#martin gantner

[bobdobalina]

lmao if I had to pick one image to be a stereotypical depiction of contemporary German opera staging, this might be it

[Richard Wagner's Lohengrin staged by Árpád Schilling at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, October 2018, starring Michael König (Lohengrin), Simone Schneider (Elsa), Martin Gantner (Telramund). photo by Matthias Baus.]

[mozart2006]

Staatsoper Stuttgart -Die Frau ohne Schatten (in italiano)

Foto ©Matthias Baus Per i lettori poco pratici della lingua tedesca, ecco la mia recensione tradotta in italiano

[joaquimblog]

BAYREUTH 2022: LOHENGRIN (VOGT-NYLUND-GATNER-LANG-ZEPPENFELD;THIELEMANN)

Lohengrin. Fesrival de Bayreuth 2022. Producció de Yuval Sharon Escenografia i vestuari de Rosa Loy i Neo Rauch Disseny de llums de Reinhard Traub Foto gentilesa del Bayeruther Festspiele El desgavell de transmissions radiofòniques del Festival de Bayreuth de l’estiu del 2022 ha fet que ara ens arribés en diferit el Lohengrin que va tenir lloc el 4 d’agost i que sota la direcció de…

[arcimboldisworld]

Tristan und Isolde - Oper Zürich 29.06.2022

Tristan und Isolde - Oper Zürich 29.06.2022 #RichardWagner #Rezension #ClausGuth #GianandreaNoseda #operzürich #oper #operalover #tristanundisolde #camillanylund #michael weinius

Fast fühlt es sich an, wie einer der unzähligen Festspielsommer in Bayreuth, wenn man bei über 30 Grad zum Opernhaus Zürich fährt, um wieder einmal “Tristan und Isolde” zu sehen…. (more…)

[beckmessering]

Met Streams Tag Game Days 2-7

@opera-my-beloved sorrysorrysorry this is late af but i didn’t forget! this girl just got an undergrad research fellowship and has been pulling the summer vacation equivalent of all-nighters :’)

also, i didn’t answer all questions because i didn’t have answers for all of them…so i answered the ones i could. i tried to keep it met-stream specific, but if i included all streams i watched, some answers would’ve been different (and i would’ve answered more questions).

day 2

are there any operas that you'd listened to but never seen on stage before?

nah, i’m a very visual person - i need to see some production first so i have a visual reference for what’s going on, and then i can listen to it

what’s an opera you’d love to see performed in-person?

die walküre! and salome.

day 3

are there any operas you associate with a particular period in your life?

not a met stream, but i strongly associate the vienna ring with march 2020. it was a comfort when i had to essentially flee my uni city and started watching it at the airport before my flight.

do you know the next opera you want to discover?

so many! werther, eugene onegin, faust, lots of verdi (starting with un ballo in maschera maybe…)

are there any operas you’d write fanfiction for (or wish you had more fics)?

haven’t written fanfics (yet?) and i haven’t tried reading any for operas yet…but i should try, honestly

what is your comfort opera?

das rheingold. i know the libretto and the music by heart by now.

day 4

what’s an opera that became an unexpected favourite?

die walküre. i’ve told the story of how i didn’t like it first and loved it on the second try, and i’m so glad it became a favourite.

any operas you can’t get into no matter how hard you tried?

hm. i like holländer spot-wise (mainly when the title character is singing) but i don’t like much else of it.

what’s an opera/production you’d like to get teleported into?

hmmmm. die meistersinger seems to take place in a pleasant town (unless you’re beckmesser).

day 5

which opera was most visually pleasing to you?

girard’s parsifal for sure.

opera character you relate to?

beckmesser. i liked him before, but this research fellowship has thus far given me the absolute beckmesser energy because in the beginning i was scared to do something wrong, wanted to fit in, and wanted to please the higher-ups. (now it’s going well btw and i’m having fun!)

day 6

any favourite weird/funny lyrics?

“weia, waga, woge du welle!” need i say more? if the melody weren’t so good, i’d laugh.

(also, parsifal has a surprising amount of unintentional funny lyrics. like kundry telling amfortas to buzz off and go bathe, or saying that she never helps).

any met interview moments that live rent-free in your head?

the meistersinger interview with johannes martin kränzle (beckmesser) and martin gantner (kothner). here are two germans, conveniently both named martin, struggling through two minutes of interview with verrrry choppy english but visibly excited as fuck to be there and utterly BEAMING.

