Bregenz Festival: the Blitz Opera on Lake Constance

Created: 07/21/2022, 12:35 p.m

By: Markus Thiel

"Madame Butterfly" at the Bregenz Festival: projections and color plays make the direction of Andreas Homoki on Michael Levine's stage a work of light art.

© Karl Forster/Bregenz Festival

The Bregenz Festival started on Wednesday with the new production of "Madame Butterfly".

But the premiere had to be canceled after 59 minutes because of an impending thunderstorm.

The male voice, one hopes briefly, could be a sound glitch.

Three times something incomprehensible disturbs the languid music before spotlights dazzle the audience and the stage lights are switched off.

Vocals and orchestra fall silent 59 minutes after the premiere.

Friendly regrets over loudspeakers, instructions to clear the grandstand, ticket holders are asked to go to the adjoining Festspielhaus for a semi-concert continuation.

Hangover among 7000 guests after the Puccini intoxication: "Madame Butterfly", the new lake stage production at the Bregenz Festival, is cancelled.

Bregenz Festival: Cancellation of "Madame Butterfly"

And that for security reasons.

Again and again the night sky had brightened briefly.

But the violent flashing of lightning behind Lindau was not the only thing.

Soon the people of Bregenz and thus those responsible for the festival found themselves surrounded by storms, minutes after the demolition the floodgates opened.

Anyone who wanted to go back to the hotel had no chance.

Everything crowded in the foyer and under the canopies.

This July 20, 2022 will thus become the date for the annals.

In addition to July 18, 1997, when it rained so hard that the premiere of "Porgy and Bess" played in the Festspielhaus from the start.

Or July 22, 2010, when the revival premiere of "Aida" hit after a good hour.

Otherwise, it's hard to believe given the open-air conditions, Bregenz basked in the luck of the weather for the first time.

What the director refuses, namely the local spectacle, Peter takes care of.

A wavy sheet of paper that bends 23 meters high over Lake Constance, that's all it should be?

But disappointed passers-by during the day, who are still dreaming of the scenic overkill of "Rigoletto", the previous production, still get a lot on their eyes in the evening.

It's Luke Hall's projections, the colors and the occasional video that make this production an event.

The calligraphy, mountains and forests emerge almost three-dimensionally.

A light sculpture is created that continues a large Bregenz series and has the character of an installation.

"Madame Butterfly" in Bregenz: the evening works

Because that can be said after just under an hour: So much reduction, so much concentration, so much purism was rare here.

Michael Levine's scenery works like an enlarged normal opera stage.

With alleys behind the paper waves that allow classical performances.

With a wide setting that draws attention to the intimate and sometimes painfully illustrates loneliness.

In general, with a focus on the characters, who thus become the protagonists - and not the technical equipment that is otherwise often used.

Without this ambience, in which Puccini's music effortlessly pushes into the distance, Homoki's directing gets stuck in the stereotype with tripping Japanese women and merciful hand wringing, you can tell from the semi-concert continuation in the house.

But as a total work of art, so much can be assumed, the evening works.

Bregenz Festival: a "paper ship" in Lake Constance

The scenic signs stand out all the more: the US flag, which initially flies over the stage.

And what cannot be seen in the premiere: the oversized “paper ship” with which Cio-Cio San imagines Pinkerton's return – their son had previously placed a small one in the lake like a silent call.

In addition, there are the final flames, which, after Butterfly's suicide, first lick up the giant leaf via video and transform into real fire at the upper edge.

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The finale of "Madame Butterfly" - unfortunately not seen in the premiere.

© Ralph Larmann/Bregenz Festival

Traditionally, in Bregenz, the main roles are cast three times.

In the premiere, Barno Ismatullaeva exudes a dark soprano glow as Cio-Cio San, develops the wide, power-sapping upswings intelligently and technically.

Edgara's Montvidas as Pinkerton doesn't quite fill the frame, Brian Mulligan's robust Sharpless almost outstrips him.

Annalisa Stroppa makes servant Suzuki a co-heroine.

Enrique Mazzola is the new chief conductor in Bregenz

Enrique Mazzola, chief conductor of Bregenz since this summer, has fallen in love with the score like many of his colleagues, but does not let himself be seduced by it.

The Wiener Symphoniker succeeds in delivering a swift, elastic interpretation that breathes, leaves room for detail and never overpowers it.

Tasteful like a Japanese ornamental garden, which doesn't overwhelm you with impressions.

You can hear that especially in the continuation in the house.

After a good rest hour there, the mood is forgiving to exuberant.

Standing ovations for the musical fraction, the directing team (why actually?) didn't show up.

Those who were not allowed to attend the semi-concert performance and checked their emails: Shortly after the cancellation, the automatic link for a refund arrived.

Only two minutes of performance longer, and the festival would no longer have needed this according to the ticket regulations.

So a fair decision.

May it never happen again this summer.

Further performances

until August 20, 2022;

Ticket status and orders at bregenzerfestspiele.com.