Richard Wagner, Das Liebesverbot - Oper Leipzig

Performance 2nd May

As last missing Wagner stage work in my collection his second opera Das Liebesverbot was my occupation last saturday. Its music has some really obvious Italian influences with catchy tunes and lovely ensemble numbers. Besides his own style (which is definitely present already) he combines Italian melodic skills au Bellini with dramatic power au Beethoven. Very often I also was reminded of Weber and at some parts even of Operetta (in a very positive way). Some of his tunes really stayed in my mind the whole evening and I was delighted by the light comedic style that I was not used to when it comes to Wagner.
The production of Aaron Stiehl (stage: Jürgen Kirner, costumes: Sven Bindseil) was quite sophisticated in terms of a main idea but still funny and hilarious when it comes to its effect. The idea of the three main spheres (Jungle of wild love, Friedrich's tidy order, and Isabella's spiritual bright sphere) was very impressive and made many relations way more understandable. In general Stiehl's management of the scenes and roles was very smart and helped the performance over several weaknesses of the piece.
Matthias Foremny and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig had some issues during the ouverture which was not played totally accurately, but they managed to eradicate those problems. During the rest of the performance they were able to maintain a high level of accuracy. Nevertheless Foremny was able to capture the musical content very appropriately and supported the singers quite well. Also the choir (Chor der Oper Leipzig) was fine and did a good job performing Wagner's high demands.
Martin Petzold as Pontio Pilato sang his small role with exemplary diction and clarity. Dan Karlström, Jürgen Kurth and Sejong Chang also did a fine job in their quite short roles.
Tuomas Pursio sang Friedrich, the opera's villain, and was able to capture this character really well with his baritone voice which has a youthful but still noble timbre. His portrayal was really convincing and in the end you just could not be angry with him.
In the role of Claudio we heard Guy Mannheim who has a magnificent wagnerian tenor voice with immense power and very heroic timbre. He managed to convince with dramatic play and thrilling phrasing.
Mark Adler as Luzio has a lighter tenor voice which suited this quite comic role perfectly. He was responsible for some really funny moments. At some parts he seemed to have issues with the very high demands of his role but he made a fine overall impression.
Maybe the best  male performance of the evening was done by Reinhard Dorn as Brighella. With wonderful acting and hilarious humor he made the audience laugh immensely. But not just his play was lovely, also his voice fitted perfectly into his character. His whole performance was a wonderful pleasure.
In the role of Mariana Olena Tokar jumped in for the ill Marika Schönberg. She has a lovely light soprano with quite some power. Her whole performance was really wonderful with beautiful phrasing and a really thrilling overall impression. Only the ending was quite unpleasent, but only because poor Mariana ended up alone anyway.
As Dorella we heard Magdalena Hinterdobler who has a lyric soprano with a very beautiful timbre and great legato skills. Unfortunately she was covered too easily from time to time, but nevertheless I enjoyed her appearances immensely.
In the main role, Isabella, Lydia Easley showed her wagnerian soprano voice which has a very broad and warm sound. Only in her higher register she tends to sound shrill and too steely. Also her stamina sometimes could have been better. Especially during the exposed dramatic outbreaks she had some issues with being covered by the orchestra. Still she managed to convince in her role without any major problems and gave a fine performance in total.
The whole Performance was really enjoyable and so I give it 8 stars.
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Richard Wagner, Rheingold - Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Herkulessaal

