Vincenzo Bellini, La Sonnambula - Salzburger Landestheater

Premiere performance 22nd February

Yesterday I attended the premiere of La Sonnambula at the Salzburger Landestheater which I was really looking forward to because it is one of my favorite Bellini operas. The production of Agnessa Nefjodov (costumes and staging: Eva Musil) was not too bad but also not really good. Many ideas did not really work out and they left a lot of questions unsolved in the end. Surely not one of the best productions of the Landestheater.
Conductor Lorenzo Coladonato conducted very tastefull with a sense for Bellini's neverending melodies and the not less important rhythmical accentuation. The Mozarteum Orchester also did a fine job without any issues and performed this lovely work very delicately. The choir (Chor des Salzburger Landestheater) also did a fine job and managed the several choir passages appropriately and nicely.
Min-Yong Kang as Notaro had just a very short appearance but did well in it. Also Ugur Okay was fine in the role of Allesio which could have been a little greater. In the role of Teresa, the mother, we heard Anna Maria Dur, who has a very strong wagnerproven mezzosoprano with a warm timbre. She portrayed the loving mother very nicely and did a great job with her performance.
Alexey Birkus as Il Conte Rodolfo sang also very well with noble tone. This role obviously fits his voice way better than the role of Sarastro! This time he really gave a spotless performance.
Someone I really liked was Hannah Bradbury as Lisa. She has a nice instrument with a very clear and strong upper register. Besides, she acted really greatly in this unfortunately very unsympathetic role. I really enjoyed her performance a lot.
Maybe the highlight of the evening was 27-year old tenor Pavel Kolgatin in the role of Elvino. What a lovely lyric tenor voice! But also his physical appearance was really nice and the female part of the audience surely would have loved to be his beloved. He gave a really great performance with clear and tastefull singing. A very impressing moment was the climax before Rodolfo's first appearance where Kolgatin held his final not (I think it was a A-flat) incredibly long. He finished almost together with the orchestra which really impressed me a lot.
I wish Lavinia Bini as Amina had impressed me like that. First I have to say that she mostly did a really good job with a angel-like voice, delicate pianissimi and a very strong stamina. Unfortunately she seems to be out of her comfort zone above the high c. Several times she had issues of intonation in her upper register and she skipped the optional high e-flats in her first cabaletta and the first act finale. The e-flat(s) in the finale aria also did not happen (even though she tried...). Moreover they cut half of her final aria "Ah non giunge" (I do not know if it was her decision, but it is just really stupid to cut the most famous aria of the whole aria). I really think that if you sing this role your e-flats should be there when needed (and those optional high notes are not really optional in my opinion). Singing Amina without her high e-flats is like singing Lucia without her high notes, just not appropriate. Nevertheless she did a great job except of that and that is why I would still give 7 stars to the performance.
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Charles Gounod, Cinq-Mars - Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Prinzregententheater

Performance 25th January

Another time I had the pleasure to hear a lovely rarity performed by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester. Cinq-Mars is loosely based on the historic figure and is a lovely french link between the Grand opera and the later french opera. There are some nice tunes but I actually missed some really thrilling moments.
Nevertheless the orchestra played really well and conductor Ulf Schirmer was able to show many great details of the score. Also the choir (Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks) was really great in its many scenes.Especially in french opera the choir is very important and they fulfilled any expectations.
But now for the singers: Wolfgang Klose appeared in the short role of De Brienne. His voice seemed a little bit out of control but it was not a big role anyway, so it was not a big problem. Matthias Ettmayr sang De Montrésor (and Eustache) and gave a more controlled impression. His performance might not have been exceptional but it was okay.
As the King of France (and the chancellor) we heard Jaques-Greg Williams whose voice was really noble and strong. His performance was worthy a King and even though he did not sing a lot I enjoyed every minute of it.
Andrew Lepri Meyer sang De Montmort (and the polish ambassador) and was quite lovely to listen to. His tenor voice was strong and brilliant with a beautiful tone. Especially in the tercett with De Brienne and De Montrésor he really stood out.
As the opera's villain, Pére Joseph, we heard Andrew Foster-Williams who kew how to portray this very evil antagonist. His voice combined both cruelty and superiority which made this character even less likeable. A really great performance!
Another deep voice was André Heyboer as Vicomte de Fontrailles. He had a really powerful voice with a very dark and rough timbre which fitted the character very well. His whole performance was very dramatic and showed off a really heroic voice.
Tassis Christoyannis performed the role of Cinq-Mars loyal friend De Thou. He also had a very strong bass voice even though it was way smoother and more lyric than De Fontrailles' voice. His voice combined both strength and beauty in a very impressive way.
The role of Ninon was sung by Marie Lenormand who showed us her lovely mezzosoprano with a very warm and erotic timbre. She was a nice diversification to all the men. And also Norma Nahoun as Marion filled the missing female roles with her sweet light soprano voice. Her coloraturas were fine and the timbre of her voice very light and delicate. Only her stamina could have been a little bit better but that is always the problem with lighter voice and big orchestras.
In the female main role, Marie, we had the pleasure to hear french soprano Véronique Gens. Her voice surely isn't one of the smoothest ones but I think it is very interesting. She sang the role with great superiority and very emotionally. The timbre of her voice is really interesting because it does not have a really beautiful timbre but she is able to express herself in a very impressive way through her instrument. You could hear every emotion just through the sound of her voice which to me seems to be a very special gift.
Finally the title role was sung by Mathias Vidal who jumped in for Charles Castronovo within less than two full days. Because of that and his really great singing he was everybody's favorite of the night. He did not show any doubts vocally and did a genuinely great job. His voice is was quite strong with a tendence to a heroic timbre and he sang his lines with great passion. I was really impressed that he was able to perform with such superiority even though he just knew abouth the concert two days in advance. Therefore, my greatest respect!
All in all I would give the performance solid 7 stars.
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Franz Schubert, Alfonso und Estrella - Mozartwoche Salzburg, Haus für Mozart

