Review - Die Frau ohne Schatten (Richard Strauss), Staatsoper im Schiller Theater Berlin, 2017 Festtage

Burkhard Fritz (Die Kaiser)
Camilla Nylund (Die Kaiserin)
Michaela Schuster (Die Amme)
Wolfgang Koch (Barak)
Irene Theorin (Baraks frau)
Roman Trekel (Die Geisterbote)

Staatsopernchor & Kinderchor
Staatskapelle Berlin
Zubin Mehta (Conductor)
Claus Guth (Director)

Although this opera is often regarded as the magic flute of Richard Strauss, its metaphorical symbolism is more complex than a relative straight forward fairy tale of redemption. It examines how the empress discovers herself through the mystery of birth and death, and the search for a shadow is the key witness to life. Like Salome and Elektra, the dealing of death is the rite of passage to prove oneself existence. Yet by resisting tricks and redemption, she gains the shadow eventually than slaughtering.

Claus Guth's production conceived the tale as the empress negotiated her conscience within a surreal world of nightmare and illusions. She was first seen as a dying patient being unconscious in a sanatorium. Her nurse became a devil figure that manipulated and possessed her mind. She left no room for the empress to consider an alternative, but put her under the spell to lure Barak's wife into a moral trap that would lead to renounce her shadow. Though the temptation was presented alike a fantasy with parallel figure of Barak's wife in glittering outfit while the fishes as infants sang the enchanting chorus, and later a naked young man covered in gold appeared as a physical wonder. On the other hand, the nurse was the aggressive option which the empress could take to become mortal and avoided from separating from the emperor. Yet that contradict with her original and pure form as gazelle, which we noticed from the animal headed figure appeared throughout in parallel.

The animals added to the mysterious and dream like impression, also reinforced the fantasy side of the story. They appeared as mortals but their actual forms were the shadow itself and never separate, at least from the empress's perspective. The falcon represented the messenger of the empress's father, who did not appear until the judgement scene. It also became a haunted reminder to the empress that her fate was hold by him. They sometimes also became the silent companion as she reflected alone. Their existence realised the inner thoughts and emotions delicately that what the empress would have desired. Like Guth's staging of Der Rosenkavalier before, the abstract recalling of the past, present and future magnified the psychological state of the protagonist bounded by doubts and contradictions. Rest were as sequence of her decision making, which constituted the process of self examination.

The question in the room though was whether the empress actually had any affection for the emperor. It seems not when she appeared in agony by the emperor's declaration of love for her, and her gazelle collapsed on the ground with wounds the same time . Later in the second act after the falcon warned again, the emperor even wanted to straggle the empress as he thought she was being unfaithful by lurking into a human household. Neither in the third act they appeared together again but stayed in distance, though their gazelles showed forgiveness to each other. Claus probably felt was never the empress's intention to mend the broken relationship and the past encounter resolved subtly.

Yet through Barak and his wife did the empress discovered what true love could lead to the happiness of fertility and satisfaction in life. Even the two had a rocky relation as the wife being dissatisfied and despised anything associated to Barak at first. She managed to resist the temptation of a young man in golden outlook that the nurse conjured up to tempt her. Barak himself was genuinely tried to save the relationship from falling apart despite the emotional frustration and rejection. At the judging chamber they rediscovered each other and in support of the other one finally. The reconciliation inspired the empress to fling off the mental control from the nurse, emperor and her father. She threw away the potion that the doctor gave to her and confronted her mental depression directly. It was an emotional transformation as she saw her gazelle dead but then a spear reminded her the past alike hearing voices in her head. The recollection motivated her to put on the animal head as a metaphorical connection of her body and shadow by gaining it eventually. The dreamy world collapsed and the empress awaken from the hallucination, where she saw her nurse again. She appeared to feel the peace and supported by her who was no longer the devil as before.

