Enjoying Schoenberg's music in Madrid, part two: Moses und Aron in Madrid (2012 and 2016)

Moses und Aron is among the greatest works by Arnold Schoenberg, and one of the capital operas in 20th Century, in which the man who revolutionized the classical music created a masterpiece in which the dodecaphonic system was the vehicle to convey the story of a people lost in its despair and its necessity of a saviour, as well as a personal situation in the composer, who was seeing how antisemitism during Weimar's Republic was leading to the heinous fate awaiting to European Jews. Indeed, soon after his work he would embrace Judaism again.

Schoenberg's masterful opera was premiered in Spain in 1985, at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, in Barcelona, with Franz Mazura in the title role. However, its Madrid premiere found too much obstacles with several opportunities lost: It was said to be supposed to have its premiere in Teatro Real in Summer 2004, by the Staatsoper Berlin on tour with Daniel Barenboim, who were touring each summer in Madrid, but the difficulty of the work for the conservative audience (then starting because Teatro Real was re-opened in 1997, after a 72-year period of no opera on its stage) made the choose allegedly not very suitable for the Madrid Government and for, as it was said, Teatro Real itself. As a result, Moses was replaced by Tosca that summer in Teatro Real.

Finally, it was scheduled for the 2010-2011 season, in a co-production with the Vienna Opera, thanks to Antonio Moral, the leaving manager who intended to have this title as a farewell after a successful 4-year management. The staging should have been the interesting Reto Nickler staging who can be seen on DVD, saying on the final credits "co-production with Teatro Real". However, in that season the legendary Gerard Mortier began his tenure in the opera house and decided to post-pone this title because he felt the Teatro Real chorus and orchestra weren't still prepared for such a work.

 

Concert performance of Moses und Aron at Teatro Real, Madrid. September 7 and 9, 2012.

It wasn't until 2012 when Moses und Aron was finally performed but it did in a concert version, but with a different musical team: The SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden Freiburg and the Europa Chor Akademie, which were touring Europe with this opera and finally recorded it on CD, were the chosen to give this masterpiece its final premiere on Teatro Real. The sensation I had was that we had attended the best rendition of the work in the last two decades, excepting the Boulez's one in 1995 from Amsterdam. As an off-topic note, the subtitles were displayed in Spanish and German, and since it was rare because they are usually displayed in Spanish and English, we thought that could be due to the visit of Angela Merkel to Spain, but the German chancellor didn't attend the show. Nevertheless, a considering number of Germans and people from the tiny Jewish community of Madrid did. During those years, the 2008 Crisis hit also the Teatro Real and after lights went offf and just few seconds before the performance began a woman talked for the worker's rights from the third floor, delaying the performance for several minutes.

Conducted by Sylvain Cambreling, the orchestra went from low to highest, improving as the performance went by, and by the end of the first act it already reached a supreme level, maintaining it during the following act. The German orchestra revealed to be experienced (it had premiered here Messiaen's Saint François d'Assise last year) , the basses had overwhelming tremolos and violins had a shining sound, closing the opera with a dramatic, light sound, as it were fading at the same time Moses were collapsing of despair. The Chorus was accomplished, but in a level a bit under the orchestra. To give a touch of staging, a picture of a desert was put at the bottom.

It featured a big cast, with Franz Grundheber as an unforgettable Moses, who not only seemed to recit but also to sing the role, with his powerful voice, dramatic and perfect diction, portraying an authoritative and introvert Moses. So shocking when reciting the line "So bin ich geschlagen", conveying his defeat at convince the people of the idea of an unrepresentable God.

Andreas Conrad was an excellent Aron, with a generously volumed voice, and a great tone of character tenor, one of the best of his tessitura in Europe. The rest of the cast sang well, to mention Friedermann Röhlig (an amazing bass) and Johanna Winkel among them.

It wasn't until June 2016 when Teatro Real finally staged Moses und Aron. It was done in a co-production with the Paris Opera, in the acclaimed staging by Romeo Castellucci, premiered in the French capital in November 2015 and in Spain the following year. At last, the Madrid audience could see a proper performance of this masterpiece, being one of the most awaited shows of the lyrical season.

This opera was composed in an era in which the German society was lost, and "needed" something or someone which could take them out from the misery and violence. But leaving the historical context aside, we can see that Schoenberg's Moses is timeless, and very human. He is not only the Biblical leader figure, but also an intelligent man who has in front of himself a titanic challenge: to take the people from the oppression and take them to the Promised Land. And the people has no time too: they don't want words or ideas they don't understand but facts, images which make them confident. History at its purity. The fascinating and delving libretto merges with the explosive score into a work in which Moses' and the  people's moods and anxiety are conveyed to the audience. This work, as said, is like a great symphony, and also could be in a musical condition between opera and oratorio. The first act is challenging for the orchestra and chorus, since they have to stage the Exodus from Egypt. It leaves the spectator with astonishment, due to its orchestral grandiloquence. Act II is colourful, sensual, since its nature is orgiastic, because the people is adoring the Golden Calf. However, it turns into despair with Moses' final defeat.

