Händel's "Partenope" - Theater an der Wien

I was never a big fan of baroque music. Actually never really liked it. When it comes to operas, I basically listen only to works written in the second half of the 19th century and later. Couple of years ago, I was in Paris for the first time, and the only option to see a show at Palais Garnier was to see Rameau's "Les Indes Galantes". So I hesitantly went and was completely blown away by that glittering, jubilant production with radiant music and dancing. It turned up to be one of the best shows I've ever seen live. Unfortunately, until last week that has been my one and only encounter with the early opera. Somehow, whenever I've had a chance I would've always chosen to see something from my standard repertoire (including of course plenty of new works). In the mean time, I've read a lot about the baroque operas, and have noticed that there is a huge following, and that many bloggers, whose opinion I value, really do like these things. So I've decided to give it another try during my last visit to Vienna. And have not regretted it the least.
I've really never heard any Händel opera, so had no idea what to expect. As it turned out, even the opera itself is one of the least known. And I've went completely unprepared. The only thing I knew about the show is that Christine Schäfer is singing the lead and Pierre Audi is directing. Her being one of my favorite singers (after hearing her Cherubino in Slazburg production) and him making the stunning Amsterdam Ring production it didn't really take me long to buy the ticket.
The story seems to be very simple, and easy to follow, since as is it custom in barrock operas, the singers would repeat one and the same line more than twenty time, so eventually you got what they were singing. It's a story of a wealthy princess Partenope in love with Arsace, having two other suitors Emilio and Armindo trying to win her over. Arsace's former fiancé Rosmira dressed up as a guy tries to split up the two lover and win her Arsace back. At the end Partenope having a choice of three guys fighting for her is not able to decide which one she likes.

Audi placed the whole show somewhere on the contemporary Californian coast, in one of the 60's styled houses (absolutely fantastic sets by Patrick Kinmonth, with superb stage transformations) Partenope being a wealthy single women, bored by her life, constantly working with her personal trainer, having massage, pedicure or manicure done and throwing parties from nothing to do. It looks great, and it works even better.

Audi also plays a bit with the sexual ambiguity of the show itself. There is Arsace, Partenope's lover who is counter tenor, Armindo suitor another counter tenor, Emilio a lyrical tenor, and Rosmira girl dressed up as a man all wooing Partenope. And the only 'masculine' voiced role, Ormonte, Partenope's second hand, a baritone is a feminine bisexual. It looks strange, but works fantastic. And and a bit of a comical twist to the show.
For me the star of the show was Patricia Bardon in the role of Rosmira. I've never heard of her before, therefore even more was struck by her fabulous singing and great acting. I have no idea how a Händel voice should sound like, but for me her mezzo seemed perfect. Such beautiful phrasing and great coloratura. Enjoyed every single aria a lot. Christine Schäfer has a really extraordinary voice and what I liked the most about her (and it seems that's why her Cherubino works) is that she really amazingly manages to color all her phrases and tones. Her recitatives are on such level, that I could spend the whole night only listening to them. So are her "slow" arias. However, what did not work for me well, were her coloratura arias, somehow this isn’t her.
David Daniels - Arsace, seems to be one of the biggest countertenor star, and I've learned this only after the show and I definitely know why. I do have to say that for me this was the first live experience with counter tenors (and there were two), and it took me some time to get used to them. Especially to Daniels. I mean that guy looks like a real macho stud, and then suddenly you hear that high voice. My first reaction was to laugh. After some time I really got used to it, and started enjoying his singing enormously. Beautiful strong voice, with superb technique.

Other singers in slightly lesser parts were also on the high level and deserve full praise.

Sitting in the first row, just behind the conductor (Christophe Rousset) I've got a great close view of the stage and actors and really managed to appriciate the fantastic acting on part of them all. The only scary part was seeing Schäfer walking on those dangerously high heels on the slope just above the orchestra. Interesting was also following the orchestra itself, with a bunch of instruments I've seen for the first time.

