4

Overall impression: 5

DVD: Glyndebourne Hänsel und Gretel

Hänsel und Gretel. DVD, Glyndebourne 2009. Production: Laurent Pelly. Conductor: Kazushi Ono with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Cast: Jennifer Holloway (Hänsel), Adriana Kucerova (Gretel), Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke (witch), Klaus Kuttler (father), Irmgard Vilsmaier (mother).

As you press “play” on the DVD, a cardboard box is brought to the Glyndebourne Festival House during the Vorspiel and eventually passes through the hands of all the singers, thus presenting them for the viewer. For the audience present in the auditorium all they see is the front cover of the cardboard box. So what is inside the box? Well, the house of Hänsel and Gretel in fact. As Act 1 opens we are introduced to their poor home inside a humid, degrading card-board box. As a matter of fact there is a lot of trash in this production, quite literally speaking. Laurent Pelly, most well-known for fast-paced productions like Fille du Regiment, has created another fast-paced production, this time emphasizing consumerism and excess.

Everything is connected to the witch gingerbread house, the central image of the production, here a supermarket, full of candy. In the dying, naked wood into which Hänsel and Gretel are sent by their desperate mother, we see plenty of trash (from the supermarket). Even Hänsel and Gretel´s cardboard box home could easily be left-overs from the supermarket.

The siblings are the most authentic I believe I have seen, constant at play, jumping around the set. The transformation of Jennifer Holloway, a quite feminine singer into Hänsel is impressive. Equally impressive that Adriana Kucerova manages to look a 10-year old.

Tenor Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke in ghastly pink drag is a fantastic storekeeper cum witch, with a somewhat vague ending to this existence though: He is simply pushed down in the depths of the supermarket.. according to Laurent Pelly this represents a cooking factory, again representing the root of consumerism but apart from some smoking chimneys in the background it did not seem that obvious.

Laurent Pelly explicitly wished to expel all signs of religion from the production and in the end when God is praised, instead the parents take plenty of goods from the supermarket. An ironic ending, a submission toconsumerism, Pelly  says, but somehow I miss the point: If they are a poor family, constantly hungry, why is it ironic that they take food from the supermarket when they can? Never mind, the production is both funny and lively and I was excellently entertained throughout.

There is plenty of Wagner in the score, I was reminded of both Rhinemaidens, Giants and Parsifal, and Kazushi Ono brings all this out in a convincing reading.

Not to be missed: Watch the impressive Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke as the witch:

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

Adriana Kucerova: 5

Jennifer Holloway: 5

Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke: 5

Laurent Pelly´s production: 5

Kazushi Oni: 5

Overall impression: 5