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Does the man close his eyes when the danger threatens? Or does he face the challenges of life? The Frankfurt Opera has to respond in a double evening to the stock, the content sounds like a heavy burden. There is the pitiful "Iolanta" by Peter Tchaikovsky and the tragic "Oedipus Rex" (after Sophocles) by Igor Stravinsky.
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Peter Marsh as Oedipus (before) and Gary Griffiths as Creon (right back).
The fact that the short operas of two different periods in Frankfurt are not as harmonious as a duet of the melodious Verismo is evident in the sequence of works. Originally, the director Lydia Steier and the general director of music, Sebastian Weigle, wanted to start with the romantic, then leave the Impressionist dock with its wider tone. Musically, that would have been conclusive.
Beat with blindness
However, as the star of the evening, the soprano Asmik Grigorian, helped Tchaikovsky to shine, the officials changed the order at the last minute. The first shows a strident Stravinsky before the emotional Tchaikovsky arouses fury after the break.
Both pieces speak of the impossibility of seeing – once in the real sense and sometimes figuratively. Of course, anti-heroes do not manage to escape their fate. The king's daughter, Iolanta, does not spare the knowledge of his blindness, nor does the Oedipus king prevent him from killing his own father and marrying his mother.
Iolanta is held in a gold cage by her father and courted by the court. When the Count in love Vaudémont confronts the young woman to reality, Iolanta finds the strength to follow a treatment that gives her his vision. King Oedipus, meanwhile, turns a blind eye to the facts. When the truth is finally discovered, his mother commits suicide. The despairing Oedipus is blindfolded.
Rhythm is Stravinski's greatest ally. Archaic regurgitation, thrilling stereotypes, Latin voices and small jazz impulses, it keeps the tension at a high level. The formal separation of tunes, duets and choruses stands out as an anachronism.
Director Steier puts a parliament on her stage, Thebes, which smells of the Weimar Republic. Politicians – army warriors wearing military helmets, angry middle clbad and an old hippie – turn into a gray mbad right (costumes: Alfred Mayerhofer). Video clips with German text take the audience's content by hand. When Queen Jokaste (splendid: the mezzo-soprano Tanja Ariane Baumgartner) dressed in a red evening gown and very pregnant – the Oedipus son begotten with her four children – enters the scene, the humor n & # 39 is not too short, even if it looks bilious.
Steier presents the appearance of the queen twice in succession. Oedipus (vocally a little too small: the tenor Peter Marsh) does not suspect that the disaster must be late. The turning point in the blind end is the men's chorus of rumbling parliamentarians and shows the dead queen at the gallows. Oedipus remains mutilated.
Dolls for the princess
In "Iolanta", the audience applauds first of all the scenography of Barbara Ehnes. She created a pink baby room with two oversized doll walls on the first floor. The subjects sit on the ground floor and always make new dolls. Steier rejoices at this king (impulsive: bbad Robert Pomakov), who protects his daughter from the world, a crime of incest. While the Robert Knights (fort: baritone Gary Griffiths) and Vaudémont (impressive in the heights: tenor AJ Glueckert) sing about love, the father talks about the sleeping girl. In the finale, when Iolanta is cured of her blindness, she turns away from the king. The fact that the director plays a key role in both operas with Andreas Bauer, a well-disposed bbadist, Seher Teiresias (Stravinsky) and the healing doctor Ibn-Hakia (Tchaikovsky) shows a dramaturgical vision.
The musical direction lies in the tried and tested hands of Weigle's conductor. It challenges the Orchestra of the Opera and the Frankfurt Museum again and again. In Stravinsky, Weigle prepares the small pieces without making any noise, while in the last opera of Tchaikovsky, he lets the musicians delight in the score. The choir seems sublime. Soprano Asmik Grigorian as Iolanta is celebrated. The Lithuanian plays intensely and sings with an expression and a huge sound beauty. She alone deserves the visit of the double successful evening.
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