A strong cast of singers were assembled that elevated the performance to a most satisfying vocal feast. Camilla Nylund showed no sign of tiredness or strain throughout the demanding vocal part as the protagonist. Not only she had a powerful and rich projection, her diction was very clear with the smoothness in switching register. The ascending vocal cries were gloriously sung in sheer intensity. Her characterisation of the empress progressed naturally and displayed the complex emotions as it evolved. Although Burkhard Fritz did not have an extensive singing part in the role of the emperor, the love theme of act one was romantically and expressively rendered. His timbre carried the warmth and rich tone, with the legato sustained throughout. Michaela Schuster had a more dramatic vocal style as the nurse compare to other roles which were more lyrical orientated except Barak's wife. Her mezzo timbre was rich with a healthy voice, also carried the urgency and intensity during violent moments. She also had the devilish outlook with the chilling gaze, and realised the aggressiveness of the nurse by being a controlling figure.

Wolfgang Koch phrased the words and music poetically in his smooth and pleasant timbre. His singing never become over sentimental, remained majesty in style and carried the depth in the characterisation. He saw Barak as a sensitive figure who tried to be reasonable and patient with his difficult and temperamental wife. I was also amazed by the powerful singing from Irene Theorin who was in a different vocal level from her approach to Brünnhilde. She brightened up her diction for clarity and her tessitura sat comfortably within the vocal range. Her dramatic singing sustained the emotional impact at the romantically expressive passages. The reconciling duet between her and Koch in act three was intimately passionate and rich that created a powerful sonic climax.

Under the baton of Zubin Mehta, bright and beautiful tone sustained among the orchestral playing and not overtly dramatic yet still carried the excitement. Majestic and beautiful brass playing echoed the woodwind's ethereal passage towards the end of act one, a contrast from the strange and grotesque torments perceived before. Sorrowful cello solo realised the sadness as the empress reflected, while the lower strings played the love theme tenderly. They drove the emotions forward as later the music became increasingly violent and devastating. Such emotional contrast again was spellbindingly effective in the sublime violin solo as the forgiveness was marked symbolically. The orchestra in turn gave a crushing blow as the empress shook her dead gazelle in distraught. Then bell like strings' playing responded to the dream and surreal state as the past been recalled when the emperor met the empress for the first time. Musically the standard as a whole was high and equally balanced for a glorious performance. The staatsoper should consider revivals than the current tame season being offered at the renovated opera house.

(Photo credits: Clive Barda/Royal Opera House London; Hans Jörg Michel/Staatsoper Berlin)

Review - Tosca (Puccini), Staatsoper im Schiller Theatre Berlin, 13 October 2015

Tosca - Anja Kampe

Cavaradossi - Marcello Giordani

Scarpia - Michael Volle

Sacristan - Jan Martiník

Staatsopernchoir, Kinderchoir & Staatskapelle Berlin

Conductor - Domingo Hindoyan

Director - Alvis Hermanis

I rather reluctant to watch Tosca again because inevitably I would make comparison to the stupendous performance at Covent Garden back in 2011 with a starry cast, Jonas Kaufmann, Angela Gheorghiu and Bryn Terfel, conducted by the wonderful Antonio Pappano. It was a hard act to follow and this performance from the Staatsoper confirmed my worries.

For any first timer watching Tosca or for an opera experience, Hermanis production would sufficiently serving the purpose to tell the tale with a twist. Except the Te Deum scene, the stage visually divided into two levels: a colourful cartoon by Kristine Jurjane of the opera at the time of Napoleonic war was projected on the upper part, while we saw actions and singers dressed in the fashion of Puccini's time at the lower part. The concept itself was interesting but the dramaturgy did not make it attractive nor inspiring. The stage set had its limitation that actions confounded to the centre and the sides were for exits and entering only. Stage lightings were almost at the same level throughout the evening, and no blood spilled when Scarpia was stabbed by Tosca or Cavaradossi being tortured. The cartoon provided the locations of where different scenes took place in Rome but not really enhancing the visual impact or beauty. Not many furnitures were employed, even the paintings were shown in the cartoon, which made the set looked rather tame and empty. The Te Deum scene was the only part with a visual scene change that utilising the stage with a large chorus to form the procession, while Scarpia cursing from the last row of a church pew. Though the torture scene was an understatement as we saw Cavaradossi rather alive afterwards.

