Gaetano Donizetti, La Favorite - Bayerische Staatsoper, Nationaltheater

Performance 26th July

Time flies and suddenly the day for my final review in Munich came. After three years of ravishing performances here I chose an opera that I have not seen live yet for my final review. Donizetti's La Favorite is one of those rare operas that features a mezzo as main protagonist. Most people only know the great scene "O mon Fernand", but the mezzo part also features high b-flats and an optional (but usually done) high c in the first duet.
The production by Amelie Niermeyer is dark and cold as usual. If it had been a concert version there would not have been much of a difference. Despite the moving panels of the stage (Alexander Müller-Elmau) there was not much going on at any moment. Even the highly dramatic finali of act 2 and 3 were utterly boring and it seemed that Niermeyer had no idea what to make out of it. The costumes (Kirsten Dephoff) looked pretty, but did not really convey any meaning or support the plot in any way.
At least the musical part of the evening was on a very high level. Karel Mark Chichon conducted the Bayerisches Staatsorchester with a great sense for Donizetti's melodies and with marvelous dramatic drive in the ensemble scenes. He brought the very french sound of the score to life and did not fail to deliver the drama that the production could not create. The orchestra played very well with brilliant elegance and fierce excitement. The Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper seemed a bit unbalanced that evening and especially during their entrance scene they seemed to have some timing issues.
Elsa Benoit was a wonderful Inès with a magnificent bright soprano voice that showed great flexibility and a lovely clear upper register. Joshua Owen Mills also has a very clear bright voice with a piercing timbre. He gave a solid performance as slimy Don Gaspard.
Mika Kares showed his strong profound bass voice in the role of Balthazar and sang the role passionately and with raw venerability. His interpretation could have been a bit more differentiated, but alltogether he gave a fine performance.
As Alphonse XI we heard Mariusz Kwiecień who did a great job in that role. His imperious flexible baritone voice suited the character very well and also acting-wise he showed great enthusiasm for the role.
Matthew Polenzani sang the role of Fernand with great passion with his rather light, but sustainable tenor voice. He gave us some beautiful high notes and a wonderful balance of soft intimate moments and dramatic outbursts. I thought that he could have been a bit more elegant, but anyway he did a good job.
Last but not least, the role of Léonor was sung by star mezzo Elīna Garanča who definitely was the star of the evening. Her lush dark voice combines beauty of tone, power and a marvelous sense for phrasing.Without any problems she tackled the many high parts of the role and convinced with a very emotional passionate portrayal.
Alltogether it was a solid performance with some very nice moments (at least musically) and therefor I give 8 stars to Munich's La Favorite.
✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ - -
Reviewed by Daniel Url

