A Danse Macabre in the House of the Dead
by Suzanne Daumann
An hypnotic production of Janàček’s masterpiece at the Staatsoper in Munich is played with three narration levels, but nothing is certain, nothing is real.
Munich, October 19th, 2018 - This year’s hypnotic production at the Staatsoper in Munich defies description and invites thought and association. The opera doesn’t have much of a storyline. Prisoners in a Siberian camp come together and tell their stories; a nobleman arrives and gets a beating for claiming to be a political prisoner; prisoners enact two comic pieces full of sexual innuendoes, an eagle sparks discussions about freedom - in the end, the nobleman is set free and one of the prisoners recognizes in another one - who just died - the man who ruined his life. It’s most of all Janàček’s wonderful music that gives life and breath to this story.
Simone Young conducted the Bayrische Staatsorchester with great insight and energy, attentive to every detail, and the rich fabric of the music came to shine with many a blood red and dark accent. Frank Castorp’s staging was very demanding, it played with three narration levels: the actual action of a prisoner telling his story, the content of this story and live video transmissions of different actions. Identities were uncertain and blurred, as they tend to be in prison situations. The young prisoner Aljeja, sung by soprano Evgeniya Sotnikova, wore the costume of 1920s singer dressed as a bird, with a feather-like trail and head-dress: the eagle, a man, a woman… The turnaround stage designed by Aleksandar Denić, showing in turns the different parts of the camp, lent another dancing, blurring aspect to the production and likewise Rainer Casper’s lighting. An actual Danse Macabre appeared in the second act and brought the key to this interpretation: prison life, outside life, identities - nothing is certain, nothing is real.
A cast of great singers gave life to the characters: elegant in spite of the context - Charles Workman as Skuratov. Equally remarkable were Bo Skovhus as Šiškov and Peter Rose in the role of Aleksandr Petrovič Gorjancikov. Applause was due to and received also by the rest of the cast: Aleš Briscein, Manuel Günther, Tim Kuypers, Christian Rieger, Ulrich Reß, Milan Siljanov, Galeano Salas, Oğulcan Yılmaz, Alexander Milev, Alexander Milev, Niamh O’Sullivan, Callum Thorpe, Matthew Grills, Kevin Conners, Dean Power and Long Long.
A rich and insightful evening - thanks and bravo!
photos © Wilfried Hösl