quarta-feira, 9 de março de 2011

TANNHÄUSER – Zürich Opernhaus – 17 Fevereiro 2011




(review in english below)

A ópera Tannhäuser é uma das duas óperas de Wagner que se apresenta com uma nova produção nesta temporada da Ópera de Zurique. A outra é o Parsifal de Claus Guth, já amplamente referido neste blog. A todos os que pudessem estar à espera da minha crítica ao Tannhäuser mais precocemente peço desculpa. Isto deve-se ao facto de o Parsifal de Guth, no Liceu de Barcelona, me ter impressionado muito mais, levando-me a escrever sobre este primeiro.

A encenação deste Tannhäuser é um misto de antigo e moderno que, embora nem sempre se enquadre no espírito da obra e possa ferir susceptibilidades dos mais clássicos, não choca particularmente. A cor, a luz e a dinâmica que apresenta permitem tolerar algumas ousadias cénicas. O Venusberg é excelentemente bem conseguido, em tons de vermelho, com vários bailarinos e bailarinas em fatos cor de pele e rendados a negro, passeando entre empresários, bispos e outros elementos da sociedade que também se deleitam como o herói.



Mas a partir daí, algumas opções são eventualmente discutíveis: a lira de Tannhäuser é uma guitarra eléctrica, os cavaleiros são jogadores de golf, vestidos com os seus pólos, Hermann entra em cena de carrinho de golf, um campo de golf como fundo mas com projecção de uma floresta na parte superior do palco...







No segundo acto, a sala de baile é uma espécie de estúdio com um piano no meio e 2 câmaras de televisão que vão filmando o concurso de canto, enquanto que por cima se projecta uma sala de baile clássica de um palácio.





O 3º acto foi o que me pareceu melhor conseguido.




Passa-se na gare de comboios. Elisabete espera Tannhäuser sentada nos bancos. Os peregrinos chegam de comboio com as suas malas. Um deles chega a ter uma dor no peito, simulando um enfarte que não se torna real, ao regressar. O final foi clássico com a chegada do Papa com a sua cruz episcopal florida.



O que realmente tornou esta récita fantástica foi o leque de intérpretes.

Peter Seiffert foi Tannhäuser. Completamente recuperado do seu precalço de Outubro no Tristão, deu-nos um Tannhäuser ao seu melhor nível. Uma capacidade interpretativa espectacular, com voz potente, forte e expressiva.



Nina Stemme foi sublime! Como já temos referido no blog, está cantora é uma das melhores cantoras wagnerianas da actualidade. Excelente actriz, voz sempre sobre a orquestra, afinação perfeita. Deu-nos uma Elisabete de personalidade forte, mesmo no 3º acto onde a sua desilusão é marcada ao não ver Tannhäuser regressar com os peregrinos.







Michael Volle é um dos meus barítonos preferidos e foi um prazer ouvir o seu Wolfram. Timbre de beleza inconfundível, segurança e actor exímio, roubou-nos o fôlego com ambas as árias do 3º acto.





Vesselina Kasarova foi simplesmente soberba como Vénus! Detentora de um timbre magnífico de mezzo, complementa-o com uma capacidade interpretativa lírica, sem a rudeza frequente das cantoras de Leste.



Christopher Strehl e Alfred Muff, após as suas interpretações no Fidelio da noite anterior, cumpriram com o mesmo nível os seus papéis. Mais uma vez realço a elevada qualidade vocal de Alfred Muff.

Todos foram suportados excelentemente pelos papéis menores e pela perfeita direcção de orquestra de Ingo Metzmacher. O som saído da Orquestra e a beleza da intervenção coral foi celestial no intenso final do 2º acto, uma das passagens que mais aprecio nesta ópera.




Mais uma vez, a Zürich Opernhaus a mostrar que é uma das maiores Casas de Ópera do Mundo!





Tannhäuser - Zürich Opernhaus - February 17, 2011




The opera Tannhäuser is one of two Wagner operas who have a new production this season at the Zurich Opera House. The other one is the Parsifal of Claus Guth, now widely referred in this blog. To all who might have beenwaiting for an earlier review of Tannhäuser I do apologize. This is due to the fact that Guth's Parsifal at the Liceu in Barcelona, have impressed me too much and more, leading me to write about this first.

The staging of this Tannhäuser is a mixture of ancient and modern, though not always it fits the spirit of the work and may hurt the sensibility of the ones who prefer a classic staging. The color, light and dynamic features allow you to put up with some daring options. The Venusberg is excellently well done in shades of red, with several dancers in skin color suits with black adornments, strolling among businessmen, bishops and other elements of society that also delight as the hero.



After this, some options are sometimes debatable: the lyre of Tannhäuser is an electric guitar, the knights are golfers, wearing their poles, Hermann comes into action in a golf car, a golf course is seen in the background but with a projection of a forest in the upper stage ...







In the second act, the ballroom is a kind of studio with a piano in the middle and two television cameras filming the contest, while a classic ballroom of a palace is projected in the upper stage.





The 3rd act was the best accomplished one.




It is set in a train station. Elizabeth is sat on a bench waiting for Tannhäuser to come with the pilgrims. The pilgrims arrive by train with their suitcases / luggage. One of them simulates a chest pain but he does not ends up to have a heart attack – it is the emotion of returning home. The ending was classic with the arrival of the Pope with his staff full with bursting flowers.