                                 

Castellucci tried to show how the brothers convince the people to follow them. The Biblical prodigies are turned into modern scientific experiments, as well as people's inner chaos whose height is the Golden Calf feast. When the opera begins there is a tape whose film descends to the floor, to reach Moses. It's the Revelation. For this production a real ox was used to represent the Calf, much to the fury of many animalists which denounced animal abuse to be firstly in a Cage during the revelation and made to move through the scene and later smeared with a bit of black liquid (representing oil) during Act 2. Soloists and chorus are dressed in white, and in Act 1,which fussionated with lighting at the end of Act 1 while working the miracle of the cane turned into snake (now represented by an enormous medical-scientific device). On stage during this big scene were projected different words related to the science, snakes, the people and the world.  At the end of Act I, some people take off their clothes and remain naked. Then a naked woman falls. Silence. The countdown of the 40 days begin.

Act II begins with Moses absent and people needing a leader. Aron has to humiliate himself and smeared with oil, the new gold with he becomes the minister of this frenetic new cult. Reason represented by an obeying, indoctrinating notion of an unrepresentable divinity has deserted the people, to give way to the passion, anarchy which needs an image to see in what they belief. They abandon themselves to material richness (consumism), they swim into a pool of petroleum, they dance and made the fox to move. Have they lost their innocence or even rebelled against that unaccessible and distant God?

Then, Moses appears and the Sinai is shown. The people awakes from that wild dream and order is restored. Blackened, wearing an African mask, Aron is the tribal, primary side of the people, in strong contrast with Moses' white clothing, serious and severe aspect. On stage, the Sinai has been replaced with a night, starry sky. God has won, Moses didn't, and as the final confrontation of the brothers happened, it is clear that things will never be the same: Aron is convinced that the people needs a representation of the God which will led them to the promised Land and glory, so maybe this feast has been necessary, because they need to see an image of what they believe. The people has now returned to their former submissive state of accepting the invisible God, but Moses sinks into despair because he has not been able to prevent this frenzy, so this is a personal defeat because his lack of people skills, his shyness (already in Act I he seemed less convincing than his brother) have made him to fail conveying the idea of a God which doesn't need nothing but devotion for being praised. In this point, Moses collapses on stage holding two black curtains while the stars shine on the sky.

                                                 

Former First Lady Sonsoles Espinosa singing with the chorus. Second woman from right, the tall blonde one.

Lothar Koenigs gave a fantastic performance, with strings, brass and percussion sections sounding really spectacular. An experienced maestro who had conducted the work worldwide, conducted with appropriate tempi, profound and mystic during first act, and lively and energical in Act II. At the end, the strings shone at during Moses' final words, at a tragic, dramatic, intense level never seen before.

The Chorus was really the best of the performance. Their interventions were memorable and very chilling while reciting their Sprechgesang parts. It seems as if Mortier were right in this aspect: they seemed to have studied deeply every detail their difficult part and they gave their best on stage. One of the best performances remembered by this chorus. As a curiosity, the former First Lady of Spain, Sonsoles Espinosa, wife of  José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (President of Spain from 2004 to 2011) was singing with the chorus, as she is soprano in the supporting section of the chorus. 

Albert Dohmen recited well, even sometimes seemed to have sung the part, however he wasn't as stunning as Grundheber. During the first act he sounded convincingly authoritative, with a grave voice and accent.

John Graham-Hall on the other hand gave a great rendition, despite the vibrato exceeding a bit and some signs of tiring, but his singing was excellent, and as an actor portrayed the tensions and problems that Aron had to face.

The rest of the supporting cast wasn't at the same level of the 2012 one, Catherine Wyn-Rogers sang correctly the sick woman, Andreas Hörl was a great Priest, and Julie Davis standing out as one of the virgins. Michael Pflumm as the Naked Youth had a light tenor nice voice, but lacked a bit of volume.

                                

             Albert Dohmen and John Graham-Hall as Moses and Aron. Madrid, 2016.

This performance was necessary, because there's been too much time for seeing this opera finally performed in the Spanish capital, to enjoy such a complicated but fascinating work, even when the memories of the concert version were present.

Arnold Schoenberg changed for good the course of music, and his legacy is full of masterpieces, each one revolutionary at their best. Their difficulty for a conservative ear, once one has delved in his work, becomes a great admiration and fascination, both of the challenging of his famous atonalistic masterpieces as well as his more popular, magic and haunting tonal, post-romantic, wagnerian-style period. 

There have been (and I didn't attend), and will be, more performances of his music in Madrid. But  by recalling the ones I attended, I intended to share how important he is for the musical life of a big city, orchestra and theatre, and when you experience it live, it never leaves you indifferent.

