top photo: The cast of La Traviata at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with conductor Yves
Abel third from left. Photo: Leonard Turnevicius
bottom photo: Daniel Barenboim, the Staatskapelle Berlin, soloists, and the
Staatsopernchor after their performance of Beethoven's Ninth in the Schiller
Theater. Photo: Leonard Turnevicius
(Berlin, Germany) Earlier this afternoon, Canadian conductor Yves Abel took to the pit of a sold out Deutsche Oper for a revival of Goetz Friedrich's staging of Verdi's La Traviata.
Abel's upward motioning circular gestures conveyed one desire--a smooth, unbroken line to the singing and the playing. More often than not, he got what he asked for. Abel's tempi were well chosen, though he slowed down in Violetta's Sempre libera. The chorus numbers in Act II were also handled well, with the text coming through clearly. The traditional cuts were taken, and the final words of Annina, Alfredo, and Giorgio, "Oh mio dolor!", were omitted.
His Violetta however, wasn't the scheduled soprano. Irina Lungu was announced indisposed prior to the start of the opera--much to the chagrin of the Berlin audience, many of whom let their feelings be known. Burcu Uyar was hastily called upon and agreed to sing the role.
Povera donna, hers was a mixed performance. Where Verdi wrote 'with enthusiasm' in the score, Uyar sang with a blank expression on her face, as though going through the motions. Thankfully, in the second half that changed for the better.
Yosep Kang was a decent, lyric Alfredo, his tone mildly high strung.
Markus Brueck was also announced indisposed, but nonetheless agreed to come on and sing the role of Giorgio Germont. His was a finely crafted portrayal which also included the evening's best vocalism.
As Flora, dusky toned Jana Kurucova came off like Carmen--flirting with the men, making out with one guy (if you're keeping track, she was on top), and play acting bull fighting with another guy.
Frank Philipp Schloessmann's uniset--three high walls each with many doors and some windows--served all three acts, though not always effectively. In Act II, there was little on stage that would convince anyone that they were witnessing the action in the luxurious country home called for in the libretto. In Act III, unhinged doors and broken shutters symbolized Violetta's brokenness and bankruptcy, both financial and spiritual.
There was a repeat performance of Traviata an hour and a half later, with Abel again in the pit, though with a different cast.
However, some 700 metres down Bismarckstrasse, a packed house gathered to hear Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin in a staple work on celebratory evenings such as this, Beethoven's Ninth.
There wasn't much of anything new in Barenboim's reading. That is, until the fourth and final movement. Curiously, Beethoven's 'Schreckensfanfaren' were anything but, sounding more on the timid side than striking fear in the listener's ear. And then, the famous Ode to Joy theme, played by the cellos and basses--here so soft that one could have thought these players were off stage. Then, the sound of the violin and viola sections suddenly attained a sweetness not previously heard in the dry acoustics of the Schiller Theater.
Eberhard Friedrich's Staatsopernchor sounded diffuse on their first entry, though that remedied itself soon enough.
As for the soloists, Russian soprano Anna Samuil stuck out like a sore thumb, overpowering German mezzo Simone Schroeder. One expected more heft from tenor Burkhard Fritz, given his body type. Hanno Mueller-Brachmann was a vigorous sounding bass-baritone.
The work ended as it should, in a blaze of glory, attempting to convince the listener that 'all men will be brothers' (though we know that someone always manages to louse up that great idea).
The audience's applause lasted seven minutes before everyone was on their feet for a standing ovation, something of a rarity in these parts.
Barenboim and company repeat the concert tomorrow at 4 p.m. However, the Komische Oper presents its New Year's Day concert at the same time. That concert will be followed by the RIAS Chamber Choir performing Mendelssohn's oratorio Paulus (St. Paul) in the Philharmonie.
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