la scala: superb peter mattei, disappointing netrebko in elegant barenboim don giovanni

Don Giovanni, La Scala, December 2011. Production: Robert Carsen. Conductor: Daniel Barenboim. Cast: Peter Mattei (Don G), Bryn Terfel (Leporello), Anna Netrebko (Donna Anna), Barbara Frittoli (Donna Elvira), Kwangchoul Yun (Commendatore), Giuseppe Filianoti (Don Ottavio), Anna Prohaska (Zerlina), Stefan Kocan (Masetto).

The opening is entirely stunning: As the initial two chords of the ouverture fill the auditorium, Peter Mattei runs up the middle aisle and onto the stage where he pulls town the red velvety curtain to reveal a gigantic mirror, reflecting the entire audience: We are (again I am tempted to say), spectators to our own lives.

Robert Carsen clearly loves this sort of theatre-within-theatre concept, which he has previously used in several productions such as Tosca, Contes d´Hoffmann and L´incoronazione di Poppea, just to mention a few. A concept often more exciting on paper than in reality, it does not seem too imposing here where the production, nevertheless, is very elegant, kept mostly in black, gold and dark velvety red colours.

Don Giovanni is a free spirit. Neither malign nor cunning. Just a man, who lives every moment to the fullest. Perhaps this is why he is the last one standing on stage, while the others characters descend into hell in the end. Live life to its fullest! This Don Giovanni certainly has Robert Carsen´s sympathy. And ours as well, not least due to Peter Mattei, who is, in my opinion, quite simply the best Don Giovanni on stage today, with his smooth, direct approach, his beautiful,  beautiful voice as well as his lofty, charming and ultimately very captivating stage manners.

In general, all the singers are from the A-list and probably the best Don Giovanni cast name-per-name one could dream of assembling. Not all live up to expectations, though. However, the two mail protagonists certainly do and Bryn Terfel equals Peter Mattei in what is in one of his best roles. Terfel has always been a much better Leporello than Don Giovanni, Leporello being his own favourite as well. A rather rough, clumsy character, never failing to catch the eye and his bass-barytone contrasts well with Peter Mattei´s barytone.
This time, the ungrateful part of Don Ottavio is left with Giuseppe Filianoti, who does well without exactly distinguishing himself, though Mozart did not help him much by giving him two entirely placid arias to sing as well as some uninteresting recitatives.

Donna Anna is one of the roles that launches the international career of Anna Netrebko. In this production, she clearly loves Don Giovanni but feels obliged to hide her relation with him after the murder of her father. However, she disappoints, mostly vocally, being frequently off tune and sounding murky. I very much doubt we will see much more Mozart from here in the future.

Barbara Frittoli, replacing  Elina Garanca, was a fluttery, nervous Donna Elvira and though she wasn´t exactly a weak link, and definitely better than recently heard at the Metropolitan Opera, the role does not seem to lie well for her.

Up-and-coming Anna Prohaska and Stefan Kocan were sufficiently engaging as Zerlina/Masetto while I would have preferred a much blacker sound for the Commendatore than what Kwangchoul Yun possesses.

Daniel Barenboim´s relationship with Don Giovanni began in 1953 when he assisted the cembalist in a run of Furtwängler-conducted performances. Thus it should comes as no surprise that Barenboim conducts in the style of Furtwängler and Klemperer, lightyears from the period-specific approaches some may prefer today. Not me, though.  About 5 years ago in Berlin, Daniel Barenboim conducted the best Don Giovanni I have ever heard live and again here at La Scala his broad, slow tempi and his unfailing sense of the contrapunctual elements of the score was thrilling. 

