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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Richard Strauss, Ariadne auf Naxos - Oper Stuttgart

Performance 18th December

Some days ago I went to Stuttgart to see the production of Strauss' and Hofmannsthal's second collaboration: Ariadne auf Naxos. The production itself was just total nonsense, but the singing was really great. Directors Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito decided to reverse the order of the opera and play the opera (2nd act) first and afterwards the Vorspiel (1st act). Their  reason was Hofmannsthal's attribute of the work: Oper in einem Aufzuge nebst einem Vorspiel. They thought that NEBST would not indicate that the Vorspiel has to be performed first. Even though the plot DEFINITELY displays the preperations of the second act!!! I never heard such nonsense! What a pity, because the staging and the costumes (Anna Viebrock) were not that bad and locked quite lovely from time to time.
At least the musical part was quite good . Georg Fritzsch conducted the work very clear with a great dynamic bandwidth from very intimate to dramatic outbursts (even with the small chamber orchestra). He pointed out many lovely details from the score and the orchestra (Staatsorchester Stuttgart) did a good job following his instructions.
And now the singers of the Vorspiel: the music teacher was sung by Michael Ebbecke, who had a powerful voice with a very profound depth. Only his diction could have been a little bit better for making his performance perfect.
The speaking role of the Haushofmeister was performed by André Jung. In my opinion he acted a little bit boring and it seemed as he would just read down his words. I would have expected more acting.
Sophie Marilley sang the composer and did a great job in that role. Her timbre reminded me several times of Tatiana Troyanos, even though Marilley's voice might not be as big as Troyanos'. Still she acted thrillingly and played the young impulsive boy very convincingly.
As Tanzmeister we heard Daniel Kluge who has a lovely strong tenor voice with a very heroic but still quite youthful timbre. I really enjoyed his singing and think he could do greatly in bigger roles.
The smaller roles (Lakai, Offizier, Perückenmacher) were performed by members of the opera studio. Eric Ander, Thomas Elwin and Dominic Große did a good job and proved their qualities.
Now the singers of the opera: As men's quartet Harlekin, Scaramuccio, Truffaldin and Brighella we heard André Morsch, Heinz Göhring, Roland Bracht and Torsten Hofmann. All four of them did a good job and sounded fine together.
The nymphs also sounded quite good together. Najade was sung by Lauryna Bendziunaite who has a very powerful voice that is able to sing in the high register without any problems. Unfortunately she sounded a little bit to powerful from time to time for this has to be sung more delicate and the phrasing must be more fluid (especially in their first scene). If she had sung a little bit subtly it would have been nearly perfect. Dryade was sung by Stine Marie Fischer who has a very strong profound mezzo soprano and sang very tastefully. Her voice was very agile and gave a good foundation for the nymph scenes because vocally she seemed to be the "leader". Josephin Feiler sang the lovely role of Echo and also did a good job with it. She sang her dreamy lines really lovely and delicate without being covered.
Stefan Vinke performed the roles of Bacchus and the tenor. He has a quite strong tenor voice that sometimes seems to take some time to take off. His strength were the parts in the middle register. In the higher register he seemed quite strained sometimes and some of the higher notes did not come easily. But of course this role is a challenge for any tenor with its enormously high tessitura. Moreover he seemed more relaxed in the Vorspiel, maybe because the vocals there lie a little bit lower than in the opera.
Julia Bauer sang the breakneck role of Zerbinetta. She managed the enormous range quite well and did not have any problems with the several high notes beyond c6. Her coloraturas were exemplary and were really fluid. Her phrasing also was very nice and showed great musical taste. The only deficit was that she had some issues with being covered by the orchestra. Her soprano is very light and clear like a bell but her stamina seems to have some potential for improvement. If she manages to work on that she might be a promising singer.
The title role Ariadne and the role of the primadonna were performed by my favorite soprano, Christiane Libor. As I expected she did great in this role. She has a great lower register with a very beautiful timbre (unlike many other Ariadnes) and no problems at all with the high register up to the c6 in "Es gibt ein Reich". The enormous beauty of her voice and the sheer power of her stamina always manage to impress me anew. She will debut at the Salzburg Festival next year and hopefully will come more often afterwards.
The vocal performance of this evening's singers was great but because of the crappy production I only award 8 stars.
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Max Bruch, Die Loreley - Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Prinzregententheater

