Richard Wagner, Die Walküre - Bayerische Staatsoper München

Performance 14th March

Last weekend I had the pleasure to see the second part of Wagner's Ring in Munich with a quite incredible cast. Kirill Petrenko conducted the orchestra of the Bavarian state opera and achieved spellbounding performance of this wonderful work. He and the orchestra were able to show the many different details in the ravishing score really appropriately and capture one's attention from the first note to the very last one. The whole orchestral performance was almost perfect and incredibly differenciated, simply delightful!
The production of Andreas Kriegenburg (stage: Harald B. Thor, costumes: Andrea Schraad) was quite interesting in general, but also had some weak moments (especially the genuinely annoying ballet scene right before the third act!!!). I thought there were some really nice ideas and was satisfied overall, even with the weaker scenes. I really liked the second act with its minimalistic staging (a lovely contrast to stages where you can't see the floor anymore, because there is so much stuff on it).
Another highlight were the Valkyries: Susan Foster, Karen Foster, Golda Schultz, Heike Grötzinger, Okka von der Damerau, Roswitha C. Müller, Alexandra Petersamer & Nadine Weissmann. I never heard such a great bunch of them. All of them had really wonderful big voices with a spotless range from the bottom for the mezzos (and contraltos) to the high c's at the very top of the sopranos. I was really excited by the wonderful singing during the Valkyrie scene in the third act.
Also Günther Groissböck as Hunding was really great to listen to and watch. He gave a wonderful portrayal with a lot of aggression and danger in his performance. His profound voice and his huge physical appearance fit the role of Hunding exceptionally and his overall performance was genuinely impressive.
Thomas J. Mayer sang the role of Wotan and showed that he is one of the greatest performers of this role at the moment. He was able to give his role every single shade of fear, anger and authority that it calls for. He managed his part really classy and did not seem to be tired at any moment at all.
Not so with the main protagonist, Evelyn Herlitzius as Brünnhilde. Herlitzius teached me this evening that there very well is a difference between pitched screaming and singing. She seemed strained and not comfortable throughout the whole performance. Even though she might have a powerful instrument, it seems to be past its zenith...and that for quite some time! Also her phrasing is really a thing to get used to! I really have to say, that her performance is an unmatched dissappointment overall.
Way better I liked Christopher Ventris and Anja Kampe as the twin pair Siegmund and Sieglinde. Ventris is the ideal Siegmund with a strong heroic tenor voice which is capable of portraying this very unlucky character with all his ecstasy and misfortune. If only he held his higher notes for a little bit longer it would have been a performance not from this world! Also Kampe is quite an event in this role. She has a powerful but yet very lyric voice with a really distinctive lower register and exceptional stamina in all registers. Sometimes she seems a little bit uncomfortable in the higher passages but overall her performance was really outstanding.
But the true highlight of the whole evening was Elisabeth Kulman's Fricka. What a extraordinary voice!! I have never seen someone sing so intensively and dramatically without seeming strained. She filled the whole auditorium to the very last row with such ease that everyone was just blown away by her incredibly dramatic performance. Her singing and acting were just not from this planet. It seems like Kulman was born to sing Wagner and she is probably one of the best singers of her Fach since Christa Ludwig!!
Overall the performance was really breathtaking and I wish I could have just pressed the replay button!
Therefore I give the performance 9 stars.
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Vincenzo Bellini, I Puritani - Wiener Staatsoper

Performance 6th March

After some time I finally visited the Vienna state opera again to see and hear Bellini's final opera I Puritani. Another wonderful Bellini opera full of beautiful tunes and singing.
The production of John Dew (stage: Heinz Balthes, costumes: José Manuel Vasquez) was incredibly boring and really bad in my opinion. Even though the costumes (at least the ones of Elvira and the queen) were fine. All the other singers (including the choir) had this strange asian-puritan mix of clothes which just seemed totally out of place. And besides that, I always thought we were past those times when singers would just stand at the front stage and sing their stuff!
Marco Armiliato conducted the orchestra of the Vienna state opera very gently with great balance between delicate melodies and ravishing rhythms. He had full control over every single rubato and other tricky parts and still made it sound like it was the easiest thing. How very delightful to hear Bellini conducted and played so well. Also the choir of the Vienna state opera did very well and contributed their part very professionally.
The role of Sir Bruno Roberton was sung by Carlos Osuna who has a strong tenor voice with a very unique timbre. I don't know what exactly it was but he did a good job anyway. Sorin Coliban sang Elvira's father, Lord Gualtiero Valton, and gave a wonderful portrayal with a very authoritarian and noble voice. His profound voice radiated great superiority and wisdom.
Jongmin Park as Sir Giorgi also had a very profound voice with great power but his timbre is way smoother and his voice sounds more gently. Nevertheless he sang very beautifully and gave a great example of Belcanto for deep voices.
As the queen Enriquetta di Francia we heard young mezzo Ilseyar Khayrullova who has a really strong and deep voice. Such a warm timbre and an exemplary profundity! It was a pleasure to listen to her deep lines being sung so wonderfully.
Carlos Álvarez sang Sir Riccardo Forth, the opera's "villain", and gave a solid performance. He has a very strong voice with great power in any register. The timbre is heroic but also delicate in sound. He managed the part very well and delighted us with great Belcanto singing.
John Tessier performed the really demanding role of Lord Arturo Talbot. This very high tenor role calls for a high f (f5) in the final Aria "Credeasi misera" and is composed very high in general. Tessier managed this part very bravely and it seemed that he did not have any problems with the role at all. He sang it very delicate and with great ease. The only thing that did not please me totally was the timbre of his voice. I missed the virility of his timbre sometimes because his voice sounds quite sterile from time to time. Nevertheless he did a fine job facing this incredibly difficult part.
My personal highlight was russian soprano Olga Peretyatko as Elvira. What a singer! She is the absolute epitome of grace, both, vocally and physically. Her light coloratura soprano voice sounds clearly like an angel's voice and her coloraturas are so easygoing that one could think that the part was written for her. And even though her voice is a very light one she still has great stamina in all registers (even in her lower register she has quite some power). Just some of the high notes could have been a little bit stronger, but her performance was breathtaking anyway. I was genuinely impressed by her amazing singing and I would love to see her again soon.
The performance was really great and I enjoyed it very much. So I would give 8 stars for Vienna's Puritani.
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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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