Salzburg Festival: Two days, two premieres: "The Magic Flute and" Salome "at the Salzburg Festival



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What Bayreuth Richard Wagner is in Salzburg is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: a myth to be crossed. In Salzburg, it's mostly the "Magic Flute", orchestra conductors and directors over and over – and overworked. Precisely because the room is so popular, expectations are high. At the same time, the "Magic Flute" is full of fractures – musical, dramaturgical, logical. It is almost impossible to make a rigorous scene history.

Lydia Steier dared to take on this task at the opening of the Salzburg Festival. And here, the American director manages an entertaining, imaginative, colorful and long-distance reading. Her approach is as surprising as it is plausible: she invents a storyteller (Klaus Maria Brandauer jumped for the patient Bruno Ganz). He, the grandfather of three boys from a bourgeois family of the early twentieth century, reads a story at bedtime to his grandchildren.

  Grandfather (Klaus Maria Brandauer) reads his grandchildren (played by three Vienna boys 'choirs)
Grandfather (Klaus Maria Brandauer) reads his grandchildren (played by three boys' choirs Vienna) "The Magic Flute" as a bedtime story.
| Barbara Gindl / APA / dpa

Soon, the three boys are in the middle of the fantasy world. His room becomes the setting for the "Magic Flute". Already the crying Tamino (Mauro Peter) crushes through the window because he is followed by a fire-breathing dragon. Of course, boys think it's great.

And how it goes with children: The story is related to their own reality. Most of the family members, whom we observed with their servants in the opening of the dinner, appear again as figures of the "Magic Flute". The three governesses become the "three ladies," the mother becomes the queen of the night, and the boys, like the "three boys," also become part of the story. The three Vienna Boys & # 39; Choir are thus almost always present on the stage and challenged as the old ones. Hat!

St Steier's approach is also noted as his effervescent imagination fills the Salzburg Festspielhaus scene with great attention to detail. The Sarastro Empire is a circus, populated by clowns, acrobats and jugglers (costumes: Ursula Kudrna). Pamina, who is held here, is exposed to knife throwers

] This weird people is pretty indifferent until the end – Sarastro still speaks a lot about humanity and love. However, Steier also does not try to explain this world and smooth out the logical breaks. She leaves them as they often do in fairy tales.

All of this works very well in the first part. In the second part, however, the piece sinks more and more, the colorful world is more and more a review. The examination scene becomes even more serious: Tamino and Pamina are exposed as fiancés to the horror of the First World War, which transcends them in pictures. If their love survives this war, they probably did it.

Constantinos Cyradis, on the podium of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, usually supports himself on rapid and sometimes hasty tempi, sometimes he brakes too much. This is not always conclusive, but you can still expect the clear, based on the sound image of the historical performance.

  The Russian opera singer Albina Shagimuratova as queen of the night and the Swiss opera singer Mauro Peter as tamino. The Russian opera singer Albina Shagimuratova as queen of the night and the Swiss opera singer Mauro Peter as Tamino.
| Image: Barbara Gindl / APA / DPA </figcaption></figure>
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<p>  Even the solo ensemble leaves little to be desired. Mauro Peter is a Tamino with enamel in voice, Christiane Karg a pleasantly lyrical Pamina. The proof of height and color is the queen of the night Albina Shagimuratova. Adam Plachetka's Papageno remains somewhat underexposed in this version, which replaces many of the narrator's dialogues. Matthias Goerne as Sarastro is a bad idea because he lacks the baritone blackness (really appreciated) that would be needed. </p>
<p>  Overall, the visually stunning staging shifts attention to optics. You can get lost there as in a Wimmelbuch. It is quite possible that this production becomes a pleasure for the crowd </p>
<h2>  Erotic as Exhibit </h2>
<p>  If Lydia Steier's "Magic Flute" is a feast for the eyes, the new "Salome", created the next day, is above all a treat. Only the Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian in the title role makes it an event. The little woman seems quite young in her voice to take him the beautiful daughter of Herodia, to whom even the father-in-law Herod (John Daszak) is alive. At the same time, however, it brings the power and expressiveness that are essential for this heavyweight segment. </p>
<p>  It also stems from the orchestra pit, both voluptuous and transparent at the same time. This is the merit of Franz Welser-Möst on the podium of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, which once again proves that he is Richard Strauss's ideal orchestra conductor. Just for the music, the performance was worth it – no matter what you see on stage. The staging of Romeo Castellucci seems fragile at first sight: the director, who is his own provider, focuses on reduction and symbolism. Stylized gestures and enigmatic images dominate the action. Salome has a red spot on the back of her white dress. Menstrual blood as a sign of badual maturity? Or did the father-in-law rape her? </p>
<div clbad=
  Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian convinces Salzburg to be Salomé - here with the Jochanaan without a head <br />. "Data-sizes =" 644px "data-srcset =" https: //static4.suedkurier .de / storage / image / 3/7/1/0 / 12190173_shift-644x0_1rnugm_DdN7nY.jpg 644w, https: //static4.suedkurier. of / storage / image / 3/7/1/0 / 12190173_shift-644×0-966w_1rnugm_DdN7nY. jpg 966w, https://static4.suedkurier.de/storage/image/3/7/1/0/12190173_shift-644×0-1288w_1rnugm_DdN7nY.jpg 1288w, https://static4.suedkurier.de/storage/image/3/ 7/1/0 / 12190173_shift-644×0-1932w_1rnugm_DdN7nY.jpg 1932w "data-src =" https://static4.suedkurier.de/storage/image/3/7/1/0/12190173_shift-644x0_1rnugm_DdN7nY.jpg "src = "/_/pics/spacer.gif" clbad = "lazyload" /><figcaption clbad= Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian convinces in Salzburg as Salome – here with the headless Jochanaan
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| Image: Salzburg Festival / Ruth Walz

According to the motto that art should not be limited to depicting what can be represented, Castellucci captures what is not present in the representation, showing two central scenes as a negative impression. The dance of the veil, with which Salome imposes on Herod the head of Jochanaan (Gábor Bretz), she snuggles almost naked and motionless as the exhibition on a pedestal. But what looks like the opposite of the dance brings its core – the erotic – to the point.

Similarly, Salome does not receive Jochanaan's head served on a silver tray. Instead, a headless man sits on a chair in front of her – an idea as surprising as it is effective. It is rare that the images of Castellucci are immediately visible, but those involved with them, they still release their layers of meaning. It is worth thinking about it

On the road to the premiere of Salome, Elisabeth Schwind, editor-in-chief of SÜDKURIER, reads here:

The Salzburg Festival

Most performances of the "Magic Flute" and "Salome" are already complete at the Salzburg Festival, which will last until the end of August. Up to date information on other performances can be found on the Internet here

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