Puccini: Manon Lescaut Webcast from Bayerische Staatsoper 7/31/2015

July 31, 2015, 8.15 p.m. (C.E.T.)

Giacomo Puccini

Manon Lescaut

New production

Musical Direction: Alain Altinoglu

Stage Direction: Hans Neuenfels

With Kristine Opolais, Jonas Kaufmann a.o.

Neuenfels, Kaufmann, and Opolais – More about Manon Lescaut

I was going all nostalgic (for the summer...I have a short memory) and looking for the recording I made when BBC Radio 3 broadcast Manon Lescaut from the Royal Opera House. Of course that file has gone missing. After trolling the various disc drives where my music goes to hide, I gave up and googled it, thinking someone else must have recorded the broadcast. 

Well, I did find it, for 7 bucks, which I don’t care to spend on a questionable mp3 download. But better yet, I found this:

Interviews with the director, conductor, and stars of the Bayerische Staatsoper production. It's amazing what you find when you're looking for something else!

I also found this trailer:

In Other Staatsoper News - Manon Lescaut vs. Hans Neuenfels

The new production of Manon Lescaut at the Bayerische Staatsoper is produced/directed by the ever divisive Hans Neuenfels (I love his work, but many don't!) Possibly redeeming the production (or in my case, making it even more exciting) are the two leads: none other than Jonas and Kristine!

The opera will be broadcast, but not till next summer. Meanwhile be on the lookout for (probably) scathing reviews of the production. See more pics at the Staatsoper website.

And here are a few reviews (I am sure there are more somewhere) to tide us over, tempt us, or make us certain we don't want to see it. (Check all that apply.)

Bachtrack (in English)

Der Neue Merker (auf Deutsch)

Neuenfels’ Lohengrin: No Escape from the Rat Race (A Pre-Review)

Note to self:  next time don't ask
Ortrud to be Maid of Honor. 

And, speaking of Lohengrin...

I've been viewing and re-viewing Neuenfels' Lohengrin from Bayreuth. It's the one I mentioned when discussing curtain calls and scene changes. It's not nearly as complex a staging as Herrheim's  Parsifal, but there is still a lot to absorb. The other  Lohengrin I've seen (for comparison) is the Konwitschny  production  from Spain. While I loved Emily Magee as Elsa, I was disappointed with Ortrud and the titular tenor.

Die Entführung aus dem Serail – Stuttgart, 1998 (Part 2: Buy One, Get One Free)

Konstanze & Belmonte 2 (far L & R)
congratulate the singers after a
lovely performance of the Act 2 Finale.

Double casting Entführung (or any opera) raises questions. What's the difference between the singing and the acting on stage? What separates the singers from the actors? What brings them together? Are we supposed to recognize each pair as playing one character? Don't you just love it when my reviews degenerate into a list of questions?

Die Entführung aus dem Serail – Stuttgart, 1998 (Part 1: Double Fun)

A lot of folks have already written thoughtfully about this Hans Neuenfels' Die Entführung aus dem Serail , so I will stick with some observations that I think are my own and that I think no one else has pointed out, or at least not dwelt on as much. In this production, Neuenfels has cast each role (save one) with both a singer and an actor. But not in a way that you might be expecting. 

Konstanze and Belmonte 1 (center) have decided to die for love.
No one else thinks this is a very good idea.