Opernhaus Saal.
Parkett rechts (Seat R4-P17, 73 euros).
Story. See
previous post.
Conductor – Matthias Foremny. Abigaille – Mlada Khudoley, Fenena – Sandra
Maxheimer, Anna – Stefania Abbondi, Nabucco – Dario Solari, Oberpriester des
Baal – Jean-Baptiste Mouret, Abdallo – Sven Hjorleifsson, Zaccaria – Randall
Jakobsh, Ismaele – Kyungho Kim
Leipzig Opera. Center panel displays the opera being shown today.
View from our seat in the fourth row. The pit is quite deep, I saw the conductor only occasionally.
Looking back from our row. 25 rows in the main area, 40 seats each row.
Our experience with Leipzig Opera started with two
unexpected things. First was how small
the auditorium is, it’s basically two levels, orchestra level with perhaps 1000
seats (Anne said 25 rows of 40), and balcony with 250. It is a good-sized building. Second was there were no English surtitles;
and I thought I checked to make sure all three venues had English surtitles.
So we started with a huge problem. While the story is simple, intertwining the
fate of Jews and the two daughters of Nebuchanezzar, it does not develop in a
straightforward manner. So for the first
half we sat there trying to guess what was happening. The little German I remember from college was
of little help. During the intermission
we read up on the Wikipedia synopsis, and managed to have a better grasp of
what was happening at any given moment.
(The story line was also more straightforward.)
I don’t remember having encountered any of the cast
before, so I didn’t know what to expect.
Our seats in the four row, close to the center, provided both a great
vantage and had excellent acoustics. I
thought Khudoley’s start was a bit unsteady, but she got much better as the
performance progressed, conveying well the emotions of Abigaille – the most
complex character. The Hebrew Chorus had
the chorus members start in the back, making them a bit difficult to hear. When they eventually moved to the front of
the stage, it became very enjoyable. The
song certainly sounded simple; it’s Verdi’s genius that made this such a moving
and uplifting song.
The production places the time (my guess) at around the
time Saxony was strong, say around 1780 (?).
The uniforms the soldiers wore were certainly consistent with that
period. For me this is a problem: the
relatively modern setting reminds me of recent history. Rifles were often aimed at the crowd, which
made me very comfortable. Not so much because
they were guns, but because we were in Germany, and the guns were pointed at
the Hebrews. The sets are so simple that they are close to inexplicable. There is this temporary platform where the
singers would go up and down. There were
sets (and screens) that looked like auditoriums, and in a couple of scenes one
may think of (again) play-within-play as there were these two women hanging
around in the background, observing and smoking.
The most inexplicable part was saved for the end. Without the benefit of the English surtitles,
some of the following is my guess. The
story as Verdi intended it had the condemned pardoned by a recovered Nabucco,
who became the ruler again. Here Fenena
was placed on a block (think Delaroche’s Executive of Lady Jane Grey), a screen
with a blood stain fell down (quite effective if they meant it, I must admit,)
and Nabucco picked up a severed head.
Meanwhile, the screen was raised, and we saw Fenena standing there with
the other freed prisoners. I assume the
surtitles didn’t say a ghost was singing after that point. Equally inexplicable was the fact that
Nabucco remained sick and Abdallo (?) picked up the crown and put it on
himself. Gratuitous violence? Trying to be deep?
Curtain Call. From Left: Anna, Ismaele, Zaccaria, Abigaille, Conductor Foremny, Nabucco, Fenena, Abdallo, Priest.
Anne and I were both surprised by how edgy the
productions we saw in Berlin and Dresden were.
Today’s also fell into that category.
Leipzig opera is putting out this Verdi weekend. We have tickets for tomorrow’s Rigoletto, but
will have left town Sunday when they show La Traviata. I wonder if Rigoletto
will be made much more violent than it is, and we will find out tomorrow. It will have been interesting to see how they
put a hard edge on La Traviata.
Overall, though, this was a good experience. That is in large part due to the excellent
singing. The conductor had great control
throughout. He wasn’t for much applause
after each aria, which helped to move the action along.
Leipzig weather has been great. We enjoyed the short walk back to the hotel.
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