Carl Maria von Weber, Oberon - Bayerische Staatsoper, Prinzregententheater

Performance 24th July

The finale premiere of this season in Munich is a real rarity that rarely finds its way into the repertoire. Weber's Oberon is not as popular as his Freischütz which might be because of its rather dull story and the unelegant libretto. The plot seems like a strange mix of Mozart's Entführung, his Zauberflöte and other influences. Operas like this can barely be approached in a serious way without becoming unbareably cheesy. However, the team around Nikolaus Habjahn created a wonderful production with an impressive level of entertainment. The point of the production was to create a frame story and to simply not take the story serious at all. By exaggerations the plot became highly ironic and fit perfectly into the created frame story of an experiment. I have to admit that I do not know when I had so much fun at an opera the last time. There were so many funny moments and the audience was genuinely entertained by the several interesting ideas. I also thought the the costumes (Denise Heschl) and the stage (Jakob Brossmann) looked very elegant and gave a lovely fairytale-like impression. Especially the many little panels that came from all around the stage to support the plot. Another highly interesting detail was the use of those puppets that were played by the three Pucks. It was really impressive how well the actors were able to deliver different characters with those puppets.
The musical part of the evening was under the control of Ivor Bolton who gave a solid performance. I thought that the balance in the score could have been better most of the time and the light classiness of Weber's music was missing too. However, the Bayerisches Staatsorchester played well with a few little inaccuracies. Especially the natural horns were rather problematic, but alltogether the performance was fine on a good level. I especially want to mention the Extrachor der Bayerischen Staatsoper which sang wonderfully during the choir scenes.
Of the soloists I want to mention the three Pucks (Manuela Linshalm, Daniel Frantisek Kamen, Sebastian Mock) because they were responsible for many funny moments and helped to keep the ecxitement on a high level throughout the performance.
Anna El-Kashem had a very short but beautiful scene as Meermädchen. She sang the beautiful scene with a lovely and genuinely beautiful soprano voice that is definitely worth more than such a small appearance. Alyona Abramowa showed her dark warm mezzo voice, but definitely needs to work on her diction which tended to be rather problematic (especially during the few dialogues she had to deliver).
Julian Prégardien was a wonderful Oberon with a lovely youthful and elegant tenor voice. His noble timbre suited the role perfectly well and only his acting could have been a bit more convincing alltogether.
As Fatime we heard Rachael Wilson with her slender focused mezzo soprano. She gave a beautiful portrayal of the role with passion and lighthearted acting skills. I especially liked her aria in the final act, the following duet with Scherasmin and the Terzett with both guys where Wilson showed her vocal skills exceptionally well.
Johannes Kammler as Scherasmin also was a performance to remember. His light baritone voice suited the character very well and he sang the role with elegance and charm. But not only musically he knew how to catch the audience, also his acting skills were very good and he gave a wonderful performance.
Brenden Gunnell as Hüon von Bordeaux also did a good job even though he sometimes seemed a bit uncomfortable with the highly demanding part. The many runs and the rather high tessitura pushed him to his limits, but alltogether he gave a good performance.
Anette Dasch as Rezia seemed to have the same problem. While having a very beautiful strong and dark soprano voice, her top always gave a rather pushed impression. Surely the part calls for a more flexible kind of voice, but Dasch used her striking stage presence to make up for vocal deficits. In the end she probably gave the best overall impression with her marvelous diva-like behaviour (which was part of the production, obviously).
As mentioned before, I really had a great time and much fun during the performance. Certainly the piece and the production are not perfect, but it is a wonderful example of good entertainment. Therefor I give 9 stars to the absolutely hilarious Oberon in Munich.
✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰-
Reviewed by Daniel Url

