“City of the Dead” (“Die tote Stadt”, 1920) is Erich Korngold’s most played opera, even though he was only 19 when he began composing. About Erich Wolfgang Korngold Photo: Georg Fayer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Born: May 29, 1897, Brno, Austria-Hungary (now Czech Republic) Died: November 29, 1957, Los Angeles, USA Occupation: Composer and conductor Known for: Early musical talent, wrote the ballet “Der Schneemann” as an 11-year-old One of the most popular opera composers in Europe in the interwar period Fleeed from Nazism to the USA in the 1930s One of the architects behind “The Hollywood Sound”, the sumptuous romantic tonal language that gives sound to the films of Hollywood’s golden age “Die tote Stadt” is considered Korngold’s most important opera Style: Late Romantic music Awards: Won the Oscar for best original score for “The Adventures of Robin Hood” and “Anthony Adverse” The opera is about the vacillating Paul who is drawn towards a femme fatale (Marietta) who looks confusingly like his late wife Marie. Otherwise, “City of the Dead” offers various well-established operatic clichés, such as Catholic mysticism and characters from commedia dell’arte – all together with the ghost town of Brügge as a dreamlike backdrop. To put it this way: There is no shortage of ambition for Vienna’s wonderboy. The tonal language combines Richard Strauss’s hyper-brilliant orchestral style with sentimental melodic outbursts à la Puccini. In my opinion, Korngold never quite manages to match his role models, even if he turns the volume up to 11. All the same, “City of the Dead” is an extremely captivating opera. Its two hits – “Mariettenlied” and “Pierrot’s Tanzlied” – should make both Strauss and Puccini envious. Inner death and destructive acting The director whom Bergen National Opera has given the honor of staging “City of the Dead” is none other than Catalan Calixto Bieito, who returns to the Grieg Hall after several critically acclaimed Festival productions. FRISK GENGG: Directed by Calixto Bieto, the characters struggle with a loss of sense of reality. Fv. Kristofer Lundin (Count Albert), Sarah Gilford (Juliette), Nadja Stefanoff (Marietta), Arnheiður Eiríksdóttir (Lucienne), Álvaro Zambrano (Gaston). In the background: Vincent Wolfsteiner (Paul). Photo: Kai Flatekvål / BNO Under Bieito’s direction, “City of the Dead” primarily represents a state of dying inside. Paul’s clinging to the past appears as just one of many strategies to replace the emptiness of existence. Overweight and with greasy hair, he struts around the stage with an SLR camera around his neck, like a walking monument to a male role long past its prime. But Marietta is no longer on top either. On the contrary, she appears as a shadow of what we can imagine she once was. The other characters on stage all show a propensity for violence, self-harm and other varieties of destructive behavior. Poetic and vulgar We are therefore talking about classic Bieito here, and not unexpectedly this has become a show that alternates between the poetic and the vulgar, or the ingenious and the banal. INCIDENT: From the second act, at about the time when news’s critic fell off. From left Álvaro Zambrano (Gaston), Sarah Gilford (Juliette), Arnheiður Eiríksdóttir (Lucienne), Kristofer Lundin (Count Albert), Dumitru Mitu (Victorin). Photo: Kai Flatekvål / BNO For example, the first act is one of the most beautiful and striking things I have seen for a long time in Grieghallen. In Anna-Sofia Kirsch’s scenography, Paul’s “temple” in memory of his dead wife has become a modern museum room, where four slide projectors project black-and-white images of everyday objects such as toothbrushes, shoes, alcohol bottles, underwear and tablets. What Paul’s dead wife looks like, or whether she even existed, remains an open question. In contrast, the second act degenerates into an eventually well-known exercise in regio-opera clichés, with many whims and few ideas. I’ve seen this before both with Bieito and other directors, and it simply falls off a bit. ANTI-CLIMAX: Paul (Vincent Wolfsteiner) confronts Marietta (Nadja Stefanoff) in the third act. Photo: Kai Flatekvål / BNO The last act picks up, but Bieito gets surprisingly little out of the big confrontation between Paul and Marietta. Wanted: beautiful song “Die tote Stadt” is notorious for its two very demanding lead roles. In addition, productions of the opera need a good-sounding lyric baritone to handle the intensely beautiful “Pierrot’s Tanzlied” in the second act. Unfortunately, genuinely beautiful singing is in short supply this evening in Grieghallen. VOCAL HIGHLIGHT: Mezzo-soprano Tone Kummervold (Brigitta). Photo: Kai Flatekvål / BNO Vincent Wolfsteiner sounds strained through most of Paul’s high-pitched and powerful tenor part. Soprano Nadja Stefanoff in the role of Marietta struggles to penetrate the massive orchestral sound. Of the larger roles, only mezzo-soprano Tone Kummervold gives a solid performance as the maid Brigitta. The lack of vocal excess is the main reason why this performance never quite grabs me. The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra plays neatly and precisely under its conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen, but in the end there is something restrained about the expression. DOWN TOUR: The opera’s big hit “Pierrot’s Tanzlied” was never a moving experience in the Grieghallen. With makeup: Günter Papendell (Frank/Fritz). Photo: Kai Flatekvål / BNO The biggest impression is made by the three Edvard Grieg choirs (adult choir, boys’ and girls’ choir), which for the occasion are placed at the very top of the Grieg Hall, behind the audience. Hitting a nerve One thing is certain: No one can accuse opera director Eivind Gullberg Jensen of underestimating his audience. Korngold’s opera is a mouthful, and Bieito is not exactly known for holding back on the means either. I do not ignore the fact that some of those who bought a ticket for what is being marketed as a “magnificent opera by an Oscar-winning Hollywood composer” came home after the performance somewhat pale in the face. If not exactly Hollywood nostalgia, there is just as much something deeply melancholic about Bieto’s direction that precisely hits a nerve both in the work itself and the times in which we live. Precisely for this reason, this is a performance that sits in, even if the execution could have been better. news reviews Photo: Bergen National Opera About the play: Title: “The city of the dead” Original title: “Die tote Stadt” Music: Erich Wolfgang Korngold Libretto: Paul Schott, after Georges Rodenbach’s novel “Bruges-la-Morte” By: Bergen National Opera Location: Grieghallen, Bergen Duration: approx. 2 hours and 30 minutes, including a 30-minute break after act 2 Language: sung in German, subtitles in Norwegian and English Musicians: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edvard Grieg Choir, Edvard Grieg Boys’ Choir and Edvard Grieg Girls’ Choir Artistic team: Conductor: Eivind Gullberg Jensen Director : Calixto Bieito Set Designer: Anna-Sofia Kirsch Costume Designer: Paula Klein Lighting Designer: Michael Bauer Video Designer: Adria Bieito Cami Choir Master: Håkon Matti Skrede Cast: Paul: Vincent Wolfsteiner Marie and Marietta: Nadja Stefanoff Frank and Fritz: Günter Papendell/Jochen Kupfer Brigitta: Tone Kummervold Victorin: Dumitru Mitu Juliette: Sarah Gilford Lucienne: Arnheiður Eiríksdóttir Gaston: Álvaro Zambrano Count Albert: Kristofer Lundin Published 05.11. 2024, at 15.44
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“The city of the dead” at Bergen National Opera – news Culture and entertainment