My reviews are not professional and express only my opinions. As a non English native speaker I apologise for any mistake.

Most of the photographs are from the internet and belong to its authors. My use of them is only cultural. If someone is uncomfortable with their use, just notify it to me.

 

Enjoying Arnold Schoenberg's music in Madrid, part one: memories of some live performances (2007 - 2018).

September begins, and the moonlight is on the sky. Sometimes at the sight of the moon in all its powerful beauty, Arnold Schoenberg's six orchestral songs op.8 come to my mind, specially the last ones, which are intense, enigmatic and haunting chants to nature and its intense beauty. And while listening to Sergiu Celibidache's version of this masterpiece some days ago, I started to recall all my live experiences with Schoenberg's music in Madrid, my city, and how I changed from disliking his music at the beginning to enjoying it very much today, admiring the true genius he his. My first contact with his work was, after reading about him, at age 14 by listening his Moses und Aron on disc, conducted by Georg Solti. I didn't enjoy very much then, just the beginning and the ending with Moses saying those haunting words: "O wort, du wort - das mir fehlt"!

                       

Daniel Barenboim and The West Eastern Divan Orchestra in Madrid, July 2007.

However,  It wasn't until 2007 when I had my first life experience with his music: In a free open-air concert in the emblematic Plaza Mayor, Daniel Barenboim and his West Eastern Divan Orchestra gave as encore (after a Beethoven program, Leonore Overture and 7th Symphony) the maestro's Variations op. 31. Before playing, Barenboim explained about the piece and about its difficulty to a 5,000-people audience who had little idea about the maestro. I remember the performance vaguely, to be honest.

                           

                       Deborah Polaski

The 2010-2011 season was the first one of Gerard Mortier's tenure as artistic manager of Teatro Real. That season had an innovative cycle of recitals, the one on March 4, 2011 being  the Madrid debut of Sylvain Cambreling and the return of Deborah Polaski after a successful Jenufa in 2009. The first part of the program was Dukas and Ravel, and Erwartung was the second one, featuring Miss Polaski. A thrilling monodram about a woman lost in her anxiety after killing her lover, Schoenberg began his atonalistic and best-remembered style. The purpose, according to the composer is to lengthen until half an hour, just one second of spiritual excitement. This work is a wide-range of orchestral tones and colours in the new style, in which he experiments and explore, like wandering through his score's possibilities and at the same time recreating the nightly, dark ambience of the drama, and getting close to the ecstasy as the woman discovers her lover is dead, a way which Alban Berg, Schoenberg's pupil, will perfect in his final masterpiece Lulu. As far as I can remember, both renditions were magnificent, but also a sound competition in which the orchestra overcame Polaski's voice. Cambreling's conducting was really powerful and made the Teatro Real Orchestra to sound as if it were as much experienced as the conductor is in this repertoire, with a rich-toned sound. Polaski was at the end of her career (she retired in 2015) but her dramatic singing style was much intact, even when the high notes weren't the same as they used to be. However, it revealed to be a brilliant performance due to her style, her singing and commanding of this work.

But even in that excellent concert, I wasn't still prepared to enjoy his music yet. Indeed, I discovered his masterful world the following year: 2012 was a sort of Schoenberg-year for the Spanish capital: Pierrot Lunaire and Moses und Aron (of which I will talk in another post)  were performed at Teatro Real, and his Transfigured Night was played at the iconic Círculo de Bellas Artes. Interested on Moses, I started to listen to his music and I discovered a magic, fascinating world and the true dimension of his artistry. I discovered Gurrelieder's epic and wagnerian-style music, the enigmatic, haunting and romantic spell of Transfigured Night, the descriptive Pélleas und Melisande, and above all his Six Orchestral Songs op.8, in a powerful wagnerian style, and at the same time his tonal system is close to break itself to pave the way for atonalism. It was an interesting challenge for me, not too familiar to atonalism then (excepting Berg), to discover both his famous atonal and his previous, magic post-romantic style, and then Gurrelieder, his orchestral songs and Transfigured Night had a special place in my favourite works.

                          

Christine Schäfer's debut recital  in Madrid with the Klangforum Wien, conducted by Sylvain Cambreling, June 2012.

On July 20, 2012, there was a recital at Teatro Real of Christine Schäfer, being her Madrid debut, accompanied by the Klangforum Wien under the baton of Sylvain Cambreling. The program consisted of a 20th Century music program. The first part was orchestral, and included Schoenberg's chamber arrangement of the Emperor Waltz . I had to say that at the beginning I didn't recognised the waltz but at the end I had the impression of  having heard a good arrangement, even feeling myself at a Viennese Coffee Shop. The second part brought the icing of the cake with the Pierrot Lunaire. Mrs. Schäfer gave an unforgettable rendition of the piece, with the first seven songs being a magic moment. She was able to give the character (Pierrot) a touch of innocence alternating with a tragic diction in the most dramatic parts. I found this rendition was more mature than her own classic version under Pierre Boulez, more devoted and dramatic, in this masterpiece about Pierrot's spiritual journey. Cambreling's conduction in this piece was accomplished, but sometimes too slow for the most vivid moments of the score.

