Eroticism on the edge: Mozart's "Così fan tutte" at the Bavarian State Opera
Created: 10/27/2022, 4:17 p.m
By: Markus Thiel
Aggression in the oleander field: Avery Amereau (Dorabella, from left), Konstantin Krimmel (Guglielmo), Louise Alder (Fiordiligi), Sandrine Piau (Despina), Sebastian Kohlhepp (Ferrando) and above Christian Gerhaher (Alfonso).
© Wilfried Hösl
A long evening that lets a lot of clever things shine through.
And yet director Benedict Andrews and conductor Vladimir Jurowski cannot quite grasp Mozart's "Così".
The premiere review.
Maybe in the end there really is only the fetish.
When the butterflies in your stomach stop flapping their wings when it comes to relationship work after the hormone overpressure of the honeymoon.
Philosopher Don Alfonso and parlor maid Despina make do with routine sadomaso, his leather mask shows this to the overture.
And the constantly polished BMW X5 is parked in the garage - polishing to a certain extent as car eroticism.
The partner exchange, with which Wolfgang Amadé Mozart and lyricist Lorenzo da Ponte still disturb us opera people, appears as just one of many erotic afterburners.
And the fact that all of this is in truth a matter that is serious to the death has, rightly, been a directing practice on “Così fan tutte” for a long time.
In Dieter Dorn's legendary previous production, the long-seller premiered in 1993, the ensemble only attacked each other in the final minutes.
Now, with Benedict Andrews, there is a suicide attempt at the Bavarian State Opera after the first half hour.
The ladies route an exhaust hose into the SUV, Dorabella, coughing, is the first to give up – the fickle woman will later also be the first to succumb to the husband of her bosom friend.
Princesses and their Disney castle
One of many subtle details is that which proves: Andrews, a successful cinema and actor with a growing penchant for music theater, read and listened carefully.
The Australian starts the four-hour (!) evening without any cuts in the score in the battered room and in a mixture of nihilism and deep despair: The fact that the lovebirds Ferrando and Guglielmo pretend to go to war can no longer be shown as soldier kindness.
This is what Dorabella and Fiordiligi know, we “Tagesschau” users know, it’s all about here.
The Australian director is interested in how love is sometimes revived from cramped to hopeless.
But also how often the word is just a facade - an inflatable Disney castle, in which the women want to live their princess dreams, tells of it.
So this production is a less realistically developed story, more of a spotlight sequence, for which Magda Willi provided the stage sets that can be quickly pushed out and in.
As much as the evening lies under a dark cloud: In between, Andrews turns into common "Così" gags.
And as close as a lot is spun before the break, the performance loses massively in the second part.
Also because she is irritatingly charmless.
Nobody wants the old "Così" slapstick back.
But Andrews misses the fact that Mozart/da Ponte also deal with deep, tearful heartache, that the text delivers rough punch lines, but also a lot of subtle, subtle things.
As a result, the performance is a (albeit cleverly selected) collection of material.
And that finds its tonal counterpart in the ditch.
A somewhat unholy alliance.
Is Vladimir Jurowski a Mozart man?
There is no doubt that Vladimir Jurowski is also familiar with the score.
And instead of conducting a lot of things with hustle and bustle, he takes his time.
There is so much to discover, calls his interpretation, so many subtleties, sound mixtures and atmospheres.
And yet this is not the interpretation of a theater practitioner with a sense for the moment and dramatic developments, but that of an intellectual.
Jurowski lectures on details.
And one warning sign is that many ensembles and some arias are faltering.
That sounds like everyday repertoire, not like a premiere.
Once, in the first final, all Jurovsky run away.
As if the vocal staff felt that more organic tempos were actually in demand.
And an alarm is also, how vigorously, with a hard blow Jurowski insists on his line:
Quite logically, cynic Alfonso is the main character in this gloom.
Christian Gerhaher designed it with bared teeth.
A fear biter.
And an aging, increasingly frustrated playmaker.
One hangs on Gerhaher's every word, in a mini-phrase he can make the dilemma of this character, of the whole event, come to life.
Only Louise Alder comes close to him.
As Fiordiligi, she is the ideal cast because she shows that it is not vocal size and weight that are decisive for the part, but colors, richness, agility and emotional depth.
All of this flows together in the “Felsen-Aria” in an exemplary and magical way.
Avery Amereau is a Dorabella with a distinctive timbre that is just as upbeat.
Sebastian Kohlhepp was announced as indisposed after surviving the Covid infection.
The fact that his Ferrando is not a lyrical murmur benefits the game and gives it more facets.
Sandrine Piau is on the road as a (also vocal) foil comedian.
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And the fact that Gerhaher and Konstantin Krimmel are under contract with the same agency gives the extra punchline.
A kind of heir to the throne is there as Guglielmo on the stage.
Krimmel's baritone has enough softener parts for erotic caressing, but also reserves for (never overstimulated) boasting.
Everything is developed from the word and never just an exhibited sound.
You can see that he likes the role of the greasy macho.
And you also hear that there is huge potential for big games.
In the last half hour, the evening turns into a surreal openness.
Hardly any decoration and no love either.
Nothing can be cemented here.
Abysses yawn and also - it is shortly before 11 p.m. - some spectators.
Nevertheless, there was much cheering, including boos for Jurowski.
There's a lot in this performance, no doubt.
All that's missing is someone who can bring everything into a coherent, stable architecture.