Final scene (beginning):

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

Peter Mattei: 5

Bryn Terfel: 5

Anna Netrebko: 3

Barbara Frittoli: 4

Giuseppe Filianoti: 4

Anna Prohaska: 4

Stefan Kocan: 4

Daniel Barenboim: 5

Robert Carsen´s production: 5

Overall impression: 4-5

La Scala Lohengrin 2012 season opening

Lohengrin. Teatro alla Scala, December 2012 opening night, streamed. Production: Claus Guth. Conductor: Daniel Barenboim. Cast: Jonas Kaufmann (Lohengrin), Annette Dasch (Elsa), René Pape (Heinrich), Evelyn Herlitzius (Ortrud), Tomas Tomasson (Telramund), Zeljko Lucic (Heerrufer).

At 7 pm, German soprano Annette Dasch received a phone call in her Berlin home. If she could possibly come to Milano and sing Elsa in the new Claus Guth production of Lohengrin the next evening for the season opening of La Scala in Milano, as Anja Harteros was ill? To be televised directly, obviously. 3 hours later she was on the plane. The next day, she had a 2 hour session with Claus Guth and 10 minutes with Daniel Barenboim. She had worked with Barenboim before, but not in Wagner operas, as well as with Claus Guth. And she had sung Elsa to Jonas Kaufmann´s Lohengrin in 2009 in Bayreuth, in a production where Elsa is a disturbed character, not entirely unlike her characterization in this production.

Claus Guth is particularly known for emphasising the darker sides of standard repertoire work - just take a look at his Nozze di Figaro or Cosí fan tutte, both available on DVD. His favourite century is the 19^th century (source: himself) and setting his Lohengrin in a repressive Biedermeier society seems just like the thing he would do. We are in an open space surrounded by balconies and doors. A piano and some stretches of grass represent the past with frequent flashbacks of Elsa playing the piano under Ortrud´s rough guidance. Elsa and her brother were  repressed (if not physically abused) as children. It is this repressive society that Elsa longs to leave, and thus she conjures up Lohengrin, a sickly, neurotic wretch whom she clearly does not love and finally rejects. Also frequently seen on stage: A child with swan feathers and Lohengrin more often than not curled up in a fetal position. According to an interview Claus Guth´s agenda evolved around how people arrived at their own happiness after a deprived childhood. He raises plenty of questions, however. Such as why Lohengrin has to be so sickly? While it is excellent with a staging raising plenty of questions I ultimately felt that the lack of consistency and interpersonal relations (especially between Elsa and this sickly Lohengrin) were the weakness of this staging. 

For Jonas Kaufmann, the ultimate romantic hero, one could wish for him to appear in a slightly more traditional production or at least one where he is allowed to show the romantic/as written in the score sides of Lohengrin:  In 2009 in Bayreuth he was in the middle of a rat experiment, later that year in Munich he was a carpenter, and here in Milano he is a neurotic fragment of Elsa´s fantasy, stripped of all pretenses, rolling on the floor curved in fetal position.

His singing, however, is formidable and he just seems to get better and better. A couple of years ago one would often hear that he could not go on singing like that, with his shaded tenor pushing for the high notes. That criticism is nowadays seldom heard. Anyway, I for one, have always thought that, unlike Villazon, his singing seems rock solid. Really he is virtually beyond competition as Lohengrin today.

Annette Dasch is a formidable actress, and creates an intensely moving portrayal of Elsa, quite better than her performance at Bayreuth. However, legato lines and blooming topnotes still are not her specialty and Anja Harteros remains the better singer of the two while Annette Dasch clearly is the superior actress.

René Pape was superb in what is a medium-opportunity role for him and Zeljko Lucic was luxury casting as Heerrufer.

As for the socalled villains, they were unfortunately disappointing. Tomas Tomasson was heavily overmatched and Evelyn Herlitzius, though a fine actress, was wobbly and frankly unpleasant to listen to. Could Barenboim not have called Waltraud Meier for this, really?

The Scala orchestra plays formidable for Barenboim. As I noticed some years ago when he conducted Tristan and Isolde here, there is a particular expansive sound to the orchestra, not heard when he conducts his Berlin hometown orchestra.