 The Amsterdam Sinfonietta ensemble.

With the occasion of the Spanish premiere of Moses und Aron, which still would take place two months later, on June 26, 2012, there was a lecture hosted by Teatro Real at the Círculo de Bellas Artes building, one of the most renowned cultural centers in Madrid. After the lecture, some string musicians from the Teatro Real Orchestra played Transfigured Night, in a beautiful and passionate performance. To hear to piece live, specially when knowing the Dehmel poem and being close to the musicians, is an amazing experience because it displays its complete force and intense, evocating atmosphere. 

On February 6, 2014 there was a recital by Thomas Hampson at the Teatro Real, with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta ensemble. The program opened with Transfigured Night too. Their rendition was by far better than the 2012 one, in which violas and violins reached a beautiful sound, as well as the tremolo in the cellos. 

                           

Gurrelieder at Auditorio Nacional, Madrid, October 2018.

Gurrelieder is a demanding piece, with a big orchestra and chorus, as well as six trained performers, so it is rare to see it in a Symphonic Hall, and when it does, it becomes a true event. In November 2014, the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España (Spanish National Orchestra and Chorus), whose venue is the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, scheduled, after a long pause, Schoenberg's epic choral and singing masterpiece, strongly influenced by Wagner music but which introduces the sprechgesang, something completely shocking in his day. 

Eliahu Inbal conducted an outstanding, agile and lively rendition. The first part was, as usual, powerful, obtaining from the orchestra the rich, colourful sounds of this score, reproducing the Wagnerian, post-romantic influence of the score. The Dove part sound, on the other hand, beautifully intimist, almost chamberistic, and this appear during the third act, specially during the Peasant song and the Sprechgesang part, even taking care of the soloists. Inbal's command of this repertory made this evening really unforgettable. The Chorus, supplied with the Radio Televisión Española Chorus, were really amazing.

The late Spanish tenor José Ferrero, despite some trouble, gave a good rendition with his baritonal, heldentenor-like (he was the only Spanish tenor to sing this repertoire in his country, he sang Siegmund in Wagner's Ring) voice, even with a smooth pianissimo in Du Wunderliche Tove! Christine Brewer was an interesting, dramatic Tove, with beautiful low notes and ending his part with a great high note. Catherine Wyn-Rogers sang the Dove with an accomplished voice. Andreas Conrad is a great spieltenor, and his rendition of Klaus-Narr was the best of the soloists. The veteran Albert Dohmen sang the Peasant part as well as the final speaking part. Dohmen has a beautiful bass-baritone voice, and even sang the final part, singing the final words Erwacht, erwacht, ihr blumen zur wonne!

In 2018, Gurrelieder returned to the same Symphonic Hall. David Afkham worked with this orchestra in a state of grace. As its musical director, Afkham is taking the Spanish National Orchestra to a supreme level. This wasn't an exception, with Afkham's rich and strong version, sometimes a bit exceeding but spectacular anyway, even lyrical. The Chorus were at the same great level, but in this occasion the male section was really inspired. 

The cast featured Simon O'Neill as a resistant, well sung Waldemar, Juliane Banse as a charming, seductive Tove. Karen Cargill as one of the big sensations of the night with her contralto-like voice, with stunning low notes and tragic rendition of the Dove part. Barry Banks and Wilhelm Schwinghammer were respectively Klaus-Narr and the Peasant, both sang very well. The star was, alongside Cargill, Thomas Quasthoff reciting the final part with authority and dramatism. His former bass-baritone voice which once delighted the audience, still resounded and impressed the audience, even when he was talking.

In the next post, I will talk about the performances of Moses und Aron in Madrid, which happened to premiere of the opera in the city.

My reviews are not professional and express only my opinions. As a non English native speaker I apologise for any mistake.

Most of the photographs are from the internet and belong to its authors. My use of them is only cultural. If someone is uncomfortable with their use, just notify it to me.

Wagner in a Covid-stricken America: Götterdämmerung by Trilogy:aoc in Newark

 

Three years ago, the Trilogy Opera company started its own staging of Wagner's Ring, presented in New Jersey for the first time in the State history. Trilogy, (also known as Trilogy:aoc) known for its productions of black composers and operas concerning the African-American community, embarked itself in 2017 in the acid test par excellence for every theater: the vast musical epic who is one of the milestones of Western culture. They started with an interesting Rheingold, and since then one journey per year.  Trilogy, managed by the bass Kevin Maynor, is made up of mostly black singers, though they count also with any singer regardless of their ethnics (the Nibelungs in their ring were white).

