MUNICH
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G Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor, Bayerisches Staatsoper, Munich, TV Streaming, 8 February 2015.
The streaming of
opera to home computers or television is another new way to experience opera
which has yet to be examined here. Although already used to view ROH and
Glyndebourne productions which I could have attended but was unable to attend.
Now it is possible to watch at home live transmissions from around the world. My
first was the Bayerisches Staatsoper, Munich, new production of Lucia di Lammermoor. Just as cinema
transmission must be judged as cinematic experiences as well as operatic the
ideal synthesis being ciné-operas, so on the small screen are there productions
which can be classed as TV-operas bringing new insights or are they just
second-best as a means of viewing?
Edgardo and Lucia are in love and secretly pledged to each other but Lucia’s brother Enrico requires her to marry Arturo to save the family fortunes. This he persuades her to do after intercepting correspondence between the lovers and forging a letter from Edgardo saying he had fallen for another. Edgardo gate-crashes the wedding and curses Lucia, driving her, in madness, to murder Arturo in their wedding chamber. Edgardo commits suicide on the eve of a duel with Enrico.
The Director Barbara Wysocka has chosen to set the production in the 1950’s. In television interview she states that the Kennedy era is the last in which a brother can dictate his sister’s choice of husband. This extraordinarily insensitive statement ignores the fact that the plot is completely relevant today in sections of society where there remains a culture of forced and arranged marriages. Apart from the ‘mad scene’ when Lucia appears before the wedding guests following the murder, this is a conventional production but Wysocka has a new feminist take on this scene. Lucia is mad but perfectly aware of her actions. She has killed with a revolver and appears cool and collected boldly asserting her right to do so. She appears wearing an unstained white wedding dress (not nightgown) clutching her revolver, which she fondles suggestively throughout the aria. Whatever one thinks of this interpretation it certainly makes for a long and boring scene. Diana Damrau, who sings Lucia, in interview says she approves of it but through obviously heavily gritted teeth.
The performers are good. Damrau, herself, sings beautifully, in spite of all, her accuracy underlined by the glass-harmonica accompaniment. Pavol Breslik gives a fine acting-singing performance as Edgardo, here a car mechanic with a large convertible; Dalibor Jenis plays Enrico Ashton and Emanuele D'Aguanno, Arturo. However the outstanding acting performance is given by Georg Zeppenfeld as the priest (imam?) in trying to persuade Lucia to ‘do her duty’.
The Music Director is Kirill Petrenko, occasionally to be seen in the transmission, firmly in charge of proceedings, projecting a glorious sound into the packed auditorium of the elegant Munich Staatsoper.
My conclusion is that live streaming into the home is an enjoyable way to appreciate live performances from distant Houses on which one can make valid critical judgements. I look forward to future events such as L’Elisir d’Amore and Lulu from Munich (details on their website staatsoper.de/tv) and others from elsewhere.
Edgardo and Lucia are in love and secretly pledged to each other but Lucia’s brother Enrico requires her to marry Arturo to save the family fortunes. This he persuades her to do after intercepting correspondence between the lovers and forging a letter from Edgardo saying he had fallen for another. Edgardo gate-crashes the wedding and curses Lucia, driving her, in madness, to murder Arturo in their wedding chamber. Edgardo commits suicide on the eve of a duel with Enrico.
The Director Barbara Wysocka has chosen to set the production in the 1950’s. In television interview she states that the Kennedy era is the last in which a brother can dictate his sister’s choice of husband. This extraordinarily insensitive statement ignores the fact that the plot is completely relevant today in sections of society where there remains a culture of forced and arranged marriages. Apart from the ‘mad scene’ when Lucia appears before the wedding guests following the murder, this is a conventional production but Wysocka has a new feminist take on this scene. Lucia is mad but perfectly aware of her actions. She has killed with a revolver and appears cool and collected boldly asserting her right to do so. She appears wearing an unstained white wedding dress (not nightgown) clutching her revolver, which she fondles suggestively throughout the aria. Whatever one thinks of this interpretation it certainly makes for a long and boring scene. Diana Damrau, who sings Lucia, in interview says she approves of it but through obviously heavily gritted teeth.
The performers are good. Damrau, herself, sings beautifully, in spite of all, her accuracy underlined by the glass-harmonica accompaniment. Pavol Breslik gives a fine acting-singing performance as Edgardo, here a car mechanic with a large convertible; Dalibor Jenis plays Enrico Ashton and Emanuele D'Aguanno, Arturo. However the outstanding acting performance is given by Georg Zeppenfeld as the priest (imam?) in trying to persuade Lucia to ‘do her duty’.
The Music Director is Kirill Petrenko, occasionally to be seen in the transmission, firmly in charge of proceedings, projecting a glorious sound into the packed auditorium of the elegant Munich Staatsoper.
My conclusion is that live streaming into the home is an enjoyable way to appreciate live performances from distant Houses on which one can make valid critical judgements. I look forward to future events such as L’Elisir d’Amore and Lulu from Munich (details on their website staatsoper.de/tv) and others from elsewhere.