Blame it on the Russian Revolution: it took Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953) only a few months to write his early opera “The Gambler” between October 1915 and March 1916, but problems arose during rehearsals in January 1917, and the premiere in St. Petersburg (then Petrograd) had to be cancelled when the first revolution broke out in February. This first version of the work was never heard, since the composer revised the tempestuous score eleven years later, reducing it and eliminating what he considered “padding.” The work was premiered in this version in Brussels in 1929. Based on Dostoyevsky’s novel of the same name, “The Gambler” is a dark study of human failings and the corruptive power of money. In this work, everyone gambles: the hero Alexey, the General and even the wealthy aunt Babulenka gamble with money; Blanche, the Marquis and Polina – who loves Alexey – gamble with their fellow human beings. The results are humiliation, ruin and self-delusion. But when the Staatskapelle Berlin under world-famous conductor Daniel Barenboim provide the orchestral sound to the full, lustrous voices of Vladimir Ognovenko, Kristine Opolais, Misha Didyk, Stefania Toczyska and their colleagues, there is nothing even remotely dismal about the opera or its production. Directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov, “the evening zips past entertainingly, yet leaves its traces in the listener’s mind: a stroke of genius like Prokofiev’s opera itself” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). One of the production’s brilliant touches is the movable set which allows us to look into various rooms while the characters think they are not being observed. With its restless, intense drive, the music underscores the novelty of the work, which rejects heady arias and set pieces. The Prokofiev renaissance has reclaimed one of the composer’s most daring, almost “futuristic” pieces from neglect – a work that is nothing less than “a discovery” (Süddeutsche Zeitung).
Aida
Set against the magnificent backdrop of Lake Constance, every production at the Bregenz Festival faces strong natural competitors. But with this first-ever production of Verdi’s “Aida” (in an abridged version) on the lakeside stage, it is easy to overlook the beauty of the surrounding nature. Stage director Graham Vick and set designer Paul Brown conjure up an “open-air spectacle of superlatives” (Die Zeit) that throws a bridge between ancient Egypt and today’s U.S. The stage effects are stunning: ruins of the Statue of Liberty pieced together with the help of giant cranes, boats carrying priestesses and prisoners – parts of the opera even take place in the lake itself! And in the Grand March – one of the most famous marches in opera – a golden elephant comes sailing into view on a barge¿ Under Carlo Rizzi, the Wiener Symphoniker brilliantly support the chorus and soloists, among whom Iano Tamar (Amneris) and Tatiana Serjan (Aida) stand out. Drawing capacity crowds of over 200,000 spectators in just one season, “Aida” is the festival’s most successful opera to date, even more successful than the “Tosca” production, which has been immortalized in the James Bond film “Quantum of Solace”.
Wagner: Die Walküre
In the words of the prestigious German weekly “Die Zeit,” the stage production of Wagner’s “Rheingold” and “Walküre” by La Fura dels Baus “quite possibly shows us the path that musical theater will be taking in the future.” There’s no doubt about it: the Catalan city of Valencia is setting new accents in 21st-century opera not only with its spectacular new theater designed by Santiago Calatrava, but also with its visually transfixing production of Wagner’s “Ring” staged by Carlos Padrissa and his theater group La Fura dels Baus. The Barcelona-based Fura blends music, dance, acrobatics and technology into unforgettable stage events of sometimes raw but always captivating power. The Fura made its breakthrough in the classical establishment with its production of Berlioz’s “La damnation de Faust” at the 1999 Salzburg Festival. The Fura’s fertile visual fantasy and endless combinations of savvy video technology, lighting and props (often formed of human beings) are predestined for Wagner’s visionary expressive world. Wagner’s dream of a Gesamtkunstwerk becomes reality as this shape-shifting sequence of tableaux unfolds before our eyes: 3D computer projections that evoke computer games, organic structures built of athletic performers that recall the “Cirque du soleil,” and much more. In this production, “the visual codes of the digital era become elemental and dazzlingly employed means of narration” (Opernwelt). Musically, the first two parts of Wagner’s tetralogy – “Das Rheingold” and “Die Walküre” – are on a par with productions from historically more prestigious opera houses. Part Three, “Siegfried,” is scheduled for June 2008, and Part Four, “Götterdämmerung,” for June 2009. Legendary conductor Zubin Mehta leads world-class Wagner singers such as Peter Seiffert, Petra-Maria Schnitzer and Matti Salminen, and promising young talents that include Jennifer Wilson (Brünnhilde), John Daszak (Loge) and Juha Uusitalo (Wotan), whom the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung hailed as a new “Number One among the opera gods.” Equally outstanding is the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, an ensemble of top musicians hand-picked by Music Director Lorin Maazel.