Performance 23rd January

As part of this year's Mozartwoche festival I was able to hear another Schubert opera in a concert performance. Antonello Manacorda conducted the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg and the Salzburger Bachchor. All together they made a great performance possible. The only problem was the piece itself. Compared to Fierrabras it seemed like a very boring piece that was a first try to write something big for the stage (even though it is not really an early work). I thought that the libretto was quite boring and a bit ridiculous. The music also had some nice tunes but was not really what I would call exciting, but now more about the singers.
Mayumi Sawada sang the role of a girl and did a fine job with a very delicate but strong voice. Only her diction could have been a little better, but her voice was really beautiful and gave us some lovely minutes.
Benjamin Hulett sang the leader of the King's guard and a youngling. He also sang very beautifully and especially his duet scenes with Sawada were really lovely.
Alastair Miles as Adolfo was one of the highlights of the evening. His voice seems to be predestined for evil roles. The very dark timbre and his dramatic behaviour made his performance really authentic and thrilling. He never had any problems to be covered and I personally liked his songs the most.
As King Mauregato we heard  Michael Nagy who also has a quite powerful profound voice with a less heroic but more noble timbre as Miles. His portrayal of the insecure King was really interesting and I liked his performance quite well.
Markus Werba sang the old King Froila and did a fine job with this role. Even though his voice seemed a little bit too "young" for an old King and he sometimes had problems to sing over the orchestra he sang the role quite adequately. I am always amazed by his quite unique voice because it has a very light but still heroic timbre which is very interesting to me.
In the role of Estrella we heard Mojca Erdmann who once again proved that her voice is too small to sing German romantic repertory. There were several moments when you just could not hear the glimpse of a tone from her even though she was singing. She might sing very beautifully (even though I sometimes don not like the way she does her phrasing) but she definitely has a big stamina issue (even Sawada had a bigger voice than her).
Toby Spence on the other hand was maybe one of the best singers of the evening. His quite light and lyric tenor voice has enough power to be heard over the orchestra and his whole interpretation was very tasteful and convincing. Especially his scenes with Markus Werba were really nice because their voices matched quite well.
I did enjoy the whole evening but it was not really exciting so I give the performance 7 stars.
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Ludwig van Beethoven, Sinfonie 9 d-moll - Salzburger Neujahrskonzert, Großes Festspielhaus

Performance 1st January

As first concert of the new year I decided to see the new year's concert in Salzburg. After some music from Bizet's Carmen (and a Carmen-fantázia from Jenö Hubay) we heard Beethoven's opus magnum: his ninth symphony with the famous final choir passage "Ode an die Freude" with Schiller's text.
Florian Krumpöck conducted the Philharmonie Salzburg, the Mozartchor Salzburg and the Talentum Chor Budapest. He conducted very intensively and literally jumped around on stage to get what he wants from the orchestra. I would say that they did a fine job with no bigger issues and I really had a lovely afternoon listening to them.
As soloist we heard Sophie Gordeladze as soprano with a suprisingly strong but still very delicate voice, Christa Ratzenböck with a strong mezzosoprano Kurt Azesberger with a powerful tenor with a youthful timbre and Andreas Scheibner as a baritone with exemplary diction!
As I said I had a very lovely afternoon and so I give the performance 7 stars.
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Richard Strauss, Die Frau ohne Schatten - Bayerische Staatsoper