Official production trailer:

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

Jonas Kaufmann: 5
Annette Dasch: 4
René Pape: 5
Tomas Tomasson: 3
Evelyn Herlitzius: 3

Claus Guth: 4
Daniel Barenboim: 5

Overall impression: 4

Another Nadja Michael Salome DVD

Salome. DVD. 2007 La Scala, Milano. Prod: Luc Bondy. Cond: Daniel Harding. Cast: Nadja Michael (Salome), Falk Struckmann (Jochanaan), Iris Vermillion (Herodias), Peter Bronder (Herodes).

For unexplicable reasons (actually, not really, her looks explain it) Nadja Michael now appears on two Salome DVDs, the other being the 2008 McVicar production at the London Royal Opera.

Nadja Michael is the exact type of opera singer, I´d love to give a raving review and in theory see in everything: She looks more than great, she has a body to die for (a former competitive swimmer in the former East Germany), she is agile on stage, she is a great actress. And before she switched fach from mezzo to soprano, she was in fact also a good singer. I still remember her Brangäne in Carnegie Hall around 2000.
However, these days are long gone indeed. Looks apart, Nadja Michael simply cannot sing anymore, not to speak of the part of Salome, with the fiendishly high tessitura way way above her comfort zone. Furthermore, her vibrato has become excessive, the sum being a distinctly ugly sound.
Apparently many disagree, since she has made something of a career with the part, singing it both at the London Royal Opera, San Francisco and on this current La Scala production.

The rest of the cast is relatively good, Falk Struckmann effective as Jochanaan, though also he past his prime and Iris Vermillion an attractive Herodias.

It is also the second time we see this Luc Bondy production on DVD, the first time with Catherine Malfitano and Bryn Terfel from London, as usual, plays with shades of light in an otherwise eventless slash Victorian style thriller staging.

However, a Salome without a Salome, no matter the qualities of the other production elements, simply does not work.

Trailer:

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):


Nadja Michael: 2
Falk Struckmann: 3
Iris Vermillion: 4
Peter Bronder: 3


Bondy´s staging: 3
Daniel Harding: 3


Overall impression: 2

Fura del Baus: Tannhäuser

RAI footage of the unforgiving Karol Wojtyla (aka Pope John Paul II) accompany the third act of the new Fura del Baus staging of Tannhäuser at Scala. Predictably met with booing at opening night.
Otherwise the Catalán theater makers look like themselves:

The infamous booing of Renée Fleming in the 1998 Lucrezia Borgia at La Scala

In her autobiography, Renée Fleming described this as the worst night of her operatic life: The booing of her opening night Lucrezia Borgia at La Scala in 1998.

Numerous explanations as to why she was actually booed (from low quality singing and lack of bel canto style to anti-American La Scala fractions) are discussed here. Renée Fleming herself has stated that she in retrospect probably took on too many new parts that season, and that she didn´t feel she was singing her best.

As I know nothing of bel canto, my opinion may count for very little, but apart from the somewhat strange ornamentation dividing the two sections of the aria (is that a high F?), I think she sounded just fine.

You may now judge for yourselves:

Renée Fleming: Era desso from Lucrezia Borgia. La Scala 1998.

Posted on Youtube by WilhelmMeister01

Superb Robert Carsen production of Dialogue des Carmelites on DVD

Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites. La Scala 2004. Production: Robert Carsen. Cast: Dagmar Schellenberger (Blanche), Laura Aikin (Constance), Barbara Dever (Mére Marie), Anja Silja (Mme de Croissy). Conductor: Riccardo Muti. More information here.

This 2004 La Scala production of the Dialogues des Carmelites is simply close to ideal. And the aesthetically beautiful and simplistic Robert Carsen production was deservedly elected opera DVD of the year by the BBC music magazine last year.

Poulenc´s music is simple and beautiful as well as tonal and easily accessible, though not without disturbing undertones, effectively underlined by the Scala Orchestra superbly conducted by Riccardo Muti.

