Frankfurter Walküre by Vera Nemirova

New production of Die Walküre opened last Sunday at Oper Frankfurt. After the rave reviews for her production of Rheingold past Spring, I am more  than glad to see the press complimentary after seeing the Vera Nemirova's staging of the Walküre (after her sloppy Lulu in Salzburg).

Sieglinde and Siegmund - Eva Maria Westbroek and Frank van Aken

A very good cast apparently lived up to high expectations and delivered a very good performance.
In particular Eva Maria Westbroek and Frank van Aken --who're a married couple in real life-- were excellent as Sieglinde and Siegmund.

The action takes place on a big dish of three concentric rings which can be ex-centered in many different ways, thus opening a spectrum of possibilities for Nemirova to play with multiple allegoric meanings of this superb opera.

I am sorry for not being able to see this opera cake, but I hope 'to taste' sometimes next year.

Appended below: more production photos [all © Monika Rittershaus] and a video.

Salzburg 2010: Why did Lulu sink!?

Lulu, August 11 2010, Felsenreitschule Salzburg

Patricia Petibon in Act-3 of Lulu in Salzburg

Marc Albrecht ..... Conductor
Vera Nemirova ..... Stage Director
Daniel Richter ..... Set Design


Patricia Petibon ..... Lulu
Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, Countess Geschwitz
Cora Burggraaf ..... A Theatrical Dresser, A High-School Boy, A Groom
Pavol Breslik ..... The Painter, A Negro
Michael Volle ..... Dr. Schön, Jack
Thomas Piffka ..... Alwa, Dr. Schön's son, a composer
Franz Grundheber ..... Schigolch, an old man
Thomas Johannes Mayer ..... An Animal Tamer, An Athlete
Heinz Zednik ..... The Prince, The Manservant
Andreas Conrad ..... The Marquis
Martin Tzonev ..... The Theater Manager, The Banker
Emilie Pictet ..... A Fifteen-year-old Girl
Cornelia Wulkopf ..... Her Mother
Astrid Monika Hofer ..... A Woman Artist
Simon Schnorr ..... A Journalist
Gerhard Peilstein ..... The Professor of Medicine, The Professor, The Police Officer
James Cleverton ..... A Servant


Vienna Philharmonic

Salzburg 2010: Lulu, Richter...

Even though it's not my first trip to Salzburger Festspiele I'm getting increasingly excited [taking off tomorrow]  ;)

The reason?! You might have already noticed that I'm an admirer of fine art -- I try and find the stuff I like in any style but I most resonate with modern and contemporary art -- so the program in Salzburg this year looks like a perfect hit to me: Daniel Richter created the sets for Lulu, and Jonathan Meese for Dionysus. Now combine these creations with live theater and a good/dramatic opera, and you get my dream-Lulu.

Cut from "Daily": Patricia Petibon and Vera Nemirova after the premiere of Lulu

I tried not to read any review about Lulu, to keep my enthusiasm [and potential surprises] intact. I did, however, google about Daniel Richer and came across the following video: