Leonard Turnevicius

Industrial strength Tannhäuser? You've been punk'd!

(Bayreuth, Germany) The rain that fell on Bayreuth this afternoon was nothing compared to the boos that rained down this evening for director Sebastian Baumgarten’s production of Wagner’s Tannhäuser in the Festspielhaus.

Not that they were totally undeserved. Baumgarten updated the time period from the medieval era to the present day. To that end, he was aided and abetted by Joep van Lieshout’s so-called "Technocrat" uniset: a scene inside of a "Wartburg" factory with two catwalks, a large "Biogas" tank, some other smaller tanks, and placed upstage, a huge, red "ALKOHOLATOR," labeled with the German short forms for the days of the week (So., or Sunday was omitted).

Before the opera began, patrons in the auditorium watched "workers" (supernumeraries) being busy on stage as large body bag-like items were being lifted to the flies (shades of the Valkyries?) under the watchful eyes of "audience members" seated on each side of the stage.

The "meaning" of all this? That was explained in diagram and word form in the festival's program booklet. Here's a portion of van Lieshout's printed notes:

"...The technocrat is an obsessive installation in which the human acts as operator and producer of excrements which are carefully processed in biogas.

The biogas is then used for the production of food (no food - no excrements) and Alcohol (we want happy people and no revolution).

This installation parallels the traditional setting of Tannhäuser" the 'marvellous' Singers Hall in the Wartburg castle. The Wartburg is also a place of power, society, systems and conventions, ethics and morality and stands quite opposite the Venus mountain where the individual hedonistic freedom rules.

Sure.

The Venus-grotto was an outsized, circular cage (think go-go-girls, only larger), which was raised from beneath the stage. The nymphs, totally clothed and bathed in red light, behaved like monkeys, jumping and prancing around inside the cage. Strange looking creatures (supernumeraries in weird animal costumes) cavorted at the lip of the stage. Later, cast members approached the ALKOHOLATOR, rending homage to it in an almost religious manner (think Orthodox icons and you've got the picture). And if that weren’t enough, there was constant video being projected on the scrim upstage. In one of the sequences, a woman in her birthday suit was seen working the machinery in the factory, sitting on the toilet, and striking other poses—-all of which were sequenced as a palindrome. As for Elisabeth, she becomes a martyr when she enters the Biogas tank. Gone to heaven as a result? That's what the video footage of her face ascending on the upstage scrim would have you believe. As for Tannhäuser, he expires atop the Venusberg "go-go-girl" cage.

Baumgarten’s and van Lieshout's glosses weren’t always clear. Was this a critique of our society’s industrial idolatry? Was it a purposeful snub of the Tannhäuser tale? The answer to that came during intermission.

During the second interval, about 50 members of the audience remained in the auditorium to witness a “church service” acted out on stage by Baumgarten’s- and van Lieshout’s so-called “slaves of the Technocrat.” They sang two hymns, one at the beginning to the melody of the German national anthem, and one at the end to the well-known German chorale, O Haupt, voll Blut und Wunden. In between, there was a Confession of Sins (Sündenbekenntnis), the Creed (Glaubensbekenntnis), the Ten Commandments, a reading by a "lay person"--the entire shebang completely made up, by the way--led by a white-robed “priest," all in praise of Apollo and Dionysus, with a funny written line, totally tongue in cheek, about de Sade and van Lieshout, projected on a side panel. This ten-minute Spiel was a total send-up of "church," and vis-à-vis the opera's plot, Tannhäuser's pilgrimage to Rome.

Ditto for Baumgarten’s staging. With his send-up of Tannhäuser, Baumgarten gave us a "Grosse komische Oper" rather than Wagner's "Grosse romantische Oper." If you came to Bayreuth looking for something deep and philosophical, and even if you tried to decipher the comings and goings on stage amid all of the scenic and printed clap-trap, the mental gymnastics you'd have needed weren't worth it. In short, you've been punk'd!

The vocal highlights were provided by Eberhard Friedrich’s excellent Festspielchor, the men sounding particularly virile. Near the end of the work, one had hoped that the women choristers would have made more of the ear-catching, piquant harmonic shift from an E flat chord to a D flat chord on the text "aller Welt ist Gott," rather than singing it in a so matter-of-fact manner.

