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Janaček, The Makropulos Case: Soloists, Orquesta y Coro de la Sinfónica de Madrid Conductor: Paul Daniel Teatro Real de Madrid. 16. 6.2008. (JMI)


Co-production: Opera National de Paris and Teatro Real.

Director: Krsysztof Warlikowski
Sets and Costumes: Malgorzata Szczesniak
Lighting: Felice Ross
Video: Denis Gueguin

Cast:

Emilia Marty: Angela Denoke/ Anna-Katharine Behnke soprano
Albert Gregor: Charles Workman/ Pär Lindsskog tenor
Jaroslav Prus: Vincent Le Texier/ baritone     
Dr. Kolenaty: Tomasz Konieczny bass baritone
Vitek: David Kuebler tenor
Janek: Ales Briscein tenor
Krista: Deanne Meek mezzo
Hauk: Ryland Davies tenor


During the last 30 years we have witnessed an increasing number of productions of the works of two great composers - Benjamin Britten and Leos Janacek, despite the fact that many traditional opera-goers continue to regard their works with a certain distrust, and in Spain it is not unusual to find empty seats for these performances.

Both the Liceu and Teatro Real are offering operas by these two composers and I must say that in almost every case, both theatres have found them to be the greatest successes of their seasons. This also happened in Bilbao with Peter Grimes and Jenufa, and in Oviedo too with the latter. There is only Seville and Valencia to be added to the list.

Makropulos is an opera that made a great impact on me when I saw it for the first time, having as it does outstanding music and a libretto full of stage possibilities. After having seen almost all Janacek operas staged, I consider that Makropulos is one of the best, although it has taken a  very long time to  arrive at many theatres, only coming to Paris last year and taking until 1999 (at Barcelona’s Liceu) to reach Spain. The opera is now presented for the first time in Madrid.

The stage work is a coproduction between the Teatro Real and Opera National de Paris, where it was premiered in May 2007. The stage direction is the by  Krsysztof Warlikowski, who is one of those fashionable directors in Europe, mostly known for his  “originalities”. Here, he  changes the action from the Prague of 1822, as shown in the libretto, into the Hollywood of the post-war period. The protagonist with her long life of 337 years is no longer an opera singer but becomes a movie star,  which works against the libretto more than once.

For Warlikowski, Emilia Marty is more a myth than a star, becoming on stage a double of Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch. A good part of the opera takes place in a movie theatre, where we can see images of big Hollywood pictures, with Gloria Swanson and also no  other than King Kong! Everything seems like a tribute (somewhat childish, I dare to say) by Warlikowski to the world of the cinema and its myths, which survive even the stars themselves. It is worth  mentioning here the transformation of Krista into a new Marilyn at the point when Emilia Marty dies.

Warlikowski also seems to be paying tribute to personal hygiene, since I cannot otherwise understand his insistence on the action taking place around toilets and bathtubs. This seems to be a kind of obsession with him, since it is repeated in other productions of his. The singers  are already well-versed in this production as they have all performed the piece before in Paris and   apart from the inconsistencies inherent in the production, the sets are really attractive (if we forget everything around toilets).

Paul Daniel was responsible for the musical direction and  was much better than I expected. He was particularly brilliant  in the  beautiful overture, but in general he conducted with gentleness and intensity. The Orchestra played a good performance, far better than on some other occasions.

Angela Denoke’s interpretation of Emilia Marty lived the character from beginning to end and she sang with outstanding intensity and conviction. This character has so many facets that it is particularly complex to perform well. Paul Daniel, in the interview published in the programme, says that the fundamental thing in interpreting Emilia Marty is to amalgamate all the conflicting parts of her personality, so that the spectator does not perceive any  dominant characteristic in the role. This seems to me very accurate and I must say that Angela Denoke does it perfectly. It is very difficult to conceive a more convincing interpreter. She was all of the different Martys at the same time and was always more than luminous in purely vocal terms.

In the second cast we had German soprano Anna-Katharina Behnke, who also offered  a very convincing interpretation, comparable to Angela Denoke's the previous day. There is some difference in nuances that work in favour of Denoke but  Ms. Behnke does offers a very acceptable voice in the middle range, although  it becomes too metallic higher up.

Charles Workman was a better actor than singer  as  Albert Gregor. His voice never has been particularly beautiful, but now it has very serious difficulties in the high register, where it can be unpleasant. In the second cast Pär Lindskog was a good Gregor, in much  better shape than Workman.

French baritone Vincent Le Texier gave a decent interpretation of Jaroslav Prus, although was not at his best on the first night. His singing was much stronger on the following evening. Tomasz Konieczny was a convincing Dr. Kolenaty in all  senses. David Kuebler was a reliable Vitek. Ales Briscein offered a keenly fresh voice as Janek. Deanne Meek was of little interest as Krista, while veteran Ryland  Davies was an amusing and touching Hauk-Sendorf.

The opera was played without intermission and the Teatro Real had empty seats, which is unusual for a premiere. At the final bows there was a triumph for Angela Denoke who was much applauded, as was Paul Daniel and the four member creative team.  For  the second cast there were again empty seats, but there were more young people than on other occasions, as they can attend the opera with discounts of 60 %, which I think is a good idea by the management. Anna-Katharina Behnke received a very warm reception on this occasion.

José M. Irurzun


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