Vienna State Opera
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G Puccini: Tosca; G Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera, Vienna State Opera streamed, 16, 26 April 2016.
Having recently acquired a new large, curved monitor for my PC, I could not resist Vienna State Opera’s month’s free trial of live streaming to watch Tosca with a dream cast of Angela Gheorghiu, Jonas Kaufmann and Bryn Terfel. It was gratifying that this was to me a new and valid way in which opera could be experienced. Seeing the live performance was far superior to watching a DVD where one hears no audience reaction. This was a completely traditional, if not old-fashioned, event. It included a five-minute ovation for Kaufmann’s final aria, followed by a partial encore and some banter with the audience which interrupted the dramatic climax in true operatic tradition. The performance exceeded all expectation, while confirming that the story is a ‘shabby little shocker’.
Un Ballo in Maschera had an equally starry cast. Gustav III was sung by Piotr Beczala, Ankarström by Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Krassimira Stoyanova was Amelia Nadia Krasteva, Ulrica and Hila Fahimi, Oscar the page. The conductor was Spaniard Jesús López Cobos. In the pre-performance show we saw the audience entering – informally dressed as seems universal these days. It was nostalgic to see the standing room at the back of the stalls, where for next to nothing one has the best view of the stage in the whole house.
This was another magnificent production in all respects. All the singers excelled, each performance to be savoured, backed by great orchestral sound. The set and staging were elaborate. The final ball scene provided a fitting finale with grotesque child-like masks.
I look forward to further screenings but a warning: access to the site is far from user-friendly.
****.
Un Ballo in Maschera had an equally starry cast. Gustav III was sung by Piotr Beczala, Ankarström by Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Krassimira Stoyanova was Amelia Nadia Krasteva, Ulrica and Hila Fahimi, Oscar the page. The conductor was Spaniard Jesús López Cobos. In the pre-performance show we saw the audience entering – informally dressed as seems universal these days. It was nostalgic to see the standing room at the back of the stalls, where for next to nothing one has the best view of the stage in the whole house.
This was another magnificent production in all respects. All the singers excelled, each performance to be savoured, backed by great orchestral sound. The set and staging were elaborate. The final ball scene provided a fitting finale with grotesque child-like masks.
I look forward to further screenings but a warning: access to the site is far from user-friendly.
****.
Richard Strauss: Elektra, Vienna State Opera, 21 November 2015.
Tim Wickens
The background to our visit was a conversation at home a couple of years ago, when I mentioned I had been to Vienna State Opera in the evening of a conference at which I was speaking. A plaintive voice said "you know I have wanted to go there for over 30 years?", so when the speaking invitation was repeated I knew what had to be done!
Elektra is not a fluffy opera. The main theme is vengeance, with both Elektra and Orestes wishing to kill their mother, Clytemnestra, for having killed their father to take up with her lover Aegisthus, whereas their sister, Chrysothemis, just wants to get on with a normal life. Elektra and her servants are kept as virtual prisoners in the palace, and it is Orestes' return from exile which sparks the turnaround, leading to both Clytemnestra and Aegisthus being killed.
The opera opened to full frontal female nudity. Elektra's servants were being hosed down in the showers by their guards. It was not erotic, nor was it meant to be, but neither was it necessary. It felt as though I was being shocked for the sake of it. The episode closed with the servants, now wearing shifts, being escorted away by the guards, which conveyed the status of Elektra and her household just as effectively.
The stage had a Paternoster style lift, which represented access to the Palace. This was surprisingly effective at times, for example Clytemnestra's first appearance coming down in the lift, and the venom behind the hate stares exchanged between the descending mother and her daughter. Equally, just after Orestes ascends to the Palace, Clytemnestra's bloody body descends in the lift. However, this was followed by a succession of red paint covered mannequins, which reminded me of the 'Generation Game's' conveyor belt (apart from what was representing children's corpses, which was simply distasteful).
The characterisation of Clytemnestra was bizarre. Anna Larsson is very tall which adds to her commanding presence, and her dramatic entry on to the stage. Yet when she gets out of the lift, two nurses help her in to a wheelchair she does not seem to need. Why? My only conclusion is that it is a cheap attempt to convey the idea of Clytemnestra as a victim, but are we really meant to feel sorry for her?