Performance 23rd November

For the second Sonntagskonzert of the Münchner Rundfunkorchester I once again made my way to Munich for another rarity of the opera repertory: Max Bruch's Loreley.
The opera, which premiered in 1863 is very traditional and was already outdated when it premiered. The music sounds like from 40 years earlier most of the time. Nevertheless there are some great melodies and lovely ensembles.
Stefan Blunier conducted the orchestra very clear and showed many interesting details of the score. He found the perfect balance between the intimate parts and the great choral scenes. The orchestra once again showed that they are able to perform an opera with great virtuosity and great musical taste. The Prager Philharmonischer Chor also gave the audience chills during the many choir scenes. They were able to display many kinds of atmospheres, from the myserious scenes on the banks of the Rhine to the great scenes at the wedding. But also the cast was very well chosen and gave a magnificent performance.
Sebastian Campione as Hubert (Lenore's father) was singing very beautifully with great power and a very expressive but also noble bass voice. He handled his part with fine musicality and pointed out the beautiful vocal lines of the score.
The archbishop was sung by Thomas Hamberger who has a very powerful authoritarian voice with a very profound gravity. His voice matched the role of the high priest really well and he knew how to radiate his power.
Reinald the minstrel was performed by Jan-Hendrik Rootering who is a quite well known singer for German repertory. He did a good job although his voice sometimes sounded very nasal and his diction could have been better as well.
Benedikt Eder sang the small role of Leupold (Otto's servant). He seemed to be very young but his voice already sounded quite mature with a very noble timbre and a very gentle tone.
Another small role with a great singer was the role of the Winzerin, which was sung by greek soprano Danae Kontora. What a lovely voice and what a beautiful woman! Her light soprano has an incredibly delicate sound and is pure like the voice of an angel. She managed within her short song to thrill the audience from the first note she sang. Bravo!
Magdalena Hinterdobler performed the role of Bertha (Otto's wife) and also did a great job. Her lyric soprano has enough power to surpass the orchestra but also sounds very beautifully and delicate at the same time. Her great cavatine in the second act was one of the big highlights and was rewarded by immense applause.
Pfalzgraf Otto was sung by Thomas Mohr has a definitely Wagner-proven tenor voice. His stamina is exemplary although he sometimes sounded quite strained in the higher register. Nevertheless he found a good balance between dramatic and lyric singing and holded out the whole evening.
Lenore, later Loreley, was sung by soprano Michaela Kaune who has a very beautiful voice with quite clean transitions between the registers and a lovely timbre. She managed to show the different shades of the characters vocally (first very lyric singing, towards the end getting very dramatic). Sometimes I had the feeling she did not feel totally comfortable in the higher register but she did not fail at any moment. Her final Loreley-song was very beautifully performed and had something magic.
All in all I would give the performance 7 stars.
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W. A. Mozart, Die Zauberflöte - Salzburger Landestheater

