Klaus Florian Vogt / Reviews

2004 übernahm die Wiener Staatsoper die Produktion der Salzburger Festspiele. Nun ist sie wieder zu sehen, in glänzender Besetzung und mit einem Dirigenten, von dem man sehr viel hören will: Thomas Guggeis, 29 Jahre, gebürtiger Deutscher und ab 2023/24 Generalmusikdirektor der Oper in Frankfurt. Er setzt auf Hochspannung und Transparenz. In manchen Passagen eine Nuance zu viel, was bei dieser Musik nicht unbedingt ein Nachteil ist. Er leuchtet jede Passage mit dem brillant musizierenden Staatsopernorchester aus, lässt die Anklänge an Richard Strauss hören und den späteren Schöpfer extrem gefühlsbetonter Filmmusik, dabei verlegt er den Schwerpunkt auf Thriller-Elemente.

Wiederaufnahme-Wochen an der Staatsoper: Nach "Peter Grimes" und "Manon Lescaut" ist nun auch das Jugendmeisterwerk von Erich Wolfgang Korngold ans Haus zurückgekehrt, und das vorbildlich. Die "Tote Stadt", 2004 von Willy Decker für Salzburg inszeniert und wenig später nach Wien übersiedelt, strotzt bei ihrer Auferstehung nur so vor Leben.

The State Opera's new production of "Fidelio" by Artistic Director Georges Delnon and General Music Director Kent Nagano lost its bearings Hamburg. What was that? And, even more urgent than the crucial question afterwards: why? Another opera director could have taken the guest director of this premiere aside in time to clear up the too many ideas and associations to get the piece up and running; another general music director could have held a discreet conversation with the guest conductor to resolve any hardening. But here, with the new Hamburg “Fidelio”, it was the directors of the State Opera themselves who took pride in Beethoven. The sad, stubborn result: the direction wanted to say too much, the music couldn't tell enough. And the singing staff, left alone in the middle of it all, didn't know what to do with themselves. Ramp parking and stiff frontal projection, as if Simone Young were still the lady of the house and as if every gesture without clichés was one too many. Applause was scarce in an opera that blossoms and enchants in its arias and ensembles. A drama, but very different than expected But for this magic, for this flow, Nagano found no suitable means in the ditch. He literally spelled out the orchestra through the music, stage by stage, a piece-work, not a unit that captivated, that responded smoothly to the singers and the moment, that offered colors, allowed storming and urging, lingering and breathing and enabled. No sharpness, hardly any sweetness, no terrible abysses, no breathtaking flights of fancy. It wobbled badly in places; the choir, too, normally stable and able to play, did not always find its accompaniment. The quartet "Mir ist so Wunder", a particularly blatant example, sang it but was far from it. As Rocco, Falk Struckmanns had format and full, not sedentary volume, while Simone Schneider as Leonore often acted in the danger zone of overdramatization. But it may also have been simply self-defense against the tutti, which was often flat and loud.

Hamburg – Which opera suited the world situation, which is characterized by violence and cruelty, better than Beethoven's "Fidelio"? A woman enters a prison in man's clothing to save her husband from dying, risking her own life: the story is a manifesto of freedom. The moral standards could hardly be higher – and with it the pressure to bring out the universal validity of the work in a production. The play premiered at the Hamburg State Opera on Sunday evening. Director Georges Delnon takes a different approach to his production. He takes a very personal look at the characters. For this purpose, Kaspar Zwimpfer built a rather dilapidated 1950s-style living room for him on the stage. The prisoners are stored between files in pharmacy cupboards, the excerpts are rolled out of the wall and back in again as needed. The entire action takes place in the middle-class atmosphere between a jukebox and a seating area. There the jailer Rocco sits at the typewriter or tries to tame his daughter Marzelline, who is in love with Fidelio, there Marzelline's unhappy groom Jaquino wants to force her sexual obedience, if not her love. Beethoven created the character of Florestan in a contradictory way: after months of imprisonment and torture, the man is about to sing a real heroic tenor role. With her, Christopher Ventris audibly reaches his limits. The bass-baritone Werner Van Mechelen is an agile, cynical Don Pizarro. Falk Struckmann, also a bass-baritone, succeeds in creating a touching portrayal of Rocco, who vacillates between followers and righteousness. Vocally, the soprano Simone Schneider stands out. She brings presence and drama to the Leonore with a rich, dark timbre, and thanks to Delnon's precise directing of the characters, she need only look down to hint at the anguish of her secret fear for Florestan. Every gesture speaks for Delnon, he hasn't over-staged anything. In the second act, however, he was a bit too frugal, as the participants often just stand there, although it is a matter of life and death. Nowhere does Delnon widen the view in the direction of utopia. General Music Director Kent Nagano conducting the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra emphasizes the suprapersonal character of the music. The sound is classically slim and transparent throughout, ecstatic peaks, which the score also demands, are absent. Occasionally there is a lack of coordination between the stage and the pit, but this is compensated for by harrowing moments such as the delicate and at the same time hauntingly sung prisoner's choir. Can Leonore and Florestan find each other again as a couple? Delnon makes no prognosis. Instead, in the final image, he quietly tells of Jaquino's inner struggles. As if the madness of the world could only be understood by looking at private suffering. For the direction, Delnon received heavy boos at the premiere, while the audience gave Nagano, the singers and the musicians friendly applause.