The Rake's Progress in Berlin

The Rake's Progress, Staatsoper Berlin (Shiller-Theater), December 10 2010

Conductor ..... Ingo Metzmacher

Director ..... Krzysztof Warlikowski

Set and Costume Designer ..... Małgorzata Szczęśniak

Light Designer ..... Felice Ross

Video ..... Denis Guéguin

Chorus Master ..... Frank Flade

Choreographer ..... Claude Bardouil

Trulove ..... Andreas Bauer

Anne ..... Anna Prohaska

Tom Rakewell ..... Florian Hoffmann

Nick Shadow ..... Gidon Saks

Mother Goose ..... Birgit Remmert

Baba the Turk ..... Nicolas Ziélinski

Sellem ..... Erin Caves

Keeper of the madhouse ..... James Homann

Staatsopernchor

Staatskapelle Berlin

It's the place where my prediction from the sixties finally came true: "In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes." I'm bored with that line. I never use it anymore. My new line is, "In fifteen minutes everybody will be famous."

    Andy Warhol's Exposures (1979)

The best Wagnerian conductor of our time?

You may have already realized that I'm not into old recordings and stuff remastered beyond recognition. To me the audio recordings are there like old photos -- to bring back the memories of the most memorable shows I've seen.

With Wagner's operas the story is a little different.  Not that I indulge myself into listening to hundreds of hours of old recordings, but because it is interesting to figure out the evolution of styles and approaches to conducting this music over the past 5-6 decades. Once you do that exercise you soon realize the difficulties today's conductors conducting Wagner's music encounter in preparing their performance: they should make their sound 'right' yet refreshing, deliver a distinguishable sound with peculiar timings, and display a profound understanding of the score.

Of all the active conductors, Daniel Barenboim comes on the top. He was the only one able to make that special moment to happen to me, when music almost materializes and detaches from the orchestra. It happens with his Staatskapelle and only sometimes, but when it happens it's the sound that marks you for life.  All Wagner operas conducted by Barenboim are special to me, but his Tristan is likely to remain unbeatable for a long-long time.

Second best to me is Hartmut Haenchen. This year I listened to his Flying Dutchman in Amsterdam and it was magnificent. His Parsifal in Paris --a couple of years ago-- remains an unforgettable musical shock. His Ring, that you can find on DVD, is brilliant as well.

Then comes Christian Thielemann, whose Ring is really special. His Parsifal was interesting too but  not as brilliant as Haenchen's, or even Gatti's or Honeck's. 

Warlikowski moment from La Monnaie

I already mentioned the Krzysztof Warlikowski's production of Macbeth as the best show I've seen this year.
(a) Because it was the best any theater can offer you today (opera or non-opera).
(b) Because the orchestra was perfect and Paul Daniel was extrafreakingordinary.
(c) Because of the dream-cast in which, thanks to Warlikowski, each and every member surpassed him/herself and delivered more than just his/her best singing. Especially Scott Hendricks' singing and acting skills were out of this world!
The show took place at La Monnaie in Brussels, the impeccable acoustics of which made the whole experience unforgettable. I discussed it already here and here...

A reader (many thanks to AN!) pointed out to me that two videos from this production appeared on YT. First video is in fact a photo-gallery that will please all of you who saw the show, because it brings back a glimpse of that rare moment in opera in which everything seems to be so perfect, so deeply human(izing)... Enjoy!




Second video is Come dal ciel precipita, superbly sung by Carlo Colombara. Andrew Richards is the author of this video (which explains the angle of shooting ;) ). Too bad there is no video of his [Richards'] aria O figli miei. 

Macbeth in Brussels: The best Warlikowski so far?

Macbeth, La Monnaie/De Munt, June 13 2010

Krzysztof Warlikowski

music direction  Paul Daniel 
direction  Krzysztof Warlikowski 
set design and costumes  Małgorzata Szcześniak 

Macbeth         Scott Hendricks 
Lady Macbeth    Iano Tamar
 Banco        Carlo Colombara
 Macduff     Andrew Richards 
Malcolm        Benjamin Bernheim 
Dama di Lady Macbeth     Janny Zomer 
Servo / Medico / Araldo     Justin Hopkins 
Sicario      Gerard Lavalle 
Apparizione     Jacques Does

La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra & Chorus

Krzysztof Warlikowski at La Monnaie/De Munt: the world's most talked about director in one of the coolest opera houses

His opera productions between 2004 and 2009 --when Gerard Mortier was at the head of the Paris Opera [and when Paris Opera mattered in the world of regular theaters too]-- spurred many strong reactions among public. Those who liked his shows loved them, and those who didn't they hated them.

At the very core of his theater is a generic notion of human suffering -- even if the shape or form changes, deep down it's always about suffering. He was already an important theatrical name before producing operas, but the way he shook the opera world was quite extraordinary.

My first encounter with his work was his production of Iphigénie en Tauride in Paris, which for many inexplicable and often irrational reasons, remains one of the most fascinating shows I've ever seen. It was emotionally and mentally disturbing even though there was nothing shocking in or about the show. Add to that a weird scene of Krzysztof coming up on stage after each show to rake all the angry boos -- it all made the event memorable and surreal. His goal is clearly not to please everyone, but rather to invite us to explore something new. That magic often works, but sometimes it doesn't -- in any case his audacity and the way he resets theatrical language to reconnect it (in his own way!) to the antique theater is most certainly fascinating.

His theater is modern on many levels, with many contemporary references  (especially cinema related), but with most disturbing rhythms you could find in theater: most of the "action" is faster/slower than you'd want it to be.

When he produces a show for some theater in Paris (that is not an opera) it's not only strange that his so peculiar shows are sold out long in advance, but for an opera-goer like me it's like a shock to see a massive presence of young and very-young people in the crowd.

Why all this story about Krzysztof Warlikowski? His new opera production is to be premiered next Friday at La Monnaie/De Munt in Brussels [the exemplary well managed opera house!]. It will be Macbeth, with Scott Hendricks, Carlo Colombara, Andrew Richards, and Iano Tamar.

Opera Directors (and Conductors) in 2009

This was a great year, marked by some outstanding theatrical Opera productions. The stage directors made this art alive by providing a different or entirely new view on the works they directed. The theatrical brilliance, wittiness and ability to take us "beyond"... those guys deserve a huge THANKS from us, the operagoers and fans. I know that a top-5 list is petty, but hey! :)
The Top-5 opera directors who really made me love this art more or in a different way are:


1.

2.

3.

4.

5.