Günther Groissböck was a stand out as a hardy sounding Landgraf. Ditto for Michael Nagy’s Wolfram, though there were a few bumpy notes in O! du mein holder Abendstern. Camilla Nylund was definitely a pretty Elisabeth. But she definitely didn’t have the richness of voice for Dich teure Halle grüsse ich wieder. Lars Cleveman’s Tannhäuser ebbed and flowed, mostly the former. In Act 1, he appeared as Tannhäuser in his underwear, and began Dir töne Lob! by briefly strumming on an air harp. Lothar Odinius was a fine Walther. As Venus, who, thanks to Baumgarten was here presented as pregnant, ugly-as-sin Madam, Stephanie Friede was booed, more than likely for her squally voice. Katja Stuber wore the pants quite effectively as A young Shepherd. Thomas Jesatko’s Biterolf, Bayreuth stalwart Arnold Bezuyen’s Heinrich, Martin Snell’s Reinmar as well as the Four Edelknaben, Saskia Kreuser, Johanna Dur, Stephanie Hanf, and Kirsten Obelgönner came across decently.

In the pit, Thomas Hengelbrock had the Festspielorchester sounding in top form. However, in this their fifth presentation of Tannhäuser this summer, Hengelbrock and company were at times still covering the singers on stage. According to the program notes, Hengelbrock was conducting from a lithographic copy based on the handwritten copy of the score. From that, he added the piccolo part missing at Venus's words "Geliebter, komm, sieh dort die Grotte."

So, dear friends, time will tell whether we shall see something better in Bayreuth next summer."

Photo by Leonard Turnevicius: After the rain – the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth on the afternoon of August 19, 2011. (There is a strict prohibition on photography inside the hall.)

Lost in the woods with Don Giovanni

(Salzburg, Austria) The red carpet was rolled out for the VIPs in front of the Haus für Mozart this afternoon. The occasion? The premiere performance of Don Giovanni.

Actually, this Claus Guth production is a remount, having been seen in Salzburg for the past few seasons. It's a modern day setting, with Christian Schmidt's forest uniset placed on a round that turns to give different perspectives of the woods. That gives rise to some eye-brow raising conundrums. A few examples will suffice. There are no masked people in the Guth-Schmidt staging, even though they're sung about by the trio of Don Ottavio, Donna Elvira, and Donna Anna. And Giovanni sings of wine while opening a beer can. And in Deh, vieni alla finestra there simply isn't a window to be seen.

There was a new Giovanni on stage today, Canadian baritone Gerald Finley who took over from the previous Don, Christopher Maltman (who can be seen in Così).

Unlike his predecessor, Finley played the infamous lothario more as a lady's man, especially in the scene with Zerlina (Là ci darem la mano). Vocally, Deh vieni was a highlight, beautifully delivered and shaded.

Erwin Schrott reprised his role as Leporello, upstaging Finley with his clowning and adolescent antics, some of which were new to this production. Vocally, he has no problems projecting or delivering the role in an audience winning manner. However, his palette of vocal colours is severely limited.

Franz-Josef Selig was the new Commendatore, and a good one, too.

Dorothea Röschmann was an accomplished Elvira. Ditto for Malin Byström as Anna, though both gals each had a moment were they over sang.

As Don Ottavio, Joel Prieto's Dalla sua pace suffered slightly due to too quick a pace by Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin in the pit. Prieto fared better in Il mio tesoro.

Christiane Karg and Adam Plachetka cut a fine Zerlina and Masetto respectively.

Alas, Nézet-Séguin treated Mozart as though he were a high-Romantic composer. He totally lost the balance between the pit and the stage on the very last pages of the score nary a singer could be heard over the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The happy-end sextet was not used. Fortepianist Felice Venanzoni was inventive and creative during his accompanying of the recitatives. The production was applauded to the rafters by the audience.

With that, it's auf Wiedersehen Salzburg, and Hallo Bayreuth for the new Tannhäuser.

Photo by Leonard Turnevicius: The cast and chorus of Don Giovanni take a bow.

Tradition, tradition!

