The War is Always On in Music and Vision 26 gennaio

The War is Always On

Zimmermann's 'Die Soldaten' in Milan,
enthralls GIUSEPPE PENNISI

When Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Die Soldaten was presented at the Salzburg Festival, the title of my review was (suitably) World without God [See 30 August 2012]. The production was a joint venture with La Scala, where a series of performances opened on 17 January 2015. I hope that other opera houses will show this very enthralling and engrossing production. M&V readers are referred to the 30 August 2012 review where the opera is discussed extensively; also the main production team and the principal singers at La Scala are the same as those who staged and performed the opera two and a half years ago in Salzburg.

However, in Salzburg, the opera is performed in the Felsenreitschule, the huge hall formerly for riding horses, and home to horse shows during wintertime. It has an oversized wide front stage and a perfect acoustic which almost envelops the audience. The Wiener Philharmoniker (suitably expanded) was divided by the conductor, Ingo Metzmacher, into three sections: the pit for the regular orchestra, and the left and right sides of the audience, mostly for the percussion, the tubular bells, the harpsichords, the celesta and the organ. The stage sets by Alvis Hermanis and the costumes by Eva Dessecker place the action during World War I. The front stage is so wide that several scenes can be shown simultaneously in Lille and in Armentières (near the Flemish battlefield). A wall with a series of arches separated the front stage from the rest of the set, where the military life can be seen: men riding horses, their prostitutes in Amazon attire. From time to time projections on screens (pulled down between the arches) show postcards of brothel life at the beginning of the twentieth century. This orchestral and dramaturgical set up is as close as possible to the instructions provided by Zimmermann. To grasp this, it is sufficient to read the composer's indications and compare Salzburg's production with a Stuttgart production on a fairly popular DVD.

A scene from Part 1 of Zimmermann's 'Die Soldaten' at Teatro alla Scala, Milan. Photo © 2015 Brescia-Amisano. Click on the image for higher resolution

As I pointed out in 2012, the set could not fit a normal opera house stage, not even in a large theatre like La Scala. Thus, the production was drastically changed. The stage was divided into two levels: most of the action takes place in the lower level, and in the upper level, one could see the soldiers in their barracks, in beer halls, in brothels. It worked quite well. The more intimate setting underlined a new dimension: for those who are damned to be soldiers 'from here to eternity', following Kipling's poem and the title of a well known novel and movie of the Fifties, the war is always on. During an armistice (such is the period when Die Soldaten takes place), the fight consists of humiliating women. The plot revolves around the destitution of a simple middle class girl, who becomes a prostitute and later a beggar.

Daniel Brenna as Deportes and Laura Aikin as Marie in Part 1 of Zimmermann's 'Die Soldaten' at Teatro alla Scala, Milan. Photo © 2015 Brescia-Amisano. Click on the image for higher resolution

At La Scala the orchestra is not divided into three parts. Closer to Zimmermann's intentions, the main orchestra is in the pit but there are various instrumental groups in the side boxes and also in the upper tier. This allows Ingo Metzmacher and La Scala's orchestra to envelop the audience with very interesting stereophonic sounds.

Matjaz Ribavs as Haudi, Laura Aikin as Marie, plus chorus and extras in Part 2 of Zimmermann's 'Die Soldaten' at Teatro alla Scala, Milan. Photo © 2015 Brescia-Amisano. Click on the image for higher resolution

On the opening night there were over ten minutes of accolades for the cast, the orchestra and the chorus and a real ovation for protagonist Laura Aikin. The other twelve protagonists, out of a twenty five singer cast playing nearly forty different parts, were also very good.

Curtain calls at the end of Zimmermann's 'Die Soldaten' at Teatro alla Scala, Milan. Photo © 2015 Brescia-Amisano. Click on the image for higher resolution

It must be noted that 17 January 2015 was a Saturday night, so there was no excuse for the empty seats in the orchestra rows. Also, at the 15 January 2015 dress rehearsal open to students, only a limited number showed up. These could be indications that Milan's appreciation of modern music has a long way to go.

Copyright © 26 January 2015 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy

BERND ALOIS ZIMMERMANN

LA SCALA

MILAN

SALZBURG

FIRST WORLD WAR

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A Bold Decision in Music and Vision 30 gennaio

A Bold Decision

'Il Trovatore in Naples',
reviewed by GIUSEPPE PENNISI

Even though Il Trovatore is one of the three Verdi operas generally referred to as the 'popular trilogy', and in the nineteenth and the first part of the twentieth centuries it was staged as often as the other two operas — Rigoletto and Traviata — it seems now to not be as often performed. I could not find any recent review in M&V, for example. In the latter part of the twentieth century, musicologists considered it a step backward from Rigoletto because of its unabashedly formalistic approach when compared with the freer form of the previous opera. More recently, it has been generally accepted that Il Trovatore has a great deal of innovation: each of its eight scenes is a complex musical number by itself based on a specific theme although within each scene there are arias, duets and trios. Also, within each scene/number, homage is paid to Donizetti's melodrama and even to Bellini's belcanto.

In casting Il Trovatore there is always a major question mark: are there nowadays the kind of voices required for the four main roles with the musical energy to stir the enthusiasm of the audience? This is, in my view, the key question to be addressed when reviewing the Trovatore that returned after ten years on 12 December 2014 to inaugurate the 2014-2015 Teatro San Carlo opera season in Naples. This review is based on the 14 December matinée performance which featured the same cast as on 12 December.

To start an opera season with Il Trovatore is a bold decision for musical, not for dramaturgical reasons. Thus, only a few words on Michal Znaniecki's staging: a single set by Luigi Scoglio, projections by Michal Rovner and costumes by Giusi Giustino. The action is moved to the 1936-39 Spanish War; it is not much of an innovation — ie in Budapest for nearly ten years the Conte di Luna and his armies wore Francisco Franco uniforms, whilst Manrico and gypsies seemed Republicans. The only exception is Leonora in elegant eighteen fifties silk dresses — a way to separate the innocent and pure character from the war between brothers not aware of their blood link. It was quite an effective staging with good acting.

The most interesting part was Nicola Luisotti's musical direction. Luisotti is about to leave Naples to devote his time and efforts almost entirely to the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House. He conducted each of the eight scenes with a terse and swift style which gave the opera almost a movie rhythm: with a single intermission, the total duration was a short two and an half hours.

The four key voices were quite good, compatible with what is available on today's market. Marco Berti was a generous Manrico, even though now he is a bit ordinary. Ekaterina Semenchuk was a high level Azucena who could reach a very low register. Juan Jesús Rodríguez was a Conte di Luna with the right timbre for a baritone-in-love. Young Armenian Lianna Haroutounian was a soprano able to move from belcanto in the second scene to the highly dramatic arias in the latter part of the performance.

Boldness was rewarded with accolades by the San Carlo audience.

Copyright © 30 December 2014 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy