Vienna State Opera (live stream), 07/10/2023

Puccini : Il trittico

Chorus and Orchestra of Vienna State Opera

Philippe Jordan

Puccini's Trittico is clearly in fashion just now, this Vienna production is the third that I know of since the start of the year, while the Scottish Opera production seen in March is scheduled for several other houses internationally during the next few seasons.  

Tatjana Gürbaca's production began somewhat unpromisingly, with an Il tabarro in an incomprehensible setting, a bare stage with a channel running across the length, creating two 'banks', and in the bare space above to the left of centre, three giant words in neon, "schwer" (difficult, or hard) "glücklich" (happy, or lucky) and "sein" (either the verb "to be", or the possessive pronoun).  The six principals occupied the 'front' bank, while along the bank an irregular but constant progression of silent characters crossed from left to right.  Some of them were clearly reflections of some of the principals, but otherwise, they were merely random characters other than the three small comprimario parts the opera requires.

The effect of this extremely stark staging was to deprive the characters of any sort of context.  Gürbaca further undermined the sense of relationships by showing Michele clearly refusing any sort of comfort to his wife during the prelude, which makes nonsense of his subsequent pleas for her affection.  Under the circumstances it's not that surprising that the characters only came to life with extreme difficulty.  Anja Kampe's Giorgetta never really elicited that much sympathy, but Michael Volle came to life in the latter half with his big scene, first pleading with Kampe, then ruminating, and then enacting his vengeance.  Of the three main participants, the most consistently engaging was the Luigi of Joshua Guerrero, making light of a vocally fairly taxing, if short, role, and an almost hapless pawn in the intrigue, because there was little indication that Giorgetta harboured any true feeling for him, he was just a convenient outlet for her frustration.

This bare set is only slightly modified for Suor Angelica.  The 'canal' disappears, and walls appear at the back and to the sides, grey, like the rest of the decor, while of the neon words, only "Sein" remains, in this context clearly meaning "His".  The nuns' costume is original, a calf-length grey pinafore over a white blouse, and a white lace cap, without a veil, with only the Abbess appearing in the traditional black gown and veil.  

Again, Gürbaca was sending out mixed signals.  Her Principessa Zia was much more emotional than I've usually seen, as if wanting to reconcile at least somewhat with Angelica, but despite her words about forgiveness, it's Angelica who rejects the gestures.  It's the ending that got really interesting, though; Angelica removes her habit in favour of civilian dress, before swallowing broken glass (which is a particularly horrible way to die), but as she's dying, the aunt returns with Angelica's son, and is clearly shocked and horrified to find what she's done.  It was an intriguing take on the story, that was effectively delivered by the principals, Eleonora Buratto (Angelica) and Michaela Schuster (the Principessa Zia).  

That said, musically, although competent enough, there was nothing in this performance to really engage me.  The chorus work was a little choppy in the earlier part of the opera, and never really came alight in the later part.  Schuster was a solid presence, both scenically and vocally, but I found Buratto a little taxed by the uppermost floated notes the role requires towards the end, and she never touched me emotionally.  I will admit to being resistant to Suor Angelica in general, but the right performance does touch me, and this one failed to do so. On the other hand, I acknowledge the particularly detailed work of Jordan and the orchestra here, I think it's the first time I've really heard that bleating lamb of which Sister Genovieffa speaks.

The walls rose again for Gianni Schicchi, to full height, and leaving a large gap in the rear through which dimly (until the end, when it lit up) could be seen "Glück".  This dull décor was largely compensated for by the fact that most of the characters appeared in Carnival costume, as varied and multi-coloured as could be wished for.  I felt a little sorry for Rinuccio (Bogdan Volkov), encumbered with a pantomime horse, but he managed it well on the whole.  This was not the most amusing production I've ever seen, but it was funny enough, and the characters were well drawn.  I particularly liked what Gürbaca did with Lauretta (Serena Sáenz), who was something of a minx, and had rather more persuasive arguments than just batting her eyes at her father, namely, a positive pregnancy test.  

Musically, this was the performance I had been waiting for, because Schicchi was played by the great Ambrogio Maestri, with a solid ensemble cast behind him led by the Zita of Michaela Schuster.  Maestri was born for this role, as he is for the title role in Falstaff.  He's a big man, with an imposing presence, who can nevertheless exude a tremendous degree of impishness, and he has an instinctual sense of comic timing that he uses to excellent effect.  Allied to an opulent and expressive baritone voice, this is the ideal Schicchi, and he was very much in his element.  The others played up to this; watching Schuster, who's not a small woman, attempting to square up to him but failing, was very funny.   Here too, the orchestra was in fine form, alert and vivacious, but lyrical when needed, and this ended the evening on a high note.