In Spring 2020, the cycle was supposed to finish with a scheduled Götterdämmerung at Newark Museum, but the Coronavirus pandemic forced to postpone the performance, as well as musical life was ceasing all over the world. Four months later, America has been seriously hit by the pandemic, resulting in a health, political and social crisis. On the other hand, as a result of racist, violent attacks from the police have resulted in protests nationwide for real equality, with the Black Lives Matter motto as its most visible symbol. In such background, with all American musical life shut down at least until 2021, Trilogy could finish their Ring at last on August 3, 2020, in an open-air concert version at the University Heights Amphitheatre in Newark. For the rest of the world, it has been streamed on Youtube.

As for the rest of the Ring, the version performed was the Jonathan Dove and Graham Vick reduction, which leaves the opera in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Safety measures and social distancing have been present during the performance: both audience and performers have had to fulfil this requirement, which has affected in every sense the show. The orchestra had to be divided: strings had to be placed in one side of the scenery and Winds and percussions on the other one, which sometimes resulted in some lose of the sound. Singers sang in the middle also separated and using the mask while they weren't singing. Under these circumstances, the maestro Leslie Dunner did his best to conduct this majestic score. 

The only scenical props were the omnipresent ring and a stone representing the bottom of the Rhine, at the end illuminated in blue and with the Rhinemaidens turning around it in victory. The, for this occasion, all-black cast had accomplished singers. Rod Dixon has an interesting baritone-toned voice for Siegfried. Manna Knjoi has a dramatic soprano voice with a good middle register for Brünnhilde, giving a solemn, beautiful rendition of her character's final inmolation. Kevin Maynor, manager and cast member of this Ring, is a well sung Hagen with a dark-bass powerful and experienced voice, great volume and entonation, conveying very well the altiveness and dangerousness of the character. The great surprises of the evening were the soprano Kimberly Lloyd as Gutrune with her charming, seductive-toned lyric-soprano voice and the mezzo-soprano Chantelle Grant as Waltraute with her powerful, big-volumed voice, and dramatic performance, with amazing low notes. Greg Rahman and Jonathan Green sang good renditions of Gunther and Alberich, respectively, as well as the Rhinemaidens sung by Pamela Jones, Geraldine McMillan (who sang Fricka in the past journeys and whose low notes surpassed her fellow singers) and Karmesha Peakes.  The chorus was made up of six choristers: three males and three females.

With this performance, Kevin Maynor and Trilogy have made history for many reasons, for which we should give them all the credit: for having performed the first Ring made in New Jersey, just one or two hours from the luxury of the Metropolitan Opera House; for performing, probably, the first Götterdämmerung ever after the global lockdown, and last but not less for daring to perform in a time when all major opera houses are closed due to this pandemic which is hitting specially hard the United States, giving the audience a great time with Wagner's supreme music. 

Here is a link to see the complete performance.

My reviews are not professional and express only my opinions. As a non English native speaker I apologise for any mistake.

Most of the photographs are from the internet and belong to its authors. My use of them is only cultural. If someone is uncomfortable with their use, just notify it to me.

Wagner en una América golpeada por el Covid: El Ocaso de los Dioses por Trilogy:aoc en Newark (2020)

               

Hace tres años, la compañía de cantantes afroamericanos Trilogy:aoc, dirigida por el bajo Kevin Maynor, inició su propia producción de la epopeya de Richard Wagner El Anillo del Nibelungo. Trilogy, hasta entonces conocida por sus producciones de obras de autores negros estadounidenses, empezaba una prueba de fuego, adaptando a su modesta pero entusiasta compañía la gran épica germánica. Y así, en 2017 se estrenó El Oro del Rin en Newark, Nueva Jersey. En 2018 vino La Valquiria, y en 2019 Sigfrido. Se esperaba para la primavera de 2020 la entrega final con El Ocaso de los Dioses, pero el Coronavirus hizo posponer la esperada representación. 

Cuatro meses después de la función prevista, la pandemia ha golpeado duramente a Estados Unidos; siendo el país con más contagiados del mundo, y en consecuencia sumido en una fuerte crisis sanitaria, política y social. A todo esto se le añaden las aún intensas protestas surgidas por la violencia policial racista que han desembocado en el famoso lema Black Lives Matter, que también ha sacudido el país en busca de igualdad para todos. En medio de este torbellino social y con la vida musical estadounidense paralizada por la pandemia, Trilogy ha podido finalizar este proyecto ambicioso el pasado 3 de agosto en el University Heights Amphiteatre en Newark, New Jersey, con una función en concierto del Ocaso, al aire libre. Y de nuevo con un reparto íntegramente formado por cantantes negros. El canal de noticias de Newark lo ha emitido en Youtube.

