Unlock the publisher's digest free
Roula Khalaf, editor -in -chief of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Do women have a value? Well, yes – but only if they wear children. This is the message at the heart of Richard Strauss's Gargantuan Opera The woman without shadow (“The woman without shadow”), under the coating of mythological figures and a complicated plot. Any opera that attacks the room today is faced with several challenges. For its new production, Dutch National Opera has chosen the feminist director of Franc-Parller, Katie Mitchell, who had to have a lot to say about the deeply problematic texts of the Hugo von Hofmannsthal booklet.
Mitchell has a penchant for magic, so it is not surprising that she sticks to all the birds and animals of the opera, despite an update of the present. Keikobad, a sinister king of the underground mind and father of the titular empress, remains out of stage in the script, but Mitchell lets him drift through many scenes, carrying a overcoat and an antelope mask. His underground world is populated by armed men wearing combinations, with and without bird masks, who are murdered with enthusiasm; The Empress and her husband, living in a mansion populated by disposable servants, do not seem surprised by their periodic slaughter.
When the sterile empress and her nurse descend into the world of mortals in order to force the dye's woman to separate from her own shadow (a metaphor for fertility), homicide henchmen are there to help. In the sumptuous and complex sets of Naomi Dawson, the Dyer and his brothers have a crystal methamphetamine laboratory in their back room, but business cannot be booming; They remain on the pizza to take away and the beer in the refrigerator. When KeikoBad's henchmen kill the brothers at the end, it is not clear if one cartel takes another one or if people shoot more fun than let them walk outside. There is an in -depth use of test tubes and an ultrasonic baby monitor, to make sure that we understand that fertility is here on money and control; Almost all of Dyer's wife is under the threat of a firearm, and yet, in the end, she seems strangely delighted to be pregnant.
Mitchell describes his staging as a feminist science fiction thriller; Many things are certainly happening. His work is impressive, and the detail is forged and frequently absorbent and frequently. A large part does not add up or leaves more questions open than answers; But we receive the message from a violent patriarchy leaving women without freedom.
In the casting, the house seems to have prioritized dramatic talents above the vocal capacity; All women and most men seem to fight with the extent of their roles, with only Josef Wagner like Barak Le Dyer and the Emperor of Aj Gruckert who seems really comfortable. Part of this could be due to driver's decision Marc Albrecht to lift the pit, placing the orchestra just below the auditorium floor; It is a wonderful way to emphasize the musicians of the Netherlands Philharmonic and the many fabulous colors that Albrecht draw from them, but it is even more difficult for singers to be heard without screaming, and most of them seem desperate and worn at the end of the four-hour evening. Their game, however, cannot be for lack.
Albrecht brings magic to the evening; It is one of his festive pieces, and there are few who can match his clarity, his intelligence, her elegance and his clever ability to balance rapid transparency with moments of ecstasy. But often, there seems to be a fundamental disconnection between the pit and the scene; We hear a superlative game and see an inspired game, but the real song is never really attracted to the mixture. Who, in an opera, is a problem. However, it is an intriguing vision of a thorny but opulent opera, and is well worth a visit.
★★★★ ☆
On May 10, operaballet.nl/in
