“Magnetic pull: Soprano Asmik Grigorian shines” (Salzburger Nachrichten) “Madness in close-up” (BR Klassik): Director Benedict Andrews plunges Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame at the Bavarian State Opera into a cinematic film noir aesthetic, in which the characters regularly seem to vanish into shadow and mystery. Brandon Jovanovich “plays a credibly broken anti-hero as Hermann” (Münchner Merkur) and Asmik Grigorian as Lisa once again steals the show with her unerring dramatic and vocal skills. Conductor Aziz Shokhakimov gives a convincing debut at the podium of the state orchestra, managing a “dramatically stirring, propulsive interpretation” (FAZ).
Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades)
Hans Neuenfels, the luminary of modern director’s theatre, provides a compelling, multi-layered staging of Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame at Salzburg Festival. In the stark, mostly abstract sets by Christian Schmidt, Neuenfels “draws gripping performances from a strong cast” (The New York Times) including Brandon Jovanovich and Evgenia
Muraveva in the title roles of Herman and Lisa and legendary singer Hanna Schwarz as Countess. Mariss Jansons, “a compelling director in his element” (The New York Times) makes his rare appearance as an opera conductor, at the helm of the Wiener Philharmoniker – “Another triumph in this hot festival summer!“ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). Mariss Jansons, “maybe the best connoisseur of this unjustly neglected opera” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), turns this Queen of Spades with as much verve as sensitivity into a “captivating musical drama” (Die Zeit).
Salzburg Festival 2018: Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades)
Russian literature is unimaginable without Pushkin. It feeds on Pushkin, it breathes Pushkin. During his brief life – he died at the age of 38 – he produced a torrent of the most wonderful poems, plays and stories. Pushkin wrote the novella The Queen of Spades in 1833 in the course of a few days and “in a cold fury” – brief, sharply accentuated and focused on psychology. More than 50 years later, Tchaikovsky turned to this tale for an opera. Mariss Jansons conducts the Vienna Philharmonic, Hans Neuenfels directs Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades at the Großes Festspielhaus. Hanna Schwarz appears as the Countess. Evgenia Muraveva sings Lisa, Brandon Jovanovich is Herman, Vladislav Sulimsky appears as Count Tomsky / Plutus, and Igor Golovatenko is Prince Yelezky. “A triumph for conductor Mariss Jansons at the helm of the Wiener Philharmoniker” (FAZ); “Mr. Neuenfels draws gripping performances from a strong cast.” (NY Times)
Wozzeck
Berg’s “Wozzeck” is an indispensable work in the repertoire of any opera house. In Zurich, critics and audience celebrated director Andreas Homoki, General Music Director Fabio Luisi and baritone Christian Gerhaher for their intriguing interpretation of this masterpiece of operatic history. “It is an astonishing debut…: For the first time, Christian Gerhaher sings one of the most important operatic roles of the 20th century. That in itself is a great experience. But this evening is fantastic even beyond Gerhaher’s brilliant performance as a singer and actor thanks to the striking and truly exceptional interacting of music, scene, and singing. This Zurich ‘Wozzeck’ is phenomenal.” Süddeutsche Zeitung