\n
Sweden<\/span><\/span><\/span> Richard Strauss<\/span><\/strong>, Die schweigsame Frau<\/em>:<\/strong><\/span> Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Gothenburg Opera \/ Yoel Gamzou (conductor). Gothenburg Opera essential stage, 4.3.2023. (NS)<\/p>\nGothenburg Opera\u2019s Die schweigsame Frau<\/em> with a reasonably surprised Sir Morosus (centre, Anders Lorentzson) \u00a9 Lennart Sj\u00f6berg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nProduction:Cast:After practically 90 years Richard Strauss\u2019s Die schweigsame Frau<\/em> has lastly landed in Sweden. Banned by the Nazis after solely three performances in Dresden due to Strauss\u2019s refusal to take away the title of his librettist Stefan Zweig from the posters, this comedy had a sparse efficiency historical past for a few years however curiosity in it has reawakened in Germany, partly attributable to Barrie Kosky\u2019s much-revived manufacturing on the Bavarian State Opera. It is that this manufacturing which has travelled to Gothenburg to be the opera\u2019s Swedish premiere.<\/p>\nThough the story is taken from the identical Ben Jonson play that impressed Donizetti\u2019s Don Pasquale<\/em> and the theme of the youthful era enjoying tips on a buffoonish previous man is acquainted in Verdi\u2019s Falstaff<\/em> amongst many different operas, Zweig\u2019s libretto makes grumpy previous Sir Morosus far more sympathetic than I had anticipated. The humour has a particular British dryness and irony too, appropriately sufficient given the opera\u2019s British setting.<\/p>\nThe chief schemer was the Barber, performed with panache by Hannes \u00d6berg (who not way back put in an outstanding efficiency because the Barber of Seville reviewed by me on this web site). \u00d6berg\u2019s sense of comedy was excellent and he delivered the substantial spoken sections of his half in fluent German, however his heat and supple baritone was a selected delight. He was easily convincing as a suave manipulator of Sir Morosus. Sir Morosus\u2019s unlucky housekeeper (Katarina Giotas) doesn’t appear to have bought a lot sympathy from the librettist, however Giotas did an excellent job bringing humanity to her character in addition to exhibiting her character\u2019s foibles.<\/p>\n
Sir Morosus himself is a richly drawn character, extra than simply an previous curmudgeon. Anders Lorentzson\u2019s nuanced bass-baritone fantastically expressed the numerous sides of the previous naval officer\u2019s character \u2013 from his rages to his loneliness after which wonderment at discovering what he thinks is the proper spouse. The costumer (Esther Bialas) was much less sympathetic, dressing Sir Morosus in a grubby vest and boxer shorts for Act I (in later acts he was a minimum of upgraded to natty sky-blue pyjamas and \u2013 for his marriage ceremony \u2013 white tie and tails).<\/p>\n
Act I shortly known as on all of the sides of Sir Morosus\u2019s character, as his nephew Henry (Eleazar Rodr\u00edguez) turned up and was welcomed enthusiastically to Sir Morosus\u2019s residence and inheritance \u2013 till Henry defined that he was now an opera singer with a touring opera firm, which preceded to make a shocking entrance. Here Kosky and Bialas pulled out all of the stops, with the opera firm wearing a shocking number of costumes (I shortly misplaced depend of the assorted operatic characters referenced). The finale of Act I used to be an intense burst of color and music, a lot in order that Sir Morosus escaped into his cellar!<\/p>\nSir Morosus (Anders Lorentzson) and Aminta\/Timidia (Sofie Asplund) \u00a9 Lennart Sj\u00f6berg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nEleazar Rodr\u00edguez was charming as Henry Morosus, with a phenomenal mild tenor that was excellent for romantic duets with Sofie Asplund\u2019s Aminta however a bit underpowered for the large ensembles. His performing nevertheless was convincing in exhibiting the unhealthy boy streak in his character in addition to his sweetness. Asplund\u2019s soprano made Aminta spellbinding when she sang and with its overtones was extra comfy within the ensembles than her Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s tenor. Asplund\u2019s performing was additionally spot on, turning herself into \u2018Timidia\u2019 at first with conviction however then exhibiting how Aminta develops doubts at enjoying such a nasty trick on a person she realises is lonely and weak. But as soon as she overcame these doubts, she was a veritable terror, together with within the gloriously farcical divorce trial within the final act.<\/p>\n
The different members of the touring opera troupe all confirmed nice comedian ability too. Mia Karlsson\u2019s Isotta was a robust stage presence and voice and was hilarious as a chatterbox (one of many three women launched to Sir Morosus by the Barber as marriage materials within the second act) who left Sir Morosus practically shell-shocked. Ann-Kristin Jones\u2019s Carlotta made an much more excessive transformation into a rustic bumpkin \u2013 from Sweden, saying her strains in very rural Swedish, while the remainder of the opera was in German \u2013 in the identical scene. Morbio (\u00c5ke Zetterstr\u00f6m) and Vanuzzi (Mats Almgren) made an excellent duo, each in officiating on the sham marriage ceremony however most of all as hilarious \u2018Lord Chief Justices\u2019 within the divorce court docket scene. Their mixture of tune and mime was good. Farfallo (Nils Gust\u00e9n) had extra of a supporting position till he bought to carry out in drag as \u2018Timidia\u2019s\u2019 singing instructor in Act III which he did with nice aplomb.<\/p>\n
The mixture of visible overload and musical chaos typically felt an excessive amount of, till I realised that it helps the viewers perceive Sir Morosus\u2019s hatred of loud noises. It definitely made the quieter scenes all of the extra beautiful against this. The third act particularly communicated the previous man\u2019s desperation splendidly with the cacophony of pink that Aminta\/Timidia introduced into his residence and with a powerful cascade of cash from the set symbolising how she was spending his cash like water.<\/p>\n
Yoel Gamzou performed the Gothenburg Opera Orchestra with power but additionally sensitivity, particularly within the scenes the place Strauss\u2019s orchestration was extra clear than regular. Gamzou writes within the programme that Strauss was above all a storyteller and that his music serves to assist and heighten the story very like movie music. Indeed, Die schweigsame Frau<\/em> doesn’t have any showstopping arias or tunes that you’ll whistle in your means residence, however the music actually brings out the character\u2019s feelings and improvement. For me probably the most stunning moments the place probably the most contemplative ones, such because the reconciliation and Sir Morosus\u2019s realisation that he has by no means felt so alive as after the big trick performed on him. Anders Lorentzson\u2019s smart and delicate supply of Stefan Zweig\u2019s stunning remaining strains on a life well-lived will stick with me for a very long time.<\/p>\nNiklas Smith<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nPlaying till 6 April. Tickets and extra data on the Gothenburg Opera web site (click on right here<\/a>). The premiere was broadcast reside on Swedish Radio and is accessible to stream inside 30 days right here<\/a> and within the SR Play app.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n[ad_2]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[ad_1] Sweden Richard Strauss, Die schweigsame Frau: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Gothenburg Opera \/ Yoel Gamzou (conductor). Gothenburg Opera essential stage, 4.3.2023. (NS) Gothenburg Opera\u2019s Die schweigsame Frau with a reasonably surprised Sir Morosus (centre, Anders Lorentzson) \u00a9 Lennart Sj\u00f6berg Production:Original route \u2013 Barrie KoskyAssistant director \u2013 Philipp RosendahlChoreography \u2013 Magdalena PadrosaSet and Costume […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-79123","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-theatre"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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