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2An elusive and dreamy Don Giovanni seen in Wiesbaden for the last premiere of this season at the Hessische Staatstheater. Nicolas Brieger brings the action from Seville to a non-place made of walls, environments and stairs that vaguely recall certain metaphysical landscapes in shapes and colors. In the almost dreamlike scenario built by Raimund Bauer, where lemon yellow predominates, the whole catalog of the drives that move the playful drama of the award-winning Mozart / Da Ponte company unfolds. Libido and desire, but also tenderness and dedication. Against this aseptic and rotating background, even the feelings of the protagonists are not embossed in the round and let us glimpse ambiguities and unexplored areas. Donna Anna would like and would not like. Zerlina, mischievous and well performed by Katharina Konradi, combines the freshness of youth with almost sadistic moments, as in the duet " For these your little hands ", a rarity almost never performed nowadays. The Wiesbaden show is in fact a "hybrid" between the version of Don Giovanni which premiered in Prague and its first Viennese performance. In the six months that elapsed between the two performances, Da Ponte and Mozart reworked the libretto and score. Three arias were added, two of which (" Dalla pace di lui " by Don Ottavio and " Mi betita quel alma ingrat " by Donna Elvira) have firmly entered the performance practice, while that duet is rarely heard. Andrea Schmidt-Futterer's beautiful baroque costumes, which at times refer to the fleeting duplicity of carnivals in the Lagoon, add other shades of indeterminacy. To be honest, sometimes the meaning of this Don Giovanni played between real and surreal escapes, which he also had of the objections to the first and that somehow trivializes the Promethean tension of the drama. Certainly you won't get bored, thanks also to some risqué ideas and some gags like the catalog of conquests tattooed on Leporello's skin. And in the finale, the German director opens a new perspective: Don Giovanni is not sucked into the bowels of the Earth but interned in a hospice. As if to say that the serial seducer not only fights against the overcoming of the banal human condition, but above all against the relentless passing of time. Losing the battle. A pity that the New York baritone Christopher Bolduc has to suffer this fate. Supported by a cover and manly physique interpretative energy, it returns well the passions of Don Giovanni with a warm and always confident voice. Ribald and captivating, the worthy appears Leporello brought to the stage by Shavleg Armasi. Solid voice, in the air of the Catalog he must proceed to a strip to show the astonished Elvira the names of the conquests that she bears stamped on her skin. Netta Or appropriates the painful role and dramatic colorature of Donna Anna and exhibits a broad and colorful voice. Heather Engebretson intensely plays the role of Donna Elvira, the most complex female character in the work; crystal clear voice and fiery acting recreate all the anger, but also the vulnerability, of her character. Don Ottavio by Ioan Hotea who, finished " From his peace " (moved by Brieger in the final, after the refusal by Donna Anna), a shot is fired. Daniel Carison was also very good for his voice and expressiveness, called at the last moment to impersonate Masetto. Powerful the Commander of Young Doo Park. The unhurried times imposed by Konrad Junghänel at the Hessisches Staatsorchester make all the charm of Mozart's score shine. At the end warm applause for all the protagonists of the evening.
Andreas Schager portrays an impressive Tristan, combining vocal endurance with convinced acting. The brilliance of the timbre is exploited in a balanced way, as demonstrated by the smooth transitions between registers, in which the peaks are never shouted and the descent is always well cared for (even after several hours of performance, it maintains refined gradations) . The metaphysical crisis in the third act is a show of vigor, uniting the warmth and roundness of the timbre with impeccable precision, even on the flank of the vocal steepness that reflects the mental state of the character suspended between life and death. Alongside Schager 's Tristan , Barbara Haveman 's Isolde is sometimes in a competitive relationship, sometimes in harmonious collaboration. The assertion of his stage presence is initially quite difficult in the first act, but increases gradually. The timbre is endowed with a double aspect which coexists harmoniously, velvety but also radiant, capable of impregnating itself with gravity when it draws on the expressive nuances of the high register. Despite a few abrupt moments during the climbs, the transitions between the registers generally take care of the balance of the textures and the melodic quality of the voice. The Nuit d'amour borders on the brilliance of that of Tristan in the high register and the long-awaited Liebestod(song of love and death) is delivered with refinement and thoughtful sensitivity down to the last momentum. The silky timbre of Khatuna Mikaberidze in Brangäne is noticed during the Nuit d'amour where she sings from a side box. On stage, she sometimes struggles to free herself from the power of Isolde's timbre, missing the balance between intensity and softness (the low register then disappears into the flow of the orchestra and the intensity comes out too sharp). But the song is otherwise melodious, with soft resonances. Thomas de Vries portrays an imposing Kurwenal as soon as he enters the stage, freeing the character from the stereotyped representations of the “faithful and simple-minded companion”, here uniting his vocal strength with the clarity of his diction. The opaqueness and robustness of its timbre shines through in the third act and complements Tristan's vocal expressiveness. Young Doo Park embodies King Marke with the fullness of his voice and his empathy. The deep and robust timbre resonates with the dignity of the betrayed king, but also in his vulnerability, carefully captured by the richness of the vocal nuances. The low register is particularly solid, and its balanced resonance serves as a pivot for transitions between registers. The rises are refined and at the same time maintain the body of the voice and its flexibility. In the secondary roles, Julian Habermann 's sailor values the transparency and warmth of his timbre to open the opera in a harmonious and delectable way. Yoontaek Rhim 's helmsman is attentive and sensitive to the details of the song, fully aware that his role is important despite his brief stage appearance. Andreas Karasiak convinces in Melot by his vocal expressiveness as well as by his gestures. Erik Biegel in the role of the shepherd maintains the dreamlike dimension of the beginning of the third act and highlights its crystalline timbre, which mixes with its melancholic – and almost supernatural – old melody. The musical direction of Michael Güttler gradually imposes itself as the acts progress. In the first act, the valorization of the colors of the instruments is sometimes confronted with the problem of fragmentation of the sound mass. This is less the case in the second act, where the patience and the care given to the dramatic slowness unfolds in the mid-bass of the strings and their contact with the robust resonance of the brass instruments (notably the trombones). The almost flawless musical accompaniment of the third act makes the strings whisper in a noticeable dramatic moment that sets the stage for the intense episodes to follow. Accompanying Tristan in his delirium, the sound mass is lively and encouraging. The production thus captures the spirit of an inner drama and focuses it on the intensity of the music despite certain stage strategies that shock some. The enthusiastic reaction of most of the spectators, however, goes so far as to maintain their standing ovation, until the very last appearance of the artists on stage.