I was really in a musical bliss for some 4 hours. Heavenly music with fantastic singing and playing, all put in beautiful production, that I've already decided to catch some other baroque shows as soon as possible

Legend of Love - Bolshoi

This is one of those ballets (and there aren't that many) that I just can't get enough of. Regardless of the performance or the cast, I really try to catch it at least once a season. It's such a choreographic masterpiece, that I just love enjoying the shear beauty of the choreographic composition. One thing, I'm always certain of, is that the corps de ballet, will be perfect, and for the enjoyment of this piece, that's more than enough. As for the soloists, for God sakes, this is the Bolshoi, they just can't get it wrong. They might have an better of worse day, but it's always at least good. When it comes to ballet, they are the world top, so not much to worry anytime one goes there. The worst it can get is an average show.

This time around the cast was mixed. I really loved Rizhkina as Shirin, she was absolutely dazzling. Such a grace and beauty in dancing, one had a feeling that she was fully emerged in her role, and that every single muscle on her body was playing the role, and not just fulfilling the technical demands. Volkov as Ferhad, was great in duets with Rizhkina, but a bit weak in solos. And Shipulina as Mehmen Banu, was technically excellent but completely cold in her portrayal, like she just wanted to finish the "work" as soon as possible, and get out of the theater.

One of the other things, which I really enjoy every time more and more, is the design by Virsaladze. I've actually never really liked his other designs (Spartacus), but this one is filled with oriental magic and beauty, with so much simplicity and style

As for Grigorovich, one does see that the choreography stems from the 60s, and that it's definitely a Soviet ballet (when choosing love between two women, the hero choses love for the people), but the way he constructs the show, and especially the mass scenes, is just a work of a genius.

Love it, loved it and hope to see it soon again.

Die Ägyptische Helena - Deutsche Oper Berlin

It’s not that usual to get a chance to hear and see an opera for the first time. New shows are quite rare, especially here in Russia and being an opera fan, for a very long period of time, you really try to see and hear, live or in recording quite a few shows. So coming across something new, especially in the theatre is really an occasion. This time it was a new production of the Richard Strauss’s “Die Ägyptische Helena” at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Strauss is one of my “the” favorite composers, and I’m very much familiar with his music. So, of course, I’ve hear about “Helena”, but never really got a chance to hear even an excerpt from it. (Not that I’ve tried, though). Only thing that I’ve known about it, is that it’s not his “masterpiece”.

Well, masterpiece it’s not, but as some one put it: it is the work of a master. The only real problem I see with the opera is its extremely complicated libretto and overtly poetic language of Hofmastall. So it really makes no sense to retell it, apart that it is the story of the Helena of Troy being escorted back by jealous Meneleas, who is trying to kill her but is prevented by the sorceress Aithra, which by some sort of magic helps the couple to find their love to each other again. The music on the other side is really a typical Strauss, some crossover between Elektra and Ariadne. And I’ve really enjoyed it, especially the end of the first Act and the whole Second one. As in other Strauss’s operas the female voice, especially soprano, had the main part, and some of the parts were typically Strausssian magic.

The staging probably leaves the best impression from the production, with the magical revolving stage, smoothly following our “heroes” on their rediscovery path. Absolutely beautiful sets and costumes.
Ricarda Merbeth as Helena, started a bit low, but seriously improved during the performance, to the level that I’ve really enjoyed her voice. Robert Chavin as Meneleas, was a bit indisposed but overall really mastered the role and acted great. Laura Aikin as Aithra, had a pleasant stage presence and a voice to match.

Since I’ve never heard the score before, it was hard to compare, but overall I’ve really liked the music, and what the orchestra did, with so much nuance, making every instrument audible, a so much subtlety that I do believe that the conductor Andrew Litton did a great job
Overall a fantastic show and great night at the opera

Lucia di Lammermoor - Stanislavsky

Unfortunately, I was late for the show, and only managed to hear and see the second act (which was played without intremission together with the first) and the third act. Overall, I really liked the show, which I found to be one of the best Lucia stagings I've seen. The sets, costumes and directing are so stylish, modern, however flirting beautifully with the classical productions. From that point of view, it's one of the better opera produtions seen recently in Moscow.

Musically, the show was OK. Quite average, with several high points. The problem, though, is that it wasn't extraordinary, as one always expect from Lucia's performance. Basically, the issue was with a very average performance by Hibla Gerzmava. She has a beautiful voice, hits all the right notes, even at the right time, but without any coloring, any emotions and definitely no madness. The main reason anyone goes to the performance of Lucia is to hear the vocal extravaganza called the "Madness scene" (or something like it). Most of the people hearing this show for the first time had no idea that this was the central point of the show. They’ve just ignored it, since Gerzmava did not give them any reasons to get excited.

So we got a strange situation that the best impression was left by Edgardo (Dolgov). He did outshine Lucia by far, maybe not by singing perfectly, but by showing emotions and energy and dominating his scenes with such an ease, that the audience was captivated immediately.

Wolf Gorelik, is one of those conductors theatre uses, when they believe that the score is so simple to play, that you don't even need a conductor, it just plays itself. Theatre in such case doesn't care, it is the cheapest option around, and so you give him the score to conduct. As the result you get a very simple and bleak performance of Lucia. Actually, I've also believed that it was impossible to screw up the music of Lucia. Gorelik didn't do just that, but made it sound quite uninteresting.

The Love for Three Oranges - Bolshoi

FINALY!

Finaly a great performace of this Prokofiev's masterpiece at the Bolshoi. I'm not sure what happend last night, but I haven't heard the Bolshoi performing this opera, this good ever. For the first time, the orchestra sounded very clean and clear, with very nice coloring and a great power. Almost every single performer (except for Dursenyeva, playing Clarisse) was just about perfectly cast, with surprizingly good diction. This is absolutely the first time, that I was able to understand almost every spoken/sung word of this opera, this also includes, all the recordings and performances which I've heard. I was even more surprised to be able to understand the words sung by chorus, which is in almost every single opera a mission impossible.

It's almost a pitty that this great production by the late Peter Ustinov is now being somhow squeezed on this small new stage, while the main stage is undergoing a reconstruction. For you do somehow feel the sets to dominate the stage, and the chorus and ballet fighting for the space on the stage. On the main stage one felt a bit more air on the stage. But nevertheless, the show is still quite impressive and superbly stylish. I just adore those russian avangarde 20's feel and look of the costumes, and stage.

Well as mentioned, the biggest surprise was the orchestra which seem to be the result of the masterfull play by Alexandar Titov. Probably the most outstanding performer of the night was Maxim Paster, an absolutely superb Turffaldino, beautiful voice and fantastic actor. I've like also Marat Gali's Prince and my personal favorite was Nikolai Kazansky in a relatively small role of Panatalone, which he managed to make a big one. I'm not sure if I've heard him before in some other show, but his singing was outstanding and acting superb.

A great show. Wish that Bolshoi will continue in this way.

Brothers Karamazov - Mariinsky in Moscow

This has already become a tradition for the Mariinsky to present several of it's last season premiers during the winter in Moscow. This year they've already shown Schedrin's "Enchanted Wanderer"(which I've had tickets for, but unfortunately was prevented from attending) and last night they've shown Smelkov's "Brothers Karamazov". I was hoping to see "King Roger" and/or even "Flying Dutchman", but was very glad that these two new operas came to Moscow.

First, I do have to say that I applaud Gergiev for being brave enough to present to the Russian audience(!!) 20th century and even contemporary operas. In that light, one can only support the production of a completely new piece, as was the case with the "Karamazovs". (I was surprised to realize that this was the first completely new opera produced by Mariinsky in decades, even the Bolshoi has had it's "Rosenthal's children" staged several years ago)

Having said that, I still have to admit that the show was really bad. And in the first line this regards the dreadful score. It was such a mix of all classical opera clichés, 19th century music, and the complete incoherence, and contrary 19th century operas, basically the complete lack of any decent tunes. The same goes for the libretto, which looked like a lame attempt of a high school student to compress and retell the whole novel within a three hour show, without ever trying to bring any insights into the Dostoevsky's masterpiece. Overall the opera in itself turned out to be one of the least interesting pieces of musical theater I've ever heard.

Another, drawback, is the overtly classical staging of the show. It looks more like a work of a pensioner, than a 25 (!!) year old director (Barhatov). The sets looked nice, but after three scene changes, one somehow gets bored.

On the other side, the singing and acting wer absolutely superb. The cast was on such a high level that any theater would dream of it. However, even this combined with wonderful orchestra, chorus and energetic conducting by Gergiev, just couldn't help this mediocre piece of musical theatre get any better.