Performance 27th December

It was my pleasure to hear the great rendition of Strauss' and Hofmannsthal's Opus Magnum once again in Munich as part of my intensive christmas marathon. It took me a while now to write this review because I was busy with a lot of different things those last weeks.
The production of Krzysztof Warlikowski (staging and costumes: Małgorzata Szczęśniak) is quite dumb and is maybe the only reason to stay away of the production. I am really sick of those totally pseudo intellectual productions that have nothing in common with the piece. Especially a complex work as this is should be performed adequately.
Anyway, what an evening, Kirill Petrenko and the Bayerisches Staatsorchester as well as the choir and children's choir of the bavarian state opera (Chor und Kinderchor der bayerischen Staatsoper) gave a great performance with magnificent contrasts and everything one could wish for. Petrenko is one of the conductors who could become a new Herbert von Karajan. His conducting shows every single little detail and he is definitely not afraid of going to the limits. From the most delicate chamber music moments to the great bombastic outbursts of the orchestra he was able to display everything of it.
Also the singers gave their best to perform this enormously difficult piece as well as they could and I have to say, they did a great job. As the voices of the unborn, the servants and the children's voices we heard Hanna Elisabeth Müller, Eri Nakamura, Golda Schultz, Elsa Benoit, Rachael Wilson and Heike Grötzinger. Singing from the off they all sounded still very strong and very beautifully. They formed a great vocal ensemble together and their voices matched really well in the several "ensemble" scenes.
Rachael Wilson also sang the role of the voice from above and showed her powerful dark voice. Eri Nakamura sang the role of the falcon as well and showed once again that she has a very powerful beautiful voice with a very lovely delicate timbre. As Hüter der Schwelle des Tempels we had the pleasure to hear more from Hanna Elisabeth Müller who had no difficulties with the very agile part and performed it adequately.
Another little ensemble was formed for the guardians of the city who were performed by Andrea Borghini, Evgenij Kachurovsky and John Carpenter. They also did a wonderful job with their almost spiritual appearance in the final of act 1. The whole scene was very intimate and profound.
As the three brothers of Barak we heard Tim Kuypers, Christian Rieger and Dean Power. They sounded fine and also acted really well. Dean Power also sang the role of the Jüngling and gave us the pleasure of his youthful tenor voice with a beautiful strong timbre.
Samuel Youn sang the spirit messenger and was acceptable in this role. In my opinion the role should be sung by a more profound voice than Youn's but anyway he was ok in the role.
Now to the great protagonist ensemble which is always enormously difficult to cast appropriately. Deborah Polaski sang a demonic and very classy Amme even though her vocal abilities might not be the best for this very difficult role. Still, I actually liked her performance more this time because it seemed to be more secure and maybe she felt a little bit more comfortable this time.
Wolfgang Koch as Barak showed once more that he is one of the best performers of this role at the moment. His voice is capable of displaying the benevolence and defenselessness of the character. He found a great balance between the dramatic and the delicate parts and gave a great overall performance.
Robert Dean Smith jumped in for the role of the Emperor and also did a fine job in this role. I actually liked his interpretation more that the one of Johan Botha because it felt way more authentic. He even dared to sing the high b flat in his scene in the second act (if my ears did not fool me) and it sounded fine.
Riccarda Merbeth took over the role of the Empress from Adrianne Pieczonka. I liked Pieczonka more but I have to admit that Merbeth did a really great job during most of the final act. Still during the first two acts she seemed to be quite stressed by her role and her upper register is quite weak compared to the lower registers. Nevertheless her performance was fine and she did not disappoint the audience.
My personal highlight was Elena Pankratova in the role of the Dyer's wife. Her huge dramatic soprano voice just blew my mind once again. She totally nailed her performance and showed that you can sing this role without having a wobbly voice. The sheer power of her voice comes together with a quite nice timbre and her phrasing shows that she understood what this role is about.
All in all I would give the performance 9 stars because musically it is one of the best productions of the last years.
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Giacomo Puccini, Tosca - Linzer Musiktheater

