There is nothing new in saying that recordings do not say everything about a live performance – but I have never experienced that sensations as strongly as I have today in Verbier. Before you jump to the conclusion that the unrecorded part of the event was the thrill, I tell you right away that the performance was particularly unexciting. The unrecordable part actually was the technical aspects of making a demanding score work in unideal circumstances.
To start with, although many like to say that Salome is a symphonic poem with voices, Richard Strauss composed this music to follow the theatrical action – its effects, its atmosphere, its tempo were conceived to create a genuine Gesamtkunstwerk experience, and that is why this it is seen as a masterpiece. Of course, the depth of R. Strauss’s writing can survive the absence of a staging, but then the conductor has to make the action take place in the orchestra and soloists have to make it happen in their voices. That was not the case today. But this does not mean that the performance was devoid of interest.
Valery Gergiev faced two problems – a festival orchestra (a fact that goes beyond the absence of cohesion that long-standing orchestras have, but most of all that involves having to build a sound culture for the particular piece – something one would not need to explain to the Vienna Philharmonic or the Staatskapelle Dresden, for example) and extremely unfavourable acoustics. The Salle des Combins is a very large temporary structure with particularly dry acoustics. Warm orchestral sound is impossible in such a venue and singers had to work hard to be heard. What struck me as particularly commendable of Mr. Gergiev was the fact that, not only was he aware of that, but also that he adjusted his whole performance to these conditions. As a result, instead of sensuous, rich sounds, the audience was treated to an impressively structurally transparent performance of this opera: singers did not have to shout themselves out to pierce through a thick orchestra, R. Strauss’s sophisticated harmonic effects were clearly defined and each part of this multicoloured score formed a coherent whole. What was missing then? The sparkle of imagination to make this marvelous structure say something. From the Dance of the Seven Veils, the performance started to simmer down and, by the closing scene, when things should be running unleashed, they seemed quite well-behaved and lacking purpose.
I wonder how microphones caught Deborah Voigt’s formidably unsubtle performance. I had the impression that R. Strauss would have found it unforgivably vulgar if he heard something like that in, say, the Vienna State Opera. Considering the venue’s difficult acoustics, however, its unvariably loud quality was quite refreshing. After some shaky moments in the recent years, it seems this American soprano has regained her vocal health and stamina, for she really had no problem with producing a neverending series of big top notes. I know her high register has always been the strong feature of her voice, but they seemed very well integrated into a serviceable middle register, differently from what I’ve heard from her the last three times I saw her – in singer-friendlier theatres. Her interpretation turned around naughtiness, what is probably what one does when one has no tonal and dynamic variety, but more believable pronunciation of German would have made all the difference in the world. This evening, Salome did not want to kiss Jokanaan, but seemed to want from him an object that would be translated as a mouth-pillow. Although Evgeny Nikitin’s German needs improvement as well, his very Russian-sounding baritone is impressively powerful and firm-toned. He is also emphatic to the point of hamminess in the interpretation department, but at least he more or less fulfilled the character description more readily than anyone else this evening. Siegfried Jerusalem struggled with his top notes through the whole evening, but his voice retains its natural tonal quality and his diction is exemplary. As for the 74-year-old Dame Gwyneth Jones, although she flashed one or two incisive notes during the evening, one must understand this as a generous cameo appearance from one singer who deserves more than anyone else the title of World’s Living Treasure. Someone like me, who did not have the luck to see her before her “official“ retirement, should cherish the opportunity just to watch her on stage.
As I understand, Dame Gwyneth Jones has not yet “officially retired”. These few years, she has been performing in various soprano and mezzo-soprano roles in cities around the world, including Munich, Vienna, Verona, Saarbruken, Malmo and Hong Kong etc. She also created the role of the Queen of Hearts in Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland, premiered at the 2007 Munich Opera Festival. A DVD has been released by Medici Arts.
You are right, Yugiri – but I prefer to consider this a “second career”.
This Salome was simply all around awful. And why is Gwyneth Jones allowed anywhere near a stage at this late late late stage? Come on, please, she sounded like a put-out cigarette butt. It was embarrassing to watch and hear. So was the Salome.
Did anyone catch Cheryl Studer on the evening of the 28th of July in Berlin? Any reports of that?
Kostas, as you might have guessed, I have a profound respect for Gwyneth Jones, and I can forgive her anything, especially at her age.
As for Cheryl Studer, unfortunately I could not make it.
Yes, you’re right, rml – this can indeed be considered a sort of second career.
