Opera Review: Things Are Going to Get Merry Here

Salzburg's new Die Meistersinger is just...dreamy.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Hammer time: Michael Volle is Hans Sachs in Salzburg.
Frame-grab from the live stream of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Image and likeness © 2013 Salzburger Festspiele.

It is a small miracle of modern technology that blogs such as this one (given a limited budget for travel) can write about important new opera productions on another continent. It's true that the live opera house performance is always preferable to the recording, but in the case of this new production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Salzburg Festival, the availability of a live stream is very welcome indeed, especially as this new production may be bound for the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in the near future.

DVD Review: The Shadow Resounds

Die Frau ohne Schatten  (Salzburg, 2011, OpusArte)
Vienna Philharmonic cond. Christian Thielemann
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Consider that a divorce? The Dyer's Wife (Evelyn Herlitzius) confronts Barak (Wolfgang Koch)
in Act II of Die Frau ohne Schatten from the 2011 Salzburg Festival.
Photo from the Salzburg Festival ©2011 OpusArte.

The historic early days of the recording era are at the center of Christof Loy's stripped-down Salzburg production of Die Frau ohne Schatten, the longest and most challenging of Richard Strauss' fifteen operas. Mr. Loy moves the action of this fairy-tale opera to a Vienna recording studio, a replica of the Sofiensaal ballroom which served as a crucible for the modern industry of recording classical music and opera.

Spooky Nights at the Museum

DJ Spooky, new administration promise an innovative year at the MET.

It's the climate--or maybe the pants. Paul "DJ Spooky" Miller in Antarctica.
He's the Metropolitan Museum of Art's new Artist-in-Residence.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the greatest arts exhibits in New York City. For next season, the museum is shaking off its staid image and rebranding its annual concerts and lectures offering as Met Museum Presents. 

The Museum has a new Director for its concerts and lectures: Limor Tomer, whose resume includes work at WQXR and the Whitney. To revitalize this program (which was under the aegis of the now-retired Hildje Limondjian for 41 years), Ms. Tomer has in turn enlisted Paul Miller, the decidedly "downtown" musician better known as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid. Mr. Miller is the museum's first-ever Artist-in-Residence.

The programming for next season has its share of exciting intiatives, designed to bring concerts and performances out of the cavernous Grace Rainey Rodgers Auditorium and into the museum's actual exhibit spaces. The program offerings include: 

The Peony Pavilion: The so-called "Ming Ring" (blame the Lincoln Center press department for that one) gets a new score from Chinese composer Tan Dun, and a new stage in the Museum's Astor Court Chinese Scholar Garden. Although only 50 people will be able to attend each performance, a live simulcast to the Rodgers Auditorium will expand the opera's on-site audience.

The Met Reframed:

DJ Spooky's initiative this year seeks to combine turntablism, chamber music, and mixed media (including iPads and GPS) for an exciting series of concerts. Works on the schedule include The Nauru Elegies (examining the plight of that much-harvested South Pacific Island), Of Water and Ice which draws inspiration from the rapidly shrinking ice-cap of Antarctica, and an iPad Mixing Project to take place in the Museum's Great Hall.

The Endellion String Quartet:

Another cycle of the Beethoven String Quartets (following the 2011 appearances by the Pacifica Quartet) does not necessarily qualify as "innovative", but this young European ensemble should make these immortal works interesting. Six concerts over two weekends will encompass the entire cycle of quartets.

The Salomé Chamber Orchestra

This exciting young orchestra will offer a series of performances featuring Bach's Brandenburg concertos, a concert pairing the Four Seasons by Vivaldi with similar concertos from Astor Piazzola. All of these concerts will feature instruments from the Sau Wing Lam collection, which will promptly return to their display cases.

Additionally, the Museum will continue its partnership with the New York Philharmonic hosting new music concerts in the CONTACT! series. Other concerts include an appearance by jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd, a Valentine's Day concert by Judy Collins, and a Mozart concert by the Salzburg Chamber Soloists.

The Salzburg Switcheroo

There's a new sheriff in Salzburg. And a new orchestra too.

Christan Thielemann

Starting in 2013, the Festival will be anchored by the Dresden Staatskapelle and its new music director, Christian Thielemann. Mr. Thielemann will also take the post of Festival music director, and will divide his time between Salzburg, Dresden, and other international commitments. He replaces Sir Simon Rattle.

According to a report in today's New York Times, the switch came because of a contract dispute between the Berlin players and the Salzburg Festival. The Berliners decided to take up a residency at Baden-Baden. But Dresden's orchestra is a world-class ensemble. Although they are not as well known outside of Germany, they are considered one of the great German ensembles, with a tone and timbre of their very own.

This is the second major Festival appointment for Mr. Thielemann, a Berlin-born maestro whose best performances recall the conducting of Wilhelm Furtwängler. His other conducting jobs have included the Munich Philharmonic and the Deutsches Oper Berlin. In 2008, Mr. Thielemann accepted the post of artistic advisor at the Bayreuth Festival, dedicated to the works of Richard Wagner. He has conducted and recorded a number of Wagner operas at Bayreuth, including a complete Ring.

Since its founding by Herbert von Karajan in 1967, the Salzburg Easter Festival (planned as a companion piece to the summer Salzburg Festival, has been the springtime home of the Berlin Philharmonic. The Festival offers a week of concert and operas in the Austrian city that was the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and is one of the most important international festivals.

Opera Review: Guilt Without Gilt

The New La Traviata at the Met.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Couch surfing: Marina Poplavskaya in La Traviata
Photo by Ken Howard © 2010 Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera's new Willy Decker production of La Traviata was a complete success on Tuesday night, from the stark, simple staging to the bravura performance of Marina Poplavskaya as Violetta. Gianandrea Noseda conducted, leading the performance with a specific vision for the work that matched the production and showed a thorough understanding of this subtle, complex score.

