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A week end in Zürich Zurich
Opernhaus Zürich
12/05/1999 -
Rossini : Il Barbieri di Seviglia
Reprise starting on 5 December 29, 1, 19,23, 27, Jan 2000, last time in this season 4 Mai 2000. For more dates see www.kulturinfo.ch
Reinaldo Macias (Conte Almaviva), Carlos Chausson (Bartolo), Liliana Nikiteanu (Rosina), Manuel Lanza (Figaro) Pavel Daniluk (Don Basilio), Peter Kàlmàn (Fiorillo).
Grischa Asagaroff (Director), Max Röthlisberger (Set), Jan Skalicky (Costumes), Chor des Opernhauses Zürich, Erssnst Raffelsberger (Choir Master), Orchester der Oper Zürich, Adam Fischer (Conductor)
Zürich has the richest opera house in Switzerland. Quality and quantity are good spouses here. Its director, Alexander Pareira, is said to be not only an excellent artistic director but a great financial manager.
Although a quite small theatre in size, it can still have the pretension of being one of the best operatic scenes in Europe, if not in the world. Great singers from around the globe are the regular guests of the Opernhaus, but also less known artists, that are to be discovered.
A pleasant afternoon with a traditional Barbiere, it is always a pleasure to here an excellent cast that not only sings greatly but acts it in the tradition of opera buffa. Liliana Nikiteanu's Rosina had a lot of voice and energy but her phrasé is a bit crude, needing a bit more sensibility. An authentic Figaro played by Manuel Lanza and an equally good Almaviva interpreted by Renaldo Macias. Daniluk was also very convincing with his bass voice, one would say bass-bass, that almost only Ukrainian and Russian singers are gifted with. Carlos Chasson as Don Bartolo was really extraordinary, he is really an example of Don Bartolo, and he seems to have such fun interpreting the role. The orchestra was not always following, lacking preciseness. But still performing all and all well.
Alban Berg: Wozzeck
30 nov., 2, 5, 8, 10, 12 Dec. 1999
Solveig Kringelborn (Marie), Ursula Ferri (Margret), Matthias Goerne (Wozzek), Rudolf Schashing (Tambourmajor), Michael Howard (Andres), Stuart Kale (Hauptmann), Alfred Muff (Doktor).
Peter Mussbach (Director), Erich Wonder (Set), Andrea Schmidt-Futterer (Costumes), Chor des Oper Zürich, Jürg Hämmerli (Choir Master), Orchester der Opernhauses Zürich, Christoph von Dohnányi (Conductor).
An absolutely different atmosphere; with Wozzek we enter a underworld of misery, lust, madness and crime. A big metal cylinder roles into a rusty red decorum and men coming down from above on ropes or up from under, out of gutter like holes, all of them with disfigured faces.
The star of the evening, Matthias Goerne, can only be praised for his astonishing interpretation of the mad man Wozzek. A role that needs tremendous sound memory for he is bathing in dissonant partly serial music.
Christoph von Dohnànyi was mastering with preciseness a well prepared orchestra giving us shivers and plunging us sight and sound into this world of horror.
Zoltan Becsi
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