Showing posts with label Alban Berg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alban Berg. Show all posts

Saturday, 12 November 2016

ENO: Kentridge's Lulu ★★★★

Brenda Rae in ENO's 'Lulu'  (C) Alastair Muir 
This week is another tasteful and satisfying evening out at the ENO. It is also the second time the ENO has presented a revival work, following The Pearl Fishers (click here for my review), that went down a treat in New York's Met opera house last year (click here for my review), also shown in Amsterdam as a co-production with Dutch National Opera. The formidable artistic director William Kentridge has brought his magnetically animated production of Berg's Lulu to the ENO stage, and for an English conversion it seemed to work so, so well.

 Alban Berg didn't live long enough to finish his three-act opera, and it was in the hands of Friedrich Cerha to complete the final and most ghastly act where our lead character is murdered by London's mysterious killer - Jack the Ripper. 

 The narrative of Lulu isn't, at all, complicated, yet the musical mastery of Berg's score shows the depth of his innovation, out of the Second Viennese School, with expressionist composers Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern. Berg wrote his second opera, after a successful Wozzeck, during a time in Germany where women were repressed, and writing Lulu was his escapism. 
James Morris as Dr. Schöen and Brenda Rae in ENO's 'Lulu' . (C) Alastair Muir 
This modern opera (1937) is atonal and remarkable for a narrative filled with diverse voices; brimming with scandal, mistresses, clandestine relationships, sex, blood, and suicide. That said, everything is left to the audience's imagination in Kentridge's stylish production; you may see underwear and legs, but hardly a sight of nudity - the projections do the work. 

 Lulu, an alluring, yet brazenly sexual woman is loved and lusted over by many. It is her sensuality and seductive powers that bring her admirers down, yet as the opera progresses audiences see that it is the essence of her ultimate demise as well. 

 The production has various dynamic parts and components happening at the same time. The stage is a party of all sorts: mime, moving imagery, strong visuals, projections of expressionist artwork, thick paint marks, and a rainbow set that perfectly sits within the 1920-30s vintage style and couture. Audiences applauded Kentridge, Sabine Theunissen, Greta Goiris, Catherine Meyburgh and Urs Schöenbaum for their creative achievements at ENO's opening night. 

 Mark Wigglesworth drains out the best he can of the ENO Orchestra as it is his last performance as ENO's music director. The orchestra sets in motion a buttery, rich and unbroken interpretation under the baton of an exceptional conductor. 
Brenda Rae and Sarah Connolly as Countess Geschwitz in ENO's 'Lulu'. (C) Alastair Muir 

Having seen Marlis Petersen, who had mastered the role of Lulu for 20 years, at the Met Live production last year, it is hard to compare American soprano Brenda Rae for her own vigourous interpretation of the title-role. Lulu is a challenging and tough role, but Rae is consistent. Ready for each scene, she has vocal charm, yet it would have been nice to see something that stood out in her performance - something she could call her own. All of Lulu's admirers - Countess Geschwitz, a schoolboy, painter, athlete, animal tamer, Dr. Schön and Schigold - are performed by sublime soloists, Sarah Connolly, Clare Presland, Michael Colvin, David Soar, Nicky Spence, James Morris and Willard White. 

 Joanna Dudley gives a fine performance as the symbolic mime figure of Lulu's alter ego. While Lulu arouses Dr. Schön's son's Alwa, Dudley distorts her body, opening her legs but holds them in the air for minutes, suggesting she is ready to commit adultery on the same sofa her second husband bled to death. Andrea Fabi is also a bold mute figure from a black and white film that acts like a butler to the stage, helping the characters along with the narrative. 

 This is a unique and tenacious production, worth seeing, but it is three hours and 40 minutes long. The ending may receive some mixed opinions and the opera won't be to everyone's taste, yet why stick to what you like and know? Try something new and get a ticket to a unique opera which will give your brain an opera orgasm. 
Lulu is showing at the ENO until November 19th 2016. Get your tickets now here!




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Sunday, 22 November 2015

Live in HD: Met Opera - Berg's Lulu ★★★★★


“Were it not for those childlike eyes of yours, I should take you for the most cunning whore that ever led a man to ruin.” These are the words Alwa says at the end of Act 2 of Alban Berg's Lulu just as he seduces his father's wife and murderer. Lulu replies, “Would to God that I were.” This is the most clearest way of understanding Marlis Petersen's leading role at the MetOpera's new productin, under the direction by South African visionaire, William Kentridge.

Berg captured the concept of the highly dramatic tale of Lulu - the femme fatale and object of desire - originally written by playwright Frank Wedekind. From child beggar, who is rescued by a doctor, she becomes a model, a stage performer and dies a prostitute. She is also taken prisoner, escapes but is ultimately killed after enrapturing the hearts of many lovers, some who died because of her.