Other effects worked better. Elektra herself was clad in black, and in the opening scenes had a dark set behind her, so the clever lighting accentuated the whiteness of her face giving her a ghoulish appearance which was far from inappropriate. After the vengeance has occurred, she takes off her jacket, and the lighting highlighted the flesh colour of her arms and face, making her a more 'normal' person (the music at this point becomes more melodic too).
What impressed me most about Nina Stemme as Elektra is that she is on stage virtually the entire production, has some challenging notes in the score, yet at no point did she descend to screeching or ranting (which I suspect could happen very easily). I actually preferred GunBrit Barkmin's voice as Chrysothemis, particularly when singing about how she would rather be a simple shepherd's wife than a princess in solitude. Anna Larsson struck me as more effective when singing powerfully and less so when showing vulnerability (as when she asks Elektra to interpret the dream for her).
Overall, I found the production something of a curate's egg, good in parts. Some of the dark edgy atmosphere was effective, other touches did not work for me. Plus I suspect that Richard Strauss is never going to be my favourite composer. Still, at least my wife has been to Vienna State Opera! One final observation is that the weekday audience in the gods was far better dressed than the weekend audience in the stalls, perhaps suggesting that the locals make more of an effort than the tourists?
Elektra is not a fluffy opera. The main theme is vengeance, with both Elektra and Orestes wishing to kill their mother, Clytemnestra, for having killed their father to take up with her lover Aegisthus, whereas their sister, Chrysothemis, just wants to get on with a normal life. Elektra and her servants are kept as virtual prisoners in the palace, and it is Orestes' return from exile which sparks the turnaround, leading to both Clytemnestra and Aegisthus being killed.
The opera opened to full frontal female nudity. Elektra's servants were being hosed down in the showers by their guards. It was not erotic, nor was it meant to be, but neither was it necessary. It felt as though I was being shocked for the sake of it. The episode closed with the servants, now wearing shifts, being escorted away by the guards, which conveyed the status of Elektra and her household just as effectively.
The stage had a Paternoster style lift, which represented access to the Palace. This was surprisingly effective at times, for example Clytemnestra's first appearance coming down in the lift, and the venom behind the hate stares exchanged between the descending mother and her daughter. Equally, just after Orestes ascends to the Palace, Clytemnestra's bloody body descends in the lift. However, this was followed by a succession of red paint covered mannequins, which reminded me of the 'Generation Game's' conveyor belt (apart from what was representing children's corpses, which was simply distasteful).
The characterisation of Clytemnestra was bizarre. Anna Larsson is very tall which adds to her commanding presence, and her dramatic entry on to the stage. Yet when she gets out of the lift, two nurses help her in to a wheelchair she does not seem to need. Why? My only conclusion is that it is a cheap attempt to convey the idea of Clytemnestra as a victim, but are we really meant to feel sorry for her?
Other effects worked better. Elektra herself was clad in black, and in the opening scenes had a dark set behind her, so the clever lighting accentuated the whiteness of her face giving her a ghoulish appearance which was far from inappropriate. After the vengeance has occurred, she takes off her jacket, and the lighting highlighted the flesh colour of her arms and face, making her a more 'normal' person (the music at this point becomes more melodic too).
What impressed me most about Nina Stemme as Elektra is that she is on stage virtually the entire production, has some challenging notes in the score, yet at no point did she descend to screeching or ranting (which I suspect could happen very easily). I actually preferred GunBrit Barkmin's voice as Chrysothemis, particularly when singing about how she would rather be a simple shepherd's wife than a princess in solitude. Anna Larsson struck me as more effective when singing powerfully and less so when showing vulnerability (as when she asks Elektra to interpret the dream for her).
Overall, I found the production something of a curate's egg, good in parts. Some of the dark edgy atmosphere was effective, other touches did not work for me. Plus I suspect that Richard Strauss is never going to be my favourite composer. Still, at least my wife has been to Vienna State Opera! One final observation is that the weekday audience in the gods was far better dressed than the weekend audience in the stalls, perhaps suggesting that the locals make more of an effort than the tourists?