(it’s also shortly before jmk got really sick and he once said that he already started feeling physically weird at that time in New York. which is unnerving and sad to think of).

opera productions i could positively (or negatively) rant about for an hour?

…lemme make a separate post about that. (if anyone wants).

any productions you wish had been filmed but are only available in audio format?

i will NEVER EVER forgive them for not filming the 2018 parsifal revival >:(

day 7

a singer that pleasantly surprised you in a role?

not a met stream again, but tomasz konieczny’s wotan. i thought his voice was too dark and snarly. wow i was wrong.

opera characters that are meant for each other and you won’t hear otherwise?

siegmund and sieglinde. sorry not sorry at all.

opera you think is a complete masterpiece from first to last note?

ahem. too many ones i’ve mentioned already. *cough* rheingold, walküre, parsifal *cough*

a unique acting choice you can’t stop thinking about?

peter mattei not walking as amfortas in parsifal. he drags and carries himself as though his legs can’t bear any weight at all and it just…demonstrates pain and suffering better than anything else i’ve ever seen. god, that looks awful. in the best way.

any costume(s) you’d want to have?

YES! always wanted to dress in a relatively traditional wotan costume (like…spears and eyepatch and long coats…come on!!!) (fuck the gender of the role, obviously) and i actually fulfilled my dreams last halloween :)

[officialwagnerrant]

Review - Lohengrin

Staatsoper unter den Linden Berlin Director: Calixto Bieito Conductor: Matthias Pintscher

That production was a ride from start to finish. There was an interesting cast, Roberto Alagna finally making his Lohengrin Debut and René Pape who’s been King Heinrich since before I was born.

But let’s start at the very beginning. This Lohengrin features a picture of a woman pregnant with a swan, a topic that won’t be adressed any further. A swan appears only on projections, on stage only ever as a little paper swan Roberto Alagna holds.

That’s a great sign of how traditional Bieito’s staging is: Not at all. In all three acts he features his favourite device, a cage. While it makes sense to put Elsa there in the first act, by the way: She enters the cage herself and exits it herself, she does not need Lohengrin to free her, it’s most effectively used in act three: After everything has gone to shreds, Elsa has popped the question, Lohengrin is about to start his tail, René Pape who has previously also been down on the floor, not in full-on Kaufmann-Style, but because he’s powerless, enters the cage and watches the pure chaos emerge. While I was confused at first, this decision is now one of my favourite elements of the staging. It beats the herald putting on Joker-Makeup at the end of the first act and the rest of the chorus following him by act two, as well as Lohengrin removing his shirt after In fernem Land by a lot.

I also liked Elsa sitting under her huge veil when Ortrud comes to “apologize” to her, It showed her dreaming of the wedding, but also being captured, as that veil is really big. Later Ortrud was under that veil.

Something I’m unsure about is the wedding in the end of act two. Elsa wears a beautiful, fairytail wedding dress and previously mentioned veil, which fits her character as she really wants to marry Lohengrin. Having her strip down the wedding gown when Ortrud confronts her and putting it back on after Lohengrin’s appearance also made sense - Elsa looses all hope to get her wedding and her knight, said knight saves her. But why is everybody eating? Elsa’s bridemaids have food hidden in their bouquets, Elsa sneaks off to have cake. I didn’t quite catch the reasoning behind that. I know why the cake is there, it features two lovely figurines - a couple - which Ortrud destroys after realising she failed.

That’s as much as I will say about the staging, there are a lot more details but I believe this is all you need to know. I said before that the cast is intresting, we have two role debuts and a king, and that’s what I want to talk about now.

René Pape did not disappoint. He didn’t play the fatherly King Heinrich as he does in other productions, he played King Heinrich as if he was the boss of a company, listening to the people around him but in the end holding the power. His fantastic voice played a big role on the power part. In act three you could watch him lose his power which I personally found very capturing.

Less capturing but still good were Ekaterina Gubenova as Ortrud and Martin Gantner as Telramund. The latter started extremly good in act one, with a voice that sounds like an operatic speaking voice - everything you expect from an opera singer is there but I can imagine his voice sounding exactly like that when he speaks. Every word he says can be understood well and I’d call him one of my favourite’s in this production if he hadn’t become so incredibly boring by act two.