Richard Strauss, Die Frau ohne Schatten - Bayerische Staatsoper, Nationaltheater

Performance 5th July

After years of intensive occupation with this marvelous work it seems obvious that I had to revisit the production in Munich this summer. Being my 4th production of FroSch this year I have a lot to compare. However, I already saw this production in Munich twice and there definitely are better ones. Compared to Die Gezeichneten Krysztof Warlikowski at least tells the story in a straight and more or less clear way, but the many connotations and odd pictures stay. While there is a lot going on all the time during this production it still fails very often to get to the core of the story. One could say that Warlikowski operates with some sort of diffuse conventionalism which creates some interesting pictures, but finally ends up rather random.
Kirill Petrenko led the musical part of the evening and was celebrated like a god. He certainly shows the greatest musical rendition of that piece I ever heard, but compared to earlier performances (2013 and 2014) some parts seemed a bit sloppy everynow and then. No really great issues, but several smaller moments when the accuracy could have been better. Nevertheless the Bayerisches Staatsorchester certainly gave a brilliant performance under the baton of its celebrated marvelous music director.
Most of the small parts were cast really well like the luxurious presence of Okka von der Damerau as voice from above or the guard trio (Johannes Kammler, Sean Michael Plumb and Milan Siljanov). Elsa Benoit was a great falcon and guard of the treshold with a beautiful and flexible soprano voice. Dean Power convinced not only as one of the three brothers, but also as fresh youngling with his youthful sonorous tenor voice.
Michaela Schuster once again (after Berlin) as the Nurse gave a solid performance again. Her voice tends to have a rather edgy sound and it is definitely not one of the most balanced voices, but she performs the part very smartly and gave a thrilling performance with her acting skills.
Burkhard Fritz (after Berlin AND Leipzig) once again showed that the role of the Emperor suits him well. He is absolutely reliable with power, delicacy and a good understanding of the role with all its difficulties. He seemed in better shape than in Leipzig lately and gave a flawless performance that evening.
Wolfgang Koch was also singing Barak in Berlin too and is one of the leading singers for that role as well. Except of some minor dangerous moments he did a great job with his flexible warm baritone voice and he seemed very playful during this performance.
As Färberin we heard Elena Pankratova (who lately jumped in at Oper Leipzig with that role) and she gave a marvelous performance even though she seemed not as fierce as usual. I had the feeling that she was a bit more careful that night, but still threw out one thrilling high note after another. Her warm and soft voice is also powerful and she definitely has a deep understanding of the character of the Dyer's Wife.
The title role of the Empress was sung by Riccarda Merbeth who sang the role for over a decade now. However she still sings it with intensity and a beautiful ringing upper register. I am not really a fan of her voice, but she undoubtedly sings the role with great security and no fear of any high notes.
Alltogether it was a lovely night and therefor I can give 9 stars to the revival of Die Frau ohne Schatten in Munich.
✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰-
Reviewed by Daniel Url

Franz Schreker, Die Gezeichneten - Bayerische Staatsoper, Nationaltheater

Performance 4th July

Marking my last summer as reviewer and my last reviews in Munich I started this year's Munich Opera Festival with a marvelous rarity, a work so captivating that I do not understand why it is not part of the normal repertoire. Franz Schreker's Die Gezeichneten is an opera that clearly marks some competition for Strauss and in fact Schreker was more often performed than Strauss during his lifetime. Unfortunately the horrors of the Nazi regime ended his success and his works were forgotten.
The Bayerische Staatsoper now revives this great opera in a production by Krysztof Warlikowski who is know for his collage style and his highly psychological productions. As usual it ended up as a diarrhoea of connotations, odd film scenes and a lot of stuff that keeps the audience from actually thinking about the philosophical questions of the piece. The opera, being quite complicated already, ended up being even less understandable and many people probably had no clue what was going on. The stage was designed by Małgorzata Szczęśniak who is usually working with Warlikowski. The staging reminded me of any other production they made (Die Frau ohne Schatten in Munich, Parsifal in Paris...) and stroke me as nothing new at all. The costumes also could have been from any other of their productions. Knowing the great production of Nikolaus Lehnhoff (Salzburg 2005) the one in Munich was rather disappointing.
Musically it was not as striking as one would expect at the Bayerische Staatsoper as well. Ingo Metzmacher, making his house debut, seems like a smart choice, but I expected more. His tempi sometimes seemed rather odd and unfortunately he was not able to make the music flow appropriately. Most of the time he and the Bayerisches Staatsorchester seemed so busy to simply perform the score that the soul of the music was lost. The lack of elegance and the sheer fluidity of Schreker's themes led to raw brutality and almost chaotic moments. The oddest moment of the evening was the finale when the opera simply ended on a random chord instead of the actual climatic flare of the final bars. These final few bars were simply cut away which is a thing that I seriously do not understand at all.
Most small roles (and there are many of those in this opera) were cast appropriately and were performed nicely. Of the smaller roles I definitely want to mention three people: Alastair Miles as Lodovico Nardi, Dean Power as Pietro and Heike Grötzinger as Martuccia. Miles has a great bass voice that sometimes reminded me of the great Kurt Moll. Dean Power, as usual, gave a lovely performance with his youthful beautiful tenor voice and Heike Grötzinger, another treasure of the ensemble, sang a very dramatic and thrilling maid.
Tomasz Konieczny sang the role of the Count Adorno and was definitely one of the leading performers of the evening. His baritone combines a virile sonorous timbre with great flexibility and intensive power.
Christopher Maltman's baritone voice was a lovely contrast to the rather bright tone of Konieczny with his warm and elegant timbre. Maltman did not only sing his part really wonderfully, he also acted in a nice convincing way and simply gave a wonderful performance.
As Carlotta we heard Catherine Naglestad who gave a solid performance with her meanwhile rather dramatic voice. She sang the role very passionately, but she is definitely not the right choice for this role. While her lower register has a really odd and weak timbre she lacks the bright tone and the crucial lightness which is really important for this role.
The creator of the mysterious island "Elysium", Alviano Salvago, was sung by John Daszak who clearly reached his limits with this role. However I thought that this suits the role very well and I really liked his performance very much. His tenor voice still has a very pleasing timbre and his interpretation was not as caricatural as in many other performances. I especially liked the intensity of his reading scene before act 3.
Alltogether it was absolutely magnificent to hear this wonderful piece of music even though the performance was not really on the level I originally expected it to be. At least many other theatres are staging their productions of the opera now as well and finally people have the chance to see this great opera. The performance in Munich gets 7 stars.
✰✰✰✰✰✰✰- - -
Reviewed by Daniel Url

