The Ring that crashed to earth
mainWe’ve just put two and two together and realised that falling scenery is not the only thing that is going down at the Darmstadt State Theatre.
Two weeks ago, we reported the the chief conductor, Constantin Trinks, had been fired by general manager John Dew. Something to do, apparently, with the partner of one man not being given a role by the other.
A Frankfurt newspaper has been running headlines about ‘no bullying at the state theatre’.
Dew has been heavily criticsed in an official report for his autocracy. There are whiffs of nepotism about the house.
Small wonder the walls are shaking.
The papers here (FAZ, FR, Opernwelt, and others) all put it more or less this way: Trinks refused to cast Dew’s husband Sven Ehrke as Loge. Dew reacted by changing the Lucia cast on short notice – he removed Trinks’ partner Alexandra Lubchansky as Lucia.
I have never listened to either of these singers, but Opernwelt judged Lubchansky a remarkable Lucia, while – according to Opernwelt – Ehrke would be better off as the typical Verdi-messenger.
Furthermore, Dew is accused of being responsible for a level of nepotism much higher than the usual theatre standard.
Right now, Trinks has indeed been fired, while the state government of Hessen (which owns the Darmstadt theatre) designed a supervisor for Dew and is trying to find a legal solution for firing Dew as well.