Thankfully Michael Volle and Anja Kampe acted well to save this dull staging from an ultimate boredom. The stabbing scene was intense and Michael Volle made a more terrifying Scarpia than Bryn Terfel. He captured the characteristics of Scarpia very well being a cunning torturer and crude womaniser but also bewildered by Tosca's motive. I also preferred his timbre with a fuller and darker tone that the singing resonated in the hall very well. Anja Kampe was better with actions than her singing. She had the right tessitura, but the timbre lacked the warmth and not being smooth with the phrasing. I felt she better stick with the German repertoire than Italian ones in terms of diction. Jan Martinik was specially mentioned because he was the most well sung Sacristan with a voice pleasant for the ears, phrasing was natural and being comfortable with the vocal range. Marcello Giordani replaced the indisposed Fabio Sartori as Cavaradossi. He certainly looked older than the part in compare to the one portrayed by the cartoon. Not a bad actor but I did not enjoy the switching of registers as he went up in the higher vocal range despite the intonation was secured. The sustaining of long notes sounded quite an effort and hard sometimes for the ears to enjoy. Domingo Hindoyan's conducting was serviceable to keep the ensembles more or less together but still negotiations over tempo in many corners. He would need more live experience to sharpen up the skills. As a whole, this was probably my least enjoyable musical evening in Berlin.

Review - Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner), Staatsoper im Schiller Theatre Berlin, 11 October 2015 & 18 October 2015

Hans Sachs - Wolfgang Koch

Sixtus Beckmesser - Markus Werba
Veit Pogner - Kwangchul Youn
Eva - Julia Kleiter
Walther von Stolzing - Klaus Florian Vogt
Magdalene - Anna Lapkovskaja
David - Stephan Rügamer

The Masters - Graham Clark, Gyula Orendt, Jurgen Linn, Siegfried Jerusalem, Reiner Goldberg, Paul O'Neill, Arttu Kataja, Franz Mazura, Olaf Bar

Staatsopernchoir & Staatskapelle Berlin
Conductor - Daniel Barenboim
Director - Andrea Moses

I watched this presentation of Die Meistersinger twice over two weekends. Despite Hans Sachs was a historical figure and the embedded ideologies more than a century old, Moses agreed with the progressive and insightful thinker on the nature and attitude towards the ever changing construction of German identity. At the 25th anniversary of the reunification, forward looking to a peaceful reunified Germany and celebrations of arts would forge the new identification, if one could agree Hans Sachs's vision of 'green and pasture land' in the end. It was a bold message though instead of feeling sorry for the turbulent and painful past that it should be honoured and welcome the future. This was a direct contrast to the post war years, which the cultural and national approaches on war crimes, the division of East and West Germany mostly in an apologetic and pessimistic tone. Andrea Moses skilfully interwoven the developments of German identity into the opera but I felt the spirit of positivism was naively optimistic in the conclusion.

To be fair, Moses should be credited for her insights by relating the characters with some prominent social attitudes in modern Germany. Walther is those who avoid associating oneself with traditions or celebrations of the nation, whereas David struggles to defend traditional values and challenged by his schoolmates/colleagues. The masters are a conflicting group that the younger ones surprisingly more conservative, sceptical and critical than the elders. Sixtus Beckmesser is the victim of himself that smugness and being hypocritical but no originality led to his humiliation at the song contest and the scuffle on St John's eve. The apprentices are rebellious hoping to be free from rules and in act two they transform into the drunken punks except David. Eva is probably trapped being a feminist but the same time submissive to her father's will. Smoking cigarettes is her rebellious expression of being not the 'perfect' daughter and a complicated relationship with Hans Sachs and Walther. The director probably making the point that modern youths are less experimental and forward thinking compare to the generations grown up in cold war years, but being a rebel against the establishment is a feature any time at the tender age.  

On the macro level, the directorial approach is more critical politically and complex. The church scene at the opening shows us a priest resembling the figure of Martin Luther, who employed the identity of German as a unifying race in his church sermons at the time of Holy Roman Empire. The priest also represented Moses's three perceptions of the church: the never ending collections from clergyman for whatever purposes, the church cannot prevent the outbreak of social tensions in act two that the priest, also the night-watchman praising god, becomes the victim of the fiasco. When the priest handing out musical notes for public to praise Hans Sachs in act three, I thought it was an implicit reference of the church supporting the allegiance of a leader instead of the one god during the time of Nazi party rose to power,

The master's guild is a fancy institution for the great and good of society meeting in a stylish modern room, which the illuminated Mercedes Benz logo on top of Europa center office tower in the background. Wealth, status and wellness are on display but the masters generally behave as if they never get away from pretentious traditions. The underlying message seems to be that established institutions need to stop profiting from their wealth and convention practices, but to modernise, invest and adopt a more liberal attitudes to help with the development of the youth.

