ionreviews

ionreviews Music, Art, Literature—the good stuff
Eye on Arts

2.12.04

A Tame Version of a Steamy Opera
Contributed by Charles T. Downey at 9:59 AM | Link to this article
George Loomis, A tame version of a steamy opera (International Herald Tribune, December 1)

MOSCOW — After years of post-Soviet stagnation, the Bolshoi Theater has made notable progress in upgrading the theatrical and musical standards of its opera productions under the general director Anatoli Iksanov and its music director Alexander Vedernikov, even importing international producers on the order of Francesca Zambello and Peter Konwitschny.

Much of the interesting dramatic work is centered in the company's New Stage, which opened two years ago. In the venerable main theater, ties to tradition remain stronger, as one was reminded by its new production of Shostakovich's "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District."

This should have been an exhilarating experience - the final step in the post-Soviet rehabilitation of Shostakovich's expressionistic masterwork in its original form (as opposed to the toned-down 1962 revision). It was at the Bolshoi, after all, that Stalin attended a performance in 1936, disliked what he saw and heard, and caused the opera to disappear from the Russian stage. Alas, the competent but bland staging by the Georgian director Temur Chkheidze manages to take the edge off this steamy tale of a provincial merchant's wife who seeks relief from boredom through sexual fulfillment and murder.

In the big lovemaking scene of Act 1, when Ekaterina yields to one of her husband's workmen, Chkheidze might as well have been doing the work of a Soviet censor. A critic of the first American production famously called the music of this scene "pornophony." But Chkheidze deflected attention from the lovers by having men appear with flashlights as if searching for them. Meanwhile, Ekaterina and Sergei carry on behind a bed. You needed a synopsis to know what they were doing - an ironic state of affairs given all the gratuitous sex in opera productions nowadays.

Yuri Gegeshidze's sets, all in wood and dimly lit by Vladimir Lukasevich, make for a ramshackle representation of the prosperous Izmailov family home, which is entered by climbing a ladder. The set serves throughout, but in the final convict scene, after Ekaterina and Sergei are charged with her husband's murder, a pedestrian bridge appears - just the place, one might think, for Ekaterina to do away with Sonyetka, the young convict for whom Sergei abandons Ekaterina. Perhaps it proved too dangerous in rehearsals, for when the moment comes Ekaterina simply pushes Sonyetka off a lower platform, then jumps off, Tosca-like, herself.

Tatiana Smirnova was in fine, rich voice and alert musicality, but in the absence of stronger direction her Ekaterina appeared more downtrodden than feisty. Similarly, Valery Gilmanov relied almost exclusively on his huge, black bass voice to characterize Ekaterina's odious father-in-law, Boris. Roman Muravitsky sang Sergei with a burly tenor. Zoltan Pesko, an experienced opera conductor who is music director of Lisbon's San Carlos Theater, enforced exemplary musical standards in his Bolshoi debut.

Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades," presented by the Mariinsky Theater in Moscow's Tchaikovsky Hall, didn't provide any theatrical breakthroughs either, but then less was expected to, even though it was billed as a staged production. Valery Gergiev has recently created Moscow opportunities for his St. Petersburg-based troupe, among them the Moscow Easter Festival and an exchange program with the Bolshoi. His newest venture is to present concerts and operas on an occasional basis in Tchaikovsky Hall.

Given the venue, Alexei Stepanyuk's staging was understandably minimalist but had the singers engaging with each other tellingly. The action took place with few props on a large square surface that changed colors - green served, appropriately, for the final gambling scene - against black surroundings, with rectangular illuminated openings in back and fuzzy projections of St. Petersburg above. Traditional 18th-century costumes from an old Mariinsky production served until the final act, when the male chorus, probably for practical reasons, wore black tie without jackets. Though perhaps unwittingly, it made for an effective change.

Vladimir Galusin's portrayal of the obsessed gambler Hermann is justly celebrated, but his powerful approach can make the character seem overly crazed. Here his strong tenor functioned admirably within a disciplined performance that aptly reached its climax in Hermann's final song of resignation. Olga Guryakova, in iridescent voice, was an outstanding Lisa, delicately expressive and impassioned as needed.

The orchestra was arranged in concert format, but as if playing toward the stage instead of the audience. Gergiev thus faced the audience, though he often turned to cue the singers. Viewed from this perspective, you could see that his unorthodox technique stems from his willingness to modify the beat pattern, or to suspend it, when he wants to communicate musical points. It's one reason his interpretations are so interesting.

Want to keep reading? Go to the Ionarts Archives.