The opera takes place during the French revolution, and is the story of the young aristocratic woman Blanche, struggling with a fear of death, who joins the Carmelite Order. Through her meeting with the old prioress and the other nuns, Blanche overcomes her fear of death to a degree that she volunteers to follow her fellow sisters to the guillotine when they are apprehended by the ”revolutionary” forces at the end.

The stage is empty, all wear 18th century dress, and Robert Carsen emphasizes the human drama with contrasts in light and colouring as the only stage effects.

All the (predominately female) cast are excellent, in particular Dagmar Schellenberger as Blanche, who delivers a compelling portrait dramatically as well as vocally, as well as Anja Silja (the old prioress) who dominates her scenes by strong presence. The scene between Blanche and the old prioress as well as the death of the old prioress are the absolute highlights of this production. Also strong performances from Laura Aikin and Barbara Dever in a cast without weak links.

Anja Silja is shattering in Mme de Croissy´s death scene:

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

Dagmar Schellenberger: 5
Laura Aikin: 5
Anja Silja: 5

Robert Carsen´s staging: 5

Riccardo Muti: 5

Overall impression: 5

Berlin: Compelling Tristan with Barenboim, Meier, Storey and Salminen

Waltraud Meier as Isolde (here with Christian Franz)

Tristan and Isolde. Berlin State Opera, May 12th, 2008. Production: Harry Kupfer. Cast: Waltraud Meier (Isolde), Ian Storey (Tristan), Matti Salminen (King Marke), Michaela Schuster (Brangäne), Roman Trekel (Kurwenal), Reiner Goldberg (Melot). Conductor: Daniel Barenboim. Further information here.

The original cast for this performance was Peter Seiffert, Katarina Dalayman and Christof Fischesser. We heard Ian Storey, Waltraud Meier and (as a last-minute replacement) Matti Salminen. I have not heard anyone complain about these substitutions yet...

Much may be (and is) said of Daniel Barenboim. And whatever one may think about him or his accomplishments in other fields, or with other composers, there is general agreement that it is with Richard Wagner, that he truly excels.

While all his Wagner interpretations are genuinely top-class, Tristan and Isolde may represent the sum of his achievements: The electricity he generates from this score, in my opinion, is unmatched by any other conductor alive today.

In other repertoire, he may sometimes give the impression of going for the superficial effects. Not here. He completely masters the structure of the piece – the endless waves of the music, pushing forward relentlessly. Never loosing the big picture it was simply a thrilling performance. I suspect there to have been next to no orchestra rehearsals for this performance. Barenboim may not need it, but the brass section could have used some coordination of their entries, to put it mildly.

The advantages of the Berlin State Opera acoustics to the Bayreuth Festival House with regards to Barenboim´s interpretation of Tristan are obvious: In Bayreuth, the sound generated by the covered orchestra pit softly emerges from underneath blending uniquely with the singers, but you do not get the explosions in the orchestra possible here in Berlin.. This was a more edgy interpretation from Barenboim, compared to the Scala performances earlier this season, and he seemed to be experimenting with the woodwinds as well, leaving some of the rounded, ”Italianate” sound of the Scala performances behind. The result was completely compelling.

I believe I have stated so previously, but I have never heard better conducted live Wagner performances in my entire life than the ones Daniel Barenboim conduct at this house. Not even by Christian Thielemann, who sometimes does get close, though.

Of course, this performance was sold out. Apparently due to practical staging issues related to the company´s previous tour in Japan, this was a presumably one-time performance of the old Harry Kupfer production, as it was thought the new Herzog production would be back next season (which now doesn´t seem likely).

Waltraud Meier. I have never seen her deliver a performance that was anything less than completely compelling. Her interpretative powers, acting skills and pure presence on stage is of a magnitude that whether or not she exactly does hit all the notes precisely on pitch becomes completely irrelevant. The Narrative and Curse was probably the highlight of the entire opera. The variety in acting and word-colouring, the way she and Daniel Barenboim within micro-seconds adjust their tempi to each other was thrilling to watch.

