SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Munich Opera Festival 2008 (8): Verdi, Tchaikowsky, Loewe, Porter, Von Reznicek, Lehar, Soloists: Karita Mattila (soprano)  Thomas Hampson (baritone) Bayerische Staatsorchester,  conductor, Kent Nagano Nationaltheater Munich. 28.7.2008 (JMI)


Like the previous evening's Ariadne auf Naxos, this concert was not exactly what I was expecting. The original scheduled programme was to have had Nagano and Anja Harteros with Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs in the second half but  for reasons unkown to me that  was cancelled some months ago and was replaced with this new one.  Munich certainly justifies its status when replacing singers or concerts however, since instead of Harteros we had real two superstars -  Karita Mattila and Thomas Hampson.

The program was rather surprising: the first half was dedicated to opera (Verdi and Tchaikowsky) and  the second half given over entirely  to musical comedy and operetta;  more suited perhaps to an outdoor Summer Concert or as a closer to the Proms.

Karita Mattila began with  “Pace, pace, mio Dio” from La Forza del Destino after which I felt she is not really a Verdi soprano simply because I was not convinced by her interpretation. Her next piece was the Simon Boccanegra duet with Hampson but then, neither of them seemed really outstanding at  Verdi.  In the duet from the first act of Onegin things began to develop much better, and once into the second part of the concert Mattila showed her ability to communicate with the public, particularly in “Meine Lippen” from Lehar’s Giudita, after which she was cheered. The best known duet from The Merry Widow was also very amusing in the way it was performed by both artists.  As an encore Ms sang “Summertime” in a distinctly personal version, complete with some faulty high notes. To finish the concert she became Maria to Hampson’s Tony in Bernstein’s Tonight from West Side Story.

Of Thomas Hampson I can only say something similar to what I've just said  about Karita Mattila He began the concert with the Macbeth aria “Pietá, rispetto, amore”, which he sang uniformly forte and vocally miles away from the ideal Verdi baritone. Something similar happened in the duet from Boccanegra, although there at least he did sing softly. He was a very convincing Onegin however, where he also showed what a great actor he can be. In the second half he was at his best in the three songs by Cole Porter, especially in Petruccio's song from Kiss me, Kate. As an encore he offered the famous song from Zigeunerbaron, with which he was truly outstanding.

Kent Nagano and the Bayerische Staatsoper, besides accompanying the stars in the first part, played the overture from La Forza del Destino, the Prelude from Traviata and a surprising and magnificent Tchaikowsky Capriccio Italiano, all of which were absolutely memorable. In the festive part they performed the overtures from My Fair Lady and the less well-known Donna Diana by Von Reznicek.

This rather light hearted concert pleased the public, although personally I  missed Anja Harteros and Strauss's best music. Maybe I'm just getting old?

José M. Irurzun


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