(Salzburg, Austria) Quick: Name the one piece of music that has been performed at the Salzburg Festival once every year since 1927.

Well, you know it has to be by Mozart. But if you guessed the C minor Mass KV 427, congratulations.

Yes, through those many years this Mass, or what we have of it, has been led by Paumgartner, Hager, Graf, Levine, Rilling, Harnoncourt, Christie, Norrington, and Canada's Nézet-Séguin, to name but a handful of conductors.

This evening, the Mass KV 427 was performed once again in the same Salzburg church at which it was premiered on October 23, 1783--the Stiftskirche Skt. Peter, literally a hop, skip, and a jump from the present day festival theatres.

We know that Mozart was present at that premiere, but we don't know if it was Mozart's wife Constanze who sang the first soprano part on that occasion. And we're not entirely sure why Mozart even composed the work of which we have but a torso. Was it to introduce Constanze to Mozart's father who, by the way, did not approve of their marriage?

In any event, the Mass KV 427 has become an annual tradition in Skt. Peter's über-ornate sanctuary. Tonight's performance, which used Helmut Eder's 1985 reconstruction, came in at 55 minutes. There was no other piece on the program.

The concert began at 8:05 p.m. with the performers--the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, the Salzburg Bachchor, sopranos Roberta Invernizzi, Julia Lezhneva, Canadian tenor Colin Balzer, bass Christian Immler, organist Michaela Aigner, and conductor Giovanni Antonini--assembling in the chancel under total, and respectful silence.

Skt. Peter's acoustics are quite reverberant, and have the capacity to cover a multitude of sin, as it were.

Ms. Invernizzi had the lion's share of the solo work. In the Kyrie, she sometimes began singing a note with straight tone, and then would add a bit of vibrato for colour. The other soloists all proved themselves as a highly experienced ensemble.

Under Antonini, the Sanctus' concluding Hosanna in excelsis overflowed with joy, while the concluding Hosanna of the Benedictus overflowed with majesty.

Tomorrow afternoon, Canadian baritone Gerald Finley hits the stage as the nefarious lothario in a remount of Claus Guth's production of Don Giovanni.

Photo by Leonard Turnevicius: The performers of Mozart's Missa c-moll KV 427 in Salzburg's Stiftskirche Skt. Peter.

Salzburg Supertrio

(Salzburg, Austria) This evening's superstar chamber concert in front of a sold out Grosses Festspielhaus crowd (over 2,200 people including several rows of audience seated on either end of the stage) featured cellist Mischa Maisky, violinist Vadim Repin, and Salzburg favourite, Lang Lang at the Steinway.

Their programme began with Rakhmaninov's Trio élégiaque no. 1 in G minor, a piece they've recorded for Deutsche Grammophon. Though it's a student work of Rakhmaninov's, the composer's fingerprints on this relatively brief, one movement piece are already audibly present.

Very audibly present in this live mix was Lang Lang who was overly prominent, often covering the playing of Repin and Maisky.

Following that, Lang's performance of Chopin's Études op. 25 came off as twelve studies in self-indulgence, with the ratio being 5% Chopin to 95% Lang.

After the interval, it was Mendelssohn's Piano Trio no. 1 in D minor. Here, Lang turned Mendelssohn into a hyper-Romantic with sudden swells of sound that came in waves. Good thing the piece was anchored by Maisky's musicianship and burnished tone because Repin's intonation, string crossings, and execution of a few notes was suspect.

Their encore was the Andante from Schubert's Piano Trio op. 99.

All three made themselves available for autographs in the lobby after the concert with about 100 or so fans making the most of the opportunity.

Photo by Leonard Turnevicius: Vadim Repin, Lang Lang, and Mischa Maisky at the Grosses Festspielhaus.

Jedermann for Everyone

(Salzburg, Austria) Quick: What has been performed almost 600 times at the Salzburg Festival since 1920?

If you said Jedermann by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, you're absolutely correct.

Earlier this evening a sold out crowd gathered on risers set up in the Domplatz, and with the late afternoon sun beating down, enjoyed yet another performance (in the original German) of von Hofmannsthal's classic morality play treating the final choice of Jedermann (Everyman), a stinking rich, debauched individual whose time on earth is soon coming to an end.

