Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca becomes a musical highlight with two much acclaimed role debuts of star singers Piotr Beczala and Carlos Álvarez at the Vienna State Opera in the revived, historic staging of Margarethe Wallmann. Beczala is undoubtely “one of the extraordinary singers of our time” (Der Standard), at his side is Armenian soprano Karine Babajanyan as Primadonna Floria Tosca, making her house debut in Vienna. Marco Armiliato conducts the brilliantly playing Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper with love for detail and full of energy.
Die Zauberflöte
Mozart meets Hitchcock in this spooky interpretation of The Magic Flute in Vienna. With the aid of projections and stage elements by Falko Herold, director Barbora Horáková dreams up a cinematic, eerie setting full of references to famous horror flicks, creating “great suspense” (Kronenzeitung). At the podium, conductor Bertrand de Billy coaxes the most wonderful Mozart sounds from his musicians: “The orchestra manages something with Mozart that actually seems contradictory: the sound is both lush and wonderfully airy, however that works (…). The transparency and compelling tonal beauty alone make the visit worthwhile” (Kurier). The ensemble of singers leaves little to be desired, with Georg Zeppenfeld “reliably great” (Salzburger Nachrichten) as Sarastro, Ludwig Mittelhammer lending Papageno his “lovely baritone voice” (Kronenzeitung), Ilia Staple “witty” and “perfectly cast” as Papagena and Serena Saénz mastering her coloraturas as the Queen of the Night “with bravura” (News). Nevertheless, Slávka Zámecníková manages to excel above all: “The evening’s crowning glory was Slávka Zámecníková, who sang with her heart as she sang her Pamina: her soprano voice is full and refined, her phrasing beautiful and her expression undisguised” (Die Presse).
Don Giovanni
In the first installment of his Da Ponte cycle at the Vienna State Opera, director Barrie Kosky does what he does best. He focuses the action completely on the characters. “I think characters like Don Giovanni are like mirrors in which we see ourselves. Sometimes like distorting mirrors, sometimes like broken mirrors. Sometimes the image we see is unappetizing”. Indeed, Kosky’s character direction is “impressive” (Klassikpunk), as he uncovers new facets and puts great faith in the singers to deliver his vision. Kyle Ketelsen as Don Giovanni (“vibrant” – Der Standard) and Philippe Sly as Leporello “took centre stage (…) and dared to satirise the burden of tradition” (ORF). Hanna-Elisabeth Müller is “convincing” as Donna Anna and the young Patricia Nolz gives an excellent role debut as Zerlina alongside the “virtuosic” Peter Keller as Masetto. Conductor Philippe Jordan “plays the recitatives delicately and subtly on the fortepiano” and “achieves transparency, tangibility and poetry on the basis of historical accuracy” (Der Standard).
Faust
“Radical and ingenious, unsettling and beguiling” (Kurier), this production of Gounod’s Faust at the Vienna State Opera ticks all the boxes. Legendary director Frank Castorf moves the action to a tumultuous 1960s Paris and draws the audience in with an abundance of elements that seamlessly blend into one: “Everything has its place. There is not a single superfluous video, no detail without meaning, and each of the characters can tell their own story” (News). The action on stage is expertly supported in the pit as Bertrand de Billy “makes the score shine and resonate magnificently” (Tiroler Tageszeitung). The cast is star-studded, lead by Juan Diego Flórez giving his debut as Faust. He sings the role with “impeccable French diction, allowing his warm tenor to shimmer” (Kronenzeitung). Nicole Car’s Marguerite was “beautiful, silvery-toned” (Seen And Heard) and the young bass Adam Palka is convincing as Mephisto, “alternating between devilish, camp, erotic and sadistic” (APA).
Don Carlo
“vocal luxury was the order of the day”(Die Deutsche Bühne) In this new production of Verdi’s Don Carlo, director Kirill Serebrennikov sets the opera in a historic costume research institute, blending history with the present. Silent actors in historic costumes symbolize self-aggrandizement and emotional confinement. Conductor Philippe Jordan is praised for his sensitivity. Joshua Guerrero effectively portrays Don Carlo, while Etienne Dupuis’s Posa is a charming freedom fighter. Roberto Tagliavini stands out as Filippo II, and Eve-Maud Hubeaux impresses alongside Asmik Grigorian, who shines in her role debut as Elisabetta, delivering a powerful performance that resonates deeply with the audience.