Wagner: Siegfried
In the words of the prestigious German weekly “Die Zeit,” the stage production of Wagner’s “Rheingold” and “Walküre” by La Fura dels Baus “quite possibly shows us the path that musical theater will be taking in the future.” There’s no doubt about it: the Catalan city of Valencia is setting new accents in 21st-century opera not only with its spectacular new theater designed by Santiago Calatrava, but also with its visually transfixing production of Wagner’s “Ring” staged by Carlos Padrissa and his theater group La Fura dels Baus. The Barcelona-based Fura blends music, dance, acrobatics and technology into unforgettable stage events of sometimes raw but always captivating power. The Fura made its breakthrough in the classical establishment with its production of Berlioz’s “La damnation de Faust” at the 1999 Salzburg Festival. The Fura’s fertile visual fantasy and endless combinations of savvy video technology, lighting and props (often formed of human beings) are predestined for Wagner’s visionary expressive world. Wagner’s dream of a Gesamtkunstwerk becomes reality as this shape-shifting sequence of tableaux unfolds before our eyes: 3D computer projections that evoke computer games, organic structures built of athletic performers that recall the “Cirque du soleil,” and much more. In this production, “the visual codes of the digital era become elemental and dazzlingly employed means of narration” (Opernwelt). Musically, the first two parts of Wagner’s tetralogy – “Das Rheingold” and “Die Walküre” – are on a par with productions from historically more prestigious opera houses. Part Three, “Siegfried,” is scheduled for June 2008, and Part Four, “Götterdämmerung,” for June 2009. Legendary conductor Zubin Mehta leads world-class Wagner singers such as Peter Seiffert, Petra-Maria Schnitzer and Matti Salminen, and promising young talents that include Jennifer Wilson (Brünnhilde), John Daszak (Loge) and Juha Uusitalo (Wotan), whom the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung hailed as a new “Number One among the opera gods.” Equally outstanding is the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, an ensemble of top musicians hand-picked by Music Director Lorin Maazel.
Wagner: Götterdämmerung
In the words of the prestigious German weekly “Die Zeit,” the stage production of Wagner’s “Rheingold” and “Walküre” by La Fura dels Baus “quite possibly shows us the path that musical theater will be taking in the future.” There’s no doubt about it: the Catalan city of Valencia is setting new accents in 21st-century opera not only with its spectacular new theater designed by Santiago Calatrava, but also with its visually transfixing production of Wagner’s “Ring” staged by Carlos Padrissa and his theater group La Fura dels Baus. The Barcelona-based Fura blends music, dance, acrobatics and technology into unforgettable stage events of sometimes raw but always captivating power. The Fura made its breakthrough in the classical establishment with its production of Berlioz’s “La damnation de Faust” at the 1999 Salzburg Festival. The Fura’s fertile visual fantasy and endless combinations of savvy video technology, lighting and props (often formed of human beings) are predestined for Wagner’s visionary expressive world. Wagner’s dream of a Gesamtkunstwerk becomes reality as this shape-shifting sequence of tableaux unfolds before our eyes: 3D computer projections that evoke computer games, organic structures built of athletic performers that recall the “Cirque du soleil,” and much more. In this production, “the visual codes of the digital era become elemental and dazzlingly employed means of narration” (Opernwelt). Musically, the first two parts of Wagner’s tetralogy – “Das Rheingold” and “Die Walküre” – are on a par with productions from historically more prestigious opera houses. Part Three, “Siegfried,” is scheduled for June 2008, and Part Four, “Götterdämmerung,” for June 2009. Legendary conductor Zubin Mehta leads world-class Wagner singers such as Peter Seiffert, Petra-Maria Schnitzer and Matti Salminen, and promising young talents that include Jennifer Wilson (Brünnhilde), John Daszak (Loge) and Juha Uusitalo (Wotan), whom the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung hailed as a new “Number One among the opera gods.” Equally outstanding is the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, an ensemble of top musicians hand-picked by Music Director Lorin Maazel.
Wagner: Das Rheingold
In the words of the prestigious German weekly “Die Zeit,” the stage production of Wagner’s “Rheingold” and “Walküre” by La Fura dels Baus “quite possibly shows us the path that musical theater will be taking in the future.” There’s no doubt about it: the Catalan city of Valencia is setting new accents in 21st-century opera not only with its spectacular new theater designed by Santiago Calatrava, but also with its visually transfixing production of Wagner’s “Ring” staged by Carlos Padrissa and his theater group La Fura dels Baus. The Barcelona-based Fura blends music, dance, acrobatics and technology into unforgettable stage events of sometimes raw but always captivating power. The Fura made its breakthrough in the classical establishment with its production of Berlioz’s “La damnation de Faust” at the 1999 Salzburg Festival. The Fura’s fertile visual fantasy and endless combinations of savvy video technology, lighting and props (often formed of human beings) are predestined for Wagner’s visionary expressive world. Wagner’s dream of a Gesamtkunstwerk becomes reality as this shape-shifting sequence of tableaux unfolds before our eyes: 3D computer projections that evoke computer games, organic structures built of athletic performers that recall the “Cirque du soleil,” and much more. In this production, “the visual codes of the digital era become elemental and dazzlingly employed means of narration” (Opernwelt). Musically, the first two parts of Wagner’s tetralogy – “Das Rheingold” and “Die Walküre” – are on a par with productions from historically more prestigious opera houses. Part Three, “Siegfried,” is scheduled for June 2008, and Part Four, “Götterdämmerung,” for June 2009. Legendary conductor Zubin Mehta leads world-class Wagner singers such as Peter Seiffert, Petra-Maria Schnitzer and Matti Salminen, and promising young talents that include Jennifer Wilson (Brünnhilde), John Daszak (Loge) and Juha Uusitalo (Wotan), whom the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung hailed as a new “Number One among the opera gods.” Equally outstanding is the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, an ensemble of top musicians hand-picked by Music Director Lorin Maazel.
Tietaejien Lahja (The Gift of the Magi)
Created specially for television and recorded in studio, this short opera by one of today’s most eminent Finnish composers is based on a Christmas story by the American writer O. Henry.
Rautavaara sets The Gift of the Magi in a poor district of Helsinki in the 19 Minna (Pia Freund) and Joel (Jaako Kortekangas), two young newly-weds, are having trouble paying their rent, let alone buying Christmas presents. Yet they both long to give the other something special as an expression of their love.
So that she can buy Joel a chain for his watch, his most treasured possession, Minna sells her beautiful hair. Joel adores his wife’s shining locks and parts with his watch so that he can purchase the magnificent set of jewelled combs she covets. Though their gifts are now useless, their joy in each other’s love is precious beyond value. In the words of O. Henry: “Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are the wisest. Everywhere they are the wisest, They are the magi.”
The telling of the story is unsentimental, Hannu Heikinheimo’s staging exquisitely observed, and Rautavaara’s music powerfully compelling. The Christmas message finds a truly imaginative and unequivocal expression in The Gift of the Magi.
Schwarz auf Weiss
Heiner Goebbels has a genius for creating truly theatrical musical events. Made under studio conditions, this recording features members of the internationally-acclaimed Ensemble Modern, with whom he developed Black on White. They are both the players and performers in the highly original piece, a tribute to the playwright and director Heiner Müller, who died in 1995. At its heart is a recording of Müller reading Poe’s ‘parable of death’, Shadow. Around this, Goebbels creates a striking web of interlocking musical episodes.
Ariodante
Sung in English. When this production of Handel’s Ariodante – directed by David Alden and conducted by Ivor Bolton – had ist premiere, it met with unanimous critical and popular acclaim. Alden, as a theatrical modernist, transformed the opera seria into an eroticallycharged nightmare of lust, betrayal and violated innocence. With a superlative cast including Ann Murray, Joan Rodgers and Gwynne Howell this rich and strange Ariodante is a surprisingly modern drama of psychological and physical cruelty.
Ariodante is Handel’s 1735 setting of an episode from Ariosto, in which the King of Scotland’s daughter is treacherously accused of infidelity to her promised husband. The central situation of sexual jealousy and mistaken identity is set amidst a web of intense family
relationships. The range of feelings provoked as the characters develop is caught in music of quite extraordinary emotional power, even by Handel’s own exalted standards.
The Rake’s Progress
From the Salzburg Festival 1996: This striking Salzburg Festival production is the result of a collaboration between director Peter Mussbach and the leading German artist Jörg Immendorff, whose spectacular, self-referential and humorous designs were hailed as a triumph. Their fascinating and complex interpretation of the moral tale has Tom Rakewell as an artist in search of his aesthetic position. An exceptionally fine musical performance features Jerry Hadley as Tom, Dawn Upshaw as Anne, and Monte Pederson as Nick Shadow. Sylvain Cambreling conducts the Camerata Academica. (Sung in English)