Wagner, Der Fliegende Holländer

From Seen and Heard International
By: José M Irurzun; Picture © Javier del Real
Soloists, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid. Coro Intermezzo. Conductor: Jesús López Cobos. Teatro Real de Madrid. 19 and 20.1.2010 (JMI)

Anja Kampe as Senta.

The new year starts in Madrid with these performances of Wagner’s Dutchman, a work that
has not been performed at the Teatro Real since the end of 19th century, except for a visit by Berlin Staatsoper a few years back. The current performances of this opera have been good rather than brilliant, although clearly better than those seen lately in Barcelona and Seville.

This co-production between Barcelona’s Liceu and Madrid’s Teatro Real has stage direction by Àlex Rigola and was premiered at the Liceu some three years ago. The production moves the action to modern times, which is acceptable, bearing in mind this is a legend which can fit any era. Rigola is a man of the theatre but this time he concentrated mostly on the aesthetics, rather than the stage action, almost as if it was not greatly important. Act I takes place on two levels: the berthing quay and the bridge of the Norwegian boat, each stage perfectly adequately, particularly at the arrival of the Dutch ship. In Act II, Daland’s home becomes the dining room of Daland and Co. since Daland is shown as an industrialist. The room has a soft drinks machine and large windows at the back, through which we can see the ocean. The last act takes place in the breakwater next to Daland’s factory with spectacular projections of waves hitting the breakwater stones. The weakest parts of the production are the actual stage direction and an inability to draw decent standards from the large chorus: a few stage management details, achieved more or less well enough with extras are not sufficient to ensure the production’s success.

Musical direction was the responsibility of Jesús López Cobos, who produced a performance much in line with others he has conducted in recent years – an effective and clean reading, always under control but with a certain imbalance between the brass section and the strings, particularly in the Overture. López Cobos delivered his best work in the final act and overall I would say that his performance was rather better than some he has given recently although still rather short of romantic atmosphere. The orchestra played very well though, certainly much better than anything heard in Barcelona three years ago, and some fine chorus work was a very nice surprise.
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Verdi, Ernani

From Seen and Heard International
By: José M Irurzun; photo © E. Moreno Esquibel.

Soloists, Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa. Coro de Ópera de Bilbao. Conductor: Sir Mark Elder, Palacio Euskalduna de Bilbao. 16.1.2010 (JMI)

Ernani is one of the best Verdi operas from the so-called ‘years in the galleys’ so far as I am concerned, although it is a long time since it lost the favour of the big opera houses. Certainly its irregular libretto and its need of four truly great singers – no less than Trovatore – can explain some of this hardly justified oblivion but in the last 10 years the opportunities to enjoy this opera in decent conditions have been very few. I dare say in fact that only the United States has staged the work with more or less with great singers, the last of them this season in Chicago with Sondra Radvanovsky (to me the best Elvira today). Three years ago it was given at the Metropolitan with Radvanovsky again, accompanied by Giordani, Hampson and Furlanetto and before that at Carnegie Hall some 12 years ago – it appeared in a concert version with a surprising June Anderson as Elvira. Appearances of the title in Europe have also been very scarce, mostly in Italy and for the most part with rather mediocre casts, with the exception of Trieste some three years back. Sadly, this ABAO performance was closer to Italian mediocrity than to American splendour.

ABAO’s new production was directed by Michal Znaniecki from Poland. On paper, the selection couldn’t have been more fortunate, judging by his other operatic works in recent years, all characterized by good taste and respect for the music and singers. Unfortunately, this did not happen this time. The staging was dominated by a large gothic rose window partially raised, creating a stage with a slope of about 40 degrees. In these circumstances the movements by soloists, chorus and extras showed their worries about falling over all to clearly and adversely projected lots of extraneous noise into the theatre. The singers had to share their focus on singing wth concerns for physical security and to this I should add the fact that often Znaniecki made them sing from the top of the rose window, damaging projection of the voices – which otherwise only came into its own when the performers sang from the front of the stage. In these circumstances the direction of actors was fairly well impossible, not to mention the lack of mass direction, which was little better than a concert version. The drama of big scene of act III, with the company in the rose window and the Emperor placed behind them, was completely missed.
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Carmen On The Radio

Since the January 16th, HD Telecast of Carmen was sold out here in Tucson, (livingattheopera.com will attend the Encore performance) it afforded the opportunity to listen to and tape the radio broadcast and to compare it to the upcoming telecast on February 3rd. .

The standout event in the broadcast was not a happy one. It sounded quite uncomfortable to hear how Roberto Alagna botched the ending of Don Jose’s aria La fleur que tu m’avais jetée in Act Two. From the beginning of the opera, Alagna used only a mezzo-forte to forte dynamic level. Unfortunately, there were no vocal shadings of the text that would have allowed listeners to appreciate the tenor’s native French. So when the aria arrived, which he delivered in the same fashion, he opted to sing the final B flat piano instead of forte as it is written. The tenor not only failed to hit the note, but caused the dramatic intensity to flatten out for the remainder of the act.

The role, however, is a great emotional match for Alagna’s personality, so the Act Four duet with Elina Garanca’s Carmen proved to be a searing vocal and dramatic experience for the listener. Their passion and talent vividly captured the duo’s last tragic moments.

Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Escamillo was a last minute replacement for Mariusz Kwiecien. With only the vocals to consider, the baritone sounded as if he used all his vocal resources to get through the performance. The bull fighter’s nonchalant personality masks the role’s demands for a voice with a more solid frame.

Garanca’s Carmen sounded full-voiced and committed, even if some Gallic flavor in the voice was missing. Barbara Frittoli’s Micaela came across with a steady pleasing tone. .

There has been talk about the fast tempi in Vannick Nézet-Séguin’s conducting style. It carried over into an intermission feature where the conductor gave his reasons why he used them. The speed of his opening bars in Act One sounded as if he wanted to make everyone remember his name.

After the second act, Rene Fleming met up with Garanca and Alagna as they came off stage. On the radio, all three sounded somewhat nervous and anxious about having to do one of these “required” intermission chats after Alagna’s vocal mishap. It will be interesting to match the voices with the body language at the Encore performance on February 3rd.