Performance 25th April

Last saturday I witnessed one of the best Musical Performances for quite some time. The concert Performance of Rheingold in the Herkulessaal in Munich was a ravishing experience with a stellar cast which you would never find in a normal opera house.
Sir Simon Rattle conducted the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks with a superior attitude and created magical 2 1/2 hours of thrilling Music. He conducted with such charme, ease and simply beauty that everyone was just blown away by the impact of his interpretation. He seemed to know the score like it was his trousers' pocket and made it sound like music from heaven. He found the perfect balance between delicate gentleness and rousing solemn parts. The orchestra played enormously cleanly and clearly without anything to complain about. Every single musician did a great job during the whole evening and helped to improve the performance even more. Only the really dry acoustics of the hall were a little bit annoying after a while because they did not really flatter the whole tonal quality. Nevertheless the musicians performed on a very high level and made the whole performance an incoparable joy.
As for the soloists they really casted every single role so well that one would wish to have such a cast in a staged performance as well. The Rhinemaidens (Mirella Hagen, Stefanie Irányi & Eva Vogel) had three very different voices from a very light (but still strong) nicely sounding soprano over a powerful light mezzo with erotic timbre to a profound mezzo with a very dark timbre. Their diction was very clear and their voices sounded great together.
Also very powerful and profound were the two giants Fasolt and Fafner, sung by Peter Rose and Eric Halfvarson. While Rose's voice has more lyrical qualities (which fits his role perfectly), Halfvarson's voice is black as night and manages to capture the evilness and corruption of  his character. It was really interesting to see how convincingly they delivered the contrasts of those two brothers.
Christian van Horn as Donner also did a great Job with his heroic baritone voice which sounded as brutal and rough as it should do as thunder god. Sometimes his diction could have been better but he did a fine job anyway. Benjamin Bruns as Froh also was quite fine with a very light but still heroic tenor voice which had a very youthfull timbre.
In the role of Mime we heard Herwig Pecoraro who also has a strong tenor voice with a strong upper register, but it sounds less youthfull but I thought it has a little bit more character in its sound. He was perfectly casted for this role which needs a lot of character in the voice.
This is also valid for the role of Loge which was sung by Burkhard Ulrich. He also has the ability to deliver many different shades of a character just through his voice. He perfectly hit the opportunistic details of his role and gave a wonderful performance.
Tomasz Konieczny also gave a brilliant performance witch his strong baritone voice which has a very dark timbre and the ability to deliver the evil character of Alberich with many different colors. He also acted a lot which totally helped him to make a very convincing portrayal of his role. I thought that his voice suited Alberich perfectly because of its dark and rough sound.
Also equipped with quite some stamina was Michael Volle as Wotan. His baritone voice sounds way more heroic and noble, but also is able to give a very rough impression when needed. He impersonated the egomanic character very well and his singing reflected the evolution of his character impressively.
Annette Dasch had some smaller appearances in the role of Freia which she handled lovely. Her strong soprano with its youthful timbre has quite some power and still does not loose its beautiful sound. Her voice suits the role of the love goddess as well as her beautiful exterior.
Elisabeth Kulman once again blew my mind as Fricka, even though I was more impressed by her Fricka in Walküre. But anyway, her huge mezzo soprano has this very special timbre that is able to make a convincing bickering wife. Her diction is exemplary and one is able to catch every single syllable with great pleasure. I am really pleased that I have been able to see her again.
Finally one of my highlights was Janina Baechle as Erda. With her really short appearance she was still able to capture the whole audience with her strong but still delicate mezzo voice. She was so mysterious and wondrous that one was barely able to breath because of excitement.She sang her phrases incredibly gently and especially her soft pianissimo on the final "Meide den Ring" was exceptional!! Seriously, what a voice!!
In the end I would like to say that this was one of the best performances I ever heard and if it had been a staged production I probably would have had a heart attack due to the excitement. Nevertheless I give the Rheingold concert 9 stars!
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Ludwig van Beethoven, Fidelio - Salzburger Landestheater