Verdi's most intimate opera benefits from the Decker approach: a bare, curved, white room set on a steep rake. Its only adornments: a long white bench, the occasional couch, and a gigantic clock, solemnly reminding the viewer that this is an opera about a woman whose time is running out. It is a vast improvement over the pouffes, gilt, and frou-frous that adorned the Met's past two Traviatas. Both were by Franco Zeffirelli. Each recalled the worst excesses of Busby Berkeley and Martha Stewart.

Despite some early problems adjusting her big voice to match the dynamic level of the orchestra, Ms. Poplavskaya settled in and delivered a nuanced portrayal of Violetta. Whirling about the stage in high scarlet pumps and a red dress, she went from being every man's fantasy to every man's victim--a potent interpretation that will resonate in the minds of opera lovers for years to come.

But there is more to this performance than singing coloratura while balancing atop a couch. Ms. Poplavskaya plays Violetta as Verdi intended, capturing every facet of this jewel of a part. She tossed off the fearless fioritura of "Sempre libera" in the first act, moving her big voice with an impressive agility above the stave. As the evening progressed, (and her world collapsed) she seemed to wither away both vocally and physically. Yet her singing did not suffer: she broke hearts with the equally challenging "Addio, del passato" in the final act.

The breaking heart in question, Matthew Polenziani, was an ardent Alfredo, singing with a flood of warm tone. He coped admirably with Mr. Noseda's urgent, spitfire conducting. Alfredo is another victim in this production, of his father's bullying and the mob mentality of the Parisian party scene. The Act III re-staging of the ballet--which featured a male dancer (choreographer Athol Farmer) in Violetta's red dress and the crowd of black-tie revellers charging like a giant bull became a terrifying sequence.

As Germont père, Andrzej Dobber was a brutal figure, most notably when he struck his wayward son across the face in their Act Two confrontation. This Polish baritone took a stark, stern approach to the role that suited Mr. Decker's conception perfectly. Even the old favorite, "Di provenza il mar" sounded vaguely threatening when delivered in his growling voice. Bass Luigi Roni was onstage for most of the opera as Dr. Grenvil, playing Violetta's physician as a specter of impending Death. This, along with the giant, omni-present clock, underlined the mortal nature of La Traviata, elevating the opera to the status of Verdi's greatest tragedy.

DVD Review: Der Rosenkavalier By Any Other Name

In these two Austrian productions, (one from Vienna and one from Salzburg), Otto Schenk and Robert Carsen take very different approaches to Strauss' evergreen comedy of sex and manners.


Manners is the focus of this beautiful 1994 Wiener Staatsoper production, conducted by the late Carlos Kleiber. Director Otto Schenk emphasizes tradition, with gorgeous rococo sets, elaborate wigs, and every detail of the libretto depicted with painstaking accuracy. The cast features Strauss specialist Felicity Lott, radiant and yet introspective as the Marschallin. Anne Sofie Von Otter is a boyish, enthusiastic Octavian. The Swedish mezzo brings all of her lieder skills to bear on Strauss' long vocal lines. Barbara Bonney is an equal vocal talent--her voice blends beautifully with Von Otter's. The Act II Rose Duet is glorious, as is the final trio and love duet.

Kurt Moll is both charming and creepy in his fatherly approach to Baron Ochs. The veteran bass has great comic timing and resounding bass notes. His Act II waltz scene is both funny and beautifully sung. The fine supporting cast features tenor Heinz Zednik as Valzacchi, Keith Ikea-Purdy as the Italian Tenor, and Gottfried van Hornik as Faninal.

Carlos Kleiber conducts a benchmark performance of the score. Unfortunately, at two climactic moments, the camera cuts away from the onstage comic action to show the tuxedoed Kleiber gesticulating in the pit. This moment of brainless egotism does much to spoil an otherwise excellent performance. However, this is a solid traditional Rosenkavalier and a mid-price bargain. It was one of the first operas released on DVD by Deutsche Grammophon.

Canadian director Robert Carsen moved Der Rosenkavalier from its 18th-century setting to 1911 Vienna. In some ways, this 2004 Salzburg production benefits from this dramatic update. Carsen's production reeks of pre-war sleaze. In Act I, the direction implies that the Marschallin may be um...self-employed while her husband (pimp?) is away. This changes her opening love scenes with Octavian to something much darker. Act II deposits Ochs and his retinue of drunken soldiers at the gaming tables in the middle of Faninal's house. Act III is set not in a country inn, but in a bordello with full frontal nudity of both genders.


The brothel scene caused a firestorm in Salzburg, but there is no controversy about the superb cast. All three female leads sing beautifully, both seperately and together, and the acting is excellent. Pieczonka is a ravishing Marschallin. (The updated setting makes dramatic sense of her Act I monologue, not to mention her sudden entrance in Act III.) Angelika Kirkschlager sings and acts well as the brash young Octavian, putting on a marvelously thick Viennese accent when disguised as the maid "Mariendel." She and Sophie (Mia Persson) make an attractive couple, but as they writhe on the bed in the finale of the opera (mirroring the opening sex scene between Octavian and the Marschallin) one wonders if it is going to last.

Franz Hawlata and Franz Grundheber are both fine baritones, perfectly cast as Ochs and Faninal. Ochs and Octavian are self-important military officers, which lends an air of "don't ask, don't tell" to the Baron's flirtations with the cross-dressed "Mariendel." Semyon Bychkov conducts a muscular performance, not delicate but most effective. This two-DVD set (released on TDK) has excellent stereo sound.