Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona. 26 April 2013.
This comments correspond to the representation offered by the headline cast of opera, whose result has been very similar to the previous day.
Nothing new there to say about the stage production of Robert Carsen and his conceptual environmentalism. Also Josep Pons musical reading changes to the previous day, although it has seemed marginally more got in the second part of the opera. In fact, the Orchestra of the Liceu has been better.
The vocal cast has not offered superior performance to the one we could hear the previous day. The most positive difference has been in the Giants and in the The decission to entrust the character of Wotan to Albert Dohmen might have been a success at one time, but his vocal State has changed markedly in the past two years. Not long ago he was one of the best interpreters of Wotan, having triumphed as such in Bayreuth under the direction of Thielemann just 6 years ago. Now his voice has been significantly reduced and the high notes are more problematic than ever. I think that he is aware of his vocal status, since he is singing bass roles, although it remains baritone.
If in the case of Alan Held I said that there was power and missing nuances, in the Dohmen occurs opposite. Of course, that a God without power is little acceptable in a first line theatre’s.
British baritone Andrew Shore was a good Alberich, not exceptional. This character with a sonorous voice and good performing skills is easily saved and so did Andrew Shore, whose overall performance was below the Oleg Bryjak on the previous day.
The American tenor Kurt Streit made a remarkable Loge, giving all the needed sinuous of the character and singing with great intent. The voice is somewhat light, but runs fine. The truth is that we have seen two great interpreters of Loge, the consecrated Kurt Streit and the least recognized Francisco Vas, which was not far behind.
The mezzo soprano Japanese Mihoko Fujimura was good in the part of Fricka, in a voice clear and well rendered, though with too much vibrato on more than one occasion.
Before I said that the biggest difference in the quality of the deals was in the characters of the Giants and thus was, indeed. The Latvian Ain Anger was a sound Fasolt, singing with taste and showing a pasty and quality voice. In a short time it has become one of the most interesting bass on the current scene. Also Jerkunica offered a very suitable Fafner, voice well ring and good interpretative skills.
Ewa Podles is a true contralto, which boasts a spectacular low register. It is, therefore, a suitable singer for the character of Erda. Her interpretation was good, singing with taste, although the high notes were too clear.
Erika Wueschner was good in the part of Freia. Ralf Lukas repeated his correct and bland Donner.
Mikhail Vekua repeated the favorable impression from the previous day in Mime. The new Froh was the Belgian Marcel Reijans, which did reasonably well.
The daughters of the Rhine improved service delivery with the changes introduced in this deal. Lisette Bolle was a Woglinde better than her colleague from the previous day. Maria Hinojosa repeated as Wellgunde, and Nadine Weissmann (Erda the preceding night) was a very proper Flosshilde.
El Liceo also offered spaces at a glance in this titular cast, espeially on the main patio. The total entry hardly exceed 80% of the capacity. The audience was warm in the final applause, being the largest ovations for Kurt Streit, Ewa Podles and Ain Anger.
La representation began this time 5 minutes late or perhaps one should say complimentary, taking into account the opera that we are talking about. The duration was 2 hours and 30 minutes, slightly shorter than the previous day. The final applause lasted for 5 minutes.
The price of the most expensive seat (first floor) was 232 euros, whereas the armchair of stalls costed 172 euros. On the upper floors there were seats between 96 and 137 euros. On the highest floor the entrance cost was 68 euros, been locations with reduced or no visibility for 35 and 13 euros, respectively.
Copyright: A. M. Bofill
José M. Irurzun
