SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Munich Opera Festival 2008 (6):  W.Rihm,  Das Gehege and R.Strauss,  Salome. Bayerische Staatsorchester. Conductor. Kent Nagano. Nationaltheater Munich. 26.7.2008 (JMI)

Production Bayerische Staatsoper.

Director: William Friedkin
Sets. Hans Schavernoch.
Costumes: Petra Reinhardt.
Lighting: Mark Jonathan.

Casts:

Das Gehege.
The Woman: Gabriele Schnaut

The Eagle (Dancer): Steven Barrett.

Salome:

Salome: Angela Denoke
Jochanaan: Alan Held.
Herod: Wolgang Schmidt.
Herodias: Iris Vermillion.
Narraboth: Wookyung Kim.
Herodias's Page: Daniela Sindram.


On some occasions (too many perhaps) one leaves the opera more or less disappointed, on some others one leaves satisfied and for a  very few, one leaves with the feeling of having attended an exceptional performance.  All opera lovers have memories of performances that have impressed them for special reasons and while they may not be many, some performances are truly unforgettable. This Munich Salome in Munich is one of them. With a spectacular production,  thrilling musical interpretation and an outstanding  cast  (especially the protagonist in Salome) this performance was extraordinary at all levels. I left the opera house thinking that I had been lucky to be there.

Munich's double bill added  Wofgang Rihm’s Das Gehege as kind of prologue to Salome. Kent Nagano himself commission the piece from Rihm, who composed it around a work by the German writer Botho  Strauss. It is full  of German symbolism and  not for nothing  do we find that  the action takes place in Berlin Zoo on the night of the fall of the Wall. A woman visits  an eagle's cage (doubtless a clear enough symbol)  frees the eagle and finally kills it. There are clear  parallels between this plot and Salome, particularly at the end.

It is not easy for any contemporary composer to have an opera performed and it is  more difficult still to get new work  accepted by the public but Wolfgang Rihm achieves that. This music is much  easier than Rihm’s Jakob Lenz or even Schoenberg's Erwartung which accompanied Salome in Bilbao recently. Das Gehege is a very interesting work, magnificently orchestrated.

The production of this double bill is a work by the  American film director William Friedkin and is  truly spectacular. Hans Schavernoch, one of greatest designers for the stage, provides a series of mobile U-shaped white panels, which frequently change position, offering different stage sets, from an arcade corridor, to a large room in Herod's palace, passing through a spectacular cavern or prison with an enormous truncated wing that comes up from below the stage. All these movements  take place with enormous precision. Costumes are very effective too  and there is more than remarkable lighting. William Friedkin also uses the panels in Das Gehege, adding a human figure (a dancer) as the eagle, who will reappear in Salome as a kind of  Angel of Death, who offers the veils to Salome, takes the ring from Herod's hand and finally kills Jochanaam. Friedkin presents a young and capricious Salome, fully aware of  her erotic powers.  This Princess could not be more credible and  ss I said already, it is one the most spectacular productions I have seen lately, full of good taste and with outstanding interpretations from the singers, particularly Angela Denoke.

Kent Nagano has had  the hard task of replacing Zubin Mehta at Munich for the last two years and I have had the feeling more than once that he does not have the wholehearted approval from the audience, certainly until now.  Nevertheless, in Salome he delivered an outstanding performance, one of the best possible today anywhere. His reading was full of strength and inspiration and he drew a miraculous performance from his great orchestra.  At last,  Kent Nagano has proved that he is worthy of his position in Munich and has one his public round.

Angela Denoke was Salome from the moment she came on stage. She lived the character with an extraordinary intensity, putting all her physical resources and expressiveness to its service. She moved on the stage like a cat, becoming the focus of attention for  everybody present. She performed the Dance with remarkable agility, worthy of a trained dancer, with the support of the added character of Angel of Death.  She is not too dramatic or too powerful soprano, but it is difficult for anyone to act and sing Salome in such a convincing way. When someone delivers so much intensity and emotion, the details become superfluous.

In Das Gehege the only singing character is a Woman who has no name as in Erwartung, although in Botho Strauss's play she is identified as Anita von Scharstof, the daughter of an official assassinated for plotting against the Nazis.  Her interpreter was Gabriele Schnaut -  as if she had not sung enough the  night before in Elektra. Her interpretation was very convincing though her voice was  much more difficult to control than the previous day, which surely must have been due to accumulated fatigue

American baritone Alan Held was a sonorous and powerful Jochanaan whose interpretation was more full of strength than nuance, with a certain lack of visionary sense.  Wolfgang Schmidt (Herod) has gone from  a dramatic tenor, criticized by all, when he sang the great heroic roles, to become a very good character tenor. For  this type of role a voice of great beauty is not required  (his never was) but a convincing portrayal of the character is necessary and Schmidt does  that wonderfully. Iris Vermillion as Herodías, also acted well, again with a powerful but not too beautiful voice. Korean Wookyung Kim was a splendid Narraboth. This tenor has a gorgeous voice, very well projected and  he is also a  remarkable actor, although his appearance may not be that of the romantic hero. He is worthy  consideration for   the main lyric repertoire to my mind, although some stage directors would probably  not agree.

The rest of secondary roles were very well performed as usual and there was not a single empty seat to be seen. This was a huge, spectacular triumph for Angela Denoke, who was forced into countless solo  curtain calls. There were triumphant receptions too for Kent Nagano, Wolfgang Schmidt, for Wookyung Kim and for Gabriele Schnaut in Das Gehege.

Neither glamour, nor mystique really matter in opera. What actually  counts is simply  quality which is  what Munich consistently offers.

José M Irurzun


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