Recensioni di produzioni precedenti
33“Gatt’s tempi were well-chosen, and his command, from one of the two harpsichords of the small orchestra, was unquestionable. Passages of astonishing psychological acuity, and of sonorous delight from Frankfurt woodwind and horns were in any case numerous enough to be savored. Continuo playing, moreover, was excellent throughout, recitatives explaining and connecting just as they should.”
“Alden Gatt leads the Frankfurt Opera- and Museumsorchester in crisp but never excessive tempos, seeks a radiantly compact rather than transparent sound, and gives the singers room to develop… and they make fantastic use of their opportunity.”
“Idil Kutay zeigt als Barbarina Witz und Schärfe und in der Nadel-Cavatine innige Verzweiflung; diese Sängerin ist für größere Aufgaben qualifiziert.”
“Idil Kutay singt eine leuchtend warme und intensive, damit fast zu groß besetzte Barbarina, was man gerne hinnimmt”
„Traumata haben eine lange Lebensdauer.“ Mit diesem Satz bringt Lothar das psychische Dilemma seines Freundes Nathanael auf den Punkt. Der dreht nämlich völlig durch, dem entgleitet’s komplett. Einerseits beschreitet er an der Seite seiner klugen und emanzipierten Freundin Clara die Gegenwart, andererseits aber holt ihn seine düstere, unheimliche Vergangenheit immer wieder ein. Seitdem Nathanaels Vater, ein Leichenbestatter, und dessen zwielichtiger Freund Coppelius bei einem Wohnungsbrand ums Leben gekommen sind, verfolgen Nathanael Alpträume und Wahnvorstellungen. Diffuse Schuldgefühle plagen ihn. Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzinis Oper Der Sandmann zieht den Zuschauer erbarmungslos mit hinein in den wirren Irrsinn ihres Protagonisten. Denn auch wir können – wie Nathanael – Alptraum und Realität mitunter kaum unterscheiden.
After the federal state of Hesse relaxed its corona regulations and the Wiesbaden State Theater reluctantly opened its doors, the Frankfurt Opera followed with an "Evening of Songs and Arias" with exclusively Richard Strauss settings . After a successful and much acclaimed recital in January (Merker 02/2020), the Swedish soprano Maria Bengtsson was once again able to delight an elite small group of 100 people. Seven selected songs opened the moving performance, Maria Bengtsson gave each treasure the imaginative flair of the special. Her brilliant, youthful soprano mischievously grounded Mr. Lenz in a light-filled tonal language, while the charming singer gave wonderful structural details to the melody of Allerseelen . In the intoxication of the sound, of the melody, the golden tone of the noble timbre seemed to bathe in Die Nacht . Nothing – Cäcilie – sounded emphatically ecstatic, with vocal sophistication, intelligent word formation, dreamlike phrasing . Maria Bengtsson gave resignedly pensive, emotionally creative, tastefully differentiated, wonderfully sung on breath, breathed in pianistI carry my minne and calm, my soul the breath of unearthly floating elegy.
Carl Maria von Weber's "Euryanthe" is a romantic, heroic opera in medieval guise. At the Frankfurt Opera, directed by Johannes Erath, it becomes a post-war story. He sees the work as a strategy game that inevitably takes its deadly course after just a few opening moves.
Der Sopranistin Heather Phillips gelingt ein famoses Debüt.
Il ne faut pas généraliser : si l’Allemagne est le berceau du Regietheater, toutes les productions germaniques ne sont pas assujetties aux principes d’absurde et d’extrême dont ce type de mise en scène tend à abuser. Pour autant, Idomeneo passé à la moulinette théâtrale de Jan Philipp Gloger n’échappe pas à certains des poncifs de notre époque. Transposition, mitraillettes et extrapolations en dehors des chemins balisés par le livret bousculent le plus œdipien des opéras.
Never mind that the not-to-be-ignored ‘interpretations’ had to be ‘different’ at all costs; or that (often rankling) ‘insider’ concepts by groupie-inspiring-directors had to be explained (if indeed that were possible) with extensive program notes; or that decent enough singers were sometimes secondary to the buzz-worthy ‘event.’ The city opera house on the Main River was a place to see and be seen, challenge and be challenged. And then prime movers and shakers moved out, and the company seemed shaken indeed not only by those high profile departures, but also by devastating budget cuts in the last Time of Austerity. They almost cut the chorus entirely, for crying out loud! What followed was a well-intended but languishing period when the company’s productions unwillingly digressed from ‘shock and awe’ to ‘schlock and awful’ on more than a few occasions.