Petersen's Lulu, however, has something indisputably loveable about her. Her innocence (not as innocent as Manon Lescaut though), pity and warmth draw audience’s eyes to her every move. In the outset, her first husband faints in front of her as she models for a painter, yet her childlike reaction and fickle flirtations set the wheels for what can only become a tragic ending. The shock of her true love, Dr. Schön, shoving a gun into her hand whilst frantically forcing her to kill herself and desperate pleas to Jack the Ripper to stay the night, as if she is terrified of being alone, point at the desperation, naivety and vulnerability of a woman that everyone wants. 

Kentridge doesn't commit any stage scandals. Petersen's characterisation leaves out nudity and the power of sex, which is channelled through stark, animated and dynamic video projections instead. This gives audiences more chance to understand Lulu through Petersen's clarity of voice and fearless acting. Pieces of paper with drawn-on images of breasts are glued onto Petersen's costume, offering a subtle suggestion of nakedness where, in the past, productions tended to dress singers performing Lulu in the nude. Even in Act II, as Alwa sings about her flawless body, Alwa hardly lays a finger on her.
Sabine Theunissen's sharp, poised and highly charged projections of cut out dictionary pages with splashes of thick black ink and full body nudes bring the opera to life, providing symbolism and context to this highly perplexing drama. This is Kentridge's second production at the Met, following Shostakovich's The Nose, where his collages create movement and expressions of Lulu's various lovers; there's also omnipresent portraits of the composer as well.

A silent actress is positioned on the edge of the stage. She observes Lulu's actions and glares back and forth at the audience as if she were as much as part of the viewing process as they are. She is a representation of Lulu's inner self; the sensual and playfulness attributed to Lulu through strange postures, such as sticking her legs out of a piano and opening her legs wide, where Petersen doesn't have to.

Watching it at the Curzon cinema, however, there's a sense that cinema audiences where let off, not having to deal with so much happening on the vivacious stage. While the video director, Michael Diamond, offers brevity and focused footage to keep up with real-time action, Met audiences are exposed to a barrage of conceptual visuals that could throw them off; the opera may seem more demanding on the eyes for them. Yet, despite these misgivings, in my years of watching Live in HD screenings of the Met, this is one of the best stage designs I have seen out of New York.
Also the cinema acoustics didn't hinder the splendour and skill of its shinny cast. Johan Reuter exudes the appeal of an intelligent and rich Dr. Schön with the psychotic depth and darkness of Jack the Ripper through his rich bass-baritone voice. As Countess Geschwitz, Susan Graham does an impeccable job singing as the most honest, mislead and misguided lesbian lover of Lulu. Martin Winkler is tough and sturdy as the acrobat and animal tamer while Daniel Brenna sings brilliantly as the subdued and bright-eyed Alwa.

For those listening to Berg for the first time, one has to be prepared of the harshness and roughness of his music, yet the appeal of Lulu is in the lyricism of its libretto which is equally enhanced by superb and distinguished singing.

With the final act completed by Friedrich Cerha, where Berg died before he completed it, it is a challenging opera for directors to stage and musicians to truly understand. This is stressed more with the historical context it was written in and the pulsating intensity of its lead characters.

The Met orchestra are tenacious. Lotha Koenigs conducts the production with skill and wonderment (which James Levine opted out of due to health reasons), as if he knew the score through and through. In those heart-stopping scenes, Lulu's love scene with Dr. Schön and the countess's cry when Lulu is murdered, we hear the slick and versatile stripes of Berg's creative music writing.

It is no surprise that here at the Curzon Cinema, in Chelsea, viewers were cheering on for Petersen at the curtain call. Even though she may not have heard their reaction, it is a clear sign that she deserves the roar of applause after mastering a role, vocally and theatrically, for more than 20 years. She has announced that this was her final show as Lulu, and to that we can only salute her.   

Lulu runs through December 3 at the Metropolitan Opera. Derrick Inouye conducts on November 24, November 28, and December 3. metopera.org.


 

Lulu runs through December 3 at the Metropolitan Opera. Derrick Inouye conducts on November 24, November 28, and December 3. metopera.org. - See more at: http://newyorkclassicalreview.com/2015/11/petersen-finds-humanity-in-the-darkness-of-mets-visually-stunning-lulu/#sthash.Psn2Spef.dpuf
Lulu runs through December 3 at the Metropolitan Opera. Derrick Inouye conducts on November 24, November 28, and December 3. metopera.org. - See more at: http://newyorkclassicalreview.com/2015/11/petersen-finds-humanity-in-the-darkness-of-mets-visually-stunning-lulu/#sthash.Psn2Spef.dpuf
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