Christian Gerhaher sings his second Verdi role with the title role in “Simone Boccanegra”.
An extremist interpretation developed from the nihilistic.
Once again Christian Gerhaher tries a new role at the Zurich Opera House - this time in Verdi's probably blackest piece.
In Andreas Homoki's production, high, classicist rooms become psychological chambers and spaces of memory.
The premiere could only be streamed and is available on Arte.tv - the house is hoping for live performances in the coming year.
Verdi is good for him, he once said.
Unlike Schumann or Mahler, who force him to extreme reflection.
But Christian Gerhaher only looked for the direct, bluntly dramatic aspect of the Italian twice - as Posa in “Don Carlos” and now in the title role of “Simone Boccanegra”.
The Zurich Opera House as a debut location for important roles is a tradition for Gerhaher.
The bad luck these days is that the Boccanegra only made it to the network and TV premiere.
One hopes for live performances in the new year.
And indeed: in contrast to other composers, Gerhaher relies more on the natural curvature of the vocal phrases.
Nevertheless, he does not give up his peculiarity of crawling into every corner of the role.
So an extremist interpretation.
The cutting, garish, full-body vocal work also pushes Gerhaher to its limits - so everything stays controlled.
But very much in the spirit of Verdi's black play, this portrait of a doge washed to power by intrigue and popular will is developed entirely from the nihilistic.
Even if a pistol appears: At the end of the council scene, Gerhaher demonstrates how words can inflict severe wounds even on quiet ones.
No crowd scenes, but a strong focus on the characters
Boccanegra's famous speech to the people becomes a self-talk here.
Due to the corona, the choir, orchestra and conductor Fabio Luisi are one kilometer away in the rehearsal building.
The sound is transmitted to the opera house, in the Arte version it looks surprisingly well mixed.
Andreas Homoki, Zurich's director, takes the lack of crowd scenes with outfitter Christian Schmidt as an opportunity.
The result is a strong focus on the characters and great scenic clarity.
On the almost constantly active revolving stage, high, classicist rooms become psychological chambers and rooms of remembrance, arenas of desire and self-reflection.
Everything is transplanted into the twenties of the last century - and becomes an analysis of an authoritarian clique.
At the end of the pleasantly unsentimental death scene, the poisoned doge meets his beloved Maria, who has been dead for decades.
With the daughter by the hand, the couple advances into another, better dimension.
Only two singers can catch up with Gerhaher
In the penetration of their roles only two singers catch up with Gerhaher.
As Fiesco, Christof Fischesser does not rest on Verdi's Melos, but uses it for an inwardly directed, finely shaded character study.
Nicholas Brownlee lets his Paolo burn emotionally.
A counter-image to the constant contrition of the rest of the staff - and an example that on every good “Boccanegra” evening, Paolo could also take over the title hero.
As Amelia, Jennifer Rowley seems a bit too conventional with her subdued Aida emphasis.
Otar Jorjikia (Adorno) also falls victim to his expressiveness as the performance increases.
What Fabio Luisi does with the Philharmonia Zurich would have been a pleasure to hear live and in the opera house.
Coordination seems more important than Luisi's typical furor.
Nevertheless, the general music director demands a lot of flexibility and detailed work.
You understand: Verdi delivered one of his darkest works here - but heavy traffic in the orchestra pit is no solution.
Recorded
on www.arte.tv and in the Arte media library.