As for Kostas’s remark, I’d only say that Dame Gwyneth received great critical acclaim in 2007 for the Munich Alice in Wonderland, both during the performance run and when it appeared on DVD. Her La Voix Humaine in Verona, Klytemnestra in Hong Kong and Herodias in Malmo were also greatly appreciated.
Yes, it’s a late stage in her career, but when the circumstances are right, she can still dazzle both critics and audiences.
http://www.medici.tv/#/performance/809/
PS. OUCH!
Why is this critic not signed ?
Hallo, Olivier! As almost any other blog, postings are not necessarily signed. These are no official reviews written by acknowledged reviewers as in newspapers and should be read as what they are. If you disagree about anything written here, please feel free to comment.
I also wish you would sign your reviews, because I’ve read through the last year’s compilation and find them quite interesting. It’s just too bad you didn’t cover Ratterdammerung (Lohengrin) in Bayreuth or Elektra in Salzburg.
Re: Dame Gwyneth, heard her numerous times, some very good, some very bad. But respect her as we may, she’s been peeling paint for decades.
Thank you, Loki. I don’t want to play the Lohengrin here, but what’s in a name? The point of this website was to concentrate e-mails I used to send to lots of friends and not to make a name as a reviewer.
I wish too I could have seen this year’s Lohengrin, especially for Andriss Nelsons, whose conducting made me curious in the broadcast, and for Kaufmann, whose singing in the title role last year in Munich convinced me of his Wagnerian credentials. The Elektra… I’ve stupidly let it go… but I’ll be posting about other Elektra soon.
As for Gwyneth Jones – yes, she always had this surprise element, but the very good days were something. If you want to share a good memory of her, you’re more than welcome.
Good Gwyneth Jones memories: her debut at The Met as Sieglinde, w/ Vickers and Nilsson, Brunnhilde in the Chereau Ring, her Munich Marschallin w/ C. Kleiber, Helena w/ the Detroit Symphony and Antol Dorati.
Bad: Fidelio (Weiner Staatsoper production, LB conducting).
Horrible: Isolde at the Met. After that performance, no more Gwyneth for me (there weren’t that many opportunities, either; would like to have seen her Klytemnestra, though).
Look forward to reading more of your reviews and truly sorry you’re missing the Salzburg Elektra. Would enjoy reading what you have to say about the production.
What I didn’t see in reviews you’ve written in the past year was critques of any of Britten’s works? Janacek?? Perhaps there were some reviews posted earlier, but I haven’t gone back beyond the past year (and may I overlooked a Janacek review).
Given your keen ear and knowledge of singing, the craft of opera, and music, I think you could make a name for yourself as reviewer. Up to you, of course.
Hi again, Loki! Thanks again for the kind words.
1) I know Gwyneth Jones’s Sieglinde only from two Bayreuth broadcasts (1970 and 1972) and she was indeed great in this role. But you were extra lucky to have both Nilsson and Vickers with her in that Walküre! The Marschallin for Kleiber and the Bayreuth Brünnhilde (with Boulez), those we are lucky to find on DVD. The Helena – I only have the Dorati CDs, in which she unfortunately was not in good voice… (although I find it less bad as most people consider it to be).
As for the Fidelio, I’ve bought in Japan one Bernstein Fidelio on CD with Jones, Popp, King and Berry, but haven’t listened to it yet. I hope she was caught in good shape here. (As a side comment, a friend of mine once got a cab at the airport in Vienna and started to chat with the driver; as he said he was looking fortward to visit the Staatsoper, the driver mentioned Jones was singing Salome; my friend said “it must be great!”; and the driver said “You know, it depends of the day…” – pity there are no taxi drivers like that anymore…).
As for the Isolde, that is indeed sad – I haven’t found a good Isolde from her, but I am still looking for it…!
2) Janacek – you won’t believe it, but it just bad luck. I’ve once tried to see The Cunning Little Vixen with Ozawa and the Saito Kinen Orchestra, but the tickets were long sold out. Now it’s been released on CD (the same production from Paris). Although Jenufa is one of my favourite operas, I never had the good luck to find a performance wherever I am. I thought of taking the train to Leipzig to see Susan Maclean and Marika Schönberg (who used to be a lovely singer – don’t know she is now), but couldn’t make it. But you’ll see that I have one review of Katja Kabanova conducted by no other than Charles Mackerras – https://ihearvoices.wordpress.com/2007/07/02/masterlyjanacek/
3) Britten – I haven’t established a connection with Britten’s works yet, but the truth is that I haven’t tried hard enough and finally concentrated on composers that speak more directly to me. In any case, the day a good performance appears and I am in the aria, who knows? I would like to see The Turn of the Screw on stage, for Henry James is a favorite of mine.