Premiere performance 18th April

As a herald for the new production of Fidelio this summer during the Salzburg Festival the Salzburger Landestheater brings this liberty opera in a new production which premiered last saturday. Director Andreas Gergen shows a dark hommage for the victims of Guantanamo in his production which surely polarizes with some really violent moments. One might not be sure to like it but it clearly is a very impressive production full of interesting ideas. The staging (Heinz Hauser) is very dark and minimalistic with a series of cables as pictorialization of the prison. Especially during the dungeon Scene at the beginning of the second act the "choreography" of those cables was really impressive and intense. The costumes (Susanne Hubrich) were also fine and fitted perfectly into the scenery. The whole production showed that they Team really worked hard with this difficult piece and brought in some really interesting ideas. The dialogue Scenes for example came from a record which was probably better than the broken "singer-German". Also the ending has a special unusual Twist which might surprise People who know the work very well.
The Mozarteum orchestra did a fine job even though the harsh instrumentation and the dry acoustics of the auditorium were quite merciless. Sometimes it seemed that they had difficulties to create a harmonic sound together. Adrian Kelly's interpretation of the score was clear and quite considerate to the singers. Only some moments of dissension happened during the second act, but nothing really terrible. The choir (Chor und Extrachor des Salzburger Landestheaters) did a really good job and sang with great taste and power. Both the prisoner's choir and the finale were really great and impressive.
In the role of Don Fernando we heard Simon Schnorr who sang it appropriately even though I thought that the role should have been casted with a more heroic voice. Schnorr seemed a little bit to lyric and young for it. Nevertheless he gave a fine performance during his short appearance.
Totally different was Stephen Bronk's Rocco. Bronk has a very strong and profound voice with a rough Timbre. His voice fitted his character perfectly and he sang his part very tastefully and showed that his voice is also very agile.
Another strong voice was Adrian Gans as Don Pizzaro. Definitely one of the highlights of the performance! His stamina is really impressive and his whole portrayal of the role (musically and acting) was really astonishing and scary at once. He did not just play Pizzaro, he WAS Pizzaro! His vengeance song in the first act was really forcefully and alarming.
Kristofer Lundin as Jaquino also gave a wonderful performance with his strong youthful tenor voice. He showed that he has quite some stamina and his whole interpretation of the role was very thrilling and exciting. He probably will be a fine Florestan himself once in a few years.
Also really lovely was Laura Nicorescu as Marzelline. She has a very delicate light soprano voice with a very beautiful timbre but also enough power to be heard over the orchestra. Her German sounded way better than in Die Zauberflöte last autumn and her whole performance was really lovely.
Salzburg's darling, Franz Supper, sang Florestan and did a very good job. Even though you could hear that he reaches his limits with this role he performed it really well and gave a very exciting performance overall, especially during his big entry scene in the beginning of the second act. I sometimes had the feeling that he did not feel totally secure yet, but he sang well anyway.
As title hero Sinead Mulhern sang the role of Fidelio / Leonore. She seemed to have quite a lyric approach and had a nice warm voice. Unfortunately she sounds quite shrill in her upper register and during the lower passages she was covered by the orchestra from time to time. Nevertheless she was fine and interpreted the role appropriately with some small issues which were not that disturbing.
Generally I had the feeling that everyone still felt a little insecure and there were some moments during the second act when I thought everything would collapse, but they managed to maintain the performance appropriately and therefore they have my honest respect.
The whole production gets 7 stars.
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Richard Strauss, Elektra - Wiener Staatsoper

