Past Production Reviews
4Dating from 2008, the Semperoper’s current production of Rigoletto is quite intriguing. It’s set in what appears to be a swanky 21st-century Berlin apartment – industrial, sparse and effortlessly cool – and in many ways this is an interesting choice. Berlin life is notoriously debaucherous, and this matches well to the Duke’s court in the opera, where sin and vice are not just condoned, but encouraged. There’s also something about the bleak simplicity of the set, which makes it seem almost timeless, emphasising the eternal nature of the emotions played out on stage. Though dying for a man you’ve known for less than a day isn’t something you’d expect from a girl in 2013, the young, unquestioning love of Gilda, the insatiable lust of the Duke, and Rigoletto’s desire for revenge don’t have a sell-by date. In spite of this, the first scene was a disappointment. During the overture Rigoletto comes up from a hole in the stage in a suit, changing into his jester’s costume, helping to emphasis his difficult dual nature: Rigoletto is no fool, he’s just clever enough to act like one. However, the scene which follows – in which we see the madness that is the Duke’s court – is unbelievably tame. The chorus wear animal masks (realistic ones, not masquerade ball style) and rather than creating a visual spectacle of sinful jollity they seem to do little more than stand around and occasionally come slightly closer to each other than would be appropriate in polite 19th-century company. Thus, when Monterone enters and complains of the Duke’s orgies, the meaning is all but completely lost. Giorgio Berrugi is an impressive Duke. He has a very big and even voice, but it’s what he does with it which is most interesting. He finds details in the music which are so often overlooked and really makes the most of this somewhat one-dimensional character. The famous aria “La donna è mobile” is wonderfully sung, with just the right amount of rubato and it never begins to cloy or sound routine as such well known arias can. As Rigoletto, Markus Marquardt is also stunning to listen to, and really delved into Rigoletto’s conflicted character. The Scene II monolgue, where Rigoletto lays his heart bare, was stunningly sung and acted and was one of the evening’s high points. Olesya Golovneva’s Gilda was light and sprightly, contrasting well with the richness of the male leads. Her voice shone throughout, but was always bathed in emotion. You felt her love, you felt her die; it was all there in the colours of her voice. However, perhaps the most impressive thing about the cast was that no one really stood out as a star; they were all equally impressive, and not just the principals. Scott Conner was a wonderfully dark and sinister Sparafucile, and Matthias Henneberg’s Monterone was full of a fearful vengeance which brought the fate and dark magic into the theatre, and all of them had voices to match Berrugi, Golovneva, and Marquardt. It’s rare to see a cast so even, where even the smallest solo is wonderfully sung. This was a very enjoyable Rigoletto in many ways, with singing of the highest calibre. Added to the ever wonderful playing of the Staatskapelle Dresden, this made for a musically satisfying evening. However, I found the production in many ways too tame. In spite of the relocation of time and place, it seemed somewhat conservative. The Duke’s court is a place of sexual depravity, where the Duke’s promiscuity with other men’s wives and his raping of Gilda goes unpunished, an environment which is somewhat lacking in this production.
An elusive and dreamy Don Giovanni seen in Wiesbaden for the last premiere of this season at the Hessische Staatstheater. Nicolas Brieger brings the action from Seville to a non-place made of walls, environments and stairs that vaguely recall certain metaphysical landscapes in shapes and colors. In the almost dreamlike scenario built by Raimund Bauer, where lemon yellow predominates, the whole catalog of the drives that move the playful drama of the award-winning Mozart / Da Ponte company unfolds. Libido and desire, but also tenderness and dedication. Against this aseptic and rotating background, even the feelings of the protagonists are not embossed in the round and let us glimpse ambiguities and unexplored areas. Donna Anna would like and would not like. Zerlina, mischievous and well performed by Katharina Konradi, combines the freshness of youth with almost sadistic moments, as in the duet " For these your little hands ", a rarity almost never performed nowadays. The Wiesbaden show is in fact a "hybrid" between the version of Don Giovanni which premiered in Prague and its first Viennese performance. In the six months that elapsed between the two performances, Da Ponte and Mozart reworked the libretto and score. Three arias were added, two of which (" Dalla pace di lui " by Don Ottavio and " Mi betita quel alma ingrat " by Donna Elvira) have firmly entered the performance practice, while that duet is rarely heard. Andrea Schmidt-Futterer's beautiful baroque costumes, which at times refer to the fleeting duplicity of carnivals in the Lagoon, add other shades of indeterminacy. To be honest, sometimes the meaning of this Don Giovanni played between real and surreal escapes, which he also had of the objections to the first and that somehow trivializes the Promethean tension of the drama. Certainly you won't get bored, thanks also to some risqué ideas and some gags like the catalog of conquests tattooed on Leporello's skin. And in the finale, the German director opens a new perspective: Don Giovanni is not sucked into the bowels of the Earth but interned in a hospice. As if to say that the serial seducer not only fights against the overcoming of the banal human condition, but above all against the relentless passing of time. Losing the battle. A pity that the New York baritone Christopher Bolduc has to suffer this fate. Supported by a cover and manly physique interpretative energy, it returns well the passions of Don Giovanni with a warm and always confident voice. Ribald and captivating, the worthy appears Leporello brought to the stage by Shavleg Armasi. Solid voice, in the air of the Catalog he must proceed to a strip to show the astonished Elvira the names of the conquests that she bears stamped on her skin. Netta Or appropriates the painful role and dramatic colorature of Donna Anna and exhibits a broad and colorful voice. Heather Engebretson intensely plays the role of Donna Elvira, the most complex female character in the work; crystal clear voice and fiery acting recreate all the anger, but also the vulnerability, of her character. Don Ottavio by Ioan Hotea who, finished " From his peace " (moved by Brieger in the final, after the refusal by Donna Anna), a shot is fired. Daniel Carison was also very good for his voice and expressiveness, called at the last moment to impersonate Masetto. Powerful the Commander of Young Doo Park. The unhurried times imposed by Konrad Junghänel at the Hessisches Staatsorchester make all the charm of Mozart's score shine. At the end warm applause for all the protagonists of the evening.