Richard Strauss, Die Frau ohne Schatten - Oper Leipzig

Performance 18th June

As final part of my marathon (day 5 and opera 6) I revisited a production of my all time favorite opera and probably the most glorious pieve ever written: Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten. Being the subject of my Master thesis I simply could not resist to get back to see the Leipzig production which I already saw quite exactly three years ago when it premiered. So it is quite a matter of destiny that after more than 3 1/2 years of regular visits and reviews from Leipzig I would end my final trip as a reviewer here with my favorite opera.
The production by Balasz Kovalik is quite interesting even though it tends to be irrepressibly cheesy with its Sissi aesthetics. The idea itself seems to be not to bad if you know the piece well enough, but sometimes Kovalik's direction simply ends up being too theatrical. On the other hand I have to give him credit for some moments that really created some intense atmosphere and filled the story with life. Especially because of the flamboyant stage and costumes by Heike Scheele which were really impressive and absolutely marvelous to watch.
Musically it was definitely the most pleasing one of the three evenings. Maestro Ulf Schirmer and the Gewandhausorchester played wonderfully with intense passion and captivating power. Thanks to the fact that this score is already so thick that loudness is definitely not a problem most of the time Schirmer's tendency for loud performances was not a problem this time. Also the powerful voices of most of the protagonists prevented the covering by the orchestra. Due to the difficulty of the score I can imagine that Schirmer and the orchestra saved their energy for this performance to make it a really exciting treat.
The many different smaller roles were solidly cast and supported the story very well. I definitely want to mention Patrick Vogel as the voice of the younling with a beautiful youthful tenor voice and Magdalena Hinterdobler as ravishing guard of the treshold. Tuomas Pursio seemed more comfortable with the role of the spirit messenger than as Jochanaan the night before. I still am not really a fan of his raw top register, but he gave a solid performance.
Karin Lovelius really surprised me in the role of the Nurse, Her voice might not be perfect for the role, but she managed it rather well. She smartly avoided difficulties with a very intelligent and highly expressive interpretation. The range of the role definitely took her to her limits, but she did a good job delivering the character.
Franz Grundheber as Barak also was a positive surprise. It is really incredible in what good shape his voice still is (being almost 80). He managed the part without any issues and also showed a very smart interpretation. I really have to say that he can still sing the role better than most other baritones who are much younger. Grundheber was able to convince with his singing which reflected great experience in this repertoire.
Burkhard Fritz, as usual, was a very reliable Emperor with easy high notes and a tenor voice that carries easily through the auditorium. He is probably the leading singer for this role at the moment and probably also the only one who can convince in it as a whole. Especially his scene during act is simply exciting and impressive.
Due to the fact that Jennifer Wilson was sick we had the pleasure to witness a jump-in of a very interesting sort. While someone from the production was acting on stage we had Elena Pankratova singing the role of the Dyer's Wife from the side of the stage. She also is one of the leading performers in that role and convinces with the sheer power and evenness of her timbre. She can through out the demanding top notes of that nagging role without any problems and definitely impressed the audience with her performance.
Nevertheless, the most impressive part of the evening was Simone Schneider as Empress. I have to say that I have never heard anyone sing this role on such a high level. Schneider's voice is absolutely unique and combines unbelievably even transitions with power and sheer beauty of tone. From almost mezzo-like registers to gleaming top notes (including the feared high d) that convince with that silvery Straussian tone she knows how to deliver the drama of the character through her singing. Her performance was undoubtedly the most amazin Strauss singing I have heard for a long time and I cannot imagine this role being sung better by anyone at the moment. BRAVA!!!!
Alltogether it was a glorious end of the Strauss weekend and I can definitely give 9 stars to this amazing Frau ohne Schatten performance.
✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰-
Reviewed by Daniel Url

