Rosenkavalier at the Berlin Deutsche Oper

Rosenkavalier, Deutsche Oper Berlin, March 15th 2008. Production: Götz Friedrich. Cast: Elina Garanca (Oc), Christine Schäfer (Sophie), Michaela Kaune (Marschallin), Peter Rose (Ochs). Conductor: Philippe Auguin

Judged by the tremendous applause I don´t think anyone in the audience would disagree that this was an immensely well-sung performance of the Rosenkavalier (more here)- with Elina Garanca deservedly receiving the major applause for her quite fabulous Octavian: She has everything this role requires: A beautiful firm voice (in many ways reminding of the young Christa Ludwig), a great talent for comic acting, providing an very convincing portrayal of the young boy Octavian.

Equally convincing was Peter Rose as Ochs : Wonderful low notes, a steady voice, and again, a great talent for comic acting. Funny, but never exaggerates into the ridiculous, making this Ochs a believable character, not just a parody.

Christine Schäfer was Sophie, and despite beautiful, stylish singing, the Sophie train may have left, if it was ever there: Never a specialist in innocent girls portrayals, the part does not appear to suit her dramatically. Also Michaela Kaune, a fine, but not a stand-out as the Marschallin with a beautiful voice, but somewhat lacking in characterization.

Philippe Auguin was competent, but the true flow and elegance of this music never really was transmitted to the audience. And Götz Friedrich´s production is from 1993, which shows: Stylish, but dusty. Modern in the outlook, but with no real departures from the storyline or new interpretative angles.

Parsifal on DVD: Wolfgang Wagner´s 1981 Bayreuth production

Parsifal, Bayreuth Festival 1981. Director: Wolfgang Wagner. Cast: Siegfried Jerusalem (Parsifal), Hans Sotin (Gurnemanz), Eva Randova (Kundry), Bernd Weikl (Amfortas), Leif Roar (Klingsor). Conductor: Horst Stein. Further information here.

Parsifal is not well represented on DVD and the ideal version is still to appear. The release of this Wolfgang Wagner 1981 production from Bayreuth does not change this, though many may consider it preferable to the alternatives already on the market.

While Wolfgang Wagner does not impress with innovative stagings and brilliant insights into his grandfathers works, nor does he bother anyone, I suppose. This Parsifal production dates from 1975 and was filmed in 1981, the last year of its run in Bayreuth.

The sets are simple and aesthetic with Klingsor and Kundry´s geometrical and colorful clothing contrasting effectively to the bleak background. The temple is grey and austere, the grail is represented by: A grail. However, as always, Wolfgang Wagner does not focus on the dramatic interactions, resulting in a rather static production, which perhaps is more appropriate in Parsifal than in most other Wagner operas and thus creates a neutral background on which the conductor may shine.

Which is, in fact, my major criticism of this DVD: That conductor Horst Stein, while both efficient and competent, does not shine. And as this is quite a conductors opera, it is hard to ignore.

Which is a pity as the singers are very well cast in their respective parts: Best is the young Siegfried Jerusalem as Parsifal. Eva Randova is vocally fine as Kundry, though not overly interesting dramatically intersting. Hans Sotin´s Gurnemanz is solid and both Leif Roar (Klingsor) and Bernd Weikl (Amfortas) deliver well-characterized performances.

I am still waiting for the release of one of Daniel Barenboim´s productions.
Final of Act 2 "Vergeh, unseliges weib" - Siegfried Jerusalem, Eva Randova, Leif Roar:

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

Siegfried Jerusalem:4-5
Eva Randova: 4
Hans Sotin: 4
Leif Roar: 4
Bernd Weikl: 4

Wolfgang Wagners production: 3

Horst Stein: 3

Overall impression: 3-4
YouTube video posted by HeilDirGunter

DVD: Götterdämmerung from "The designer Ring"

Götterdämmerung. Bayreuth 1997. Production: Kirchner. Cast: Wolfgang Schmidt (Siegfried), Deborah Polaski (Brünnhilde), Eric Halfvarson (Hagen), Anne Schwanewilms (Gutrune), Falk Struckmann (Gunther), Ekkehard Wlaschiha (Alberich). Conductor: James Levine. Further information here.