Allegorie der Menschenrechte CarolinPienkosundCorneliusObonyainszenierten DieZauberflöte inSt.Margarethen. Von RainerElstner Nach einem Jahr Zwangspause und Einigung im Subventions- Streit gibt es wieder Oper im Steinbruch inSanktMargarethen. Mit Mozarts Zauberflöte strebt man auch künstlerisch einen Neu- anfang an. Carolin Pienkos und Cornelius Obonya wurden enga- giert diezweiteOpernregiedes Theater-Ehepaares. Die beiden verzichten auf jegli- che Freimaurer-Symbolik. Im Fo- kus steht der Kampf der Ge- schlechter und Generationen: Die Zauberflöte als Coming of Age-Drama und Beitrag zur Me- Too-Debatte. Tamino flieht in der Eröffnungsszene nicht vor einer Schlange, sondern ist mit bei- den Armen durch lange rote Bän- der gefesselt und fleht um Befrei- ung aus der (elterlichen?) Um- klammerung. Vor allem im zweiten Akt spit- zen Pienkos und Obonya in den stark bearbeiteten Dialogen die Handlung auf grundlegende Fra- gen des gesellschaftlichen Zusam- menlebens zu: die Zauberflöte als Allegorie der Menschenrechte. Das verleiht der Figur der Pamina neue Facetten auch im Hinblick auf die Vergewaltigungsversuche durch Monostatos. Pienkos und Obonya überra- schende und überzeugende Lösun- gen etwa, wenn Papagena in Pa- pagenos Arie Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen einsteigt und sich die Geschlechter in der Repräsentation ihrer Wünsche und Begierden auf Augenhöhe begegnen. In Bezug auf das Reich Sarastros wirkt das Thema gut gemeint, aber aufge- pfropft: Sarastro muss die allge- meine Gleichberechtigung gegen die wütende Männerriege der Priester durchboxen. Das Finale birgt ein utopisches Moment: Die Königin der Nacht wird von Saras- tro nicht vertrieben, sondern Son- nen- und Nachtreich versöhnen sich in imperialer Geste. Das Bühnenbild von Raimund Bauer hebt das Geschehen auch kalischenAusarbeitung derArien. optisch ins Universelle. Der weiße Eine Zauberflöten -Version, die Kegel aus Kugeln wird als dreidi- mensionale Leinwand für Projekti- onen zu einem schnell verwandel- baren Bühnenhintergrund. Aus ei- nem Sternenhimmel wird so flugs ein schwindelerregender Tanz der Planeten oder eine beeindrucken- de Feuerwand. Zoten und bezaubernde Töne Für erhitzte Pausengespräche sorgt der Papageno: Schauspieler Max Simonischek spricht weder wienerisch noch ist er ein guter Sänger. Schikaneder,der Papageno der Uraufführung, war ja auch ein Schauspieler-Sänger, ließe sich ar- gumentieren. Meine Name ist Ge- no. Papageno kalauert Simoni- schek. Diese manchmal banalen Zoten wirken dank punktgenau ab- gelieferter Pointen überraschend frisch dawirddieTheatererfah- rung des Regieteams spürbar. In den Duetten mit Pamina reibt sich sein Sprechgesang mit bezaubern- den Tönen: Es ist pure Wonne, der Stimme der gebürtigen Rumänin Ana Maria Labin zu lauschen. Fo- kussiertes Vibrato trifft auf lupen- reineIntonation. In derselben Liga singt Luke Stoker er verleiht dem Sarastro Mächtigkeit, Dominanz und Agili- tät. Die Griechin Danae Kontora kann ihr kraftvolles Stimmmateri- al nicht immer im Zaum halten, die Folge sind kleine Intonations- Eintrübungen. Attilios Glaser (Ta- mino) tendiert gegen das kernig- metallische Ende des Tenorspekt- rums, Theresa Dax legt eine witzi- ge Performance als Zombie-Papa- gena hin. Die drei Damen sind ein stimmlich berückend ausgegliche- nes Trio, ebenso die Knaben aus dem Chor der St. Florianer Sänger- knaben. Das präzis musizierende Orchester der Budapester Philhar- monischen Gesellschaft ist ein Ge- winn, Dirigent Karsten Januschke ist an straffen Tempi interessiert, aber auch an der inhaltlich-musi- die Reise ins Burgenland lohnt. Oper Die Zauberflöte Von Wolfgang A, Mozart Carolin Pienkos und Cornelius Obonya (Regie) KarstenJanuschke (Dirigent) St. Margarethen
“The cast’s one outstanding member was the Armenian soprano Anush Hovhannisyan, as the militant heroine Hélène. Blessed with an alluring ruby-red timbre, she sang with a refinement of phrasing and musical imagination…”