Voice-wise this Elsa, Vida Mikneviciute, could easily become my favourite: Her voice is sweet, yet dramatic, her vibrato is strong but not overshadowing, especially in the first act she had a very clear phrasing. Her voice is everything I expect from an Elsa, youthful and wagnerian at the same time. Her acting fits the production, Elsa is strong and plays with her looks, however, and that out me off in this production, I prefer my Elsas playing less the most beautiful woman in Brabant and more the young dreamy girl he is. Allthough Ortrud was powerful in this production, Telramund and the other men where mostly driven by the fact that this beauty didn’t want to marry one of them. I’m very curious to see Mikneviciute in another staging.

Now, I suppose most people, including me, watched this production to see Roberto Alagna’s Lohengrin debut. Previously I heard him sing one phrase which I loved, that is why I started this production with high expectations in him. Unfortunately I was disappointed: While Alagna definitely brought emotion to his Lohengrin, he couldn’t quite reach other performers like Jonas Kaufmann who plays Lohengrin on a very emotional level.

His singing was incredibly unsatisfying as well: Alagna’s voice had another colour with almost every note he sang, which made him sometimes sound as if he rather sang incoherent words instead of Wagner’s weird but very coherent phrases. I also believe I noticed some intonation struggles. I know Lohengrin very well so I notice when a note isn’t quite right and I admit that especially in act one I was sometimes a little irritated. I hope that Alagna will grow into the role, if not - well, considering how he broke his contract with the Bayreuth Festival in 2018, I don’t need him as a Wagner Singer.

Trying to end this review on a positive not, Matthias Pintscher’s conducting was surprisingly conventional and definitely a pleasure to listen to.

I recommend this Lohengrin for when you’re curious for a new production, if you just want to lay back and enjoy an opera, this production, even though it’s rather good, is not for you.

[bettinawerner]

Das Lied von der Erde von Gustav Mahler &

Die Bienenkönige von Elfriede Jelinek

Staatsoper Stuttgart, Oktober 2020

Regie: David Hermann, Musikalische Leitung: Cornelius Meister, Bühne & Licht: Jo Schramm, Kostüme: Claudia Irro & Bettina Werner, Dramaturgie: Ingo Gerlach, Mitarbeit Regie: Anna Weber

mit: Katja Bürkle, Simone Schneider, Evelyn Herlitzius, Thomas Blondelle, Martin Gantner

Fotos: © Matthias Baus

[autopol]