This Götterdämmerung is the only installment of the Kirchner/Rosalie/Levine 1994-8 Bayreuth Ring taped for subsequent DVD release. By some, this Ring is known as "The designer Ring", due to the striking sets and costumes by designer Rosalie, which in many ways make up the most striking aspects of this Ring Cycle.

Kirchner and Rosalie publicly stated a desire to depart from the political Ring productions of previous Bayreuth Ring directors such as Kupfer and Chéreau and free Wagner´s work from all the "ideological and philosophical" ballast. Do they succeed? Well, in a way yes. But what they create instead is an environment reminiscent of a Japanese version of Star Wars, devoid of dramatic interaction between the main characters, who often stand still and just sing to the audience oblivious of the characters the singing supposedly is directed towards.

The sets and costumes of Rosalie very much steal the show - we are on top of the world, literally illustrated as the top of a naked grey globe clearly influenced by Wieland Wagner´s discs of his Ring production of the 1960´s. The Gibichungen´s hall consist of a quadrangular plate balancing on top of that globe - in other scenes the characters walk directly on the globe. A Japanese inspired wall represent the Walkure rock. And all the characters wear quite extravagant costumes looking like mix of Jean-Paul Gaultier and Issey Miyake, which I´d say detracts from the action more than adds to it.

The major point being, however, that Kirchner does not really seem to have a sense of direction of the work. In that respect, it distinctly reminds of the current Bayreuth Ring production by Tankred Dorst, in which the characters also wear odd semi-Japanese Star Wars clothing, as well as being placed in a production with no intrinsic drama. Wagner can be about many things. But in this production, nothing seems to happen underneath the surface.

James Levine´s reading is quite slow and dense, but with seemingly more intensity than his Metropolitan DVD reading. The orchestra sound is above all beautiful as always with Levine´s Wagner, but here it just avoids crossing the line to the smooth (which is not always the case with his Wagner performances at the Metropolitan Opera).

The main stand-out among the singers was clearly Eric Halfvarson´s convincing Hagen - personally I prefer the even more menacing Matti Salminen, but definitely a fine performance from Eric Halfvarson, despite his relatively dry voice (which has become much worse in the last 10 years). Also a good Brünnhilde from Deborah Polaski, which however does not overshadow previous Bayreuth DVD interpreters such as Anne Evans or Dame Gwyneth Jones. Wolfgang Schmidt is somewhat anonymous as Siegfried, which in an odd way seems to fit in with this emotionally detached production.

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

Wolfgang Schmidt: 3
Deborah Polaski: 3-4
Eric Halfvarson: 3-4
Anne Schwanewilms: 4
Falk Struckmann: 4

Kirchner´s staging: 3

James Levine: 4-5

Overall impression: 3-4

Salome in Malmo...with Gwyneth Jones as Herodias

Salome, Malmo Opera House, March 9th 2008

I honestly thought I´d missed my chances of ever experiencing Dame Gwyneth Jones live. Which is why I checked and double-checked the monitors outside the entrance of the Malmö Opera House yesterday evening to verify that she was indeed appearing as Herodias as scheduled before buying my ticket (more info on the production here).

