Past Production Reviews
4(nmz) - Of course, he also has a "Flying Dutchman" staged by his predecessor and then a "La Boheme" on the agenda, to which he has seduced the painter prince Markus Lüpertz as director and outfitter. In addition, Jens Neundorff von Enzberg, who was born in Ilmenau, wants to establish a focus on baroque explorations of works that were created in the region but have been forgotten after his change from the directorship in Regensburg to that of the Staatstheater der Thüringer Theaterresidenz Meiningen in Eisenach. In this respect, his season opening with the Händeloper "Amadigi di Gaula" even fits programmatically. But it also suits the health department. Because in every director's office, the virus sits at the table until further notice, i.e. the office fighting it. In such times, an opera with only four protagonists without a choir like this early one by Handel from 1715 is a dream. (For a visitor from the outside, various election posters in Meiningen, with the far-right politicians of the CDU and AfD, however, closer to a nightmare.) Of the 726 seats in the splendour of the theatre duke George II. 500 seats may currently be occupied. At the moment, 3G plus mask also applies during the performance. 2G without a mask would certainly be better received by many visitors. At the end of Handel's sorceress opera "Amadigi di Gaula", half of the staff is dead. That's quite a high rate for an opera seria by this Baroque master. But since there are only four protagonists in total, the carnage is limited. The one dead man is a prince, but he is in love with his friend's lover. Therefore, he first loses his friend (Amadigi) and then becomes the collateral damage of a rather messy relationship box, which is fatally hit in the jealousy duel. Almerija Delic is allowed to return from the realm of the dead in the trouser role of this Dardano and announce as Deus ex machina, where the emergency exit from the intrigue barn towards the happy ending can be found. The second dead woman is the sorceress Melissa (with a fabulous bite: Monika Reinhard). She commits a theatrical suicide on the open stage in the double sense of the word, so not only gives up her stubborn fight for the coveted Amadigi, which is conducted with all the means available to a sorceress, but also herself. Thus, the way to a common future of Amadigi (the baroque scene-compatible counter Rafal Tomkiewicz) and Oriana (with sensitively flexible throat Sara-Maria Saalmann) is finally clear. The fact that the new Director of Meiningen has chosen a Händeloper for the prelude after an annoying forced break is courageous in view of the now well-developed, sometimes highly specialized Baroque scene. But what was offered was not only a firework of Handel's aria art. Premiered in London in 1715, the whole thing is a prime example of the then dominant Italian opera. For this reason alone, the Italian Attilio Cremonesi is the right person at the podium of the court orchestra for her excursion into the baroque opera heritage, which is not too often visited. Tight, pointed and yet light – what the musicians offered provided exactly the tailwind to elevate the protagonists in their alternating bath of emotions into an aria furor, which succeeded better and better in the course of the evening. Scenically, director and outfitter Hinrich Horstkotte opted for a play with baroque theatre. There was a baroque brochure stage on stage, whose theatrical means are presented in detail, plus a more than just hinted opulence in the costumes for the protagonists (Melissa gets away best) and for the half dozen (fury) assistants that the sorceress conjures up again and again in various designs when she tries to ensnare Amadigi or to get his loved one out of the way. For this purpose, the entire repertoire of a baroque stage including its fire and water imitations is unleashed. Horstkotte – as is nowadays the case for a critical contemporary, who also trusts Master Handel with a penchant for the double bottom – does not dare to cross the path of the lieto fine. His Oriana grabs Melissa Dagger as a precaution. Apparently, she already knew at that time that there is still a certain Alcina, who also has a weakness for beautiful heroes....
