Boredom has no place
by Susanne Krekel
Strawinsky’sThe Rake’s Progress enthuses the audience at the Gärtnerplatztheater
Munich, October 21 2022 - One never gets bored at the Gärtnerplatz, no matter what’s on. A fantastic team that knows how to translate all kinds of music into images and light.
Tonight, everything begins in the barn of Father Truelove whose daughter Anne is in love with young Tom Rakewell, a good looking albeit poor gentleman. Through the barn’s open door, we see a delightful spring sky, and the young lovers sing of springtime and love. Gyula Rab is Tom and he is also delightful. His light and clear voice will follow his character in all his developments, ever true to his intentions, to his partners, and to the orchestra. The part is also demanding in terms of stage movements and acting, and the young tenor handles everything quite remarkably. The fact that he’s not exactly an eyesore doesn’t in the least diminish his merits.
Mária Celeng is Anne, and if her voice sounds a bit forced at the very beginning, it will soon free itself and we will hear the round and warm sound that we know. So, it’s spring, life is good, but Father Truelove - admirable, too, Holger Ohlmann - would like to see Tom take on a banker’s job in the City of London, for his daughter must not marry a poor man. Tom, however, wants to make his own way in life and says so. And now the sky darkens: enter Nick Shadow. He informs Tom that he’s inherited a fortune. Tom instates him directly as his manager and wants to know about his wages. Shadow would settle their account in a year and a day, and now we know with whom we are dealing and why this name. All the names are self-explaining, and we know what the story is about before it has even begun. We would have wished for English surtitles since the libretto has been written by the great poet W.H. Auden and thus we would have appreciated the original text, its wit and its beauties.
Matija Meić with his flexible and strong baritone embodies Shadow with just the right amount of diabolical irony. He takes Tom to London where he becomes a star and learns the basics of debauchery, the word „love”, however, still goes to his heart. Meanwhile, Anne, not having had word from Tom in a long time, goes in search of him. Shadow convinces Tom to marry another star, Baba the Turk, and bearded lady. They are on the point of being presented to society together when Anne comes upon them. In a touching duo, Anne and Tom take leave from each other. At Tom’s place, his wife’s incessant chatter goes to his nerves, and he ends up giving her secretly a sleeping draught. She falls asleep, still talking, and as she sits in the sofa corner, Tom puts a lampshade on her head. Anna Agathonos is fabulous as well. In his turn, Tom falls asleep. When he wakes up, Shadow shows him what he has been dreaming of: a machine to change stones to bread. Tom, who is not really a bad guy, sees this machine as his chance to get free of his sins and both leave in search of means to this project. — Eventually Tom sees himself ruined, and his belongings are up for auction. Anne arrives and Baba, who has been sitting under her lampshade all through the auction, tells her to listen to her heart and to follow Tom whom she is leaving anyway. She hears Shadow and Tom sing in the distance and follows their voices. — Tom and Shadow are in a graveyard when Tom’s time is up, and Shadow claims his due - Tom’s soul. In a last plot twist, Tom manages to trick the devil, but before returning to hell, Shadow curses Tom to madness. Anne finds him in Bedlam, London’s lunatic asylum, and sings him a last lullaby. Her father comes to take her away and Tom dies in the arms of the doctor. In an epilogue, the characters speak directly to the public and explain the moral of the story. No wonder we leave the cinema with the final chorus of Don Giovanni running in our head.
Deep emotions, irony, and silliness, touching arias and duos, energetic ensembles, choruses and dance scenes - Stravinsky’s masterpiece has it all. With all the quotations and references to his predecessors, while using his own musical language, he has recreated a musical univers that had been exploded by other musical currents and the catastrophe of World War II.
Stage director Adam Cooper situates the action in Punk and Thatcher age London, the mythical Marquee club is the setting of one scene, with dancers and chorus in a most admirable Punk ballet. During the auction scene, we will find them in colorful city suits and trouser suits, whilst the frenetic auctioneer, Juan Carlos Falcón is wearing grey - bravo Alfred Mayerhofer for the lovely and effective costumes!
Among the personnel we have also two beautiful ladies with endless legs in most suggestive suits, fallen angels, we are told, and a most disapproving butler.
Add to all this the effective and beautiful set designs by Andreas Vogelweider and Rubén Dubrovsky’s energetic orchestra direction: everything is united for a most enjoyable opera night.
No, boredom has no place at the Gärtnerplatz!