The last I´ve heard Dame Gwyneth sing was an Otrud in Paris in 1996, which she honestly shouldn´t have done - the wobble in her voice was devastating and basically ruined this production for me despite the magnificent Elsa by Karita Mattila. However, this was not the case yesterday.
Dame Gwyneth performed Herodias´part with a combination of declamation and sprechgesang which suited the part just fine. And her acting..fascinating to see how her facial gestures and her way of attacking the notes are exactly the same as in her Brünnhilde in the Chéreau Bayreuth Ring almost 30 years ago - even at 71 her appearance is unique and easily distinguishable from other sopranos. One must wonder what she thought watching Finnish soprano Susanna Levonen singing the final scene - the torch has indeed passed on, but I´d still say Dame Gwyneth has twice the voice (judged by sheer volume) than Levonen, who did in fact make a very fine lyric Salome - she hit all the notes, acted well, but I couldn´t help missing a little more craziness from her. Despite her throwing basically all the furniture around in the Dance of the Seven Veils (the alternative to undressing, I suppose). It was just a little bit too nice, but she looked great.

Too nice, also adequately describes Stephen Langridge´s production- a brick house and a courtyard within concrete walls patrolled by guards - set in present day I suppose - with Herodes as a General and a very tender white-clad Jochanaan (well sung by Frederik Zetterström). Overall I missed a unifying concept from Langridge other than the obvious.

Adrian Müller conducted, with great sense for detail as well as for the Straussian orchestra sound. I seriously hope Stephen Langridge comes up with something more daring (read: interesting) for this summers new Otello production in Salzburg..

Tristan on DVD: Barenboim/Ponnelle Bayreuth 1982

Tristan and Isolde. Bayreuth Festival, 1982. Production: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. Cast: Johanna Meier (Isolde), René Kollo (Tristan), Hanna Schwarz (Brangäne), Hermann Becht (Kurwenal), Matti Salminen (King Marke). Conductor: Daniel Barenboim. Further information here.

I have always thought, that one of the explanations of Daniel Barenboim´s magnificent reading of Wagner lies in his life-long dedication to Beethoven and Bach´s piano music, which provides him with the essential structure preventing him to get lost in his high intensity dramatic Wagner interpretations. On the other hand, conducting Wagner probably gives Barenboim the opportunity to live out basically every emotion he ever had.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in Tristan and Isolde, where I don´t think he has any rivals in the world today. This is Barenboim´s debut production at the Bayreuth Festival, from 1982, and only the second Tristan production (after the one at Deutsche Oper) he conducted. Already here, the continued tension and shifting heavy string sections which have become part of his trademark are obvious although he has gotten more edge to his interpretation over the years. But a superbly conducted performance, even then.

The director is Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, brought in after Patrice Chéreau declined to stage this production immediately after his Centenary Ring, claiming (understandably) he needed a break.

In many ways this is an ideal fairy-tale staging, the only draw-back in my opinion being a tendency towards the overly static.

In Act 1 we are on board a giant ship, with a fairy-tale Isolde wrapped in a huge white veil. She is sung by Johanna Meier, a fine lyrical singer with a clear and beautiful tone, though a bit more dramatic edge would have served the part well. René Kollo is a bit more lively as Tristan in a convincing interpretation - he is in fine voice as well, and probably only rivalled by Siegfried Jerusalem on DVD. Hanna Schwarz is quite simply a superb Brangäne.

In Act two we are immersed in an immensely beautiful fairy-tale garden with a huge tree branching out light-covered branches covering the entire stage. The production becomes increasingly wrapped in a fairy-tale world, and in Act 3 Tristan lies in front of a naked burned tree withe the shepherd playing his pipe on the black rock beside him. In the only departure from Wagner´s original intentions (for those finding these things important), Tristan dies alone: Isolde´s return from within the tree is only a dream, vanishing with the final chords. Of the remainder of the cast, the young Matti Salminen is a quite superb King Marke.

For many this may well be the preferred DVD version of Tristan and Isolde, though personally I prefer the recently released Chéreau/Barenboim 2007 production from La Scala. Alternatively, the Bayreuth production following this one, also conducted by Barenboim, is possibly of even higher musical quality, though at least equally static.