Richard Strauss, Salome - Oper Leipzig

Premiere Performance 17th June

Day 4 of my marathon featured the premiere of Strauss' Salome in Leipzig, a work that I have supervised myself once. Knowing the piece quite well I might be very picky as well, but the performance in Leipzig was definitely no disappointment.
The production by Aron Stiehl is featuring the usual ideas that come with that piece, but does not really bring something new to the piece. Many things have already been done by other houses and there are definitely more differentiated productions. The stage and costumes by the artist rosalie (who sadly passed away recently) helped Stiehl's interpretation very much with the impressive setting and the extravagant costumes. The futuristic palace and its surrounding had some great details that supported the plot very well. I especially liked the extensive use of the staircases which created an interesting atmosphere.
Musically I was a bit disappointed by Ulf Schirmer that evening, because apart of the usual loudness of the orchestra I missed the diversity of colours and themes that are featured in this masterful score. Some parts of it seemed too unbalanced and the lack of clarity sometimes clouded the overall impression of the Gewandhausorchester. Once again the loudness also interfered with the musical lines so that the dramatic flow was disturbed by the sheer power of the orchestra. Sometimes less is more...
Most of the small roles were cast solidly with appropriate voices. The quintet of the jews could have been a bit more balanced, but everything worked out quite well anyway. Sandra Maxheimer gave a good performance as Page with a very youthful and soft mezzo voice. Sergei Pisarev as Narraboth was definitely one of the highlights of the evening. His beautiful bright and youthful tenor voice suited the role perfectly and he sang it with lovely passion and devotion. Quite a pity that he dies so early in the plot.
Karin Lovelius as Herodias also sang her role without any issues, but did not really seem to be absolutely comfortable with the role. Her outbreaks sometimes gave the impression that she was too busy doing everything the right way.
As her husband Herodes we heard Michael Weinius who was a bit disappointing in my opinion. Probably just because I was expecting more of him. His heroic tenor voice seemed not flexible enough at certain moments and like Lovelius he just gave the impression that this is not really his type of role.
Tuomas Pursio as Jochanaan also turned out to be rather problematic. While his baritone voice is easily heard through the orchestra, it tends to sound rather shaky at the top which leads to unreliable intonation. The pushed upper register also prevents proper phrasing and therefor I was not really pleased with his performance unfortunately.
The most awaited part of the performance was Elisabet Strid's debut in the title role. After her Siegfried Brünnhilde Salome seems to be a rather smart choice for a role, but ultimately she had to fight quite hard against Schirmer and his wall of sound. She managed the role without any problems, but I personally think that her voice is not flexible and agile enough for this role which calls for a very certain kind of voice. Surely, she did have all of the notes, but it simply did not go as easy as it should and so I was not as enchanted as I expected. Nevertheless she did a good job and definitely celebrated a great success.
After the pretty loud Arabella the night before I think that Salome could have been a bit more sophisticated. In the end it was a pleasing night that had no great issues, but also no real surprises or exceptional performances. Therefor 8 stars seem to be appropriate for a high level performance that could have been better.
✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰- -
Reviewed by Daniel Url