I don’t recall which city the Helena was recorded in. The afternoon I heard it (not in Detroit) Dame Gwyneth was fine. (She later confided she had to iron her gown at the hotel before the performance and wasn’t too pleased about that.) The Viennese cab driver sounds very echt Viennese (at least of a generation ago).
Biggest GJ regret: not having heard her Senta in the Kupfer “Hollander” in Bayreuth; apparently, she was even better than Balslev, who I saw on two different occasions in this fantastic production.
Thanks for the MacKerras/Katja review link. I saw him lead that piece with Benackova and Rysanek.
Re: Britten, there is a YouTube clip of Peter Mattei in Frankfurt Billy Budd; about five minutes into the clip, Mattei sings Billy’s final monologue about five minutes into the clip at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt6nWzcgj4k
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is my favorite Britten work, though I like all of his operas. But I would have given anything to have heard that Frankfurt Billy Budd w/ Mattei.
The Helena was recorded in the United Artists’ Auditorium in Detroit in 1979. I sympathize with Dame Gwyneth – ironing in any circumstance is infuriating, especially before a performance of a difficult opera!
The Kupfer Holländer often popped up in conversation during my staying in Bayreuth – it basically represents what most contemporary directors try to do but ultimately fail in the process: to offer an entirely new view of a well-known work without making violence to it. At least on video, Balslev offers a compelling performance of Senta, but the voice itself was not really attractive. Even if GJ is not at her best in the Böhm recording, I still believe that she offers a wider-range interpretation that anyone else in this role (and I say this as one of Astrid Varnay’s biggest fans).
Thanks for the Billy Budd clip – Peter Mattei is indeed excellent in it. It seems the Frankfurt Opera has a Britten series or something, for they are reprising their… Turn of the Screw. In their photos, another Swedish singer, Miah Persson as the Governess.
Hi, I saw the Helena in a different city, not Detroit. Send me an email and I’ll provide more details, as well as a link to a description of an encounter with Dame Gwyneth later that year.
The Kupfer “Hollander” was better in 1979 than in 1981. I was enthralled when I first saw it, less than entranced the second time around. It was nonetheless an arresting production.
I haven’t gotten around to watching the DVD (I may have watched the VHS version once) of that production. I was watching the last act of the Aarhus Walkure on VHS quite recently and Brunnhilde was not Balslev’s role.
As for Sentas, no one in my experience has come close to Rysanek, at least in live performance. She all but torched the stage.
I was quite taken with your assessment of Waltraud’s Isolde, although I only have seen her perform the role once live, in Munich a few years ago. The performance left me cold.
Nilsson was of course the gold standard for me, Behrens was surprisingly good, and Johanna Meier interesting, although Rene Kollo was ill, so I got Hermin Esser in a very ad hoc performance. The other Isoldes I’ve seen aren’t worth remarking upon, except to mention’s Jane Eaglan wayward pitch in both productions I saw her in.
As for Parsifal, “nur eine waffe taugt”… and it’s not Domingo.
I have only read about the Aarhus Ring – but I imagine that Brünnhilde was definetly not her role. As for Rysanek, I have the impression that recordings do not serve her very well. I saw her live only in the very end of her career – but the whole impact of her presence and that floating quality that filled the whole hall are not catched by the microphones, which “concentrate” rather on uncertain pitch and unsettled low notes. That said, the Dorati Holländer is one of her best recordings.
I have never seen a fully satisfying Isolde from Waltraud Meier – but that is a matter of luck. The performances from La Scala, as recorded, show her in a good shape I could never sample live at the theatre. Nevertheless, I believe she has a unique talent of catching the right inflection, tonal colour and particularly the shift in mood, what makes long declamatory passages especially vivid. I haven’t seen many Isoldes live – but I have good souvenirs from Deborah Polaski in Salzburg in 1999. Back then, her voice was in very good shape, very warm, the top notes were firm and she could produce mezza voce when necessary. Pity that she has one of those unrecordable voices…
Parsifal – well, I have a soft spot for James King in the Boulez recording. But I am in incurable James King fan anyway.
And, please: rd_2727@hotmail.com.
Looking forward to more Salome reviews.