From the beginning of Act 1:

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

Johanna Meier: 4
René Kollo: 4
Hanna Schwarz: 5
Hermann Becht: 4
Matti Salminen: 5

Ponnelle´s staging: 4-5

Daniel Barenboim:5

Overall impression:4-5

Richard Jones with Rusalka at the Royal Danish Opera: Above all a musically splenid performance

Rusalka premiere, Royal Danish Opera, Monday, March 3rd 2008


This new production of Rusalka (more information on the production here) directed by Richard Jones opened this Monday at the Royal Opera, Copenhagen. According to Richard Jones, this opera is about someone (Rusalka) who makes a bad deal (ie. wanting to change the shape of ones body to attain love, which turns out to be impossible), and the opera´s message is rather conservative: You should stay the way you are...Initially he had thought to make a staging based on anorexic supermodels, but ultimately abandoned the idea for this concept in favor of this:

Act 1 - in which Rusalka, dressed as a mermaid in a landshape of plastic-fishes makes the "bad deal" with the which Jezibaba. Gitta-Maria Sjöberg (Rusalka) and Susanne Resmark (Jezibaba) below:

Act 2, which takes place in a closed community of forest workers. We clearly see how Rusalka does not belong here:

Act 3 takes place in a bar. Jezibaba is the bartender, the water nymphs are prostitutes who seduces and kill the men dropping by. Susanne Resmark (Jezibaba) here seen in the bar:

Aesthetically, the staging is quite beautiful. Does it add to the story? Perhaps. But, honestly, I was so focused on the music, that I probably missed several important aspects of the staging (my experience tells me, that I quite often do..).

Above all, musically it was a magnificent performance. Conductor Michael Schønwandt is just brilliant with this repertoire - exposing the textures and details of the score without compromising the drama. The various influences on Dvórak, particularly Wagner, are quite obvious here. I have not heard the orchestra play this brilliant since the superb Elektra production last season. Gitta-Maria Sjöberg is a very fine Rusalka - she has a shaded beauty in her middle register very well suited to Rusalka. And above all Susanne Resmark´s fabulous Jezibaba virtually stole the show whenever she appeared.

New Peter Grimes on DVD: Superb Pountney production from Zurich

Peter Grimes. Zurich Opera 2005. Production: David Pountney. Cast: Christopher Ventris (Peter Grimes), Emily Magee (Ellen Orford), Alfred Muff (Balstrode). Conductor: Franz Welser-Möst. Further information here.

Director David Pountney really does get to the core of Peter Grimes as I see it: Not a drama of the changing of the sea or a specific English fisherman-village portrait, it is rather a universal story of someone being pushed out of a community, for whatever reason we don´t know, and which eventually breaks him. In the unchanging stylish sets, the people of the village are suspended on chairs in the air, literally looking down on, as a metaphor of condemning Peter Grimes. It is a cold world, with everyone looking after himself, even Balstrode plays with the prostitute-girls in Act 3 like the other hypocrites of the village.

Both Christopher Ventris and Emily Magee are exceptionally well-cast as Peter Grimes and Ellen Orford. Ventris brings both sympathy and ambiguity to the character, who is, also from Britten´s hand, ambiguous in his harsh working methods vs. his dreams of simple domestic happiness with Ellen.

And Pountney brings almost biblical pathos to the final scene - Orford and Balstrode sit on each side of the stage with the two dead boys in their lap, while Grimes delivers his monologue leaning toward a white pole (cross).

Well conducted, though not overly dense, by Franz-Welser Möst this DVD is highly recommended. Of modern versions, the only alternative is the 2008 production from the Metropolitan Opera, equally highly recommended.

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

Christopher Ventris: 4
Emily Magee: 4-5
Alfred Muff: 4

David Pountney´s staging: 4-5

Franz Welser-Möst: 4

Overall impression: 4-5

Deep, deep, deep....

A most extraordinary CD:  Basso Profundo - the Orthodox Singers Male Choir singing traditional Russian songs as well as orthodox lithurgic hymns from the Old Russia (more information here).
The vocal range of the basses lie more than one octave below the ordinary bass range and almost sound like organ pipes which adds a completely astonishing atmosphere to this CD. Strongly recommended.