If you haven't seen it, keep away.

Rosenkavalier - Baden Baden - Thielemann, Fleming, Damrau, Koch, Hawlata, Kaufman

Once I’ve heard that there was this stellar Rosenkavalier playing at Baden-Baden, it has’t took me long to get a ticket and organize a weekend trip to Schwarzwald. The Munich Philharmonics was conducted by Christian Thielemann, with cast including Rene Fleming, Diana Damrau, Sophie Koch, Franz Hawlata, and Jonas Kaufman. It was a revival of the Salzburg Festival Wernicke’s production form 1997. Who ever follows the contemporary classical scene, knows that it just doesn’t get any better than this.

Overall, this definitely has been one very exceptional evening. Whatever the critics might say, it was one of the best Rosenkavalier you can get. The biggest disappointment of the night was without any doubt Hawlata, who completely lost his voice in the third Act. In the first two he was struggling with high notes, but was very strong dramatically, so he made up for it. He was definitely not helped by Sophie Koch, which was superb in the first two Acts (I was even starting to think how I liked her much better than Garanca, which I’ve heard recently in Vienna), but disappointed in the first part of the third act, when she played “Mariandl”. Her voice was very insecure in those “sprechgesang” passages with Ochs. When she “became” Octavian again, things went back to normal and she was absolutely splendid. (It was, though announced before the third Act, by the administration though, that Ms. Koch was ill and might have some vocal problems).

Damrau was absolutely great. Her second act duet with Koch, was one the highlights of the evening. I’ve never heard this duet sung so beautifully, it was also helped with slow tempi from Thielemann. It sounded absolutely stunning.. My fist impression from Fleming was that she sounds and acts exactly as one imagines she would, and that there is really no difference whether she sings Capriccio, Tatiana or Marschallin. Well, the first Act final scene proved me wrong. She was fantastic, beautifully singing and acting superbly. I’ve really liked her a lot.

Jonas Kaufmann stopped the show. At first I was a bit set back with his dark colored voice, which sounded somehow inappropriate for the role (one always imagines Pavarotti in this role). But his voice was so powerful and immaculate, that the whole scene was absolutely breathtaking.. I might not like everything that Thieleamnn did with the score, especially the smoothing of some dramatic key points in the music, like the “twist” ending of the second act, or the quarrel between Ochs and Notari, but overall this was one of the most interesting readings of the Rosenkavalier ever. The second Act overture for me was a complete discovery, never imagined that it could sound so interestingly beautiful. I really loved his slow tempi, which really brought some new beauty to the score. (the show lasted close to 5 hours!!!).

Overall I liked the second Act the most, which I thought was probably the best one I’ve ever heard live or on recording.

What Wernicke did with the stage was really ingenious. It was such a great idea to bring back this staging and record it, since it would really be pity lose such a masterpiece. I’ve loved very much his “mirror concept”. The whole stage is basically an empty space surrounded by huge mirrors, which reflect the spaces where the action is taking place. It worked the best, in the beginning of the third act, when through the use of the mirrors one could really get lost in following the action of the stage, where is the bed, who is coming , who is leaving etc. I really, really loved it.

Bolt - Bolshoi

I've been waiting for this show since the day I came to Moscow. When it premiered I was still home in Belgrade, and read about it only on the net. However, I was very much impressed by the pics that were available on the net. It looked so modern and unusual for the "classical" Bolshoi that I've been used to. Unfortunately, for some very strange reason this production has not been shown in Moscow for almost two years, so yesterday was the first possibility for me to see it. And I've used it.

After seeing the "Bright Stream", more than a year ago, I was so impressed with Ratmansky's choreography that I had to buy a DVD of his only filmed production, which was "Bolt". Well, honestly speaking, I was a bit disappointed. I've actually never seen the whole DVD, but left it somewhere in the middle of the first act. Later, I've also read some critics about the show, which were a bit lukewarm, so my expectations were quite low. Which is from my experience, not the worst thing to have before going to a theatre.

At the end, I've really got to enjoy the show to the fullest. It is probably a very unusual thing for a ballet, to talk about the choreography and the sets as almost equally important elements of the performance. But in this case it really is true. I guess otherwise the show wouldn’t have worked. And it really works amazingly.

