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).
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.
Salome. Royal Opera, London 2008. Production: David McVicar. Cast: Nadja Michael (Salome), Michael Volle (Jochanaan), Michaela Schuster (Herodias), Thomas Moser (Herodes). Conductor: Philippe Jordan. Further information here.
David McVicar´s Salome production for the Royal Opera Covent Garden was inspired by the 1975 Pasolini movie "Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom" (based on the Marquis de Sade novel), and is an eerie mix of external political contexts and internal sexual perversities, including child abuse.
We are presented with a sort of upstairs-downstairs setting of a European wealthy palace of approximately 1938, the stage horizontally split in two. The party initially taking place “upstairs” with the rich and their guests, while Jochanaan is imprisoned in a cellar below the “downstairs” bathroom/basement level of the servants. A decadent society on the verge of a break-down.
The entire atmosphere of the staging is eerie and David McVicar succeeds in creating an atmosphere of looming premonition, so essential for a successful Salome. His use of symbolism is visible but not obtrusive - an example: Herod killed Salome´s father, who was imprisoned in the same cistern as Jochanaan, which initially spurs Salome´s curiousity (as opposed to sexual attraction) towards Jochanaan.
In the very well-executed dance of the seven veils, we are led into seven consecutive rooms (of Salome´s mind) in a series of strong images evoking Salome´s prior sexual abuse by Herodes. Nudity is represented by the naked executioner, sprayed with blood (in real-life this man works just outside as a "living statue" at the Covent Garden market). The final scene is played out conventionally, between Salome and Jochanaan´s head, but nevertheless leaves a strong impression.
There may never have been a better-looking Salome on stage than Nadja Michael. Her past as an East-German swimmer does pay off, and apart from looking absolutely stunning she moves superbly on stage and has great dramatic expression.
Unfortunately, Nadja Michael is vocally severely overchallenged. Her high notes often comes out as shrieks and she is almost half a note flat on several key points. While she does manage to hit quite a few of the high notes cleanly, she pays the price with an obtrusive vibrato on the floating notes just below the top (and there are a lot of those floating notes). As a vocal performance I find it very difficult to listen to.
However, it is not as if there are a lot of vastly superior Salome´s to chose from, Karita Mattila apart. With Nadja Michael´s physical advantages it is an obvious part for her to take on, but her voice still seems more like the pushed-up mezzo (that she was) than the dramatic soprano, she seems intent on becoming. Obviously, her voice may project better in the house and indeed she is judged an A-rate Salome with performances both at La Scala (to be released on DVD as well), Covent Garden and San Francisco opera these seasons.
Michael Volle is both physically and vocally a close-to-ideal Jochanaan, perhaps the finest overall performance. Though Thomas Moser is extremely well suited to play this extraordinarily despicable Herodes - you believe this man to be everything David McVicar insinuates he is. Michaela Schuster is, for once, a Herodias in her vocal prime, however she didn´t seem at ease with the part.
Imaginative reading from Phillippe Jordan in the pit, though ideally I´d like a bit more punch to it.
This DVD consist of two discs, Salome on the first and a fascinating documentary on the creation of Salome on the second.
David McVicar´s Salome - various clips from the production: The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):
Nadja Michael: 3-4
Michael Volle: 4
Michaela Schuster: 3
Thomas Moser: 4
Don Carlos (French 5-act). Vienna State Opera 2004. Production: Peter Konwitschny. Cast: Ramon Vargas (Don Carlos), Iano Tamar (Elisabeth), Nadja Michael (Eboli), Bo Skovhus (Posa), Alastair Miles (Phillippe). Conductor: Bertrand de Billy. Further information here.
German director Peter Konwitschny´s staging of Don Carlos at the Vienna State Opera is now released on DVD and in short: It´s genuinely recommendable, though long...
Peter Konwitschny´s stagings range from the sublime (Elektra, Tristan, Flying Dutchman) to the weird and incomprehensible (Parsifal, Lohengrin). This Don Carlos definitely borders on the sublime and is clearly based on a very thorough study of the text.
