In 1986 Bernstein conducted a refined version of his own opera A Quiet Place in Vienna. It contains singable late romantic melodies as well as Broadway musical sounds, syncopated jazz rhythms and well-tempered modernity and, of course, a masterful instrumentation. Estranged family members recall the history of their relationships with each other and with their dead mother. The next morning, after breakfast and games in the garden – the “quiet place” –, they find that their hostility has given way to reconciliation.
Bach, Johannespassion (St. John’s Passion) BWV 245
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the St. John Passion in Cöthen during the winter of 1722/23. The text is drawn from chapters 18 and 19 of the Gospel according to St. John, and includes some excerpts from St. Mathew and additional text from a Passion poem by the Hamburg town councillor Barthold Heinrich Brockes. The composer led the first performance at the Good Friday services on 7 April 1724 at St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig, where he had since become municipal music director and cantor of the Thomasschule. This Passion is heard less often today than the St. Matthew Passion, perhaps because the St. John Passion is in some ways more raw and evokes the anguish of the Passion more painfully than the St. Matthew work. A musician’s musician, an occasional firebrand and a constant paradox – Nikolaus Harnoncourt (born in 1929) is one of the most profound and intriguing conductors of our time. Considered one of the world’s leading specialists of Baroque music, he has long since turned his attention to Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and even to Jacques Offenbach and Johann Strauss. He spent many years as a cellist with the Wiener Symphoniker before founding the “Concentus Musicus Wien” with his wife Alice in 1953. It soon became one of the world’s most respected ensembles specializing in the performance of early music on original instruments. In the 1970s, Harnoncourt joined forces with Jean-Pierre Ponnelle to stage a series of Monteverdi operas at the Zurich Opera House. This universally acclaimed cycle contributed to a renaissance of Monteverdi’s music and set standards for early Baroque performance practice. He later began to turn his attention more and more to the music of Mozart, whom he considers “the most romantic of all composers”. Harnoncourt did not make his official debut at the Salzburg Festival until 1992. He has been conducting there regularly since then and is a sought-after guest conductor of such reputable ensembles as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
Mitridate, Re di Ponto
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle and Nikolaus Harnoncourt have succeeded in turning the stylized figures of the ‘opera seria’ into living, flesh-and-blood characters. Written when Mozart was 14 and premiered at the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan in December 1770, “Mitridate” faithfully adheres to the principles of the courtly opera seria. Such works were not expected to be realistic, but admirable and impressive, filled with coloraturas, cadenzas and vocal brilliance – much of it provided by castrati. Three of the roles in “Mitridate” were originally written for castrati and cast here with women (Farnace and Sifare) and a boy (Arbate). The production was filmed at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, which was built by Andrea Palladio, one of the greatest architects of the Renaissance.
Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
“Don’t leave out the serious aspects, but don’t forget the humor either!” This, according to August Everding, was the basic idea behind his staging of “The Magic Flute”, which premiered on 30 August 1978 at the Bavarian State Opera. He wanted his Magic Flute neither too philosophical nor too comical, but sought instead to unite all the conflicting elements in this work: the fairy-tale magic, fun, brightness, intellectual depth and humanistic ideals. He also did not want to bore his audience with continuous scene changes behind a closed curtain. In order to realize Everding’s concept of an uninterrupted change of scenes, stage designer Jürgen Rose resorted to painted backdrops and architectural elements. Everding calls the result a mixture of timeless fairy tale and 18th century. For this production, Everding and Wolfgang Sawallisch revised and greatly shortened Schikaneder’s dialogues. The trio sung by Sarastro, Tamino and Pamina, for example, was moved forward a few numbers for dramaturgical reasons. According to Sawallisch, “in its original position, this trio is illogical and a ‘brake’.”
Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria
In a rare display of unanimous praise, international music critics rated this cycle one of the greatest operatic events of its time. Although Monteverdi played a truly important role in the development of opera, only few major opera houses have ventured to present these three Baroque masterpieces. Years of intensive study by conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, not only of the transmitted scores but also of the instruments used in Monteverdi’s time, were necessary to provide a basis for the exceptionally high standard of the Zurich productions. Just how meticulously Harnoncourt and the celebrated stage director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle prepared themselves is made partly clear by the fact that the orchestra exclusively played original 17th-century instruments and specially-made copies for these productions. This in turn meant that each of the 39 members of the -awaited expansion of the standard opera repertoire had successfully been realized. What makes the Monteverdi cycle a unique project is the certainty that it can never again be repeated with quite the same quality and feeling.
Concierto Barroco
Bach, Weihnachtsoratorium (Christmas Oratorio) BWV 248
Considered one of the world’s leading specialists of Baroque music, Nikolaus Harnoncourt founded the “Concentus Musicus Wien” in 1953. It has since become one of the world’s most respected ensembles specializing in the performance of early music on original instruments or faithful reproductions. With its opulent decor and gilt ornamentation, the Austrian Baroque church of Waldhausen provides a setting evocative of Bach’s times. An added highlight of the program is the retelling of the Nativity story with the magnificent carved figures of two master wood-carvers of the Baroque period from Upper Austria. Also heard on the recording are the distinguished tenor Peter Schreier, bass Robert Holl and the Tölzer Boys’ Choir.
The Turn of the Screw
The central dramatic situation of the opera, based on Henry James’s novella, lies in the conflict between the governess and two evil spirits, the former servant Quint and the former governess Miss Jessel, both of whom exerted a great influence on the two children and who after death – at least this is what the governess believes – are trying to establish their hold over the youngsters. The question of whether the ghosts really exist or are only a figment of the young woman’s feverish imagination remains open in the Henry James tale. Indeed, in the opera the ghosts are seen and heard; consequently, in the film, Petr Weigl leaves open the possibility that they are only imagined by the governess. The viewer can decide whether “The Turn of the Screw” is a fairy-tale battle between good and evil or a tragedy about destructive influences on inexperienced youth. Britten’s score stands in contrast to the abundance of ideas to be found both in the literary model and the libretto. The score is tighter and the music formally more consistent than in his other operas. The work consists of a prologue and 16 scenes which are connected by orchestral intermezzos – variations on the main theme. This main theme is a 12-tone scale which, however, Britten in no way considered to be a negation of tonal hierarchy, but rather as a ramification of that technique. “The Turn of the Screw”, written in 1954, was premiered that same year at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice with the English Opera Group.
L’Incoronazione di Poppea
In a rare display of unanimous praise, international music critics rated this cycle one of the greatest operatic events of its time. Although Monteverdi played a truly important role in the development of opera, only few major opera houses have ventured to present these three Baroque masterpieces. Years of intensive study by conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, not only of the transmitted scores but also of the instruments used in Monteverdi’s time, were necessary to provide a basis for the exceptionally high standard of the Zurich productions. Just how meticulously Harnoncourt and the celebrated stage director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle prepared themselves is made partly clear by the fact that the orchestra exclusively played original 17th-century instruments and specially-made copies for these productions. This in turn meant that each of the 39 members of the orchestra needed the qualifications of a soloist. It was not by accident that the recordings of all three productions won top international awards. This was simply further proof that a long-awaited expansion of the standard opera repertoire had successfully been realized. What makes the Monteverdi cycle a unique project is the certainty that it can never again be repeated with quite the same quality and feeling.
Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gipsy Baron)
Next to “Die Fledermaus”, “The Gypsy Baron” is Johann Strauss’s most popular operetta. The libretto gave Strauss the chance to revel in such contrasting musical forms as the csárdás and the Viennese waltz. The style of the lied forms and ensembles is so original and finely balanced that the “Gypsy Baron” can truly be called a comic opera. Among the leading names of the stellar cast are Wolfgang Brendel, Ivan Rebroff, Janet Perry, Ellen Shade, Martha Mödl and, in his debut role, Siegfried Jerusalem as Sándor Barinkay.