And though irrelevant, she did in fact hit all the notes, the Cs somewhat more briefly than usual, and she was slightly sharper than usual in her high register. But the Liebestod, as always, completely on-pitch and with heart-breaking intensity. In the middle of a European recital tour, she understandably was cautious with her voice at the beginning, and only in the third act did she give the usual 100%, she would doubtless have given here from the start had she been able to plan her schedule around this performance.
As I´ve said before, in my book, she delivers the definitive interpretation of Isolde and I genuinely have no desire whatsoever to see anyone else in this part. Except for maybe Karita Mattila.

I heard Ian Storey´s Tristan earlier this season at La Scala, and his interpretation clearly benefits from this smaller house. Unfortunately (for me) there is a certain vibrato in his middle voice, that I genuinely dislike, but compared to the issues most of his Tristan-singing colleagues have, he has plenty of assets: He is an excellent actor. He convinces dramatically in the part. Furthermore, he looks quite good, and vastly better than most other Tristans around. He does have the high notes. He didn´t seem too tired i the third Act. He could go on to have a major career with this part. And those issues apart, he had superb on-stage chemistry with Waltraud Meier.

As the King Marke you would normally expect for this kind of performance is in New York, and the scheduled Marke Christoph Fischesser was ill, Matti Salminen was flown in from Zurich at the last minute. Matti Salminen´s interpretative powers as King Marke are of a magnitude, that he even after singing several bunches of completely wrong notes in the Monologue he delivered a compelling portrayal.

Michaela Schuster iwas a fine Brangäne. Not a beautiful voice, but effective and ways better than her dry and wobbly Venus last month. Though is´s still not obvious to me why she has to move on to Ortrud now (in both new Lohengrin productions in Berlin and Munich next year).

Roman Trekel as Kurwenal did not seem in very strong voice, and I wonder if these dramatical barytone parts really suit him?

And a curious thing: There was a lot of Chéreau in this production. In particular when Ian Storey covered Waltraud Meier´s eyes at the beginning of the "O sink hernieder" in Act 2. Unless, that of course was Kupfer´s orginigal intention? Also in several situations in Act 1 it seemed (fully understandably) like Ian Storey had imported Chéreau´s (excellent by the way) concept.

I don´t remember the last time I´ve seen standing ovations like this at the Berlin State Opera. Most were for Waltraud Meier, Matti Salminen and Daniel Barenboim.

If Daniel Barenboim doesn´t conduct the Tristan and Isolde next year in Berlin, one almost have to consider visiting the Metropolitan Opera to hear him there. Without Waltraud Meier though…

Walking around La Scala with a camera....

Above: La Scala opera house, Milano taken a few minutes before this performance:

Walking to the opera through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II:

Piazza della Scala with the opera house in the background around midday:

Piazza della Scala seen from the Opera with the entrance to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in the background:

And the mighty Milano Cathedral, only five minutes away by foot:

Busking in the shadow of the Cathedral:

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II around midday:

And, below the Scala Opera around noon. The sense of history around this house is unlike anything I´ve experienced before, possibly equalled by the Vienna State Opera.
Next to the opera is a small museum, through which you may enter one of the balcony boxes of the Scala Opera: Only when I saw the theater workers mounting the sets for the first act of Tristan at 3 pm in the afternoon of the performance, I became entirely convinced they would actually be playing..The records shop within the actual opera house is excellent and displayed several items I have not seen anywhere else, particularly by historical singers associated with La Scala.

And the inside of the theater: Beautifully renovated (in 2002-4) with some excellent seats, particularly in the stalls section. However, the ticket prices for quite a few of the seats in the second (and third) row of the boxes with visibility close to zero and extremely uncomfortable seating pods are far too high considering the inferior quality...And like everywhere else in Italy you have to queue twice at the Bar: Once for paying at the counter and then again fighting for the attention of the bartenders to actually get served. But all are very polite indeed!