Così fan tutte
“The execution is vibrant, the individual voices outstanding, and the ensemble homogeneity even more so.” (Frankfurter Rundschau) To conclude his Da Ponte cycle at the Vienna State Opera, Barrie Kosky turns Don Alfonso into a theatre director rehearsing a stage play with the two young couples at the center of the story: “He presents the Da Ponte opera as a coherent, sophisticated game within a game: a director uses method acting to release feelings that can no longer be controlled” (News). As is typical for a Kosky-lead production, there is constant action, which the ensemble executes with exuberance. Philippe Jordan leads the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera from the pianoforte, managing to “strike a balance between classical beauty and vibrancy, without resorting to tricks and mannerisms to make things exciting” (Kleine Zeitung).
Werther
The lyrical drama Werther, based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s novel, remains Jules Massenet’s best known stage work to this day. Piotr Beczala in the title role “impresses with his bomb-proof technique, free high notes and intelligent interpretation. The tenoral highlight of the evening – “Pourquoi me reveiller” – shone with a palette of tonal colours and offered an ideal combination of power and emotion” (bachtrack.com). Werther’s love Charlotte is sung by Gaëlle Arquez. Her “soulful mezzo is finely timbred, buzzing and blazing” (Wiener Zeitung). “Bertrand de Billy leads the orchestra thrillingly through this wonderful work, dramatic, then delicately lyrical, highly differentiated, full of sound.” (Kurier)
Otello
Never has Giuseppe Verdi composed revenge, intrigue and jealousy fierier and more diabolical than in his late opera Otello. One of the greatest love stories in literature – Otello is the second of Verdi’s three Shakespeare operas – fails brutally, cruelly and senselessly. With the title role of Otello, Jonas Kaufmann takes on what is probably the most demanding part of his vocal register He is “in splendid form” (Kronen Zeitung) and “has sung his way into the Olympus as an interpreter of Otello” (klassik-begeistert.de) with this performance. Baritone Ludovic Tézier “is unrivalled as Lago” (Kurier). “This baritone’s attacks are like acts of tonal violence, his legato mischief clever manipulations. A devil on earth.” (Der Standard) Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen is “a Desdemona to fall in love with” (Die Presse) with “a voice to kneel down to, with a timbre that captivates” (klassik-begeistert.de). Adrian Noble’s staging moves the action to circa 1900, stripping it of its historical context. Emphasizing the inner world of the main character and his emotional disintegration, his Otello becomes “a psychological thriller” (bachtrack.com).
Turandot
At the Vienna State Opera, Claus Guth stages Puccini’s last opera as a chamber drama of timeless topicality – far removed from all pseudo-Chinese clichés and with shooting star Asmik Grigorian and audience favourite Jonas Kaufmann in the two leading roles. For Asmik Grigorian, the role is a debut and she succeeds “brilliantly. […] Her singing reveals a woman’s soul” (Die Presse) and captivates with “glistening high notes, the coldest cantilenas and deeply felt emotions” (Süddeutsche Zeitung). In contrast, the foreign prince appears less as a swashbuckling conqueror than as a sensitive companion who reaches out his hand to a woman struggling with her demons. The role of Calaf is also a stage debut for Jonas Kaufmann. He sings the famous “Nessun dorma” “with the greatest sensitivity” (Salzburger Nachrichten), “he is in his element in the top notes, his velvety timbre is convincing in every register”. (Der Standard). The Russian soprano Kristina Mkhitaryan portrays a touching Liù as an “enchantingly beautiful soprano” (Kronen Zeitung). Conductor Marco Armiliato “delights with the unleashed splendour of Puccini’s sound” (Falter).
Le nozze di Figaro
Barrie Kosky, one of the most innovative opera directors of our time, creates a new interpretation of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (which he believed should be renamed Susanna) at the Vienna State Opera with a very young ensemble: Andrè Schuen and Hanna-Elisabeth Müller in the roles of Count and Countess Almaviva, Peter Kellner as Figaro, Patricia Nolz as Cherubino and Ying Fang as well as Eva Nazarova as Susanna. Ying Fang is acting on stage with a perfect lip sync to Eva Nazarova singing from the orchestra pit, as she could not sing herself due to a vocal cord haemorrhage. Philippe Jordan conducts the Orchestra of the Wiener Staatsoper and together they “deliver an ideal mixture of elegant lyricism and concentrated expression – each and every one” (Wiener Zeitung). “Beauty and pointedness are combined in the noblest way.” (Der Standard)