Nicholas Ofczarek reprised the title role, and gave an energetic performance in this Christian Stückl directed production.

Redhead and raspy-voiced Birgit Minichmayr also reprised the role of Buhlschaft.

Ben Becker was a formidably sized Tod, lathered from head to toe in metallic gray theatrical paint.

Complete with skull cap, long gray hair and beard, Martin Reinke was Gott der Herr and Ein armer Nachtbar.

Peter Jordan was once again the evil almost sadistic looking Jedermanns guter Gesell. He then later appeared as a comic book caricature of the Teufel (devil) dressed in Marlene Poley's black costume complete with small horns and a long tail.

New to the cast this year was Lina Beckmann who gave an audience winning portrayal of Gute Werke. Her verbal sparring with Jordan's Teufel had more humour than had von Hofmannsthal probably envisioned which took away from the seriousness of the play.

In fact, Stückl's staging and Poley's wild costumes for the motley group of musicians (the Ars Antiqua Austria) as well as other characters such as Felix Vörtler's Dicker Vetter, Thomas Limpinsel's Dünner Vetter, and Sasha Oskar Weis's Mammon, veered the production away from the preachy and closer to the entertainment-for-the-masses lane. With that approach, did the play's message fall on deaf ears?

Photo by Leonard Turnevicius: A scene from Jedermann at Salzburg's Domplatz with Martin Reinke (on stairs), Lina Beckmann, Nicholas Ofczarek, and Peter Jordan.

Così fan tutte, Guth oder schlecht

(Salzburg, Austria) There it was again: an image of a feather projected onto the scrim just like the one in Le nozze di Figaro.

And, on no, not another "angel" with wings on his back, only this time completely dressed in black. But wait, now there's also a female black angel, too.

And wasn't that the forest from Claus Guth's production of Don Giovanni peeping through the set in Guth's production of Così fan tutte this evening?

Yes, once you got past Guth's signature directorial touches, you actually got to enjoy tonight's performance of Così fan tutte in the Haus für Mozart.

Of course, Guth was trying to make connections between and self-references to his Salzburg stagings of the three Da Ponte-Mozart operas. And in that he succeeded. Così's dynamic duo of Guglielmo and Ferrando reminded one of the hell-bent Don Giovanni and his sidekick Leporello in Guth's production of the notorious lothario. And it was shades of Uli Kirsch in Le nozze (see Saturday, August 13) as Don Alfonso and Despina were played as very dark characters trying to control the outcome of situations just like some kind of master puppeteer.

But this was a Così that pushed one's thoughts about as far as suggestiveness could go. When the gals dirty themselves in the mud while singing about men and affairs, you know what that dirt stands for. And when Dorabella and the "disguised" Guglielmo (the latter with no shirt on) walk through a door together, you know what will take place behind that closed door. (Hint: they're not playing tiddly-winks.)

Not that everything made sense in Guth's production, mind you. How Fiordiligi and Dorabella didn't recognize the "unusual faces" of Guglielmo and Ferrando (they changed their clothes, and that was about it), is beyond belief.

Christian Schmidt's uniset allowed the action to play out on three levels, a staircase joining the bottom two levels with a forest visible upstage.

The musicianship and vocal blend of the cast was truly enjoyable: Maria Bengtsson (Fiordiligi), Canadian mezzo Michèle Losier (Dorabella), Christopher Maltman (Guglielmo), Alek Shrader (Ferrando), plus Bo Skovhus (Don Alfonso), and Anna Prohaska (Despina).

Marc Minkowski and his Les Musiciens du Louvre - Grenoble put in a very respectable performance. Of special note was Francesco Corti's imaginatively playful continuo work on the fortepiano.

On this day, there was no better way to spend Austria's national holiday in Salzburg, that's for sure.

Photo by Leonard Turnevicius: The cast of Mozart's Così fan tutte in the Haus für Mozart.

A nightingale and a blind princess

(Salzburg, Austria) In mid-afternoon, the Grosses Festspielhaus was taken over by a nightingale, and then a blind princess.