Performance 11th April

At another visit in the capital Vienna I saw the new production of Elektra which premiered some weeks ago. Elektra might be one of the most difficult operas to perform because of the incredibly demanding roles. Especially the three female roles of the family of the Atreides are quite a challenge for every singer.
But first about the production itself: Uwe Eric Laufenberg transferred the plot into a cellar filled with coal, a shower and an elevator (stage: Rolf Glittenberg). The whole staging might not have been the most creative one but was acceptable in the end. I liked the costumes (Marianne Glittenberg) way more. Obviously they set everything into the beginning of the 20th century with very elegant Dresses (Klytämnestra, Chrysothemis) and interesting uniforms (Elektra, Orest, the maids). I actually have to say that staging and costumes were probably the most positive thing about the whole production because Laufenberg did not really have very creative ideas. His interpretation of the work was very one dimensional and trivial. This production does not even come close to his wonderful Ring-production in Linz. I thought it was quite a disappointment.
Not a disappointment were Mikko Franck and the orchestra (Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper) who both did a pretty good job showing the big contrasts of this marvelous piece. Here and there it could have been a little bit clearer and more detailed but overall the impression was positive in my opinion. I really liked that they were not afraid to savor the huge contrasts between orgiastic outbreaks and delicate moments.
Also the maids and servants (Simina Ivan, Aura Twarowska, Thomas Ebenstein, Marcus Pelz, Donna Ellen, Monika Bohinec, Ilseyar Khayrullova, Ulrike Helzel, Caroline Wenborne, Ildikó Raimondi, Younghee Ko, Jung Won Han, Kaya Maria Last, Cornelia Sonnleithner, Karen Schubert, Sabine Kogler) performed very well and distinctively. You could understand almost every single word and all of them gave a thrilling performance during their short appearances.
Wolfgang Bankl as Orest's guardian also performed really well and knew how to impress with his quite brief appearance. It was quite a pity that he did not have more to sing.
Norbert Ernst as Aegisth also gave a fine performance with this quite unsympathetic role which shows once more that Strauss loved to torture tenors with his roles. Nevertheless he sang it without any issues and died appropriately.
Orest himself was sung by Falk Struckmann who gave a very rough and intensive portrayal of this role. His heroic baritone voice suits this character really well with his harsh timbre and his very accentuated phrasing. I really liked his interpretation because of its uniqueness and thrillingness as well as his strong acting skills.
Not that satisfying was Gun-Brit Barkmin's Chrysothemis as replacement of Anne Schwanewilms who fell ill. Barkmin has some power in her voice but her upper register always sounds weather too high or to low. She obviously seems to have some issues with intonation which is really annoying. Also the timbre of her voice sounds shrill and thin in the upper register. What a pity, especially in this wonderful role which should be sung with a big and warm voice with a beautiful silky voice.
Better but also non really convincing was Anna Larsson as Klytämnestra. She definitely had the voice to sing this role but her portrayal (both vocally and acting) were quite one dimensional and not really thrilling. The difficulty of Klytämnestra is not the range or the stamina but the enormous demands in terms of accentuation and interpretation. Maybe her portrayal will grow with time passing by, because vocally she is a really fine singer.
Nevertheless, the Highlight of the whole production was of course Nina Stemme's debut as Elektra. Clearly, a new Elektra was born with this debut. Even though her acting skills are not as good as her vocal skills she was able to capture the audience from the first moment she started to sing. Her vocal power is enormous and from the bottom to the top of her range she has a strong and even tone. Only sometimes her vibrato tends to get too strong. Her high c's are like explosions and even in the low notes of the lower register she was able to sing over the orchestra without any problems.
Just hearing Stemme's Elektra would have been worth to see this performance and I enjoyed it from the first note to the very last in a spectacular finale. Even though the production in General was not really exciting I did not regret to have been there.
Vienna's new Elektra gets 8 stars (earned mostly by the orchestra and Nina Stemme).
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Giuseppe Verdi, Requiem - Salzburger Osterfestspiele

Performance 31st March

As final performance of the first cycle the great Verdi Requiem marked a wonderful highlight. Christian Thielemann conducted a very interesting rendition of this incredibly ravishing opus. The Staatskapelle Dresden showed marvelous contrasts between parts where you were barely able to hear them (moments that kept you from breathing) and parts that literally almost blew you from your seats. Thielemann and his orchestra phrased so clearly and interestingly that I heard parts that I have never been aware of before. Especially during the slower melodic passages Thielemann showed his talent for expressing the emotions of a piece while conducting it quite economically.
The choir (Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks) did a great job singing the very important choir part with all its beauty and epic force. Especially the "Tuba mirum" and the fugue of the final "Libera me" were magnificent experiences.
Liudmyla Monastyrska sang the great soprano part and showed once again that her voice is a huge instrument that can cope with a big orchestra and a choir without any problems. There is probably no orchestra on this planet that is able to cover her powerful soprano which still has the ability to sing the most delicate passages quite appropriately. Throughout her whole range she convinces with great power and a quite even pleasent timbre.
As well did Anita Rachvelishvili with her alto part. She also has great stamina and a incredibly even transition between her registers. Her voice has a quite erotic and emotional timbre but still she could switch to tremendous outrbreaks. I really liked her dramatic performance as well as her dramatic outfit which made a great overall impression too.
In the Ttenor part I had the pleasure to hear Jonas Kaufmann again and he also did a wonderful job here. His strong tenor voice with its incredibly virile baritonal timbre was a pleasure to hear and also his ability to show any shade of vocal color depending on the phrase. Especially in his upper register his voice has this unmistakable steely timbre of pure masculinity.
The least interesting of the four soloists (but still on a very high Level) was Ildar Abdrazakov as the quartet's bass. He had no issues with his strong profound voice of dark timbre and showed that also a dark bass voice can phrase very delicately and beautifully. Still his interpretation seemed a little bit onedimensional from time to time.
Anyway I enjoyed the whole performance tremedously and also the audience was really thrilled. The soloist quartet and Thielemann had to get onstage again even after the orchestra and the choir was gone already.
The performance gets 9 stars.
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Pietro Mascagni & Ruggero Leoncavallo, Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci - Salzburger Osterfestspiele

Premiere Performance 28th March

With great pleasure I experienced the premiere performance of this year’s Salzburg Easter Festival with the Verismo twin operas Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci. The production of Philipp Stölzl (also responsible for the staging) was extraordinary and was probably the best production I saw for a while. The whole staging and the costumes (Ursula Kudrna) matched perfectly and gave a magnificent overall impression. Also the contrast between the two operas (Cavalleria in black and white, Pagliacci in many different colors) was really impressive and had a great impact. Some close up projections also showed the singers closely and made their emotional impressions even stronger.
But not just the production, also the musical part was extraorindinary! Christian Thielemann showed that he is able to achieve amazing performances not just in the German repertory. He showed every single shade of expressivity and the whole contrast between intimate moments and orchestral outbursts was really intense. The Staatskapelle Dresden did not have any problems to follow his instructions and showed with their incredible performance once more that they are one of the best orchestras right now. The choirs (Sächsicher Staatsopernchor Dresden, Bachchor Salzburg and Salzburger Festspiele und Theater Kinderchor) made a great impact as well. The choral scenes in both operas were really great and intense!
The cast of singer’s also gave an impression of what high level of quality is provided by the Festival. Every single role, small or big, was casted really well which also helped to make the whole performance so wonderful. First the cast of Cavalleria:
Stefania Toczyska gave a very strict and vocally powerful Lucia. She might not have that much to sing in Cavalleria but she still left a fine impression with her performance and sang the role very appropriately.
As Lola Annalisa Stroppa made Turiddu’s decision to have an affair understandable with her beautiful physique and her strong voice which has a very warm and erotic timbre. She definitely knew how to use her voice to state that she is the one Turiddu is in love with.
The wonderful Ambrogio Maestri portrayed Lola’s actual husband Alfio and showed that he is not just good for comedy. His very powerful voice was never covered by the orchestra and sounded fine in every part of his range.
One of my personal highlights was the incredibly powerful voice of Liudmyla Monastyrska who sang Santuzza. Her stamina is genuinely marvelous and throughout her full range she delivers the vocal power of a full choir. Still she is able to perform the delicate moments of her part tastefully and with great ease. One can just look forward to her „Libera me“ in the concert of next tuesday!!
And now tot he roles of Pagliacci:
In the role of Beppe we heard young tenor Tansel Akzeybek who I am looking forward to see in Bayreuth’s new Tristan this summer (as young sailsman and shepherd). He has a very gentle lyric voice and sings with great ease, especially in his upper register. His song during the theatre performance in the opera was really lovely to listen to.
As the opera’s antagonist, Tonio, Dimitri Platanias gave a fine performance with a really powerfull baritone voice of quite heroic and threatening timbre. He played the unpleasent wretch genuinely marvelously and totally earned the admiration of the audience after his performance.
Alessio Arduini sang the young lover Silvio and portrayed it really appropriately, both vocally and physically. His young and strong baritone has a very beautiful timbre and he sings his lines really tastefully and very lyrically. After his performance in last summer’s Don Giovanni he showed again that he is a name to remember fort he future.
The role of Nedda was sung by Italian soprano Maria Agresta with her beautiful voice which has both power and beauty of tone. Her voice combines nice stamina with a lovely lyric timbre and the ability to sing the most delicate pianissimi! Also her acting was very impressive and helped her to shine in this role.
But clearly, the highlight of the evening was the male lead of both operas: Jonas Kaufmann. His powerful tenor voice with ist unique dark timbre fits perfectly into this kind of repertory. He sang both roles very expressively and showed enormous acting potential. He was able to deliver a wide contrast of vocal colors and dominated the whole evening. He totally made clear that he definitely is one of the greatest male voices right now.
My overall impression was totally positive and I have to say that I have not been that excited about a production for a long time so I would give the performance 9 stars.
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Richard Wagner, Götterdämmerung - Linzer Landestheater