Como el resto de la tetralogía, esta última jornada del Anillo se presentó en la versión reducida de Jonathan Dove y Graham Vick, que deja en dos horas y media la larga entrega final, que suele durar más de cuatro. La reducción de Dove y Vick puede resultar molesta para el wagneriano: se suprime la escena de las nornas, y el tercer acto queda reducido a su mínima expresión,dejando por ejemplo la marcha fúnebre a tan solo tres minutos. Y aún así, Maynor y Trilogy han hecho historia: primero porque es el primer Anillo en la historia del Estado de New Jersey, a tan solo una hora de transporte del lujo y el esplendor del Metropolitan Opera House de Nueva York, con sus legendarias producciones hollywoodienses de las obras de Wagner. Y también la han hecho porque posiblemente esta sea, reducida o no, la primera función de El Ocaso de los Dioses desde que la vida lírica se paralizó la pandemia, sumándose a iniciativas valientes como el exitoso Oro del Rin en el parking de la Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Las medidas de seguridad no han dejado de estar presentes, y han influido decisivamente en la función. Tanto público como artistas han estado separados por esta distancia de seguridad impuesta por el virus. La orquesta ha tenido que estar separada, las cuerdas y el viento y percusión a cada lado del escenario, lo que dificultaba que el sonido llegase a correctamente. Leslie Dunner drigió lo mejor que pudo en estas circunstancias, a las que hay que añadir la amplificación que no siempre acompañaba (y que incluso retrasaba la entrada de los artistas) y los ruidos de la calle, sirenas policiales durante el dúo del prólogo. Como únicos elementos de escena, el anillo que ha estado  siempre presente en todas las jornadas, y una roca que representa el fondo del Rin, y que se ilumina de azul al final de la obra.

                         

La función ha contado con voces competentes, aunque la mayoría de ellas ha cantado a Wagner por primera vez. Kevin Maynor interpretó a Hagen, y si bien la voz es de calidad parece ser ligera para este personaje. Rod Dixon interpretó a Sigfrido, con una buena voz de timbres baritonales, pero a la que le debe faltar aún recorrido para interpretar la obra en su verdadera dimensión. Manna Knjoi tiene una aceptable voz de soprano dramática con un correcto registro medio, pero a la que le superan los agudos. Se reservó para la inmolación final, donde dio una interpretación dramática y solemne. Greg Rahming y Jonathan Green interpretaron sin más a Gunther y Alberich, respectivamente, y Rahming quizá fuese un poco ligero para Gunther. Las alegrías vinieron de dos mujeres que fueron sin duda lo mejor de la velada: Kimberly Lloyd con una Gutrune de voz encantadora y brillante en el primer acto, con un delicioso timbre de soprano lírica, y Chantelle Grant con una poderosa voz como Waltraute, con excelentes graves, y una interpretación intensa a la par que dramática de su breve papel. Pamela Jones, Geraldine McMillan (quien fue Fricka en las jornadas anteriores y cuya voz sobrepasaba a las demás), y Karmesha Peakes fueron las  hijas del Rin, cuya interpretación fue anecdótica y no precisamente destacable. El coro estuvo formado por tan solo seis solistas, tres hombres y dos mujeres.

                             

Pese a las muchas limitaciones de la función, hay que reconocerle el mérito a Trilogy de llevar a Wagner a donde antes no se le había escuchado, porque la idea de esta compañía es la de llegar a todos los públicos, y puede presumirse que no todos en Newark pueden permitirse una buena entrada para ver el Anillo en el Met. Y es en este campo donde esta compañía ha hecho historia. No sabemos lo que habría pensado Wagner, pero posiblemente le habría gustado saber que su magna obra se representa allá donde haya quien desee escucharla. Y más en estos tiempos duros en los que ver ópera en vivo es poco menos que un regalo debido al inevitable estancamiento de la vida musical y teatral que tenemos en todo el mundo desde marzo, y del que a diferencia de Europa, Estados Unidos aún no puede salir.

Aquí pueden ver la función completa.

Las fotografías no son de mi autoría, si alguien se muestra disconforme con la publicación  de cualquiera de ellas en este blog le pido que me lo haga saber inmediatamente.

Wagner Festival at Vinke-Garten: No Bayreuth? The Vinke Family invites you to their Wagner festival at the garden.

 

The cancellation of the 2020 Bayreuth Festival came as a terrible blow for the wagnerians worldwide. The Coronavirus has deprived us from a new Ring production at the green hill. Among the alternatives (concerts at Bayreuth, the Wagner Festival at Mikulov to name some of them), the world-famed Wagner tenor Stefan Vinke (who was scheduled to sing Loge at Bayreuth) and his wife Sabine have had a wonderful and brave idea: to set a Wagner festival at their own home garden, in the small town of Hargesheim. A charming and friendly place, surrounded by nature, where there will be held recitals of selections of Wagner's operas until mid-september.

