A Sexy Summer Night in Music and Vision 23 gennaio

A Sexy Summer Night

'Feuersnot' by Richard Strauss,
reviewed by GIUSEPPE PENNISI

On 18 January 2014, Palermo's Teatro Massimo opened its 2014 season with Feuersnot by Richard Strauss, a very rarely performed opera. It was last staged in Italy way back in 1938 in Genoa with Strauss himself in the pit. Based on a text by the highly elegant and sophisticated poet Ernst von Wolzogen, this 'musical poem in one act' was quite successful from 1902 until the nineteen thirties. Because of its duration (ninety minutes), it was often found in double bills with Salome. It has had revivals in both Germany and the USA (where it was a major hit at the Santa Fe Festival), but is seldom in opera house schedules. I was in a good orchestra seat.

A scene from 'Feuersnot' by Richard Strauss at Teatro Massimo, Palermo. Photo © 2014 Studio Camera. Click on the image for higher resolution

Feuersnot is a hearty one act drama about the Bavarian tradition to celebrate St John's night, and the beginning of Summer, with bonfires, songs and dances. Although Strauss was born in Munich and spent most of his adult life in a Bavarian alpine resort, he had to endure quite a few sufferings from his own countrymen. Furthermore, in his view, they had the responsibility of having chased his own idol, Richard Wagner, from their capital city. Feuersnot's enormous initial success did not last because the text is full of topical allusions and comments that are barely comprehensible today — eg the references that the Munich populace had once made the life of a certain Master Reichart (clearly Richard Wagner) a hell on earth. For most of his life, Richard Strauss called the Bavarians 'Southerners'. More significantly, the production calls for eighteen singers, a chorus, a children's chorus and a symphony orchestra. Thus, it is a costly affair.

Dietrich Henschel as Kunrad the sorcerer kisses Nicola Beller Carbone as Diemut in 'Feuersnot' by Richard Strauss at Teatro Massimo, Palermo. Photo © 2014 Studio Camera. Click on the image for higher resolution

The simple plot revolves around a sexy summer night. During the nocturnal party, young men and young women flirt. Kunrad kisses Diemut in front of all. In revenge, she invites him to travel to her room in a big basket that she would pull. He is left half way, hanging in the air, to the amusement of all. Now, Kunrad takes his own revenge, thanks just to the magical tricks he had learned from Master Reichart. All the bonfires are turned off and the party cannot go on. Children, elders, men and women beg Diemut to let Kunrad reach her room. After a rapturous orchestral interlude depicting the two youngsters' joy of sex, they rush to be wedded. We are in Roman Catholic Bavaria, after all.

A scene from 'Feuersnot' by Richard Strauss at Teatro Massimo, Palermo. Photo © 2014 Studio Camera. Click on the image for higher resolution

The score has quotations from Wagner (eg the leitmotiv from Der Ring) and echoes of contemporary composers such as Mahler and Bruckner. Nonetheless, it is genuine Strauss -- from racy waltzes to enchanting love duets to charming trios and quartets for women's voices.

The dramatic part of the production was entrusted to well-known avant-garde Italian director Emma Dante and her team (Carmine Maringola, stage sets; Vanessa Sannino, costumes and Cristian Zucaro, lighting). The action is set in a Mediterranean city — most likely close to a beach — in the late nineteen forties — early nineteen fifties. It works quite well. However, the stage is excessively crowded by actors, acrobats and extras. This makes it difficult to follow the action and some delightful moments — ie the initial children's chorus — are lost because the audience's attention is distracted. In Palermo, Emma Dante is almost a divinity; thus, the full house gave her a long standing ovation and a real shower of flowers from the boxes and the upper tier to the stage.

The conductor, Gabriele Ferro, acquitted himself quite well in handling the complex score and keeping a balance between the pit and the crowded and noisy stage. Nicola Beller Carbone was a superb, very sexy, Diemut. In the impervious role of Kunrad, the baritone Dietrich Henschel acted quite well but the part requires a more extended register toward the acute range. All the many others were effective. The choruses, especially the children's chorus, directed by Salvatore Punturo, deserve special praise.

Copyright © 23 January 2014 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy