Christoph Blitt / Recenzijas

If the detailed production contains many riches, then so does the musical side. On stage for almost the entire performance and carrying most of the vocal writing, Aschenbach is a true test for any tenor, and Hans Schöpflin proves to be an outstanding interpreter. Using his clearly focused tenor and faultless English diction he creates a sympathetic character who retains his dignity throughout while becoming increasingly obsessed with the young boy Tadzio. If restraint is at the centre of Schöpflin’s performance, it is not without feeling and passion.

Sabine Mäder 's stage is mostly action-oriented. Only the abode of the four friends in the first picture - not an attic room, but a living container - has its acoustic and scenic pitfalls: the otherwise, in the middle to front stage area, excellent transparency and diction of all singers is in the small cubicle, although mostly wallless rear left, about 4 x 6 m in size, greatly reduced. To compensate for this somewhat remote location, a cameraman ( Oliver Lasch) close-ups of the container residents were made on stage, which are projected onto a surface in the right half of the stage, behind which the "Momus" counter is hidden. Not only is the cameraman's scurrying around annoying, but the transmission is also repeatedly chopped up by dropouts and pixelation. On the part of the leadership, the story is told very clearly and straightforwardly on the action and emotional level, and the latter level is also very carefully designed musically. This is the work of Markus Poschner , who lets the Bruckner Orchestra Linz play music precisely and transparently and of course also has the coordination between the pit and the stage perfectly under control.

Of course, one cannot compete on the same level with the Upper Italian “home” of this opera since 1913 and the luxurious, museum-like staging that has been established there over the last few decades. Hence the production team (staging by Sabine Hartmannshenn , stage by Stefan Heinrichs , costumes by Edith Kollath , light by Herbert Sachsenhofer , dramaturgy by Christoph Blitt) on the certainly not new idea of ​​letting the evening pass in the guise of a theater rehearsal. The emotions and role identification of the performers become more intense and direct from act to act - in any case an expression of careful personal direction. This is framed by parts of the scenery that are eagerly pushed back and forth, only rarely showing their front side, which then gives clear references to the Veronese production mentioned. But here, too, the following applies: the further the evening progresses, the more the scenarios immerse themselves in the reality of the piece; the invocation of Ptah at the end of the first act is still a party, perhaps on the occasion of the first dress rehearsal, where the actress serving Amneris canapèes and the pharaoh's throne is decorated with colorful balloons, the triumphal march, at least its second half, much more serious to the point. Finally, the exit scene is kept in extreme reduction - black curtain border, no Egyptian folklore, Radames on the left, Aida on the right back on the stage, two downlights, and Amneris crouches desperately listening at the front of the ramp - but this again results in maximum concentration on the emotions the immured.