What really made this an excellent night was the fantastic group of performers.

Peter Seiffert was Tannhäuser. Fully recovered from his misfortune in October with Tristan, he gave us a Tannhäuser at his best. A spectacular interpretive capacity, with strong and expressive voice.



Nina Stemme was sublime! As we have mentioned previous in the blog, she is one of the best wagnerian singers nowadays. Excellent actress, voice always over the orchestra, perfect pitch. She gave us an Elizabeth with a strong personality, even in the 3rd act where her disappointment is such by not seeing Tannhäuser amongst the pilgrims.







Michael Volle is one of my favorite baritones and it was a pleasure to hear his Wolfram. Timbre of unique beauty, security, superb actor, he has robbed us of breath with both his arias of the 3rd act.





Vesselina Kasarova as Venus was simply superb! Holder of a magnificent mezzo timbre, she complements it with a lyrical interpretive capacity, without the frequent rudeness of singers from the Eastern Europe.



Christopher Strehl and Alfred Muff, after their performances in Fidelio the night before, gave us the same level here. Again I can not pass withou saying the Alfred Muff has an excellent quality of voice.

All were excellently supported by the minor roles and the perfect orchestral conducting by Ingo Metzmacher. The sound given us by the Orchestra and the beauty of the Chorus was celestial overall by mainly in the the intense end of Act 2, one of the passages I most appreciate in this opera.




Again, the Zürich Opernhaus reveals itself as one of the major Opera Houses in the World!




10 comentários:

  1. Caro wanger_fanatic,
    O Tannhäuser é mais uma das óperas de Wagner que, embora da sua fase inicial, muito aprecio. Nesta representação, em que nos faz novamente esta descrição pormenorizada, penso que poderia ser um caso para fechar os olhos e apenas ouvir!
    Como sabe, esta não é, de todo, a minha opinião, mesmo em Wagner. Gosto de ver óperas (bem) encenadas. Caso contrário, bastariam as versões concerto, que se aceitam uma ou outra vez, mas não mais que isso.

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  2. Many thanks to you for the nice pictures and review.

    Wonderful Wagner Ensembles!
    The Zurich opera house is really one of the best. I personally prefer Zurich to BSO Munich. It's pity, that Jonas Kaufmann had left Zurich. Since he is in Munich, his hometown, he's got many problems.

    I heard Peter Seiffert as Max in Zürich. He is a tenor with a powerful voice, though I wasn't that much satisfied with his interpretation. Maybe he sings better in Wagner.
    In my memory Kasarova was an excellent Charlotte in Werther. I can imagine how she performed as Venus.

    A couple of years ago I've got a chance to visit "Wartburg", in where around 1207 the Minstrel's contest took place. You know, that the contest was later to be treated with poetic licence in Tannhäuser.
    I was very impressed with this castle. Who knows, every night Wagner's ghost walks around the Minnesänger Hall.

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  3. Hi.

    I hope I will be able to finally go to Munich Opera next year. The season must be out in a few weeks.

    I saw pictures of the castle on the Internet a few moments ago. It looks quite powerfull.

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  4. Pelo que me parece, algumas ideias neste "Tannhäuser" não estão longe das do "Anel" de Vick. Vale-nos que a música ganha.

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  5. Excellent curtain call coverage, I'm sending the link to all my Kasarovian and Stemmian friends.

    But do tell, what do you mean by the "frequent rudeness of East European singers"?

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  6. Hi.

    Thank you.

    You can find other Nina Stemme reviews on our blog.

    What I meant was that some East European singers are not as lyrical as they are supposed to be and that they sing in strenght and sometimes the feeling we are looking for is not there. But we also find this in singers from another parts of the world, of course. I only used the "East European" reference because Kasarova is bulgarian and I was talking about her.

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  7. hi dear Fanatico...I don't know but...I think that is a powerful sound with a powerful chest structure of Vesselina Kasarova...this is an estimate from the fotograf...

    ..best regards...

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  8. Yes, Kasarova has many chest forays. I know a lot of her female fans who in fact prefer her chesty sound to any kind of lyricism she may produce. But of course, we all like different things.

    Maybe instead of 'rude' you meant, I don't know, forceful? Big sound? Though if you look at East European Edita Gruberova, she's very lyrical, to this day.

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  9. As another member of this blog let me join this interesting discussion, since my friend wagner_fanatic might be away for some days.

    I think you gave an excellent example of the top lyrical singer of our times, Edita Gruberova. I have mentioned it in a recent review of Anna Bolena in Barcelona that I had the chance to see some weeks ago.
    Another name from East European singers that, in my opinion, can be very lyrical and that I am a big fan and have mentioned it extensively in this blog is Anna Netrebko.
    But there are also some Eastern singers that, indeed, are very "rude" or, as you suggest, forceful. I am thinking of, just as examples, Maria Guleghina (that I admire a lot) or Marina Poplavskaya (that did not convinced me totally yet, just because of her "rude" approaches of some interpretations, as was the recent case of La Traviata's Violetta at the Met.
    Thank you very much for your comments in our blog.

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  10. In the meantime I remembered Lucia Popp, who was Slovak, if I'm not mistaken.

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