The Bavarian State Opera has started the 2022/23 season - with "Opera for everyone" in Rosenheim.
Artists and audience didn't let the bad weather spoil their enjoyment of the music.
Well over 40 degrees Celsius, not a cloud, no water, just sand and a title heroine who sings her life out in the desert, dehydrated.
Not a bad punchline with which the Bavarian State Opera starts the season.
The final aria from Puccini's "Manon Lescaut".
At 11 degrees, only briefly interrupted continuous drizzle and on increasingly muddy grass.
But late on Friday morning (September 16, 2022), defiance triumphed over concerns: we went through with the open-air concert in Rosenheim's Mangfallpark in the evening and didn't care about the weather forecast.
Last season, the State Opera was a guest in Ansbach
For the second time, the State Opera cheats.
Last year, at the beginning of Serge Dorny's directorship, "Opera for All" was a guest in Ansbach in Franconia, now it's Upper Bavaria's turn.
We come to you, says the boss in his speech, so it would be nice if you stopped by in Munich as well.
A publicity tour for the house and for the opera in general, with free admission and financed by sponsors.
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Despite the weather: soprano Sonya Yoncheva and Daniel Rustioni in the open air in Rosenheim.
© Wilfried Hösl
Half an hour before the start - attention, kidding - visitors trickle through the entrances.
When it starts, many hundreds of fans expectantly look towards the covered stage.
The dress code is colourful.
Rain jackets, coats and overhangs, umbrellas (only little ones allowed!), Bavarians close to the mountains wear waterproof hiking boots.
Aperol, Hugo, beer and Prosecco are available at the drinks trolley, no mulled wine.
"Opera for everyone" in Rosenheim: the mood is great
And, oh wonder: the mood is great.
The Bavarian State Orchestra tramples when presenter Annekatrin Hentschel praises the audience, who was tireless despite the cold and wet weather.
It cheers back from the meadow and from Mangfalldamm.
Some even huddle on picnic blankets.
Soprano Sonya Yoncheva risks a strapless dress in yellow.
Apparently there are radiant heaters up there.
The Friday evening bell accompanies her Leonora aria from Verdi's "La forza del destino".
Great pose, distinctive dark tones, lots of voice control: Anyone standing at the front of the barrier can see little clouds escaping from the singer's mouth.
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The dress code is colorful - and rainproof at the start of the Bavarian State Opera season in Mangfallpark.
© Wilfried Hösl
It is a 100-minute, non-stop, effective opera concert mix, in which the ballet music and an aria from Massenet's "Le Cid" are the most advanced.
And as already registered in the inevitable "Forza" overture: Daniel Rustioni, Principal Guest Conductor of the State Opera, is the perfect man for the masses.
Almost every pose is addressed to the gallery, which doesn't even exist today.
Gladly with jumping exercises and encouraging expressions.
Much is savored with pleasure.
The temperament is good for the opera snippets, as well as for the audience, who sometimes swing along.
Freddie De Tommaso, formerly in the Munich Opera Studio, is much more than a cue for the diva with a robust, wide swinging tenor including mini sobs.
The "Manon" duet becomes the climax, followed by the encore block.
Among other things, "O soave fanciulla" from Puccini's "Bohème", in which Rodolfo holds Mimì's ice-cold hand.
They have a sense of humor about this house.