Then it comes to the roles of nation with the German national flag hanging on one side of the stage as a connotative symbol. The masters emphasizes their beliefs, values and associations with the state as Pogner reminded his fellows in act one while holding the flag. The punks in act two not only being rebellious students but also the anarchist group in contrast to David who is the odd one holding onto the flag. Law and order are constantly in a difficult situation with those challenging the establishment, and not 'cool' if you defend it. When Walther and Eva hiding under the flag while Beckmesser making the serenade, it is as if people will keep away from the problem and only come closer to the state under its protection. Then later the young couples rejoicing their union before leaving Hans Sachs shop for the song contest, individual affections come first for each other instead of thanking the nation as they drop the flag on the floor and hug each other. I guess here the celebration of love and promising future to become a master put the personal priority before the opportunities given from the state. It is an uneasy notion because the modern society focuses on individual achievement than a collective success.

The riot on St John's eve (Johannistag) at the end of act two and the reconstructed city palace of Berlin, in the background of song contest, are the highlights of ongoing public disputes on the identity question. In the fiasco we saw supporters of the west and east Berlin football teams, far left and far right followers, gay right campaigners, pro Russian group, clubbing crowds, the masters themselves and religious practitioners went into a chaotic fight with each other. It is a statement of turbulent past that still shadow and in memory to many this day. In contrast, the pretty crowd in front of the palace seems too proud and over joy to celebrate a prosperous nation, traditions and leader worshipping. We see two Arabs as the guests of honour in the masters' party, which suggests the palace rebuilding project is a flaw that the nation does not have the wealth and kowtowing to foreign funds.

Musically I thought my second experience was much better than the first. What really made the cast stood out was the clarity in diction and individual voices blending with each other in tone colour and the right flows in dialogue between passages. The orchestra was more in tune, especially tutti at the beginning of the overture, and phrasing had improved that Barenboim seems to get around with the musical direction. There were less coordination issues between the orchestra and singers as before the band noticeably dragged the tempo so much that the singers struggled to pace the singing. Klaus Florian Vogt got the prize song mostly correct compare to the previous weekend which he had trouble to fit in the words and stumbled for few bars before settling in. Some works must have been done to resolve the problem during the week as he and Barenboim were still negotiating over the tempo on my first hearing.  I have to agree with my friend that Vogt did not always match the beauty in timbre as his many other colleagues. His vocal projection might be the best but sometimes lacking the smoothness and sounding harsh in the higher vocal range, particularly with the 'i' vowel. Wolfgang Koch was probably the best sung Hans Sachs I came across. Beautiful timbre with the right tone colour that never too bright and forceful in the singing. He did not have that much trouble like Vogt with the tempo and skilfully overcome the problem that made the tempo issue less noticeable. Markus Werba was consistently well sung as Beckmesser and acted the role very well to fit the directorial approach appropriately. Stephan Rügamer in the role of David was more secured during my second hearing with better control on higher vocal range and improved on vocal projection. Kwangchul Youn sang the role of Pogner very well in terms of intonation and diction, but I was not convinced that if the tessitura truly exhibited the best of his voice. Julia Kleiter had the right timbre for the part of Eva and her singing was fairly secured that complimented other voices very well. Anna Lapkovskaja also delivered a more pleasant tone the second time with the desired smoothness and more precise with the notes. The masters consisted several veteran singers including Siegfried Jerusalem, and for the first time I felt they made the impression that many other productions failed to do so. This is also the uniqueness of Moses productions that all the minor roles have a more significant role to play in the performance. The chorus was also on a better form being more secured with intonation, unity in diction and put out a magnificent display of the choral passages. It marks the change in vocal style that singing works by Wagner could also achieve beauty, volume and clarity without heavy vibrato and barking.