Just in: Berlin cancels Korngold
OperaDeutsche Oper Berlin has called off tonight’s eagerly awaited return of Korngold’s Das Wunder von Heliane, its first revival since the Berlin premiere in 2018.
The reason? No-one can sing it. Here’s the official announcement:
Due to the illness at short notice of the tenor part (The stranger) in Korngold’s THE MIRACLE OF HELIANE, today’s performance must unfortunately be cancelled. As the work is so extraordinarily rarely performed, no replacement can be found so quickly. We assume that Mihails Culpajevs will be healthy again for the other performances on 5, 8 and 11 March.
Oh boy… Ian Storey, who sang the role, is apparently busy and definitely turned towards character roles. Daniel Brenna and Brian Jadge seem to be busy as well. Nobody else can sing the role on the DOB level? Poor them…
I would not call what Storey does “singing”.
If the casting office is so far off the mark with the chosen first cast for the revival it would indeed have been a Wunder, had they been able to find a viable replacement.
Are you intimating that someone who sings Narraboth, Steuermann and Remendado shouldn’t be singing the Fremde?!
*der*
That’s their problem for not hiring substitutes and doing it on the cheap.
. . . It’s not another “Boheme” rerun, or Philip Glass, Glass, Glass, Glass, etc., etc. . . .
This “lack of covers” thing seems to be a uniquely European affliction as we recently saw at ROH.
Korngold was not kind to tenors. The role of Paul in DIE TOTE STADT is also a vocal challenge.
Who’s the female singer in the photo?
How can I tell you… just by listening to Mihails Culpajevs on YouTube and his singing – as a technique terrible and problematic – you will understand that:
1. The casting department clearly has no idea what they’re doing and where to look for actors outside of the crazy agencies that supply hideous singing artists – because I can’t see any other way that this tenor ended up at the Deutsche Oper for THIS monstrously complex role, ESPECIALLY after Braun Jagde in 2018. This tenor has serious technical problems and is unable to sing this role – he apparently lost his voice after the rehearsal period.
2. At the very least – they should have talked to Jonathan Tetelman not about Cavaradossi, who he was singing at the same time, but about Stranger. At least he has the technique to sing it.
Please get real. These people are booked way in advance, and how many tenors are going to tell their agent, “oh yes, I’m prepared to sing a difficult tenor role in a mostly unknown Korngold opera”. The really good tenors, what few there are, are being pursued by the big-name, big-money opera houses to fulfill their reruns of Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, whatever. In short, a question of supply and demand.
The more the reason for having understudies/covers.
You are brave to point all this out, although I can only speak to musicians world & I have heard such opinions there too, regarding agencies, younger over older, skinny & bare skinned vs modest & not so skinny etc.
I had a ticket for this performance and traveled five hours by train to get to it, only to return five hours by train the next day. Hugely disappointing to me. They need to have covers when performing such works.
He sang at the second night (I was there) and was in good voice through the long first act. Perhaps he tired by the end, but the audience certainly appreciated his performance.
I think there were only five performances planned, so you have to forgive the Deutsche Oper not engaging understudies. And how would they have found a replacement Heliane? No chance,
I was present at the second performance. There was an apology before the start from the tenor but he sounded to be in good voice. All three main protagonists were excellent in very taxing roles, as was the orchestra and chorus, not to mention the actual musical score. It was a triumph for the Deutsche Oper, fully recognised as such by the audience, which demonstrated its appreciation enthusiastically and at great length.