The former came in the form of Stravinsky's Le Rossignol, and the later was Tchaikovsky's Iolanta with Salzburg favourite Anna Netrebko in the title role. Both works were given as concert stagings.

But first things first. Ivor Bolton is not Riccardo Muti, and the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg is not the Vienna Philharmonic. And of course, Stravinsky is not Verdi.

Now that we've got that out of the way, Julia Novikova was a stirling nightingale, and her Russian comrade Julia Lezhneva was a supple Cook. The remainder of the cast were young singers who are still in the blossoming stage: Antonio Poli (Fisherman), Andreo Bondarenko (The Chinese Emperor), Andrè Schuen (Chamberlain), Yuri Vorobiev (Bonze), Maria Radner (Death). There were also five vocalists from the festival's 2011 Singer's Project picking up valuable experience in small roles.

After intermission, La Netrebko took over and had the audience in the palm of her hands the moment she walked out on stage in her majestic white concert gown. 

For this performance, she was reunited with Piotr Beczala as Count Vaudémont, the Polish tenor who sang opposite her in last summer's Roméo et Juliette by Gounod. La Netrebko geared her entire performance to climaxing in the duet with Beczala, the 1940 version of the revised libretto by Y. Yepaneshnikov being used. Here, her voice was at its fullest, leaving Beczala in the dust so to speak.

Canadian-American bass John Relyea was a hardy King René, though he always sang out to the audience, and rarely addressed Netrebko who played his daughter.

Russian bass Evgeny Nikitin was a downright respectable looking Ibn-Hakia.

Alexey Markov thrilled the audience with his singing of Robert.

The remaining minor roles were taken by singers who appeared in the first half: Poli (Alméric), Vorobiev (Bertrand), Radner (Marta), Lezhneva (Brigitta), plus Rachel Frankel (Laura).

Bolton & Co. were at their most impassioned in the Rose Scene, playing Tchaikovsky as he ought to be played: with your heart pulsating on your sleeve.

At the end, the audience did something rare in Salzburg: they gave the performers a standing ovation. But when you think about it, with ticket prices ranging from €22 to €300, they're welcome to stand and applaud for ten minutes if they so prefer.

Photo by Leonard Turnevicius: The cast of Iolanta in the Grosses Festspielhaus.

A Verdi Requiem to remember

(Salzburg, Austria) The national holiday got off to a memorable start at the Salzburg Festival with a performance of Verdi's Messa da Requiem in the Grosses Festspielhaus.

Riccardo Muti led the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna State Opera Chorus and soloists soprano Krassimira Stoyanova, mezzo Olga Borodina, tenor Saimir Pirgu, and bass Ildar Abdrazakov in a reading that made no bones about the operatic and dramatic aspects of Verdi's writing.

The opening notes were whispered out by the muted cellos while the male choristers sang the opening word "Requiem" in a guttural tone.

The opening of the Dies Irae was simply blood-curdling, though Muti unfortunately allowed the orchestra to briefly cover the chorus. Later in this movement, trumpets played antiphonally from a small space in the proscenium walls. At one point, Muti incorrectly cued the soprano soloist instead of the tenor soloist, though this didn't result in any miscues from the performers. The Agnus Dei was rendered sweetly. During a quiet passage in the Libera me, someone's cell phone went off, much to the dismay of the audience.

Abdrazakov and his wife, Borodina, sang the Latin text with slight Russian accents. Borodina, who was ordered to take a vocal rest some months ago by doctors, was in relatively fine voice. Even so, she wasn't going full out in tutti passages with the chorus, and in one instance finished singing long before the others. And she also had slight intonation problems on the word "luceat" in Lux aeterna.

Pirgu, Albanian by birth, but largely Italian by training, sounded quite Italian, floating his notes beautifully in the Domine Jesu. He sang most of his material directly at Muti. Brownie points.

Stoyanova had many fine moments, though her "voce cupa" on the words "tremens factus sum ego" was a bit on the dry side.

Muti & Co. racked up about ten minutes on the applause-o-meter. And if you're keeping score at home, the ViennaPO had four women in their ranks this morning.

Photo by Leonard Turnevicius: The musicians in Verdi's Messa da Requiem at the Grosses Festspielhaus.      