On July 25, the same date of the Festival opening performance (if it had taken place), this festival has begun with the complete Act 1 from Die Walküre. The event has been telecasted and streamed by Klassik Radio, and presented by Alex Brüggemann, who had already presented the 2016 Bayreuth Ring telecast on sky. After an opening address by Mrs. Vinke, the pianist Wolfram Kolosseus entered to start the concert. While the powerful Act One prelude began, a little film of the streets of Hargesheim from a driving car was shown, as if Siegmund himself were running across its streets to find shelter on the Vinkes' house. Kolosseus gave an interesting accompaniment despite the difficulty to play the prelude on a single piano and recreate the stormy, escaping ambiance, but Wagner's music is still haunting in this conditions.

Stefan Vinke sang Siegmund with an heroic voice, sounding very good, as the superstar of the event. During his rendition of Friedmund darf ich nicht heissen he gave an elegiac performance, and he was in perfect vocal shape from Ein schwert verhiess mir der vater, when the Wälse! were spectacularly sung. In the rest of the performance he maintained his accomplished singing, and at the final line so blühe der wälsungen blut! he gave a great high note.

Sabine Vinke was Sieglinde, and gave a convincing portrait of a tender, fragile woman but corageous at the same time. She sang so melancholic the line So bleibe hier when she says Siegmund that disgrace dwells at her home. The  peak of her performance was the aria Der männer sippe, singing it very well, fitting into the dramatic monologue, revealing how vulnerable Sieglinde became.

Sung Ha, bass of the Mannheim Opera, was Hunding. His expressions were menacing, as his character demands. Despite the voice has a good bass tone, it sounded a bit light, for sure due to the sound engineering.

The audience wants to see Wagner music live again. That could be perceived among the applauses. Among the audience, some people surely have seen the tenor at the Festspielhaus. All the credit to Stefan and Sabine Vinke for having brought some of the Bayreuth magic to an audience eager to see Wagner's gesamtkunstwerken live again, and to the rest of the world via this streaming.

Here is a link to see the complete streaming.

My reviews are not professional and express only my opinions. As a non English native speaker I apologise for any mistake.

Most of the photographs are from the internet and belong to its authors. My use of them is only cultural. If someone is uncomfortable with their use, just notify it to me.

Festival Wagner en Vinke-Garten: a falta del Festival de Bayreuth, los Vinke le invitan a su jardín.

 

La suspensión del Festival de Bayreuth de este año ha supuesto, como era previsible, un duro golpe para la comunidad wagneriana en todo el mundo. El Covid-19 nos ha privado, entre tantas alegrías, de una producción nueva de El Anillo del Nibelungo en la colina verde. Ante esta dolorosa falta, y entre las alternativas que van surgiendo para suplirla, el matrimonio formado por el famoso tenor wagneriano Stefan Vinke (habitual de Bayreuth, donde habría interpretado el rol de Loge este año) y su esposa Sabine han tenido una idea singular pero no menos emocionante: un festival Wagner en el jardín de su casa, en la pequeña localidad de Hargesheim. Un lugar íntimo, rodeado de naturaleza, con capacidad para unas sesenta personas, en el que se interpretan fragmentos o actos enteros de las obras del maestro, durante el mes de agosto y principios de septiembre.

El 25 de julio, coincidiendo con la que habría sido la inaguración del Festival, los Vinke dieron comienzo al suyo propio, con el primer acto de la Valquiria completo.  El evento fue trasmitido en directo por el canal alemán Klassik para todo el mundo. Presentado por el simpático Alex Brüggemann, quien presentó para el canal sky las funciones del Anillo de Bayreuth de 2016, el concierto empezó tras sendas entrevistas al matrimonio y un discurso inagural de la señora Vinke dando la bienvenida a los presentes. Al recital asistieron algunos personajes relevantes de la música y la política alemanas.

Tras el discurso, el pianista Wolfram Kolosseus empezó a interpretar el poderoso preludio. Al son de la música, la televisión ofrecía imágenes de las calles de Hargesheim desde un coche, lo que sumado a la evocadora partitura de tormenta y huída del protagonista, nos hace imaginar que Siegmund realmente se intenta abrir paso por las calles de esta ciudad hasta llegar a la casa de los Vinke. Kolosseus dio un interesante acompañamiento, pese a la dificultad del preludio de amoldarse a un solo piano. Pero incluso así, la música de Wagner suena tan inspiradora y envolvente que la magia sigue operando. Hubo momentos dramatizados, como las expresiones de los artistas (la química del matrimonio Vinke en la primera escena y en la última es evidente, como el expresivo beso que se dan en los últimos acordes), el agua y el hidromiel con el que ella le da a él nada más llegar o la espada que Vinke saca de entre sus macetas, cual Siegmund desde el roble.

