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Munich Opera Festival 2008 (7): R. Strauss,  Ariadne auf Naxos, Soloists Bayerische Staatsorchester Conductor:Kent Nagano Prinzregententheater Munich. 27.7.2008. (JMI)

New Production Bayerische Staatsoper Munich

Production Team:
Director: Robert Carsen
Sets: Peter Pabst
Costumes: Falk Bauer
Lighting: Manfred Voss

Cast:
Ariadne: Adrienne Pieczonka, soprano
Zerbinetta: Diana Damrau, soprano
Bacchus: Burkhard Fritz, tenor
Composer: Daniela Sindram, mezzo
Music Master: Martin Gantner, baritone
Harlekin: Nikilay Borchev, baritone
Dance Master. Guy De Mey, tenor
Scaramuccio: Ulrich Ress, tenor
Truffaldino: Steven Humes, bass
Brighella: Kevin Conners, tenor
Nayade: Aga Mikolaj, soprano
Dryade: Anaïk Morel, mezzo
Echo: Sine Bundgaard, soprano


In the world of opera, as in any other, the degree of personal satisfaction from a performance depends to a great extent on  initial expectations. For that reason I consider that disappointment is not some sort of  absolute value:  it can only reflect what one feels when the standard achieved falls below what was anticipated.

I say this because my feeling after this performance was rather less than enthusiastic. Beforehand, I considered this Ariadne as the peak of my Munich visit, since it had not only Pieczonka and Damrau in the cast, but had Kent Nagano conducting and Robert Carsen as Stage Director.  It goes without saying that my disappointment was not shared by most of the audience, who awarded a great triumph to the production,  and I really am not saying  that this was mistaken.  My own appreciation of it could be completely wrong in this instance, but I can only give my honest impression of what I saw and heard.

Robert Carsen has become one of the great figures in  stage direction in recent years and in my personal opinion,  is one of the most imaginative artists in the field. I always expect the best from him, because I consider him to be a true theatrical genius. On this occasion however there seemed to be two very disparate parts to his concept for Ariadne auf Naxos. There was a totally convincing and imaginative Prologue, full of important detail, but then there was the true opera, to which Carsen brought excessive repetitions from his previous works.  I found that part very unpersuasive

Before the performance started, we saw  a ballet rehearsal room with a big mirror at the back and people exercising on stage.  When the music began we then had the Viennese Millionaire and his Hofmeister  watching the rehearsal. The mirror disappeared to leave a bare stage, on which people began  working on the opera.

For the opera itself, Carsen offered us a bare and darkened stage, on which the  abandoned Ariadne was accompanied by numerous others  dressed exactly like her and miming her movements -  including  Zerbinetta and her troupe.  Zerbinetta’s big scene became a Music Hall number with dancing boys, which was hardly original. For the final scene,  Ariadne was again accompanied by another ten “Ariadnes” and Bacchus entered with another ten “Bacchuses”, singing the duet as two different teams.  It was  hard to know what to feel after watching this.

After the magnificent interpretation of Salomé the previous day, my musical expectations were also very high, considering that we had the Bayerische Staatsorchester led by Kent Nagano once again.  I was expecting more from him but he  also failed to move  me in this work, which is usually so intimate and subtle. There were good moments, even very good, but at no point was I moved by what I experienced, although I recognize that Carsen's conception could not have been  much help to the musicians.

The protagonist Ariadne was Canadian Adrienne Pieczonka and her performance was memorable. She is one of the most interesting sopranos of the present time, combining a voice of great beauty with outstanding vocal technique and great expressiveness.

Of Diana Damrau,  I can only say that she is today’s Zerbinetta and  only Gruberova and Dessay, when they were at their peak, could compare with her. She is not only a great singer, with amazing facility, but her voice is not as light a soprano as is so often cast in this role.

The German mezzo Daniela Sindram was a good Komponist. She is not an exceptional singer, but she was very convincing. There was some isolated booing at the end of the Prologue, which produced a big reaction in the audience although  some  people believed that the booing was part of the production, which could certainly be true.

Bacchus is an almost impossible role. Here we had  Burkhard Fritz, who was reliable and worthy, although with some minor  pitch problems. Young Nikolay Borchev offered some  interesting singing as Harlekin and the veteran Martin Gantner was a very good Music Master. Guy de Mey was vocally ‘tight’ as the Dance Master but there were good performances from the rest of Zerbinetta’s troupe, including Ulrich Ress (Scaramuccio), Steven Humes (Truffaldino) and Kevin Conners (Brighella). The three nymphs were also good,  with Aga Mikolaj (Najade), Anaïk Morel (Dryade) and Sine Bundgaard (Echo).

The theatre was completely sold out, with many “suche karte” signs outside. Zerbinetta received a rousing ovation and at  the final bows the audience clearly showed that they thought the whole thing had been a huge triumph, with the greatest successes going,  of course, to Pieczonka and Damrau (ex aequo)  but with considerable appreciation too for Sindram and Nagano.

For myself, I was simply disappointed.

José M. Irurzun


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