Past Production Reviews
5George Petean sang mit weich timbrierten und kultiviertem Bariton einen mitreissenden Macbeth, dessen ausgezeichnete Technik und markante Bühnenpräsenz insbesondere in der grossen Szene des Macbeth mit den Hexen im dritten Akt, in dieser Inszenierung als inneren Monolog gestaltet, wahrlich beeindrucken konnte. Auch die grosse Schlussarie «Pieta, Rispetto, amore» schaffte es beinahe Mitleid mit diesem blutrünstigen Charakter zu erwecken.
Côté régie, le célèbre patron de la Komische Oper de Berlin, Barrie Kosky, propose une vision particulièrement sombre et noire de Macbeth, au propre comme au figuré, avec un plateau dénué de tout élément de décor et plongé dans l’obscurité. De simples faisceaux lumineux formant une ligne de fuite vers le fond de la scène, et un abat-jour sous lequel les deux protagonistes se réfugient la soirée durant, sont les seules sources de lumière en même temps que les seuls éléments scénographiques – si l’on excepte quelques chaises qui servent également de perchoir à des corbeaux. Des oiseaux, ou plutôt leurs cadavres, que l’on retrouve sur le corps inanimé de Macbeth pendant que résonne l’ouverture, qui voit aussi une masse compacte de corps nus (les sorcières) émerger des ténèbres du fond de la scène, pour se rapprocher progressivement, à pas lents, vers le héros (photo), et l’engloutir de leurs corps flasques (parmi lesquels de nombreux transsexuels ou personnes âgées). Les chœurs (magnifiques !) sont eux cachés en coulisse, pour mieux mettre le couple damné au centre de l'action, de même que cette masse informe de corps obscènes, que les éclairages de Klaus Grünberg rendent encore plus fantomatiques. Une vision glaçante et mortifère, tout en visions cauchemardesques, qui dit et répand la solitude et le néant.
This story fascinated Christoph Willibald Gluck and his librettist Ranieri de' Calzabigi. On the threshold between the Baroque and Classical periods, the opera, originally based on Ovid's Metamorphoses, was premiered to great acclaim at the Burgtheater in Vienna, 1762. It is this version, in Italian, that is employed here. Paolo Fantin's abstract, minimalist stage design is often transformed thanks to a floating cube that repeatedly reveals a new interior space, a type of heart chamber. This is where the most heartfelt outbursts of emotion take place. This is where Euridice dies, but is also brought back to life with a torrent of water. In Act 2, the entire stage space is transformed into a funnel leading into the underworld, with Orfeo digging his way through what feels like thousands of metres of black material after he has appeased the Furies. Thanks to Alessandro Carletti's very successful lighting, the various scenes and levels of the upper and lower worlds take on additional pastel-coloured dimensions, the psychological significance of which, however, is not immediately apparent. Klaus Bruns provides the timeless, banal costumes for the protagonists – Orfeo and Euridice are like you and me. Choreographer Thomas Wilhelm gives the Furies a life of their own as a unit, just as he conjures up a witty ballet in Act 3, where Euridice's triplicated shadows dissolve again and again, much to Orfeo's consternation. Thanks to Michieletto's detailed direction of the characters, the three soloists give their roles a sense of reality – the ancient myth remains relevant today since the basic emotions of love and trust it deals with are universal and timeless. Michieletto gives the production a bittersweet happy ending by repeating the first scene. All for naught? Amore has the last word. As Orfeo, countertenor Carlo Vistoli is present on stage almost the entire time. Vocally and dramatically he was fully committed, although his timbre did not necessarily have the unearthly sweetness as noted by Gluck, but rather resembled a slender, razor-sharp steel. As Euridice, Nadja Mchantaf was on stage repeatedly from the beginning, but only sings from the second act, venting her anger and frustration at Orfeo with a powerful soprano. Michieletto enhanced the role of Amore and converted the character into a magician, brought to life by Josefine Mindus with a sweet and clear soprano. Amore also undergoes a transformation, from a poorly dressed amateur not quite up to her craft in the first act to a professional magician in a glittering costume by the end. Daniel Bates is known as an Early Music specialist with his ensemble La Nuova Musica. Here he conducted the Komische Oper Orchestra with a somewhat heavy and loud hand at times, the filigree quality of the orchestration often lost. The Vocalconsort Berlin provides the chorus with its commentary function, sometimes as depressed patients in hospital, sometimes as faceless black-clad Furies, always on musical top form.
Koskys rabenschwarze Deutung des Werks ist sieben Monate nach ihrer ersten Wien-Präsentation erneut an der Staatsoper zu erleben: Back to black.