Stefan Vinke interpreta a Siegmund con una voz heroica, que aún suena muy bien, aunque a veces parece la tesitura escapársele. Durante la primera escena con Sieglinde se le notaba más bien reservado, más elegíaco en su narración en Friedmund darf ich nicht heissen, y cada vez más potente a partir de la famosa aria Ein schwert verhiess mir den vater, donde los Wälse sonaron espectacularmente, aunque el segundo un poco más contenido. Durante el resto del acto se encontró totalmente en vena y su interpretación fue bastante solvente, con un agudo en so blühe der wälsungen blut en plenitud. 

Sabine Vinke interpretó a Sieglinde con una bella voz, y pese a no tener el volumen torrencial de sus compañeras más célebres, pudo, quizá inspirada por el evento, ofrecer un convincente retrato de una protagonista frágil pero no menos valiente. En la frase So bleibe hier sonó conmovedora, pero su punto más álgido fue en Der männer sippe, donde la voz se amoldó bien al dramático y bello monólogo, que cantó muy bien.

Sung Ha fue Hunding. Solista de la ópera de Mannheim, este bajo realizó una interpretación muy expresiva, con unas miradas intimidantes, como no podía ser de otro modo en su brutal personaje.La voz tiene un buen timbre, pero quién sabe si por la toma de sonido o por qué razón sonaba un poco ligera.

                     

La emoción del público por escuchar a Wagner en vivo es palpable, tanto como que la prensa alemana asegura que este festival ha obtenido una buena recaudación y eso que está a la mitad todavía. Parte del público que se ha desplazado hasta la casa del tenor le ha visto cantar en el Festspielhaus: incluso hay gente que asegura haberse emocionado mucho, según lo que he podido leer en grupos internacionales. Es de agradecer que los Vinke hayan llevado un poco de la magia wagneriana estival a un público pequeño pero afortunado, que como todos echa de menos disfrutar las obras de arte totales del maestro en un teatro.

Las fotografías no son de mi autoría, si alguien se muestra disconforme con la publicación  de cualquiera de ellas en este blog le pido que me lo haga saber inmediatamente.

Excelencia Mendelssohniana en la era post-covid: La Oviedo Filarmonía en la Universidad.

Oviedo, 6 de agosto de 2020.

Oviedo es una ciudad que ama la música. Todos los veranos tienen lugar festivales de música en espacios emblemáticos del centro a cargo de músicos principalmente asturianos. En 2012 estuve en dos conciertos en el patio del Museo de Bellas Artes, uno de piano y otro con un contratenor excelente.  

En mi segundo viaje por la bella Asturias, descubrí que la Orquesta Filarmonía de Oviedo estaba organizando un ciclo de conciertos en el Edificio histórico de la Universidad de dicha ciudad.  El aforo es limitado, de unas 130 personas, separadas para velar por la distancia de seguridad. La demanda para estas actuaciones es elevada, tanto que la cola llega habitualmente a la plaza de la Escandalera. Se reparten fichas que se deben cumplimentar: el fin es, siguiendo la nueva normativa, el hacer un seguimiento a los asistentes en caso de que se declarase en el lugar un brote (que desgraciadamente en España están surgiendo muchos) de Covid-19.

El programa para esta tarde ha sido la Obertura Coriolano y la Primera Sinfonía de Mendelssohn.

Lucas Macías, titular de la orquesta, es el director de estos conciertos. Al salir al escenario saludó al público y dio a conocer el programa, por otra parte ya anunciado, y a contar que Mendelssohn escribió su primera sinfonía a los 15 años y estaba dedicada a su hermana Fanny, la famosa pianista.

En la primera parte, la orquesta parecía aún no haber entrado en calor, aunque el poco a poco se hacía con la trágica obertura, especialmente en el cello. Una de las singularidades de tocar en público es el oír espontáneamente los cantos de las gaviotas durante los silencios y las partes menos sonoras como los pizzicatos de las cuerdas. Parecían sincronizarse.

La segunda parte fue la sinfonía de Mendelssohn, en la que la orquesta se inspiró por completo, logrando una interpretación electrizante de una obra ya de por sí impetuosa. Las cuerdas sonaron enérgicas, brillantes, con ese brío romántico de cuando se compuso la obra. En el segundo movimiento los fagotes sonaron maravillosamente en este Andante íntimo, con una preciosa música para cuerdas, flauta y fagot. Mendelssohn fue un genio y aquí lo demuestra con esta sinfonía potente, hija de un romanticismo impulsivo pero cautivador, que siempre nos deja al borde del asiento. Y todo ello a los 15 años ¡para que luego Wagner despreciase este arte! 

El concierto fue calurosamente acogido por el público. Y es que la afición ovetense tiene fama de ser muy melómana: quizá por eso la Filarmónica de Oviedo dio una interpretación memorable del joven Mendelssohn.

Algunas fotografías no son de mi autoría, si alguien se muestra disconforme con la publicación  de cualquiera de ellas en este blog le pido que me lo haga saber inmediatamente.