Wozzeck

Libretto by Alban Berg after the Play by Georg Büchne. r

Berg was conscripted during the 1914-18 war and acquired from his experiences the compassion and loathing to write his first, terrifyingly great opera, about a soldier tormented and mocked by his superiors until he loses his reason, cutting the throat of his mistress, and drowning himself. A devious world destroys Wozzeck’s sense of identity and turns him into a murderer.

This brutalisation is made palpable in Peter Mussbach’s highly-stylised production which, in ist expressionistic artificiality, heightens the emotional intensity of this searing work. In his hands Wozzeck becomes an agonising lament over lost innocence. Mussbach is a master of visual and dramatic effect and the impact of his staging is enhanced by the framing opportunities afforded by video recording under studio conditions. Surfaces are steeply raked and blaze in primary colours; perspectives are flattened and distorted; space is confined; decoration has been stripped away; character is manifested through costumes, masks, make-up, movement; the particular stands for the collective.

Dale Duesing, as Wozzeck, is a charismatic central figure, an agile performer, restless and tormented. The role of Marie is taken by Kristine Ciesinski, a consummate singer and actress of Berg’s work. Mussbach’s Hauptmann is reminiscent of Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi, and his Doctor brings to mind a frock-coated Frankenstein. These monsters of inhumanity are incisively portrayed by Dieter Bundschuh and Frode Olsen. A powerful tenor, Ronald Hamilton sings the role of the grotesquely overblown Drum Major. Conductor Sylvain Cambreling’s reading of the score is characterised by ist structural clarity.

The Cunning Little Vixen

Nicholas Hytner’s enchanting production, sung in the original Czech, is conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, a master of the best Janácek style. Through myriad shifts of scene, the episodic story is presented in brightly-coloured sets and costumes of blissful innocence and simplicity, designed by Bob Crowley. Jean-Claude Gallotta’s choreography for the insects and animals, and Jean Kalman’s lighting add to the nostalgically poetic effect of the whole. With Sir Thomas Allen as the Forester, the cast includes Eva Jenis, Hanna Minutillo, Richard Novak and Ivan Kusnjer.

Coppélia

Marin’s reworking of this much-loved classic is a hugely entertaining and constantly surprising piece of dance theatre. The modern idiom of her imaginative choreography teams perfectly with the infectious melodies of Leo Delibes’ lively score, played by the Lyon National Opera Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano. Marin’s Coppelia has lost none of the charm of the original, but has taken on a wry humour, which adds to ist appeal for today’s audiences. This programme was recorded with the Lyon National Opera Ballet on location in the suburbs of Lyon and in studio. An introduction by the choreographer is available.

The Fiery Angel

Valéry Gergiev is said to be at his best when interpreting Russian composers. Convincing evidence is given with this production of Sergei Prokofiev’s “The Fiery Ange”l from the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Prokofiev’s disturbingly enigmatic opera was never performed during his lifetime – it was considered too decadent by Stalin and his successors – but David Freeman’s imaginative production asserts it as one of the composer’s greatest masterpieces. Galina Gorchakova and Sergei Leiferkus inspire with brilliant performances in the two main roles.

The opera is derived from a novel by the Russian decadent Valéry Bryusov. Ostensibly, it is a tale of religious hysteria and demonic possession and also explores symbolically the love triangle endured by the writer and his self-destructive lover, the poet Nina Petrovskaya.

David Freeman has completely entered into this opera’s strangely unnerving world. Evil is all around us and in his sensational production the image is taken quite literally.

Capriccio

From the San Francisco Opera 1993: Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has made the role of the Countess in Capriccio her own and her performance in Stephen Lawless’s San Francisco Opera production met with high critical praise. Her suitors are sung by David Kuebler and Simon Keenlyside and the cast also includes Tatiana Troyanos in her last role, Håkan Hagegård and Victor Braun. Richard Strauss’s opera about opera is set in the eighteenth century and the period is evoked poetically in Mauro Pagano’s exquisite salon set and Thierry Bosquet’s lavish costumes. (Sung in German)

Turandot

This performjance is a presentation of no more and no less than the perfect blend of two human senses: a music lover’s eye and ear will both experience the very finest quality production. Alone the star-studded vocal ensemble, under the direction of internationally renowned director David Runnicles, guarantees a satisfactory interpretation of Puccini”s majestic opera. The aria, “Nessun dorma,” which has now become a global hit, is sung by the young Indiana-born tenor Michael Sylvester as Calaf. At the vanguard of the contemporary art genre, David Hockney has been hired as both director and designer to contribute his experience to this well-staged opera project.

Il barbiere di Siviglia

For his first opera production, Dario Fo, the theatre director known for his brilliant wit, chose to stage Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia for the Netherlands Opera. First mounted in 1987, it was a huge success and a live recording of ist revival in May 1992, the 200th anniversary of Rossini’s birth, has been made.

Fo has said that ‘Rossini is the musician of eating and love. He composes music rich in herbs and aromas, in which you find olives, tomatoes, fish, grapes, roses and rosemary, sheets and tablecloths, dry wine and the laughter of girls.’ His ‘Barbiere’ is a joyful carnival. During the overture he fills the stage with carnival revellers and immediately the commedia dell’arte origins of opera buffa are restored. Visual theatrics abound, never at the expense of the music, but highlighting it, engaging the eye as well as the ear. Fo addresses the heart more than the intellect and Rossini’s comedy comes up dazzling and vital.

War and Peace

From the Kirov Opera St. Petersburg 1991 This production marked an historic ‘first’ collaboration between Russian and British operatic talent. Producer Graham Vick, designer Timothy O’Brien and lighting designer Matthew Richardson mounted a War and Peace that was revolutionary in staging terms for the Kirov Opera. The galvanic conductor Valery Gergiev fielded a cast of the company’s finest singers, including Nicolai Othotnikov, Irina Bogachova, Yuri Marusin and Yelena Prochina, supported by a huge, expertly-rehearsed chorus. The impact of this War and Peace is formidable. (Sung in Russian)

Carmen

From the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden 1991 Bizet’s much-loved opera, a fateful story of jealousy and passion, was staged at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in a quintessentially Spanish production by the eminent director Nuria Espert, with designs by Gerardo Vera and costumes by Franca Squarciapino. Zubin Mehta conducts an outstanding cast, with Luis Lima as Don José, Gino Quilico as Escamillo, Leontina Vaduva as Micaela and starring the sensational Maria Ewing, aloof and magnetic, in the title role she has made her own. (Sung in French)

Orfeo ed Euridice

From the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden 1991: Staged for the Royal Opera, Harry Kupfer’s production updates the Greek legend of Orpheus and employs ingenious sets by Hans Schavernoch, with projections onto revolving mirrors and screens, to conjure up images of a modern day Hell. It is sung using the original Italian libretto and, in the title role, the male alto Jochen Kowalski gives a “star performance of bewildering energy and commitment” (London Evening Standard). Soprano Gillian Webster is a radiant Euridice and Hartmut Haenchen conducts. (Sung in Italian)