For almost 20 years, George Benjamin has been thinking about composing an opera. In that time there have been plenty of rumours of him collaborating with leading playwrights, but it is only now that he has found the right person to work with: the British dramatist and translator Martin Crimp. What they have produced, the "lyric tale" Into the Little Hill, premiered under the banner of the Festival d'Automne in Paris, is as entrancingly beautiful as anything Benjamin has written.
Humour, drama, madness, eroticism, absurdities and the belief in the magical powers of a stone that can make people invisible - all this is in Domenico Cimarosa's sparkling intermezzo L'italiana in Londra . Even the premiere audience in 1778 in the historic Roman Teatro Valle enthusiastically followed the developments and complications between the international guests who met there in Madama Brillante's London hotel. A place like an alternative world to real life, in the center a pair of lovers: Livia, a daughter from a good Genoese family, and Milord Arespingh, who was ordered back from Jamaica by his father to marry an English lady. In a close connection with the text, the music not only reflects the individual characters, but also the social structure of the characters. In addition to paused arias and finely worked out duets, the work is characterized above all by extensive, action-packed ensembles. With this revaluation of the ensemble as a musical form, Cimarosa, who preceded L'italiana in Londracelebrated mainly in Rome and Milan, attracted international attention. Goethe praised the "highest aesthetic splendor" of his music and translated two of his libretti, while Haydn conducted 13 Cimarosa operas at the Esterházys' princely court in seven years. Finally, Rossini's triumphal procession dampened the success of his fellow composer.
In the afternoons, the opera had Dshamilja Kaiser flown in as a substitute for Zanda Švēde, who was “seasonally indisposed”, and she sang in concert from the stage, while Švēde danced, mimed and moved her lips on the stage. With this, the mezzo-soprano saved the fourth resumption of the box office hit. Because when there are long admission lines in front of the Frankfurt Opera, you know: It's Barrie Kosky time. The Australian director landed a world hit in Frankfurt with Bizet's "Carmen" (...). His iconic, glittering revue caught on and became a crowd puller beyond the Main metropolis. At the fourth revival, patient viewers stood their legs in their stomachs. They were not disappointed: in addition to the successful “playback” by Dshamilja Kaiser, who also easily coped with the cooing, almost operetta-like early version of the Habanera, the few “newcomers” were also convincing: Adriana González 'outstanding “messa di voce” skills made them to a wonderfully sensitive Micaëla (...).
Elizabeth Reiter moves in this role as if she were Melissa, who clings convulsively to a heart floating around in a glass and is desperate about her impotence at not being able to turn Amadigi around. Her outbursts are powerfully voiced, with charisma and all the required severity, her death dramatic. Melissa plunges into the source of true love. As it goes down, it sings as fine as the haze over the water. A gentle wave washes away your body, infinite calm spreads, the orchestra dies away. Silence. Handel knew how to depict human torments in all shades and over long swelling tones in music. Elizabeth Reiter fills this role with great vocal art and performance conviction. (...)
First and foremost, Kateryna Kasper should be mentioned in the role of Oriana. The Frankfurt regular soprano is currently at the peak of her vocal skills. She flatters her lover with a wonderfully round, honey-sweet tone. Ornaments, melisms and coloraturas are presented with astonishing flawlessness. In Kasper's work, they do not appear as pieces of vocal art, but as a natural, even necessary part of her creative art. This exhilarating vocal performance alone would be reason enough to visit the production facility. (...)
Händel - Xerxes - ARSAMENE - Oper Frankfurt ------------------------------------------------------------------ ... Als ARSAMENE ist mit Eric Jurenas eine Countertenor von höchsten Gnaden und ganz erlesener Sorte besetzt. Glatzköpfig bewegt er sich und turnt auf dem Tisch herum, zerrt an der Tischdecke bis alles herunterkracht, um seine Romilda zu behalten..." // "... Arsamene is casted with ERIC JURENAS, an exquisite countertenor of highest grace. To keep his Romilda, he - bald - moves around, does gymnastics and jumps on the table, and pulls and drags at the tablecoat until everything tums down .." (Onlinemerker) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Henrik war Nielsens Lieblingscharakter – gewissermaßen sein Alter ego. Er ist wie Nielsen eine gesellschaftlich kritische Figur, ein Revoluzzer. Wie Liviu Holender ihn singt und spielt, begeistert.
El timbre más destacacable en cuanto a presencia sonora fue el del barítono Liviu Holender como un vivaz y desenvuelto Henrik, ayuda de cámara de Leander y que mueve los hilos de la trama.
»Irina Simmes erlebte man als grazil-erhabene Konstanze, eine elegante, aber auch mit kraftvoller Stimme ausgestattete Künstlerin, bei der Männerherzen in Ausnahmezustände geraten"