Espacio Idea de la Dirección Nacional de Cultura del MEC y SOCO Festival tienen el placer de presentar por primera vez en Uruguay al destacado artista sonoro y músico experimental francés Franck Vigroux, junto al artista y programador digital Antoine Schmitt. El dúo presentará el martes 18 setiembre su performance audiovisual TEMPEST junto a sets de experimentación sonora a cargo de los músicos uruguayos Autopol y Flatten. Además, el lunes 17 de setiembre se realizará un conversatorio donde los artistas invitados presentarán sus ideas y metodologías de trabajo. Contamos para esta actividad con el apoyo del Institut Français. Colabora: UUU espacio para música, arte sonoro y experimentalismo Conversatorio con Franck Vigroux + Antoine Schmitt (Francia) Lunes 17 de setiembre 19hs entrada libre Concierto FLATTEN / AUTOPOL / Franck Vigroux + Antoine Schmitt (Francia) Martes 18 de setiembre 19hs entrada libre Espacio IDEA - Dirección Nacional de Cultura - MEC San José 1116 Franck Vigroux Es un músico francés, compositor e intérprete, trabaja en el campo del ruido industrial electroacústico y la música electrónica experimental. El enfoque artístico de Vigroux integra nuevos medios y artes escénicas. La música de Franck Vigroux está compuesta de tensión tectónica, ritmos y texturas electrónicas a las que aplica su firma personal calculada en su continua exploración sónica. Actúa y graba constantemente, ha colaborado con muchos músicos como Mika Vainio, Reinhold Friedl, Elliott Sharp, Joey Baron, Zeena Parkins y Ars nova ensemble instrumental. La singularidad de Vigroux se distingue no solo por su enfoque único del sonido, sino también por el hecho de que incorpora nuevos medios y artes escénicas en sus obras. Vigroux dirige y diseña interpretaciones audiovisuales transdisciplinarias junto a artistas visuales, trabajando regularmente con artistas como Antoine Schmitt y Kurt d'Haeseleer. Las grabaciones de Vigroux han sido publicados en varios sellos, incluyendo DAC Records, Leaf, Cosmo Rhythmatic, Monotype, Radio France y ahora Erototox Decodings. Actualmente reside en Francia. http://www.franckvigroux.com Antoine Schmitt El artista multimedia de instalación, Antoine Schmitt crea obras de arte en forma de objetos, instalaciones y situaciones para abordar los procesos de movimiento en todas sus modalidades, y cuestionar sus problemáticas conceptuales intrínsecas, de naturaleza plástica, filosófica o social. Heredero del arte cinético y el arte cibernético, alimentado por la ciencia-ficción metafísica, interroga interminablemente sobre las interacciones dinámicas entre la naturaleza humana y la naturaleza de la realidad. Originalmente ingeniero de programación en relaciones humanas e inteligencia artificial, colocó la programación, un material artístico contemporáneo y único por su calidad activa, en el centro de la mayoría de sus obras de arte, para revelar y manipular literalmente las fuerzas en juego. Antoine Schmitt también ha emprendido una articulación de este enfoque con campos artísticos más establecidos como la música, la danza, la arquitectura, la literatura o el cine, y ha colaborado con Franck Vigroux, Atau Tanaka, Vincent Epplay, Jean-Jacques Birgé, Delphine Doukhan, K. Danse , Patrice Belin, Don Niño, Cubenx, Alberto Sorbelli, Matthew Bourne ... Como teórico, orador y editor del portal gratin.org, Antoine Schmitt explora el campo del arte programado. Su trabajo ha recibido varios premios en festivales internacionales: transmediale (Berlín, segundo premio 2007, honorario 2001), Ars Electronica (Linz, segundo premio 2009), Festival Internacional de Video-Danza de la UNESCO (París, primer premio en línea 2002), Vida 5.0 (Madrid, honorario 2002), CYNETart (Dresden, honorario 2004), medi @ terra (Atenas, primer premio 1999), Interférences (Belfort, primer premio 2000), y ha sido exhibido, entre otros, en el Centro Georges Pompidou (París), en el Musée des Arts Décoratifs (París), en Sonar (Barcelona), en Ars Electronica (Linz), en el CAC de Sienna (Italia), en el Musée d'Art Contemporain de Lyon (Francia), en Nuits Blanches (París, Amiens, Metz, Bruselas y Madrid). Forma parte de las colecciones de las Fundaciones Artphilein (CH), Fraenkel (USA), Meeschaert (FR), del Espace Gantner (Bourogne, FR), del Cubo (Issy-Mx, FR), del Paris Municipal Contemporary Art Fund (FMAC) . http://www.antoineschmitt.com AUTOPOL Explora las síntesis análogica y digital en un entorno de ruido, a-sincronía y superposición sonora poli-mórfica, diseñando atmósferas sonoras complejas, confusas y por momentos austeras y conmocionantes. Sus performances en directo son siempre diferentes. Basándose en la improvisación casi exclusivamente las categorías y límites musicales de (des) armonía, (a) ritmo y tempo suelen confundirse y desvanecerse en el aire sonoro/visual. Cuando la arquitectura espera el evento, aparecen el sonido y lo lumínico. AutoPol es Pol Villasuso, nació en Montevideo en 1975. Es músico autodidacta, hacedor de música experimental, artista sonoro y arquitecto. http://autopol.tumblr.com/ https://soundcloud.com/autopol https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBiWHcPG5tLpgOnKyu0c1Fg FLATTEN Flatten es un proyecto de producción sonora basado en Montevideo, formado en 2009 por Martin Craciun (www.mcraciun.art) y Cooptrol (www.cooptrol.com). El dúo explora las fuerzas físicas y mentales detrás del sonido y la música, trabajando sobre performances en vivo que buscan que la forma dicte el contenido. Entienden sus conciertos como instalaciones de sonido e imagen en movimiento que examinan las propiedades físicas del sonido. Su trabajo vincula herramientas digitales y analogicas para componer un relato sonoro sobre la deconstrucción del techno en las fronteras perceptivas entre el ruido y la música. Han presentado su trabajo en festivales de música, museos, galerías, clubes y auditorios en un sin fín de eventos relacionados al arte y la cultura. Han colaborado con el cineasta Stefano Canapa para piezas de expanded cinema, han desarrollado un sistema de espacialización sonora cuadrafónica y un software para la automatización de luces. Música experimental, electrónica, minimal, compuesta de drones, tonos puros y espíritu techno. https://www.flattenmusic.net/ https://soundcloud.com/flatten ***** Colabora: UUU espacio para música, arte sonoro y experimentalismos

[mozart2006]