The story is very simple and id set in the time of the "new economical plan" of the 20s in the newly born USSR. A lazy guy in a factory gets fired and contemplates revenge by putting in a bolt in the factory machinery, thus creating a short circuit. His accomplice unable to live with such a lie, admits everything, saves wrongly accused comrade, and dreams of preventing diversions against the Red Army.

This is a ballet filled with absurdities, humor and sarcasm. And at the same time it speaks with the touch of warmth of those long gone days of idealism and soviet past. Choreography is more or less a typical Ratmansky, using "classical" modern neoclassical language, with some interesting compositional inventions. His best moments, as always, when he deals injects some sarcasm and humor in his characters and dance.

Minor draw of the show is probably not the best score of Shostakovich. Although I'm his great admirer, half of the music just didn't work for me. But the other half made up to it.

The sets and the overall choreography work so well and impress immediately, that you never actually never get to care about individual performers that much.

I guess the most memorable moments for me were the opening physical drill, (when the whole ensemble in white tank tops and black trunks was performing a stunningly choreographed morning drill, only to one-two-three), two widows dancing in the background of the tango scene and the closing Red Army extravaganza, including the whole scene of the firefighters dancing on scooters!

Overall, I've really enjoyed the show, laughed a lot and think about seeing the show again tonight.

Bolshoi - my first 15 years - the 2000s

I've returned to Moscow in the second half of the 2006, for the first time after more than 5,5 years. One of the first places I wanted to visit was, of course, the Bolshoi. During the years that I was not in Moscow, I've only sporadically followed the developments in Moscow. But, it has not slipped me that there've been some revolutionary changes happening at the Bolshoi. My biggest surprise has been to read that Peter Konwitschny was staging "Der Fliegende Holländer" at the Bolshoi. Firstly Wagner at the Bolshoi (!!! wow) and secondly Konwitschny (wow wow!!!) that was very hard to grasp. I've realized that a lot has changed. And most of it for better!!

It just happened that my encounter with the New Bolshoi started again with Onegin. And it has been the biggest shock I've ever experienced in a theatre. First and foremost because it was at "the" Bolshoi. Second, the Tchernyakov's staging is probably one of the most fresh and interesting readings of Onegin ever. Sets, lights, acting, details everything was so perfect that it made me come over and over again. Over the last 2 years, I've seen the show at least 10 times and just can't get enough of it. Musically it has it's ups and downs, might not be that perfect, but overall impression overshadows the small musical problems of the show.

Much to my surprise, with the new management the Bolshoi has taken the course of radically renewing it's repertoire. Both when it comes to the stagings, as well as the titles played. Unfortunately many shows were taken off the stage before I returned to Moscow, most notably Konwintschny's "Holländer" and Tschernyakov's "Rake's Progress". But quite a few are still running and being produced (though latest additions were not that successful). My favorite shows so far are

Wilson's legendary staging of "Madam Butterfly". Puccini really suits Vedernikov (chief conductor of the Bolshoi) amazingly well. Probably my favorite show at the Bolshoi

Graham Vick's "Die Zabuerflöte"

David Pountney's "Carmen", with absolutely superb conducting by Temirkanov (who unfortunately hated the staging, and apparently decided not to take part in it any longer:(), also contributing was Nadia Krasteva, as quite powerful Carmen

Zembello/Tsipin's staging of "The Fiery Angel". Vedernikov surprisingly works miracles with this score.

Zembello/Tsipin's staging of "Turandot".

"The Queen of Spades". Staging was not that impressive, but musically a superb reading by Pletnev. Together with stunning Obraztsova and Galousine, this is one of the best performances around

Surprisingly traditional staging of "The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk". But Rozhdestvensky does magic with the music.

Bolshoi - my first 15 years - the 90s

It's been quite a while since I've started this blog and added any posts to it. So I guess it's high time I write something here. I've chose to write about Bolshoi, since it's one of those things in Moscow that makes (my) life here more or less enjoyable.