This is the complete original 1867 French version recorded live at the Vienna State Opera in October 2004 with myriads of extra music for those familiar with the shorter Italian versions including the reinstated Act III ballet, here called "Eboli´s Dream", where Eboli and Carlos lives in a bourgeois milieu, a happily married Philip and Elisabeth comes for dinner, and Posa of Posa´s pizza delivers the pizzas..
The concept is very convincing - from the open star-covered space in Act I in which Carlos and Elisabeth first meets, to the confined grey environment in the very minimalistic staging of the following acts. I thought the controversial auto-da-fe, played out between the audience (who had left their seats) and "television reporters" in the foyer of the Vienna State Opera following the arrival of Elisabeth and Philip all the way onto the stage worked brilliantly. I have previously seen this production in the theater and this whole auto-da-fé business, allowing audiences to walk back and forth between the auditorium and the foyer really was quite an experience.
Followed by a well-thought out execution of Philip´s monologue with Eboli lying in his bed and the blind Inquisitor inadvertently stepping on her dress preventing her from leaving the room. Eboli dreams of a future with Carlos, as shown in "Eboli´s Dream", mentioned above. However, in the end she gets murdered by the Inquisition. Posa is both intellectual and near-sighted, always trying to seize whatever possibility comes his way. Surprisingly, the ending is optimistic, with the monk (recognized as Carlos V in disguise as he drops his "crown" on the floor in the first act) rescuing the lovers.
Nadja Michael is a brilliant actress and very beautiful as well. Her voice is huge, however I am slightly bothered with her vibrato in her upper ranges. Ramon Vargas sings beautifully as Carlos, but comes across rather anonymous on stage. So does, unfortunately, Alastair Miles as Philip. Iano Tamar makes a fine Elisabeth, but is no match for Karita Mattila in the Paris Châtelet production. Bo Skovhus convinces as the intellectual (= he wears glasses) Posa. All accompanied by the brilliant chorus and orchestra conducted by Bertrand de Billy.
This is the only alternative to the Paris Châtelet production for a French Don Carlos on DVD, and in terms of staging, the more innovative of the two. The casting of the Châtelet production has a slight edge, particular regarding Karita Mattila´s Queen and José Van Dam´s King. But both these versions, in my opinion, are vastly more interesting than the Italian versions available on DVD, which is somewhat unfortunate for those who, like me, prefer the Italian Don Carlo.
The auto-da-fe as it has never looked before: The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):
Ramon Vargas: 3-4 Alastair Miles: 4 Iano Tamar: 4 Bo Skovhus: 4 Nadja Michael: 4
Macbeth. Dresden Semperoper, March 2007. Production: Philip Himmelmann. Cast: Paolo Gavanelli (Macbeth), Nadja Michael (Lady Macbeth), Georg Zeppenfeld (Banquo), Wookyung Kim (Macduff).
The Dresden Semperoper Macbeth is directed by Philip Himmelmann, also responsible for the excellent, though controversial Don Carlo in Berlin. His rather unspecific Macbeth concept seemed to evolve around Macbeth´s role as a soldier and leader of a paramilitary group located in a concrete tunnel with built-in doors serving as entry and exit points. If there was more to the production concept than this, I didn´t get it. Compared to his innovative Don Carlo in Berlin, this seemed rather tame.
Paolo Gavanelli is a competent, though by no means exceptional Macbeth, very static on stage and presenting a rather one-dimensional take on the character. Nadja Michael as Lady Macbeth is vastly more interesting, but also highly problematic: Starting out as a mezzo-soprano, she switched to the soprano fach a couple of years ago, and her tone is now marred by a heavy vibrato, not present 5-6 years ago in the mezzo fach, where I remember her as an excellent Brangäne with Daniel Barenboimand the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall. A pity really, with this vibrato, since in almost every other way she is perfect: She looks fantastic, she´s very agile on stage and she is a great actress.
Of the supporting cast, Korean tenor Wookyung Kim as well as bass Georg Zeppenfeld were excellent as Macduff and Banquo, respectively.