Performance 22nd March

As final part of the Linz Ring I was able to see Götterdämmerung yesterday. After more than a year and three lovely opera evenings before the great apocalytic finale was quite interesting. Again the production of Uwe Eric Laufenberg had some really interesting ideas and especially the costumes (Antje Sternberg) where wonderful and very elegant. I actually have to say that optically I liked Götterdämmerung best because of its really clear and elegant staging (Gisbert Jäkel).
Musically I was expecting a little bit more after the great success with Siegfried (see my review from last december). Ingo Ingensand's interpretation seemed a little bit boring and did not really show the many details appropriately and the Bruckner Orchester Linz performed very guardedly and cautiously. I sometimes missed the great orchestral outbursts that clearly make an important part of Götterdämmerung. The choir (Chor und Extrachor des Linzer Landestheaters) did a fine job with the great choir scenes in the second act.
Nevertheless the whole performance was still steady and fine if you think of the possibilities of the Landestheater. At this point I have to say that the whole Ring there was a marvelous experience and one can just hope that they will do some more Wagner in the future!
The vocal performances also were quite well. Many singers that performed in the other three operas returned for another role like the three norns. Bernadette Fodor (Erda, Schwertleite, Fricka) sang both the first norn and Waltraute and even though she was announced a little indisposed she did a great job. I would never have guessed that she was not totally fine. Her powerful and profound mezzo had no problems to fill the auditorium throughout her full range.
Karen Robertson (Fricka) sang the second norn also with a powerful voice even though she sounded a little bit shrill in the upper register and had quite some vibrato. Still her performance was very dramatic and fine overall.
As third norn Brit-Tone Müllertz (Freia, Sieglinde) gave a wonderful performance with her bright strong soprano which has a lovely but dramatic timbre. I would have loved to her more from her!
Also the three rhinemaidens did a fine Job (Claudia Braun-Tietje, Gotho Griesmeier, Valentina Kutzarova). All three of them had strong and seductive voices and sang their melismata with great ease.
Once again we heard Bjørn Waag as Alberich and once again he impressed me with his incredible clarity. We were able to understand every single syllable he sang without any problems and also his stamina is exemplary even though his timbre is not as profound as one would expect for this role.
Another strong voice was Seho Chang as Gunther. He portrayed the unsteady king with great depth and a wonderful heroic timbre. Also his sister Gutrune, portrayed by Sonja Gornik, was a delightful voice to listen to. You could clearly hear that there is a big voice behind this lovely exterior and she showed it several times this evening.
As a guest Zelotes Edmund Toliver performed the operas main antagonist Hagen with a really profound voice with dark timbre. Especially during the second act he managed to impress the audience with his rough part. Also his huge physique fitted the part perfectly.
Lars Cleveman, who also sang the Siegfried-Siegfried, seemed to like the Götterdämmerung part way better. He sang more clearly and seemed to be more comfortable in general. He showed his vocal power with a strong upper register and nice phrasing throughout the whole performance. Especially in the final act he seemed to accumulate his vocal power towards the climax.
Also Elena Nebera as Brünnhilde gave a fine performance again although her role in Siegfried fitted her voice better. Again her upper register showed her strenghts and her stamina while her lower register sometimes seemed a little bit weak. Maybe she and her voice will grow with the role and she will improve her lower register. Nevertheless she gave a wonderful rendition of her role and her acting was really great. I especially liked her final of the third act where she seemed to unleash all her powers.
In the end I have to say that the Linz Ring is really recommendable and I hope they will do a revival soon. The whole Ring was well done both musically and optically and I think it also was a great success for the Linzer Landestheater.
I give the last part of the Ring in Linz 8 stars.
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