The first show I've ever seen at the Bolshoi was Onegin in 1994. It was Pokrovsky's second staging of the show, considered by the critics not to be that successful, but I was taken away. It was my first visit to a major opera house and I remember it very vividly. Four things struck me the most. First the enormity of the stage. Second the unbelievable sets (huge mansion without the front wall, where one could see different rooms on different floors and a garden around it). Third the list of all those People Artists of the USSR, State and Lenin premium winners, etc. in the cast (this is still present today in the russian language booklet, but the titles above the names of the singers are far far shorter than some 15 years ago) and Forth that the music was stunningly beautiful. During high school I was going to the Belgrade Opera almost every night with my friends, and Onegin was one of the shows which I disliked the most. I was under impression that the music was hardly bearable. But than came the Bolshoi. And I was enchanted by the music, for the rest of my life.

The next show I've seen there was Giselle. And my God, I hardly could've believed the precision and the beauty of the ensemble dancing. The Second (white) Act was unforgettable.
In the 90's the biggest problem with the Bolshoi, were the tickets. Actually it was not very hard, because there have always been scalpers in front of the theatre (as there are now) and many tourist agencies have been selling them. But the price was always a several times the nominal value. The problem was that the official prices were extremely low, just couple of dollars for the best seats, and the black market was flourishing. Compared to the western theatres the prices even on the black market were not so high. In 1996, I've even bought tickets for the New Year's Eve Nutcracker for 100 dollars a piece. Sounds very reasonable (or even cheap). BUT, you’ve always felt ripped off since you've not been paying the official price. Most of the tickets went, actually, never on sale, but distributed, probably by the theatre, directly through the black market. And it has always been a matter of frustration for me. Somehow, I've managed to get the tickets for many shows. And when I think about it, during the 90's I've managed to see quite a few. Luckily opera was never so popular in Russia as ballet, so it was much easier to get a ticket for an opera production.

In the 90's all of the shows shown at the Bolshoi were very, VERY classically staged. Most stagings date back to the 40s and 50s!!! But they were impressive, one cannot deny that. I remember that every time the curtain would open on the Polish Act of the Godunov, I was on the verge of joining the applause (it is more or less common in Russia to applaud the stage designer once the curtain is raised, if you like the sets). 90% of the shows were Russian operas. It was even almost impossible to hear any Verdi, not to mention Wagner or Strauss. And there was not a single 20th century opera, apart from the "Love for Three Oranges" which was produced in the late 90's.
I've seen basically the whole repertoire, all opera and ballet shows, some of them several times. The most memorable ones were Onegin, Queen of Spades, Godunov, Khovanshina (c. Rostropovich), Tsar's Bride (c. Svetlanov) and Love for Three Oranges. As for ballets Spartacus, Legend of Love, Romeo and Juliet (Lavrovsky's version) and of course Swan Lake. Well I might've missed some, but I guess if I don't remember a show, it wasn't so memorable after all)
General feeling that I have nowadays, about the Bolshoi in the 90s, is that it was extremely conservative and slow moving theatre, but it had its charms. Traditional stagings were impressive in the beginning, but once you got used to them they tend to become irritating. On the other side, the focus was much less on the director and more on music (acting was also a rarity) which was nurturing the old soviet traditions and was of a very high quality (although not always). Those grand Russian operas like Godunov or Life for the Tsar, just sounded incredibly. Especially the choir, which was probably unparalleled to any other Opera choir I’ve ever heard. (I guess it sill is, when it comes to Russian operas – I’ve just recently within a week seen the productions of the Queen of Spades in Vienna and Moscow, the Bolshoi choir is still light years ahead).
One of the main attributes of the Bolshoi in the 90s was the claque (still much alive today, but limited only to the classical ballets and a couple of remaining traditional opera shows). It’s probably the most irritating thing in the Bolshoi. These are the guys who would be clapping and yelling whenever their favorite artist would perform. The quality of the performance had nothing to do with the number of “bravos” they would scream during the show. It is sometimes more sad than funny to witness this, since they would be the only ones yelling and clapping in this enormous theatre. It looks awkward and silly most of the times. And generally destroys the show completely. I guess these idiots are not aware of what they are doing. But are still supported by the administration and some of the “stars”.
Well I’ve left Moscow at the beginning of 2001, and this was the state of the Bolshoi at the time. When I’ve come back in 2006 and so Onegin, I’ve realized that I’ve returned to a completely new and different Bolshoi. And I was once again stunned and amazed. But about that in the next post.