Tristan at La Scala: Pure magic

Tristan and Isolde, La Scala, Milano, December 20th. Production: Patrice Chéreau. Cast: Waltraud Meier (Isolde), Ian Storey (Tristan), Michelle DeYoung (Brangäne), Gerd Grochowski (Kurwenal), Matti Salminen (King Marke). Conductor: Daniel Barenboim. Further information here

Miracles of every size happened at La Scala yesterday evening: Beginning with my barely adequate seat in the second row in a box being transformed into a first-rate seat, when the people seated at the first row left after the first act. As it seemed, quite a few people don´t seem to go to La Scala to actually see the opera, in which case it is perfectly understandable that 5 hours and 30 minutes of Wagner may seem a bit excessive for showing off your clothes in the two 40-minute breaks. Just before the third act, I counted 11 completely empty boxes in the opposite half of the auditorium – slightly annoying, considering this entire Tristan and Isolde run was sold out in less than 2 minutes.

In brief: It a was a truly magical evening of the kind I´ll probably only experience a handful of times during my entire lifetime, if I´m lucky. The combination of Chéreau, Barenboim and Waltraud Meier was profoundly moving and even exceeding my wildest expectations.

First, Waltraud Meier: She simply doesn´t have any rival in the world as Isolde. I could try objectively to describe some of what has by other been described as her vocal shortcomings, however once she appears on stage and starts to sing, all these things cease to matter: Her committed acting and profound understanding of the part is immensely moving, overriding whatever vocal issues one may have with her - she simply commands the stage from beginning to the end completely without competition today – just listen to Isolde´s Narration and Curse from the 1st act. Or the intensity of her Liebestod, which paralyzed the entire house. I´ve never experienced anything like it. I actually managed to walk into a mirror on my way down from my box seat (well, it DID look like the staircase).

And Patrice Chéreau´s production was completely breathtaking: The sinister walls, the ship and the simple clothing provided the perfect neutral backdrop for this tragedy. For Chéreau´s true strength lies in making the characters come alive, in creating those grand emotional tableaus. The scenes between Siegmund and Sieglinde in his 1976 Walküre comes to mind, since basically it is the same thing he does here: Create tremendous emotions by the detailed stage direction in which scenes of epic beauty filled with real human emotions are the cornerstones. And his take on the story is the only way it makes sense: There is, of course, no love potion. By believing to be dying from the death potion, Tristan and Isolde admit to their feelings to each other, present (just as in the text) from the start.

Chéreau´s images just lingers on for days: The way Tristan touches Isolde's hair when she asks for revenge - the way Tristan grasps Isolde´s dress after drinking the potion - how the sailors remain frozen when Tristan and Isolde embrace - how Tristan and Marke embrace after the discovery of the couple - Marke desperately holding Isolde back when Tristan is fatally wounded - the blood trickling down Isolde´s chin during the Liebestod – I could go on. Moving beyond words. And by not making this a chamber drama, but placing additional non-speaking characters around the protagonists, Chéreau adds an extra dimension to the drama.

Last in this magical trio, Daniel Barenboim – both epic and dynamic conducting, never loosing the structure of the piece. The Scala orchestra doesn´t (yet) react with the same precision as they do in Berlin, but the sound was glorious. Interestingly, Barenboim´s approach here seemed more Italianate (emphasizing the grandness of the score rather than the usual string dynamics) than I´ve heard him do previously. Curiously Barenboim chose to place all brass and woodwind in the right side of the pit. I was sitting right above the brass section, but the acoustics seemed to balance out nicely. Of course, you´d be tempted to say, he conducted without a score. And is so familiar with Waltraud Meier´s Isolde (they probably have performed it more than 50 times together) that he´d sit down and drink a glass of water while she was singing and saved the standing up and clearly marking the beat for Ian Storey´s passages (where it was clearly needed).
For quite some stretches Barenboim doesn´t even mark the beat and just lets the orchestra play, pointing at various groups of players at a time. Amazingly, the first thing he did after both the 2nd and 3rd act was to immediately go down to one of the string players to have a lengthy discussion with him about some aspects of the score.

