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La locandina

Data dello spettacolo: 17 Dec 2020

Lohengrin	Roberto Alagna
Elsa von Brabant	Vita Miknevičiūtė
Ortrud	Ekaterina Gubanova
Friedrich von Telramund	Martin Gantner
Heinrich der Vogler	René Pape
Der Heerrufer	Adam Kutny
Conductor	Matthias Pintscher
Chorusmaster	Jürg Hämmerli
Director	Calixto Bieito
Costumes	Ingo Krügler
Light designer	Michael Bayer
Video	Sarah Derendinger
Staatskapelle Berlin
StaatsopernChor

 

One of the most anticipated role debuts in the opera world happened at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin: French tenor Roberto Alagna’s first Lohengrin. It is not surprising that he decided to sing the role of the knight of the Grail. This role is one of the most lyrical and “Italian” within the Wagnerian operatic catalogue and it has also gorgeous music to sing. Staatsoper assembled a wonderful cast which attracted the attention of all the audience worldwide. Singing with Alagna’s Lohengrin were Lithuanian soprano Vida Miknevičiūtė (making her role debut) as Elsa von Brabant (taking the role after Sonya Yoncheva’s cancellation), baritone Martin Gantner, Russian mezzosoprano Ekaterina Gubanova (making her role debut as Ortrud), bass René Pape singing Heinrich der Vogler and baritone Adam Kutny as the Herald of the King. All of them conducted by Matthias Pintscher in a new production by Calixto Bieito. All of this in the times of the pandemic, which makes the effort to do this performance even more admirable! It was a very strong and powerful performance from all of the singers and from the great Staatskapelle and StaatsoperChor, led with panache by Matthias Pintscher.

Roberto Alagna sang Lohengrin with his usual vocal elegance, with clear German diction and a stage presence that reminded us that this knight comes really from another world more pure and kind than the one in which the action takes place. The staging didn’t give Lohengrin’s entrance the magical and ethereal atmosphere that traditional productions might give this moment but the beauty of Alagna’s “Nun sei bedankt, mein lieber Schwan” compensated the lack of mysticism from the staging and he also looked dashing in his white suit. In this production the “Schwan” that carried Lohengrin to Brabant is just a paper swan (in origami style) that Alagna had in his hand in the moment he appears on stage. His Lohengrin is full of nuances, showing the character’s goodness but also his strength and, at certain point, his uniqueness, among the rest of the characters. He was the only man dressed in a lighter colored suit (creamy white) with the word “Liebe” (love) in the back of his jacket. Alagna’s voice felt at ease with the role, singing it with bright tone, shiny high notes and phrasing his music with elegance. One of the vocal highlights of his performance, apart from his two arias, was the duet with Elsa “Das süsse Lied verhallt; wir sind allein”, where he showed his voice has the meaty quality to face the dramatic moments of the score. He had a good counterpart in Vida Miknevičiūtė’s tormented Elsa. His “In fernem Land” was very touching, less heroic, more human, showing Lohengrin’s disappointment and sadness over Elsa’s betrayal. A triumph for Roberto Alagna!

Lithuanian soprano Vida Miknevičiūtė has a powerful voice, with a crystal-clear sound and vibrant top register. She acted Elsa in a more ‘tragic’ way, giving even some hints to emotional breakdowns that took away the usual image of a fragile damsel in distress who waits for her prince to arrive to save her. Her Elsa had more issues going on inside her. Fortunately, her singing was as pure and beautiful as it should be, specially in Elsa’s aria “Einsam in trüben Tagen”, where Miknevičiūtė singing matched the ethereal quality of the music of the moment. The voice is very pleasant to hear and her portrayal of Elsa had also a lot of nuances. Even in her confrontation with the marvelous Ortrud of Ekaterina Gubanova, we feel that Elsa is not as pure and chaste as in other versions. She even showed some childish behavior from Elsa by starting to eat the wedding cake before Lohengrin’s arrival to the ceremony. It was Miknevičiūtė first Elsa and we hope she continues singing the role because it fits her like a glove.

