Opernhaus Zurich – Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda. May 9, 2018.

Hauptbuhne (Mainstage) Opernhaus, Zurich, Switzerland.  Parkettgalerie rechts (Seat 4-18, CHF 95).

Story.  See previous post.

Enrique Mazzola – Conductor; Elisabetta I – Serena Farnocchia, Maria Stuarda – Diana Damrau, Roberto, Graf von Leicester – Pavol Breslik, Giorgio Talbot – Nicolas Teste, Lord Guglielmo Cecil – Andrzej Filonczyk, Anna Kennedy – Hamida Kristoffersen.

There is no available English programs.  These are screenshots about the program from the Opera House's website.

The Yangs and we are on a 3-city 5-opera trip, we left Newark yesterday at 6:30 pm and arrived at Zurich this morning.  We managed a nap in the afternoon, so were all in good shape for the evening.

We are going to another one tomorrow, so I just wanted to jot down some thoughts I have.

The opera building, with its black roof and white walls, sits on the East Bank of the Limmat River.  It is surprisingly small, seating about 1200 (per Wikipedia), and there are so many columns at our level that many seats have a blocked or claustrophobic view of the stage.  The orchestra pit is small, so was the size of the orchestra for tonight – two double basses, for instance.  Our seat in the last row (of 4) have an okay view, but the surtitles are projected high above the action.  All four of us agreed it was an advantage that we were not tall and speak English (not German, as those lines were projected above the English).

Anne took this panoramic view of the Opera House.

On the other hand, the small auditorium made the experience intimate (my word) or chamber-music-like (Chungshu’s).  All the singers did well.  While Farnocchia’s voice may not be as refined as Damrau’s, she acquitted herself well when she led off the entire opera with a rather long scene, basically giving the audience an introduction to the story.  Damrau made exquisite use of her ability to hold the crowd with her soft pleas, and brought back memories of her as Queen of the Night when she cursed out Elizabeth.  The choir as Mary’s supporters sang sadly as they lamented the fate that was to befall Mary. The orchestra enhanced the mood appropriately, from hope to hatred, from fear to resignation.

Curtain call, with Mazzola taking a bow.  The saying in the back translates to "May he ashamed who thinks badly of it," not sure I understand its relationship to the opera.

The staging was puzzling to me.  Take the costumes, for instance.  Many dresses were traditional, but the men simply wore suits and ties, for the most part.  The forest where Mary and Elizabeth had their encounter was a small patch of grass with some bushes moved in for the purpose.  The backdrop is a curved wall (prison perhaps) that was sometimes covered by a curtain.  Elizabeth’s throne sits on a sideways horse, which she also rode to the “forest.”  For a scene there were these “skeletons” (people with masks on) that initially hid behind a long sofa. To top it all of, for the last scene there was a wall clock that moved, but wasn’t set to the right time.  That, together with Cecil’s black costume and his multiple “attempts” to kill Mary, reminded me of Father Time in the La Traviata we saw a few years ago.

When a lady with red hair (with orange hues) appeared as the curtain drew open, I thought she was Mary (a Scot, after all).  When she then showed up with simply long red hair, I was puzzled as she was clearly singing the role of Elizabeth.  Then Damrau came out with blonde hair, and I was sure she sang Mary.  To prepare for her execution, Elizabeth’s hair was cut.  She did took off her black dress to reveal a red dress.  As to the execution, the lights went out as Cecil was lowering an axe on her.

[Note added 5/10: One effect I admired was the use of spotlights to cast shadows of a few people onto the background.  It added a certain sense of doom, and it was certainly interesting to decide whose shadows were being projected at any given time.  Also, the Program Book - in German - is available on line in its entirety.  Browsing through it I was reminded how ridiculous the hunt scene looked, with people wearing antlers to act the role of game.]

This was a great start to our trip.  We had great weather, the singing was great, and the story was simple enough for our tired bodies and mind.