Since every new Tristan seems to be judged by Lauritz Melchior standards, British tenor Ian Storey obviously fell somewhat short in the reviewers eyes, and I don´t particularly care for his voice either, but he has one very important advantage: He actually looks and acts like someone Waltraud Meier´s Isolde could fall in love with. Particularly his third act was moving. And I cannot readily think of any of the contemporary Tristan´s that would have been as or more convincing physically. For that, I´ll gladly accept his vocal shortcomings.

At least when René Pape is not around, Matti Salminen is the optimal King Marke. He has exactly the right mixture of a both grand and sorrowful presence, as well as a voice in fine shape making a quite touching monologue. Gerd Grochowski was fresh-sounding as Kurwenal, but his voice seemed rather small. The only one that actually did disappoint was Michelle DeYoung´s shrill sounding Brangäne. But she could not take anything away from the magnificent achievements of the others.

A truly grand operatic evening. I sincerely hope I´ll live long enough to experience something like it again.

Tremendous success for Barenboim´s Tristan in La Scala season opening

Tristan and Isolde, La Scala, December 7th. Chéreau (p), Barenboim (c). Isolde: Waltraud Meier, Tristan: Ian Storey, Marke: Matti Salminen, Brangäne: Michelle DeYoung, Kurwenal: Gerd Grochowski. Further information here.

Tremendous success especially for conductor Daniel Barenboim in the premiere of Patrice Chéreau´s staging of Tristan and Isolde, which opened the season at the Scala opera in Milano this evening. Major Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera report on 13!minutes of applause, particularly for Barenboim. Before the performance started, one minute of silence was held to commemorate the death of 4 workers in a recent accident in Torino.

Also a prime social event, where the Presidents of Germany, Italy, Austria, Greece and the Emir of Qatar were present as well as 19 foreign government ministers, 3 Italian ministers and several high-ranking church officials were present (according to Corriere della Sera).

A small group of theater workers apparently protested outside the theater.

Several of the VIP guests were interviewed by Corriere della Sera ( my translation):

For President of the Republic (Italy) Napolitano it was "an extraordinary performance, truly sublime. A magnificent spectacle." An Italian Minister Rutelli has stressed the "very high level" of the work. Enthusiasm also from the Chairman of the Region, Roberto Formigoni, calling the work "spectacular" and said he was sure that this was supposed to be yet another "business card" for the candidacy for the World Exhibition of 2015.

Some, however, criticized the set design: The Senator for Culture in Milan, Vittorio Sgarbi, described the sets as "inappropriate, unjustified and communist". Even former Public Prosecutor in Milan, Francesco Saverio Borrelli, releasing a comment at the end of the first act, saying he was "very pleased, but he must emphasize - only from the point of view of the music. The set design he did not understand: What the Aurelian walls were about, and that ferry. Also the final rolling around of Tristan and Isolde is not according to Wagner, where love is essentially spiritual."

After the performance, the Municipality of Milano according to tradition had organized a reception for 900 people at the Palazzo Marino.

Reviews here.

Who is Ian Storey?

Interview in The Guardian today with the British ex-Furniture Designer now Wagnerian heldentenor Ian Storey who will make his debut this Friday in the Chéreau/Barenboim Tristan and Isolde opening the La Scala season.

Exerpts:

Storey arrived in Milan this spring to rehearse the role of Steva in Janácek's Jenufa. He discovered that La Scala had a problem: with eight months to go before the prestigious Wagner season opener, their chosen tenor had withdrawn. They were looking for alternatives. Might Storey be willing to fly to Berlin to sing for Barenboim?