Mezzosoprano Ekaterina Gubanova scored a triumph in her debut as Ortrud. Though she portrays an Ortrud that looks younger than we usually see her portrayed, the evil and the cruelty of the character was there from the start. Having heard her as Brangäne several times, we can hear that Gubanova’s voice has matured and evolved to a point in which singing Ortrud was a natural choice. She has the enough weight in the middle and lower register and also the bright, laser-like high notes. Her Ortrud was fearless, cruel, and even deranged (at the end of act II). Her scene with Telramund at the beginning of Act II, all surrounded by broken dolls in a metallic staircase, was electrifying!

Martin Gantner’s sang Telramund with his lyrical baritone voice, acting with fierceness and vocally throwing himself to the drama completely. He and Gubanova had great chemistry, with exchanges of anger and fury in their scene together that compensated the lack of the sorcery and magical elements in the drama. Their scene in Act II on the staircase full of broken dolls was, perhaps, one of the strongest in the whole conception of Bieito for this opera (the other one being the opening of Act III and the poetic scene between Elsa and Lohengrin in their wedding night).

Taking away the Medieval Brabant environment transformed the character of Heinrich der Vogler into a rich man who is walking nervously through the stage with some signs of Parkinson disease, making bass René Pape to be shaking his left hand during all the performance. Was it nervousness from the character or did Bieito wanted Heinrich to suffer Parkinson? The truth is that Pape sang with his formidable rich, gorgeous voice, acting with a commanding presence and his usual superb handling of the text.

Young baritone Adam Kutny delivered an interesting portrayal of the Herald. Vocally, he sounded comfortable with the role and gave a very convincing performance. Bieito made him a character that is more present in the drama than it usually is, being a kind of “jack of all trades” during the plot, even breaking the ‘fourth wall’ with the audience in some moments. His make up in several scenes was that of the Joker (Batman’s nemesis), an idea that has been used before by other stage directors and that is not powerful enough anymore. It feels as a repetitive motif in modern regie as does the dressing of the chorus with modern suits. All the men of the chorus were also wearing the Joker’s make up during Act II, making funny faces and strange gestures that distracted the viewer from the drama itself.

Matthias Pintscher conducted the Staatskapelle and the StaastoperChor with vibrant tone, nuances and wonderful colors. The sound of the strings was crystal clear and the Prelude of Act III was epic.

Speaking about Bieito’s concept of the opera, he had some interesting ideas but, as it usually happens with stage directors’ adaptations that want to go too much beyond the composer’s vision, it failed to deliver. Act I opened in a court room where the trial to judge Elsa begins, having Ortrud and Telramund as the accusers and Elsa is locked inside a cage as the accused, being observed by the chorus who, it seems, are the jury and attendees to the trial. Forget about Lohengrin’s epic entrance with the swan. He just appears from one of the corners of the stage, sitting down in an office desk, with the paper swan in his hand. The duel with Telramund is just an exchange of menacing glances which takes away all the excitement of the moment. And, like this, there were several scenes during the performance where symbolic elements appeared that might have had some strength within the story but they ended up being nothing but occurrences. Bieito’s concept is also visually dark and tedious, not attractive to watch and with some grotesque scenes in Act II. Friedrich von Brabant’s appearance at the end of the opera lacks (again) a magical touch that will give the end a sense of hope. He appears all wet and ‘takes the throne back’ by wielding a plastic sword that was rolled up in an Avenger’s towel. As usual with modern stagings these days, it seems that visual beauty is not an option, nor elegant costumes or following the story as it is.

After so many “modern” stagings of Lohengrin, starting with the Lab Rats of Neuenfels in Bayreuth, the Insects of Yuval Sharon and now the Office/Court Room in Berlin, one really misses to see a traditional staging where the beauty and yearning for the mythical Medieval atmosphere comes back again on stage (like the Dresden production by Christine Mielitz).I enjoyed Bieito’s production of Carmen but this Lohengrin was not as successful as his vision of Bizet’s opera.

Fortunately, the singing and the playing of the orchestra in this performance in Berlin gave us the grandeur and beauty of Wagner’s score.It was a complete triumph for Roberto Alagna in his first Lohengrin, a fabulous interpretation from Vida Miknevičiūtė as Elsa and Ekaterina Gubanova as Ortrud. Three tour-de-force performances indeed!

The review is about the Arte Tv livestream of 13th December 2020.

Ingrid Haas