Performance 21st November

About one week ago I saw a performance of Mozart's Zauberflöte from the Salzburger Landestheater and since then I struggled what to write about it because I have never ever seen a worse performance before. What a pity! If you bring you bring Mozart's great work on stage in his hometown you definitely should get it right!
First of all problems was the production of the theatre's director Carl Phillip von Maldeghem which seemed like they just put everything on stage they had. And the idea of bringing the main protagonists on stage together with a puppet of themselves is just annoying. Especially because they always tried very hard to justify the use of those marionettes. The whole production was boring and lacked of ideas and imagination.
Another deficit was the musical interpretation (if you can call it like that) of conductor Stefan Müller and the Mozarteum Orchester. I don't know what the problem was but it sounded like they just played the notes like they would mean nothing at all. If I didn't know better I would have thought this was a rehearsal!! Again, what a pity that the Mozarteum Orchester itself obviously cannot perform Mozart properly.
Nevertheless, at least some of the singers did an acceptable job. The three ladies (Meredith Hoffmann-Thomson, Julia Stein & Tamara Güra) stood out quite positively and sang those lovely roles really well. The only problem with the ladies was that their dresses did a lot of noise, so here once again: thank you Mr. Maldeghem for not caring about that!!
Franz Supper as Monostatos was one of the few positive performances and did a really great job, both musically and theatrically. He did not have any problems to play well AND sing his difficult quick parts. Also his part as Erster Geharnischter was fine and satisfied my expectations.
Ugur Okay also performed two roles: Erster Priester and Zweiter Geharnischter. His voice seemed very strong but unfortunately his phrasing was really bad and made a cut-off impression many times. Also his diction which is very important in this opera was rather poor.
Rudolf Pscheidl, although I did not really hear him sing a lot, was one of the few highlights. He performed his role with a lovely bavarian accent and saved the evening with some funny moments.
The role of the speaker (Clemens Ansorg) also did a fine job but sometimes it also seemed a bit like he just spoke the words instead of performing a role.
When it comes to the three boys I guess noone would ever say something bad because you can't expect them to perform those role perfectly like adults (except they are professional child singers). One of those boys seemed to have gotten into this production not because of his singing but because of his name. I won't say more about that, but I think it was obvious that this was not a musical decision but a personal one!! Nevertheless, the other boys did a fine job and gave their best.
But now to the real disasters. The main antipodes, the queen of the night and Sarastro, were the main examples of bad casting this evening. The queen of the night, sung by Christina Rümann, is a very difficult role, everybody knows that, but what Ms. Rümann sang showed that she is definitely no queen of the night. Everything higher than a'' was surprisingly quite fine but everything below was a disaster. Her enormous vibrato and wobble are really annoying and totally inappropriate for this role. This is a classic example for singing in a wrong Fach and now I really question the responsible persons for the casting.
Alexey Birkus, who sang Sarastro, was not that bad, but still not appropriate for his role. He does not have enough power in the lower register which is maybe the most important one for Sarastro. The really deep notes were almost not hearable and you needed a lot of imagination. Also his diction was not satisfying at all.
Simon Schnorr sang Papageno and vocally did not have any bigger issues. Nevertheless I was a little bit disappointed of his acting. Papageno is a role where acting is way more important than the vocal quality. Schnorr however, seemed to be too focused on good singing than on acting out the role.
Ayse Senogul as Papagena was quite good and did a lovely job in her speaking parts as old lady. Although you could hear her accent she did quite a good job with her German. Both her singing and acting fitted perfectly to this lovely small role.
Tamino was sung by the swedish tenor (and new member of the ensemble) Kristofer Lundin. He has a nice tenor voice which did not have any serious issues with this part but nevertheless Tamino is not really his role. He seems to have a strong lyric dramatic tenor (jugendlicher Heldentenor) which is already a little too heavy for Tamino. But as I said, he did not have any big issues, just his diction was also a little bit shaky.
Finally the role of Pamina was sung by Laura Nicorescu and she did a good job. Although also her German had a big accent she convinced with her thouching musical interpretation and a lovely lyric soprano voice. Interetingly her diction during the singing was fine, just the spoken parts were a difficulty for her obviously. I really loved her timbre and the phrasing which really suited the role perfectly.
So in the end I can say that I was enormously disappointed of this evening, even though there were some good parts. I think it is a shame to perform with such a quality for the prices of the Landestheater. Some of the Mozarteum students could have done a better job than some of the singers at this evening.
The whole performance gets only 4 stars.