Barenboim told Storey that a singer normally needs a year to learn the role, which is one of the most demanding in the repertoire. "He said to me, 'Look, you have five months before we start rehearsals.' And then he said to La Scala, 'Give him whatever he needs, an apartment, whatever. Because we have to get him ready.' Since then I've worked with James Vaughan from their music staff almost every day - nine or 10 hours a day as the rehearsal period got nearer. Since the start of April, I've only been home for four days. I've hardly seen my wife. "

Incredibly, Storey has never seen a performance of Tristan und Isolde. "I don't think I could sit still for long enough," he says.

La Scala Chéreau Tristan premiere directly on TV

Patrice Chéreau with Waltraud Meier and Matti Salminen (no - it´s actually Ian Storey!) from the Tristan rehearsals

The premiere of the Chéreau/Barenboim Tristan (details here), which opens the Scala season next Friday, will be transmitted directly on Arte: December 7th, 7 pm (CET) - details here

Strike threatens the season opening at La Scala: Chéreaus Tristan in danger of cancellation

The worker´s strike at the Scala opera in Milan is now threatening the 2007-8 Season opening on December 7th, featuring Patrice Chéreau and Daniel Barenboim´s new production of Tristan and Isolde. This will be Patrice Chéreau´s first Wagner production since the Ring in Bayreuth 1976, having turned down to offers to stage Tristan and Isolde there with Barenboim in the meantime - productions which then went to Ponnelle and Heiner Müller.

In a dispute over a new national collective agreement, the strike of the Scala employees have already led to cancellations of performances Verdi´s Requiem and Cosi Fan Tutte.

As I have a ticket for the 20th december, I am, as of now, quite calm. Perhaps the 20th December will in fact turn out to be the opening night..

Daniel Barenboim at 65: On Chereau´s Tristan, Bayreuth and the Berlin subway...

Daniel Barenboim interviewed by Tagesspiegel on his 65th birthday (excerpts in my translation):

How is it going with Tristan and Isolde [to be premiered at La Scala on December 7th, directed by Patrice Chéreau]?

DB: Oh, very good. I must say that Chéreau is a damned talented director (laughs). You probably did not know that "Tristan" is a kind of symbol of our friendship, because Chéreau should have made it with me in Bayreuth in 1981. But back then, he was honest enough to say: I cannot manage it. For five years he was directing the "Ring" on the Green Hill and then immediately afterwards "Tristan" - then Wagner's tetralogy would have become a Pentalogy! I understood that very well. In the nineties, there was another attempt, which didn´t work out for personal reasons, so we have both now talked of "Tristan" for 26 years. Unbelievable!

Have your views of the piece changed?

DB: Well, of course, now I have a little more experience with the score (laughs). And perhaps it is quite good, having done other thins for a quarter of a century, to get back to the starting point. I am very happy working with this piece. Especially because Chéreau´s analysis of the text is exceptionally accurate and based on this knowledge of the text, each character of the piece, so to speak is "fine-tuned". Because he is a gifted actor, he can also give the singers countless valuable advice. I think I don´t reveal too much by saying that Chéreau has understood that this opera is not just a chamber play. What happens between Isolde and Brangaene, between Kurwenal and Tristan, is only made clear, when the public is also involved, including the area of the choir. In addition,Tristan doesn´t exactly die on a rubber boat in this production.....

Speaking of that , what do you say to the current situation in Bayreuth, to the attempts to find a successor to Wolfgang Wagner?

DB: Actually nothing (laughs). Perhaps just this: Bayreuth is an exceptional place so that the artistic quality of his extraordinary place must remain. It must not happen that the level drops. Then the Richard Wagner Festival will lose its existence.

Can structural squabbles like this influence the artistic quality?

DB: The danger is there, of course. Anywhere. You live in Berlin, I live in Berlin, we know what we are talking about.

You are now 65…

DB: Yes, now I can ride the subway in Berlin at half price!