A magic opera opens the artistic director Jens Neundorff von Enzberg at the Staatstheater Meiningen: Handel's "Amadigi di Gaula" from 1715. The focus is on the – unsuccessfully – demonic witch Melissa, who fights for the love of the knight Amadigi with all demonic means. In the end, she and the Amadigi's rival, Dardano, fall by the wayside; after his death, he may at least from hell still beg the gods for compassion for the two lovers Oriana and Amadigi. But the expected happy ending of the couple is ironically questioned by director and outfitter Hinrich Horstkotte. Because at the wedding, the bride already hides the dagger behind her robe. The external action, however, is only a pretext to show the conflicting feelings as quasi exuberant theater effects in the sense of the Baroque period. The human emotions can be heard right down to the most sensitive movements in Handel's music, concentrated and concisely emphasized by Attilio Cremonesi on the harpsichord and podium of the Meininger Hofkapelle. Today's audience can experience this in the varied personal direction. The fact that the external action is illusion, play, is already clear from the overture: The two "heroes" sit behind the actual stage in an auditorium, backdrops can be seen from behind. After that, the action for the audience in the opera house begins: Melissa appears in ever new disguises, sometimes in baroque pompous robes, sometimes devilishly black, sometimes mysterious dark red glittering, sometimes with a huge rock train over the red dress, sometimes assisted by white ghost women, sometimes with black punk furies, and also the performance locations change often. There are images of nature for the night, cloud backdrops for the day, waves or flames artificially in motion, a fire gate through which Amadigi can walk as a true lover, fake columns, ever higher steps, irritating mirror walls, room escapes, a dragon cave and finally a sea with a cardboard ship on top, which should lead the couple into a happy future – or not? Handel's music, with all facets of sadness, drama, sensitivity, joy, jubilation, leaves this open in a lieto fine in G minor. The sorceress Melissa, embodied by Monika Reinhard in an extremely agile manner and sung with a lot of inner anger, passion, poignant lamentation and furious outbursts, have entered the realm of the dead by suicide, and in a duel the warlike Prince Dardano, Almerija Delic, impressive by the powerful, energetic voice that masters even the most delicate coloraturas. Rafal Tomkiewicz puts the titular hero Amadigi on stage with a well-founded countertenor and waving blond hair, and so he gets "his" Oriana, a widely passive girlish beauty, Sara-Maria Saalmann, who draws a lonely, stubborn lover with finely nuanced, bright soprano.
The conductor Juri Lebidev understands singers and instruments with a sense of justice obsessed with detail. His almost telepathic presence becomes an indispensable prerequisite for the trust between the stage and the pit, which made this blissful operatic event possible in the first place. The premiere and the performance the following afternoon were enthusiastically celebrated by those who had come and subscribers with unusual persistence.In "La clemenza di Scipione" all the singers have a parade number or at least a better stage coup thanks to Wilgenbus. Sara-Maria Saalmann asked for kind indulgence before the second performance. Unfounded. In addition to all the other requirements, she mastered her great aria with solo instruments in concert with bravura. In terms of structure, melos and ornamentation, this huge piece is amazingly similar to Konstanze's dreaded martyrdom aria from "Die Entführung aus dem Seraglio". Alexandra Scherrmann, as Arsinda's sister Idalba, proceeds even more confidently with coloraturas of emphatic lightness and physical frivolity, even when the powerful Marzius swings the raw leg of meat. Johannes Mooser finds the right vocal compromise between hero and poltergeist.With a tenor that is minimally throaty in the depths and clearer and clearer towards the top, Martin Lechleitner recommends himself as a Scipio who appreciates love more than war for larger tasks in the Mozart repertoire. It is astonishing this time how Onur Abaci as Luceius lets all difficulties of the soprano castrato part be forgotten. In the large duet, Saalmann's soft entrances merge with Abaci's virile and at the same time flexible, nuanced intonation in such a way that the two voices can hardly be distinguished. A deluxe plea for Johann Christian Bach! Hopefully this is only the prelude to further discoveries of operas in Eisenach.
One has to thank three initiators for the first own opera production in the Landestheater Eisenach. Jens Neundorff von Enzberg, the new director of the Meiningen State Theater, has more plans for the beautiful Bürgertheater in Rot und Weiß than guest performances by Meininger productions, as has been the case since the last renovation ten years ago. Director Dominik Wilgenbus brought him to Johann Christian Bach in his search for music theater works connected with the region. The Thuringia Philharmonic Gotha-Eisenach, not particularly familiar with early music, did an excellent job in “La clemenza di Scipione”. The premiere weekend became a great moment and a festival of voices.
