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Opera News, February 2019 |
Jeffrey A. Leipsic |
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Verdi: Otello, Bayerische Staatsoper, ab 23. November 2018 |
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Otello - Munich
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STAGE DIRECTOR Amélie Niermeyer promised that Bavarian State Opera's
long-awaited new production of Verdi's Otello at the Nationaltheater (seen
Nov. 23) would be a version of the story told from Desdemona's
standpoint—and one without the title character sung in blackface. Bringing
Desdemona out of the shadows turned out to be a more significant act of
revitalization than creating a "white" Otello. Despite the current taste for
political correctness, the character of Otello is a Moor, which certainly
determines the color of his skin—a point that the text underscores clearly
and often. Although one can accept a white Otello, there is little to be
gained by refashioning the character's ethnicity, rather than casting an
artist of color in the role.
Niermeyer's true innovation, which made
this production more relevant than most, was her direction of Jonas Kaufmann
in the title role. The Otello created by Kaufmann and Niermeyer was a
ticking timebomb, a man plagued by the horrors of his own recent experience
in war. As brilliantly as Otello has commanded his troops, he is irrevocably
marked by the brutality, death and destruction he has experienced. (If we
can believe the histories, the battle of Lepanto in 1571 cost more than
50,000 lives.) Otello is a psychological wreck, unable to deal with the
intrigues surrounding him or the complexity of his relationship with his new
wife. Looking fragile and almost small (compared to the burlier figure of
Gerald Finley's Iago), Kaufmann conquered the role's vocal hurdles with
aplomb. Piano phrases do not faze Kaufmann—as evidenced by his
spellbindingly beautiful delivery of "E it fazzoletto ch'io le diedi pegno
primo d'amor"—but the tenor has an audible shift in gears when attempting a
decrescendo on a note above the staff.
Niermeyer's concept of Iago
was less cogent than her reimagining of Otello. In this Otello, Iago is a
nasty, sexually ambivalent sleazeball in his I every scene. In spite of this
dramatic handicap, Finley sang the role stunningly, with force, inflection
and tonal fullness throughout. Anja Harteros imbued Desdemona with passion
and understanding. The soprano's vocal prowess reached its height in the
all-important Act III concertato, but her Act IV was heartbreakingly
poignant, every tone and gesture telling. Niermeyer let us see her
reimagined Desdemona from the beginning of the opera. Nearly paralyzed with
fear as her husband's ship returns from battle, challenged by weather, rocks
and seas, this Desdemona is a woman of strong personality, able to fight
back when she is unjustly accused. Otello's atrocities against Desdemona
were all the more telling because she was presented as a woman of fortitude
and principle, present onstage for the greater part of the opera.
The
rest of the cast was free of any weakness at all. Rachael Wilson, luscious
of voice, was a particularly impressive Emilia; Evan LeRoy Johnson, a giant
of a man, showed lyric vocal vigor as Cassio. Galeano Salas was a
clear-voiced Roderigo, Bálint Szabó a sonorous Lodovico and Milan Siljanov a
resonant Montano.
Christian Schmidt's set design was basically a unit
setting, featuring a modern bed/sitting-room that was sometimes shown in
duplicate at the rear of the stage. Annelies Vanlaere's costume designs were
also modern. Roderigo's loud brown-and-white shirt and pantaloon-like pants
marked him as a dandy. Iago sported sloppy gray pinstriped jogging pants,
black T-shirt and sneakers, and Otello wore a suit and suspenders.
Maestro Kirill Petrenko once again discovered and communicated a new level
of brilliance in a familiar masterpiece. Petrenko transports his singers on
an unbelievable carpet of sonic comfort without sacrificing the intensity of
the opera as a whole: Act IV was especially rich with details one seldom
hears. The chorus, directed by Jörn Hinnerk Andresen, although staged mostly
as mere commentary in postcard formation, sang exceptionally well.
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