Rusalka at the Royal Opera House

[jflatter]

Conductor
Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Rusalka
Camilla Nylund

Foreign Princess
Petra Lang

Prince
Bryan Hymel

Ježibaba

Agnes Zwierko

Vodník
Alan Held

Huntsman
Daniel Grice

Gamekeeper
Gyula Orendt

Kitchen Boy
Ilse Eerens

Wood Nymphs
Anna Devin
Justina Gringyte
Madeleine Pierard


There has been a lot of headlines in both the main news and cultural pages of the British newspapers after booing by the crowd at the first night of this production directed by Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito. It seems that a lot of people who attended this opera did not like the production. This was a production that came from the Salzburg festival which where most people would not have caused such a fuss. Some were offended that it was set in a brothel whilst others said that the production was ugly.

My own take on this production was that it was okay. It wasn't particularly offensive but I did not find the production very powerful. I think part of the problem lied with seeing the Martin Kusej production from Munich which I found to be very powerful. I also look forward to seeing the stream from La Monnaie at the end of the month when Stefan Herheim's take on this tale is put on their site. The sets were in a sauna that doubled up with a Las Vegas style wedding parlour. There were many types of cats, a small fake one (who looked like Spit the Dog-older British members will remember). An actor in a cat suit who tried to get all loved up with Rusalka as Jezibaba was casting her magic and finally a real cat at the start of act three. The Vodnik was a fish type creature who couldn't properly walk and the prompt box was his lair. So overall the production wasn't bad.

This was the first time that I have ever seen this opera live and I was greatly looking forward to it but I was also concerned that I would be disappointed as other than Petra Lang it wasn't a cast of established stars. I am aware of Camilla Nylund being big in Europe but this was her debut at this house. I was also concerned whether Yannick Nézet-Séguin would be able to do justice to the score as I wasn't aware of any association with this composer. I was aware of his great Bruckner performances at the LPO but this was also his house debut.

Anyway on the muscial perspective my concerns were completely allayed as I think that this was quite possibly the most complete musical performance I have ever heard at Covent Garden.

Camilla Nylund does not have the biggest voice but she certainly has a beautiful voice and she completely was into the role a superb performance and I hope that Covent Garden get her back soon. I know that she is doing Wagnerian roles mainly but I would like to hear her sing some Strauss as has a very elegant voice.

Bryan Hymel was a name I had heard of but never seen and the reports that I had previously were slightly underwhelming. If the performance I saw was anything to go by then these reports were completely wrong. He was a very powerful Prince and his ringing tenor voice was fantastic. You could argue his acting was slightly wooden but he more than made up for it musically and I have seen far worse (Marcello Alvarez for a start).

Alan Held was the Vodnik and to be expected with a great artist like Held he demonstrated what an underrated artist he is both in acting and musically. His voice is still in great shape and it was too long since we last saw him at Covent Garden and hope we don't have to wait as long again.

Ježibaba was taken by Agnes Zwierko who proved a very nasty piece of work in the right way and also proved that she was completely at ease with the role.

Out of the wonderful performances from the cast, if anyone was going to steal the show then it was going to be Petra Lang. She showed what a wonderful performer she was again in this brief but trick role as you need to remember you are going on stage and singing at full throttle almost straight away. Ms Lang showed once again what a powerful voice she and there was no pressure on her notes at all. An absolutely wonderful singer who again should be at Covent Garden a lot more.

All the minor roles were taken very well. I have to mention the three water nymphs were all played wonderfully and are all part of the young artist program. I think that Anna Devin in particular has got a very bright future ahead of her.

The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House played superbly under the control of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. It is quite possible that it is the best I have heard them since Bychkov conducted Tannhauser. He took the piece at a leisurely pace and did not cut it, unlike the Glyndeborne CD version. It was a wonderful reading that gave the Wagnerian style drama as well as the sweeter melodies of this wonderful opera.

My concern over all the headlines around this piece is that it has taken all this time for Covent Garden to stage this opera for the first time. Ticket sales have been slow and I was moved up to better seats for no extra charge and there are plenty of seats for the remaining shows. The wrong headlines may now mean that Covent Garden do not put on this great piece for quite some time when it should be in the regular repertory.

[emiellucifuge]

Coincidentally I was just reading the reviews of this production this morning.

Obviously I cant pass any sort of judgement without having seen the opera. But I dont understand why people boo at the end of a live performance. Im not the kind of person who believe in credit for trying or any such nonsense when it concerns a professional outfit, and indeed there have been many times where I have declined to stand or applaud, however, these are low degrees of appreciation or indifference rather than an active negative reaction.
I dont feel that such a reaction can be justified within the first seconds after a performance, especially with modern stagings which often rely on metaphor and symbolism, most of which I can only appreciate some time after the performance.
My feeling here is reinforced by your glowing review of the musicians and cast' performances.

I concur by the way that Nezet Seguin is and will become a great conductor. He led the first opera I saw; Janacek's Makropolous Case

[MAuer]

The Salzburg cast of this production is featured on a CD recording that was issued last Fall:



Nylund and Held both sing their current ROH roles. I'm not familiar with Brian Hymel's voice, but the Prince here is very satisfactorily sung by Piotr Beczala. Emily Magee sings the Foreign Princess.

[jflatter]

Yes I have seen this but it has always been highly priced in the UK, so I have steered clear so far. Although Amazon have virtually priced up everything on this opera since the headlines about the first night came out.