The Director without a Shadow - Der Regisseur ohne Schatten

(Salzburg, Austria) Richard Strauss was never one for short-winded solutions.

Take his opera Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow). Hugo von Hofmannsthal's libretto winds itself around a fanastical tale of an Empress, formerly a gazelle who after being caught by the Emperor turns into said monarch. Yet, she has no shadow, i.e., she is unable to bear children. Three hours and twenty-four minutes later, after much see-sawing back and forth, we've got our happy-end, complete with a patented peroration, a paean to the Unborn, in which Strauss tries to outdo Strauss.

Pity that director Christof Loy and set designer Johannes Leiacker's solution to staging this opera in Salzburg's Grosses Festspielhaus was a total cop out. Loy proved himself as Der Regisseur ohne Schatten. The entire tale, all three acts worth, was set in a rehearsal hall-recording studio with some sumptuous Salzburg-like trimmings. No imperial gardens, no dyer's house, no underground vault, no kids jumping out of a frying pan, and no golden waterfall. The singers, dressed in Ursula Renzenbrink's early twentieth century duds, came on to the rehearsal stage, placed their music on the stands, and sang. Sure, there was some acting, and some funny stuff with an axe. There was an audience too, er, it was actually the chorus who came on and sang on the risers. Yes, there were some young'uns in Act 2, though the lad who came on in imitation of the adult director in Act I was late in his cue for "activating" the red recording light. The final scene conjured up an Austrian Christmas or New Year's concert, complete with Christmas tree, a boy's choir (actually the Salzburg Festival Children's Choir), and four soloists in front of a row of spectators. Gemütlich.

Thank goodness there were much better things on stage. Anne Schwanewilms triumphed as the Empress. Stephen Gould turned in a strong performance as the Emperor. So too, Wolfgang Koch as Barak. As the Wife, Evelyn Herlitzius's high notes in Act 3 had a bit too much spread at times, though she had a chesty low F in Act 1. Her low notes were pretty much matched by Michaela Schuster as the Nurse. There were numerous other roles, all of which were well sung.

In the pit, Christian Thielemann led the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera Chorus in a masterful performance. After the final curtain, the performers were showered with ten minutes of applause from the sold out house (tickets for this performance ranged from €22 to €370).

Tomorrow is a national holiday in Austria. However, the Salzburg Festival knows nothing about this. So, in the morning it's Muti's, er, Verdi's Requiem, then in the afternoon, a double-header concert version of Stravinsky's Le Rossignol and Tchaikovsky's Iolanta with Canadian-American bass-baritone John Relyea singing opposite La Netrebko, followed in the evening by Mozart's Così fan tutte with Canadian mezzo Michèle Losier as Dorabella. That should be some national holiday.

Photo by Leonard Turnevicius: The leads in Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten.

All Mozart, all morning

(Salzburg, Austria) It was an all-Mozart morning in sunny Salzburg as Trevor Pinnock led the Mozarteumorchester in front of a sold-out crowd in the Mozarteum's Great Hall.

The concert got underway with the E flat symphony KV 184, Pinnock's jabbing gestures elliciting a hard-edged tone from the orchestra in the first movement. That was countered by a lush, Romantic sounding Andante second movement, and a sprightly Allegro final movement.

The Six German Dances KV 571 began with a rustic, let's-all-dance-with-our-farmer's-boots-on type of sound. In selected passages during the third dance, Pinnock had the first violins play close to the bridge resulting in a purposely scratchy sound. Pinnock and company had the final dance of this set sounding like circus music, closing it off in the humorous manner in which it was written.

The Concerto for Flute and Harp KV 299 is surely one of the most beguilingly beautiful pieces ever composed by Mozart. It was performed superbly by flutist Emmanuel Pahud and harpist Marie-Pierre Langlamet who used delicacy and grace as their watchwords.

After the interval, the concert concluded with another E flat symphony, this time KV 543, an animated reading that was heavily applauded.

The concert was broadcast live by ORF on Ö1.

Photo by Leonard Turnevicius: Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Emmanuel Pahud, Trevor Pinnock and the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg in the Mozarteum's Great Hall.