| The recording of the opera "Lembitu" on sale! | |  |
|
| Estonian National Opera is the member of the next organizations: |
|
|
|
|
Mozart’s Triumph in Estonian National Opera
Harry Liivrand
06.11.2009
|
|
Such a high-quality staging of a Mozart’s opera – on the vocal, acting, orchestral as well as visual level – has, at least in this century, not been done in Estonia before (leaving aside the touring shows and concert performances).
Just like Rossini’s„Cinderella staged by the Dutchman Michiel Dijkema in 2006 remains a milestone of our domestic stage reception of this composer, the English stage director Walter ¬Sutcliffe has now created an etalon of quality that all the future stagers of Mozart have to consider and compete with. That doesn’t mean that all future directors should proceed from the traditional approach so brilliantly demonstrated by Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe should be an example of how to compose a complete staging close to perfection, born from the synchronous and professional collaboration of all components, so that the result can be called a masterpiece.
Mozart’s opera, written to the libretto of the talented Lorenzo Da Ponte, premiered in Vienna in 1790. Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti (Thus Do They All, or The School For Lovers), which is about the infidelity of women and the impudence of men, has, of course, still not lost its message. With regard to its subject, the opera can be considered the most realistic and modern of Mozart’s operas – it takes place in Naples during the composer’s lifetime – but the artistic space-time originates rather from a fairytale: the quick adoption of different roles, the brides who ”do not recognize“ their lovers, the false doctor, the magical resurrection etc fit into just one day. Considering the year it was created, it is somewhat curious that the opera was accused of promoting moral corruption – after all the desks of educated and “progressive“ readers had by that time seen such books as Choderlos de Laclos’s Dangerous Liaisons and Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom, and libertinism and debauchery had, at least among the higher society in Paris, become an entirely acceptable moral category. By the way, an extremely interesting review of the different forms of debauchery is given in the research of the French historian Olivier Blanc, Love In Paris at the Time of Louis XVI, published in Estonian in 2006. The most famous moralistic series of the English art genius William Hogarth, whose multilayered oeuvre symbolically defines and comments the events taking place on the stage by way of the picture-in-picture principle, are called A Harlot’s Progress and Marriage à-la-mode and had, through copper engravings, become well-known all over Europe well before Mozart’s opera. Meanwhile, the widening and contracting picture frame at the edge of the stage focuses the attention on the characters, widening the stage optically (a conceptually, functionally and technically smart design technique by Liina Keevallik).
I am talking about the moral problems at such length because Sutcliffe’s dynamical dramaturgy lingers on its different aspects, presents them convincingly in the course of the stage action through the cast members, who are an excellent fit in both vocal and typological terms, and at the same time analyzes the art of interpreting (in)fidelity by contrasting different social and psychological types (the sentimental aristocratic sisters versus the pragmatic and corrupt maid, the sophisticated cynic don Alfonso versus the naive young noblemen). The stereotypes and behavioural motives of Da Ponte’s characters are rather taken from Italian Renaissance comedies than the libertine literature, but are at home in the opera that is waving a pedagogical-didactic flag.
It is very difficult to bring anyone out from the first cast of the staging (I have yet to see the second cast). The youthful group is very unitary, they play with passion, sing both the arias and the ensembles cleanly and brilliantly (Soave sia il vento is simply wonderful) and demonstrate such vocal level (also in recitation) as if the legendary 1970s had returned to the National Opera. If the portrayal of feelings was maybe even over-forced at times, I would write it down to the emotional stress accompanying the premiere. The director however can keep the energetic pace steady.
The lyrical tenor Oliver Kuusik, who has developed rapidly in the past few years, is really shining in the role of Ferrando (plus his excellent falsetto), while the remarkably melodious baritone Rauno Elp (Guglielmo) takes a big step forward as an actor. Perhaps the best performance of her stage career so far comes from the soprano Aile Asszonyi in the role of Fiordiligi, the mezzo-soprano Helen Lokuta (Dorabella) compensates for being static on the stage at times (or is it part of the character?) with her sensational vocals (one of the most dramatic highlights of the show for me is the romantic aria sang by Lokuta in Scene 3 of Act 2). The soprano Kristina Vähi and especially the bass Mart Laur also stand out in their roles (as the maid Despina and don Alfonso respectively) against the background of their earlier work. In Così fan tutte these six have well proved themselves as singers and actors worthy of Mozart.
Also - the notion that classical art is self-explanatory and needs no questionable deconstruction in order to flirt with the audience was again confirmed.
Opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Così fan tutte
At the Estonian National Opera, stage director Walter Sutcliffe (England), conductor Arvo Volmer, designer Liina Keevallik. Premiere at the Estonian National Opera on October 17, with Aile Asszonyi, Helen Lokuta, Rauno Elp, Oliver Kuusik, Kristina Vähi, Mart Laur.
|
|
|
© Rahvusooper Estonia 2010
|
|
News
