Past Production Reviews
8Am Ende blies Martin Kušej der frostige Wind eines Buhorkans ins Gesicht, als der Regisseur auf die Bühne des Theaters an der Wien trat. Erstaunlich kalt nahm das Opernpublikum am Dienstagabend seine Neudeutung von Puccinis "Tosca" auf, die der Burgtheaterdirektor in einer Eislandschaft statt dem Palazzo Farnese oder der Engelsburg ansiedelt. Im Kern zeichnet die Inszenierung eine erfrorene Welt mit zutiefst heutigen, verlorenen Figuren. Schnee von morgen anstatt von gestern.
Das kann auch altgedienten Opernregisseuren passieren. Da haben sie eine Superidee - und werden nach der Premiere von den Hooligans der konservativen Fraktion niedergebuht. Warum soll nicht - wie bei Claus Guth in Paris - Puccinis "La Bohème" im Weltall spielen oder "Tosca" nicht in Rom, sondern an einer eiskalten Hinrichtungsstätte im verschneiten Nirgendwo? Dorthin verlagerte Martin Kušej, im Hauptberuf Burgtheaterdirektor, Puccinis spannungsgeladenen Opernthriller, der wie keine andere Oper eigentlich nach präzisen Angaben über Ort und Zeit gebaut ist.
The universality of its central themes of love and loss are easy enough to relate to; the Artistic Director of the ENO, Daniel Kramer, credits La Bohème’s prevailing popularity with the decision to restage its “near-perfect equilibrium between realism and romanticism, comedy and pathos, at whose heart lies the relationship between the forlorn couple of Rodolfo and Mimi”.https://www.ayoungertheatre.com/review-la-boheme-london-coliseum-3/
First seen in 2009, Miller’s Bohème nudges the action forward some 100 years to the ‘années folles’ of the 1920s. Café Momus becomes an edgy guinguette where Fitzgerald and André Breton might have traded writing tips with Rodolfo, and a Josephine Baker-esque Musetta (Nadine Benjamin) holds the stage. It’s a neat sleight-of-hand, nicely framed in Isabella Bywater’s revolving sets — an unobtrusive restoring of operatic order after Benedict Andrews’s teenage rebellion of a crack-den Bohème for ENO in 2015.
The production, directed by Mario Pontiggia with sets and costumes by Francesco Zito, originated at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo. It is a stunningly beautiful, richly detailed re-creation of the three locations in Rome where the tragedy unfolds. The dresses of the heavily veiled women who crowded the church and Tosca’s second act gown and sparkling jewels, complete with tiara, were the most sumptuous of the costumes. When Tosca’s shadow suddenly appeared on the wall as she placed candles and a crucifix over Scarpia’s body, the man sitting next to me shuddered. It is of such details that memorable operatic performances are made. I have heard Marcello Álvarez many times, but never experienced him performing with such carefree abandon. Sleeker these days, he emanated a youthful energy but, more importantly, he made the audience see Tosca through his eyes: passionate, jealous and alluring. His Cavaradossi was vocally and dramatically impetuous and daring; as to the former, he may be throwing caution to the wind, but the result is thrilling. Ambrogio Maestri’s Scarpia can only be described as massive in temperament, voice and person, yet there was a delicacy to his performance. His Scarpia was a connoisseur of cruelty and capable of expressing it in the most subtle of manners, unless more drastic measures were needed. Oren had missed the first four performances of the run due to health reasons, but he was in fine form for these two. His verismo is the stuff of raw meat being thrown to the lions at one end of the spectrum and champagne at the other. His broadest musical brush strokes, as well as his most sensitive shadings, came from the orchestra and chorus, who responded brilliantly to the frantic beating of his baton and grunts and shouts that could be heard throughout the house. All of Rome may have trembled before Scarpia, but Oren can make the earth move.