Berlin: Verdi Requiem with Barenboim, Villazon, Pape etc.

Earlier this week, two performances of the Verdi Requiem were given in Berlin, with the Berlin Staatskapelle conducted by Daniel Barenboim and with soloists Anja Harteros, Sonia Ganassi, Rolando Villazon and René Pape (more here).

Generally there was praise to everybody involved in particular the male soloists and Daniel Barenboim, but overall reviews were very positive.

Tagesspiegel:

There was something touching to his performance, even though Villazóns famous subtleness has little power next to the sonorous René Pape and the soprano singers.

Berliner Morgenpost:

Rolando Villazón has recovered his cheerful singing and demonstrated his old skills undisturbed in a new garb. René Pape would have been sincerely missed if he did not take part in an occasion like this...

Rolando Villazon speaks about his absence, his vocal crisis and his plans for the future including no heavy roles and fewer performances

An interview with Rolando Villazon in the March edition of the German opera magazine Opernglas (my translation):

Ursula Ehrensberger from Opernglas met the singer in Berlin.

Mr. Villazón, we have missed you! Where were you in recent months?

Rolando Villazón: I was at home and also on an island, with my family, but also with my books. I also missed the stage, but I wanted to recover my inner strength, to load the inner volcano again to be able to give hundredandfifty percent without suffering.

Did you have, to use a modern word, a "burnout"?

Rolando Villazón: Maybe you could call it that, although I personally do not use this word. I have always said, that I myself do not set the limits in what I am doing; borders will emerge by themselves. And so it was: There was suddenly a limit, I couldn´t meld in with the rhythm of my performances, didn´t have the usual intensity, but I was at a point where it was physically not going forward. The voice is very wise, and it said, "Either you listen, or I will never work." At first I tried with a break of five weeks, as the doctors had advised me, but when I came back, nothing was improved. And so I decided to make not only a break of five weeks, but about five months. I know that it was quite risky, doing what I have done. The biggest step was to accept that I needed a break. But when I had done it, it was wonderful to step down from the mountain and analyze it from the distance, to detect the dangers and risks on that mountain, so they are not repeated in the future. Something similar may happen to anyone. And if there's something interesting in all this, it is not because I am a famous opera singer, but because I am a human being.

Was the danger for you maybe exceptionally high because you are so intense in all that you are doing ?

Rolando Villazón: That will remain, I promise you! Even though the price may be a shorter career. In recent months, I had plenty of time to read, which is one of my favourite hobbies, and I have read the letters of Seneca. One said: "Do not be afraid of difficult times, because they may never come." That is why you shouldn´t worry, but enjoy the present. What do you win? Time. And when the desperate moments then come, you will just have to suffer. It belongs to every life. But we should not stop doing the things that are important. I try every time I go on stage, to sing as if it was the most important performance of my life, the first and the last, both in one. That will not change: I want to "die" on the stage. What will change is the rhythm, with which I perform. The time between the performances need to be longer.

In what direction do you want to go now? It has been the impression that your voice has become heavier and more dramatic.

Rolando Villazón: One of the changes will also include to distance myself from my dreams of singing heavier roles, at least for now. Previously, I have always said: "I will sing Otello, even if it is the last thing I do." Now I sing Werther, Roméo, Rodolfo, Alfredo - and it should stay that way. And I am considering to add some baroque roles. I would also tend to go in the other, lighter direction, and further develop the softness of the voice. If the voice itself moves in a certain direction, it is okay, but I will not push. I was scheduled to sing Cavaradossi in a large new "Tosca" production at the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden. But I had decided to abstain from it and then discussed it with Maestro Barenboim. He agreed and suggested to me to sing Lenski in the new "Eugen Onegin" production in the autumn of 2008, which more ideally fits my voice. I immediately agreed with enthusiasm.

Full interview in German here