Performance 26th December

As second part of my opera marathon I saw Puccini's Tosca, also in Linz. The production of Rainer Mennicken (director), Stefan Brandtmayr (stage) and Cornelia Kraske (costumes) was very classy and conservative. I really liked it but I'm sure some people thought it was too conventional.
Marc Reibel conducted the work very expressive with very effective details and great dynamic contrasts. The Brucknerorchester Linz also did a good job following his instructions and found a great balance between dramatic outbursts and ravishing melodies.
The small roles of Spoletta, Sciarrone, Schliesser (doorkeeper) and Hirt (shepherd) were sung by Iurie Ciobanu, Marius Mocan, Boris Daskalov and Jakob Reiter. All of them did a fine job in their little roles.
The role of the sacristan was sung by Franz Binder. His voice seemed a little bit rough and uneven but because of that it fitted the role of the old sacristan even more. He portrayed the role quite well and convincing.
Ulf Bunde sang Angelotti with a really beautiful heroic baritone voice. He showed us a very desperate but promising rebel with great visions.
Tuomas Pursio performed the evil role of Scarpia and was a great antagonist with a very strong heroic baritone voice. He did a great job showing the obsession of Scarpia with Tosca and was vocally really convincing.
Cavaradossi was sung by Pedro Velázquez Díaz who has a quite light voice for this role even though his voice is quite powerful. Still he seemed a little bit strained from time to time, especially in the upper register and his high notes did not come really easy. Nevertheless his performance was not bad at all and he managed to capture the spirit of the role adequately.
The title role was performed by Myung Joo Lee who has a very beautiful powerful soprano with a easy but strong upper register and enough power in the lower register. Her acting as jealous singer also was very convincing and she knew how to combine acting and singing in order to obtain credibility.
I really liked the performance and I give it 7 stars.
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Richard Wagner, Siegfried - Linzer Musiktheater

Performance 25th December

As first part of my christmas opera marathon I heard the third opera of the ring cycle of the Linzer Landestheater. I already saw Rheingold (exactly one year earlier) and Walküre (in June) and was impressed that the productions were actually really good (if you think of the size of the house). Even though Siegfried is my anti-favorite of the four operas I like this production best from the Linzer Ring. The singing was mostly really top and the staging wasn't that bad either. Uwe Eric Laufenberg (who will do the 2016 Bayreuth Parsifal instead of Jonathan Meese) did a good job as director together with Gisbert Jäkel (stage) and Antje Sternberg (costumes). The whole concept was very clear and had some impressive parts (for example the video montages).
Dennis Russell Davies obviously likes Siegfried better because this time his conducting was really good and was full of power, subtleties and great phrasing. The Brucknerorchester Linz had no problems to realise his desires and played really well with great dynamic contrasts and nice soli.
Matthäus Schmidlechner sang a very strong Mime with exemplary diction. You could hear every single syllable so clear that it seemed that he is talking normally. His whole portrayal of the role was really impressive and totally convincing.
Mime's brother, Alberich, was sung by Bjørn Waag who has a huge voice. I was really blown away by the sheer power of his voice even though he might not have the usual darkness for this role in his voice. This voice truly has no problems to be covered at all. Besides, the timbre of the voice is also very beautiful und heroic, just not really perfect for this role.
Dominik Nekel sang Fafner the giant / dragon and also did a fine job with this profound and interesting role. He had both, the low notes and the timbre to portray the huge sleeping dragon.
In the role of Wanderer / Wotan we had the pleasure to hear Gerd Grochowski again who I liked even better this time. His voice emits great elegance and nobility, but at the same time power and danger. His heroic and noble timbre fitted the role perfectly and he also acted really well and convincingly.
As Erda I heard someone I already knew from the Erl Festival: Elena Suvorova. What can I say, her voice is quite powerful and is able to sing the low notes of this profound role without any problems. Her timbre is dark and still noble and superior. The whole Erda scene gave me shivers and I really enjoyed the great singing.
Another great singer in a small role was Elisabeth Breuer as Waldvogel. She has a lovely light voice with a very beautiful timbre and great agility. She sang this role exactly as I imagine it and made the scene in the woods one of the highlights of the evening.
Lars Cleveman was the only one I was not totally satisfied with. His diction was really bad and I would not have found out which language it was if I didn't know it was German. He might have a strong voice but it was not that impressive. Sometimes his timbre reminded me of James King but that was all. I hope he will improve until Götterdämmerung.
Elena Nebera was my personal highlight of the evening. I really did not expect her to be so outstanding. She definitely improved enormously since Walküre and totally nailed it with the Siegfried-Brünnhilde. Her diction was really good this time and her phrasing also improved a lot. Her upper register sounded way stronger, more controlled and did not have a strong vibrato at all. Her high b's and high c's were great, powerful and not as short as the ones of many other Brünnhildes.
Finally I am really happy that I took the chance to see this performance because it was really great and I liked every minute of it. The performance gets totally earned 8 stars.
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