Staatsoper Stuttgart - Die Frau ohne Schatten

Foto ©Matthias Baus Die Neuproduktion von Die Frau ohne Schatten, mit der die Staatsoper Stuttgart die Spielzeit 2023/24 eröffnete, war ursprünglich vor drei Jahren geplant Continue reading Untitled

[joaquimblog]

MET 2021/2022: DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG (VOLLE-VOGT-DAVIDSEN-KRÄNZLE-ZEPPENFELD-APPLEBY, MAHNKE;PAPPANO)

Michael Volle i Lise Davidsen New York, NY. Photograph: © 2021 Richard Terminer PHOTO CREDIT – RICHARD TERMINE Un matí de dissabte plujós invita més a quedar-se a casa que a fer la desitjada caminada dels caps de setmana, i m’ha semblat que era l’ocasió propicia per escoltar la retransmissió radiofònica de la primera funció de Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg al MET de Nova York que va tenir lloc…

[mozart2006]

Lohengrin alla Staatsoper Stuttgart – Recensione in italiano Per chi non è in grado di leggere il tedesco, QUI la mia recensione in italiano.

[joaquimblog]

La inauguració de la temporada 2017/2018 del Teatre Regio de Torí ha suposat la primera vegada que el seu director musical, el milanès Gianandrea Noseda dirigia el Tristan und Isolde de Wagner. Un repte i una aposta important.

Noseda dirigeix una versió intensa, molt melòdica, transparent i potser excessivament precipitada, amb un tempo molt àgil, massa lleuger. La seva versió és personal, rica de timbres i colors orquestrals ben definits per una bona orquestra del Regio, que fa brillar els instruments solistes. La seva versió sembla que no busqui transcendències metafísiques i si un humanisme italianitzant, de grans arcs melòdics i intensitats dramàtiques emotives que esclaten en un segon acte abassegador.

Segurament No és aquesta primera direcció de Noseda del Tristan und Isolde el meu ideal, però és innegable que la versió té personalitat, és bella i commou, però no té l’equip vocal que pugui satisfer les exigències de rols tan exigents en una versió tan personal necessitada de cantants amb gran legato i plena salut vocal.

Peter Seiffert ja fa anys que viu del seu notable passat, arrossegant-se amb nits penoses i altres discretes. Té un gran bagatge que utilitza amb destresa però Tristan és un rol que no només especulant n’acabis sortint airós. La veu està esgotada i es fa difícil admetre el seu segon acte on la veu i el fraseig  no poden seduir, enamorar o embogir. Té frases, és clar, però Tristan no és un personatge de frases, té un primer acte quasi anecdòtic, un segon acte de bellíssimes intensitats d’un cant melòdic i líric que sempre posa a proba els Tristans de tendència destralera i un tercer acte mític, només a l’abast dels grans. Ell va ser un bon Tristan, va ser.

Ricarda Merbeth és una Isolde  eficient, a moments brillant, però no completa. La seva veu és la d’una soprano lírica amb aguts penetrants i sòlids, similars als d’una soprano dramàtica, però ni el seu centre és suficientment poderós, ni els greus tenen homogeneïtat vocal amb la resta de la veu. A la narració la veu enganya per aquesta facilitat insultant per assolir les notes més vistoses i penetrants, però no n’hi ha prou. Només que sabés dissimular els canvis de color per insuficiència natural de registre la seva Isolde acabaria sent plenament convincent.

Bé el Kurwenal de Martin Gantner i curta d’aguts la Brangäne de Michelle Breedt i absolutament bullit el Rei Marke de Steven Humes, sense cap autoritat i grandesa, sense cap profunditat vocal.

El streaming radiofònic no permet parlar de la producció de Claus Guth, quelcom que permet concentrar-se al 100% en la vesant orquestral (el millor d’aquesta inauguració) i la vocal.

Richard Wagner TRISTAN UND ISOLDE òpera en tres actes

Tristan, Peter Seiffert Isolde, Ricarda Merbeth Re Marke, Steven Humes Kurwenal, Martin Gantner Brangäne, Michelle Breedt Melot, Jan Vacík un pastore, Joshua Sanders un giovane marinaio, Patrick Reiter

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Regio di Torino Director del cor, Claudio Fenoglio Director musical, Gianandrea Noseda

Teatro Regio, Torí 10 d’octubre de 2017

EL PRIMER TRISTAN UND ISOLDE DE GIANANDREA NOSEDA (Seiffert-Merbeth-Humes-Gantner-Breedt) La inauguració de la temporada 2017/2018 del Teatre Regio de Torí ha suposat la primera vegada que el seu director musical, el milanès…