Richard Strauss, Arabella - Oper Leipzig

Performance 16th June

Everyone who reads my blog knows that Leipzig has always been a regular destination for me due to the intensive Strauss and Wagner programming here and also because of their casting choices. After almost 3 1/2 years I am happy that it is also part of my last big trip as reviewer visiting the Strauss weekend with three Strauss operas in a row starting with his lyrical comedy, Arabella.
The production by Jan Schmidt-Garre combines elegance and plain simplicity. The focus of his works is bringing out the relations and emotions of the different characters which works out really well. The puzzle-like stage (Heike Scheele) is changing almost constantly and creates an insecure undecisive atmosphere which suits the story perfectly. I especially liked the elegant and beautiful costumes by Thomas Kaiser which gave the evening some noble radiance.
Ulf Schirmer conducted the performance and showed a clean score full of details. He knows the music very well, but unfortunately he has this utterly annoying tendency to let the orchestra be too loud. That caused some problems that evening and left some singers almost unheard. The Gewandhausorchester, though playing the score really wonderfully, simply covered the singers most of the times when they should rather be in the background. Certain moments like the love duet in act 2 (Und du wirst mein Gebieter) simply cannot unfold their magic when the music is too loud which was the case for most of the evening.
Most of the small roles were cast very well with a great spectrum of voices. Paul McNamara, Jürgen Kurth and Sejong Chang convinced as the three elegant and jealous Counts Elemer, Dominik and Lamoral. Katja Pieweck gave a solid performance during her short scene as Kartenaufschlägerin and Diana Tomsche enchanted the audience as stratospheric Fiakermilli.
Jan-Hendrik Rooterin as Waldner was unfortunately rather weak and had serious issues to be heard at all. He played the role very convincing, but it was really hard to hear him, especially when someone else was singing too. Same is valid for Renate Behle as Adelaide. Some notes were breaking through the orchestra without problems, but much of her singing did not succeed to do so.
As Matteo we heard Markus Francke who gave a solid performance with a youthful bright tenor voice. He was very convincing in his role and showed great acting talent as well as a deep understanding of the character. His top could sound easier everynow and then, but alltogether he gave a pleasing performance.
Olena Tokar also sang the role of Zdenka with great passion and devotion. Her full and strong soprano easily soars over the orchestra and has a beautiful timbre. She gave a lovely performance even though I was hoping for more light clarity in her timbre which is quite important for Strauss roles like this one. If her top notes only had this special Straussian silvery tone she would be a perfect cast.
Thomas J. Mayer is an experienced Mandryka who knows the tricky parts of the role and knows how get through it without problems. He is probably one of the leading singers for this part at the moment and it was a pleasure to hear him in it again. His strong and warm baritone voice has the necessary power and stamina to fight the wall of sound that Schirmer sends from the orchestra pit and he is really convincing as Mandryka.
Last, but not least, the role of Arabella was sung by Betsy Horne who has a wonderful full-bodied voice that combines a beautiful timbre with the flexibility and ability to fill the Straussian parlando style with life. I think her voice has the perfect colour for this role, but she has to work on her top which strikes me rather unreliable. There is a distinct break between middle and upper register which needs a more even transition so that she can let the top notes float with more ease.
Alltogether it was a solid performance with some lovely moments. If only the loudness did not affect the overall impression that much... 8 stars.
✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰- -
Reviewed by Daniel Url