My European ‘season’ 2013 has begun. After a week of
settling in to my new flat, and catching up with some of the friends whom I
haven’t seen since I disappeared off to winter in the South, it was time to get
out, and taste the musical and theatrical treats on offer, before that season
disappears.
And so, last night, we headed once more to the Deutsche
Oper. It was an interesting night in store. The opera was Prokofiev’s L’amour des trois oranges, of which I
knew nothing, save the march tune which was featured on one of my childish
records, half a century ago. I hurriedly conned the plot, and then saw to my
delight that he wrote the piece in French. Tonight it was I who would
understand the text.
I had hard work. The story is a bit whimsical if not exactly
complex, only a couple of the players had intelligible French, and I was
reduced to reading the German surtitles!
The piece is quite simply a grand opéra-bouffe féerie. Yes,
I know it has the odd 20th-century trappings, but that’s what it is. It is a
full sister to Le Cheval de bronze, which
Berlin gave us so successfully last year. Which suits me fine. But it is
different in one notable way from Auber’s piece. There is no ‘Veuvage’ song hit
in Prokofiev’s score: because there are no songs. The pretty, lively,
opéra-bouffe music never stops and allows anyone a good old-fashioned show-off
sing. So the march has no challengers as the hit of the night. Enjoyable as the
music is, the march is the show’s only takeaway tune.
Like the Bronze Horse,
the Deutsche Oper production is not particularly physically ‘spectacular’,
relying heavily on curtains for its decor, but it is lively and good-humoured
and its little pasted-on bits of topical humour drew much laughter. It was
directed in a clear and suitable style, played melodiously, and simply allowed
the opera to speak and sing for itself. Which, for me, is ideal opera
direction. Thank you.
The cast was made up largely of the pensionnaires of the
house, and (although I was devastated to find my favourite Markus Brück was
‘off’), as always, the team threw up a couple of first-rate performances.
The tenor Prince (Thomas Blondelle), whose inability to
laugh is the spring to the basic story, doesn’t make his appearance until we’ve
been drowned in (rather wooffy) bass and baritone music for half an hour and,
when he did, the stage lit up. Singing freely and clearly, and acting with
attractive ease, he put himself plumb at the centre of the evening’s action (as
he should) and stayed there throughout. A fine, clever, effortless performance.
But he was not alone. If the ‘hero’ takes his time to show
up, what to say of his Princess, who doesn’t arrive from her piece of fruit till
the second half? This – the opening of
the three oranges -- was the most enjoyable and imaginative part of the show,
without a doubt. The image of the evening for me is Princess Ninetta (Hila
Fahima), rising from her Deutsche Oper Obst, a tiny, tiny princess in a vast
Valkyrian helmet ... and then she sang. Oh, did she sing. After too many
covered, muffled vocal sounds from elsewhere in the cast, at last here came a
raindrop-clear, sweet, thrillingly pure sound, which just floated across the
auditorium. My night was made. I wanted to stop the show and have her
interpolate Rode’s Air and Variations. I’ll go and see her when she plays
Pamina. Which must be soon.
The two stars were well supported: the always reliable
Burkhard Ulrich had fun with a joyously unextravagant portrayal of the clown Truffaldino,
Marko Mimica as the wizard Tschelio got the nearest thing to a big sing and he
stood at the footlights and richly gave it his all, and some of the best fun
(and fine singing) was supplied by Tobias Kehrer in the travesty role of the
Cook. The ten ‘ridicules’ made a lively male voice sub-choir, and the various
not-hugely-grateful ladies’ roles were adequately filled.
So, definitely a successful experience. I’m very glad to
have seen Prokofiev’s answer to La Biche
au bois, and I would gladly see it again. I’m very glad to have seen Mons
Blondelle for the first time, and I’m absurdly glad to have seen and heard Mlle
Fahima whom I definitely will see again.
A good start to my 2013. Next, onto Radialsystem…
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