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W. A. Mozart, Requiem - St. Peters Kirche

Performance 9th November

Once again I had the chance to hear Mozart's Requiem (quite by chance) in a concert of St. Peter. The choir and the orchestra of the Stiftsmusik St. Peter (many instrumentalists from the Mozarteum orchestra, as far as I saw it) played very well and gave a delightful and exact performance. The sound was very appropriate for Mozart and really suited the whole work perfectly. Armin Kircher conducted very tasteful and was able to show every single detail of the beautiful score. The ensmble played very accentuated and exciting.
The soloist also were quite good and gave a great performance. Simon Schnorr, who performed the bass part, could have had a little bit more power in the lower register but generally did a fine job. Maybe he will achieve more profundity when he gets older, because for now the bass part seems to have parts that are too deep for his voice.
Gerhard Erlebach has a nice voice but unfortunately his tenor tends to make an uncontrolled impression from time to time. His phrasing is quite disastrous sometimes and some notes burst out like volcanos in the middle of a phrase!! If he had sung more controlled it would have been really great (for a tenor).
Magdalena Rüker was singing the alto part once again and was able to give a performance as steady as the last time (this time with a better ensemble). She sounded lovely and very tastefully once again.
Simone Vierlinger sang the soprano part and mastered it really well. Her voice suited the part perfectly with its beautiful phrases and the angel-like vocal lines. Vierlinger's voice has exactly that timbre and knew how to use it appropriately.
All in all it was a way better performance than the one I heard at Halloween although this time it was a free performance! I give the performance 8 stars.
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Giuseppe Verdi, Rigoletto - Salzburger Landestheater

Performance 4th November

Quite spontaniously I had the chance to see the new production of Verdi's Rigoletto at the Salzburger Landestheater and I definitely have to say that it is a very good one. Amélie Niermeyer's production (stage: Alexander Müller-Elmau, costumes: Kirsten Dephoff) is not very creative and tries to shock with some quite pedophil scenes. Anyway the musical quality is way better and I would even say it is totally satisfying (which is quite a surprise from the Landestheater). Adrian Kelly conducted the Mozarteumorchester fine although the orchestra was too loud at some parts. Also some hearable mistakes (especially during the sinfonia) were a little bit annoying if you think of the Mozarteumorchester as a "professional" ensemble. Anyway the total impression was ok and the singers made it more than that.
Due to the fact that there are so many small roles that sometimes only have some sentences to say I will not talk about smaller roles than Monterone. Sorry to all roles like Marullo, Matteo or all other small roles, but I can't really say anything about such small appearances.
So Monterone, who also has a small but very important role, was sung by Einar Th. Gudmundsson. He might have a good voice but I missed the dark timbre which Monterone definitely should have. I would have casted someone whose voice is more profound and has a darker timbre.
Giovanna, a quite small role as well, was performed by Frances Pappas and did a fine job although her acting was more impressive (if you can call it impressive) than her vocal abilities.
Tamara Gura as Maddalena was more impressive with a very dark mezzosoprano, Her voice sounds quite strong and has a very beautiful tone. She also made a good impression in her sexy outfit and was able to deliver this sexiness also through her vocal performance.
Her brother Sparafucile was sung by Alexey Birkus who has a very dark and aggressive voice. It matched perfectly with his role and he also played very convincingly evil.
And now to the stars of the evening: Ivan Inverardi sang the title role and gave a great performance. His voice is dark and sounded very convincingly for this role. He portrayed the paranoid father very well and always had a fine balance between delicate singing and forte singing.
Rame Lahaj, who portrayed the role of Il Duca, also has a great voice with a very beautiful tone and a nice upper register (that is really important for this role). He sang with great ease and never showed a sign of exhaustion. Also his acting and his physique matched perfectly with his role and so his performance gave a very good overall impression.
The highlight of the performance was Eri Nakamura as Gilda. I already heard her in smaller roles in Munich but now she sang the main female role and blew me away. She has a very beautiful easygoing soprano voice with enough power and agility to perform the role of Gilda which sometimes has a very loud orchestra for a light soprano like hers. Nevertheless she never had any issues with being heard and also her upper register was powerful enough (without loosing her beautiful tone) to delight us.
So finally I can say that the three main protagonists were enormously good and I was able to enjoy the whole performance (which is not usual with the productions of the Landestheater). I award SalzburgS Rigoletto 7 stars.
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