Bregenz risks all on a pure German opera
OperaThe Bregenz Festival has announced Der Freischütz as its opera-on-the-lake next summer.
Outgoing intendant Elisabeth Sobotka said she was ‘a bit sceptical’ at first. Director Philipp Stölzl admits it’s a ‘difficult piece. A cornerstone of German romanticism with a profound influence on Richard Wagner, Carl Maria von Weber’s opera has screeds of declaimed text that are meaningful mostly to their own period. The dialogue has been revised and only native German speakers have been cast, but it is by no means certain that Freischütz will prove a winner.
More here.
Many will come because it’s the Seebühne, where a breathtaking spectacle is guaranteed.
As long as it is not a “Bayreuth” Freischutz I will attend it.
It’s a magical place – but do take insect repellent.
Bedbugs Sue. Mosquito net better.
Well done. When performed well, it is a beutiful opera, well worth the effort and the risk.
DER FREISCHUTZ has glorious music and characters who relate to each other in interesting ways.
However, the dialogue can be tedious and my preferred recording (Keilberth, EMI) leaves out much of it. I expect that the Bregenz staging will do something similar.
Have you heard the Rene Jacobs remake, he has turned it into a radio drama with sound effects. Not bad, however he cannot seem to avoid with tinkering with it, adding in the Hermit scene at the start and using Schubert music, too interventionist maybe. The Hermit scene works better near the end of Act 1, before Kaspar’s song. Kuno’s dialogue has been set to music by Schubert! I prefer leaving it as dialogue.
Incidentally the Keilberth 1959 Freischutz has more dialogue than most, uses the Peters edition as does Jacobs, overall Keilberth’s wolf glen scene is the best overall.
The best DVD version I have seen is the old Hamburg one.
There is no piece of music that René Jacobs can resist tinkering with.
Funny anti-german mental constructs and sentiments.
Imagine how silly a headline would read like: “Verona risks all on a pure Italian opera.”
Same same.
Freischütz is a masterpiece that can easily attract the masses.
I adore “Der Freischütz” and wish it were performed much more often!
Here is the old Hamburg one. The very first opera production to be videoed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8GFvzxLq4Y