In an era when people flit from one job to the next in the blinking of an eye, it’s incredible to consider that Pierre Audi has been artistic director of Dutch National Opera (or De Nederlandse Opera as it was then known) for 30 years. This September, Audi steps down, heading to sunny Provence as general director of the Festival d'Aix. Sophie de Lint, currently artistic director at Zurich Opera, takes over, meaning that the coming season is one of transition, but is characteristically full of new productions by directors much in demand throughout Europe.
Audi acknowledges the incredible journey taken by the company – and its loyal audience – in transforming opera into “a relevant and enduring art form”. He writes movingly about the uplifting, timeless message opera still has to offer “of hope, of faith in the power of the human spirit, of the need for compassion, diversity and tolerance”. His final season focuses on the themes of ‘Identity and Confrontation’, culminating in three parts of Stockhausen’s monumental seven-part opera Aus Licht, probably DNO’s most ambitious project since Audi’s production of Wagner’s Ring cycle.
Among the season’s big new productions is a new staging of Janáček’s Jenůfa by Katie Mitchell. The British director strives to turn the spotlight onto female perspectives in her productions, controversially so in operas like Lucia di Lammermoor. But a work like Jenůfa which features strong female characters – the opera’s subtitle “Her Stepdaughter” references the major shadow the Kostelnička casts over the plot – should suit Mitchell’s approach. Her cinematic style, often employing split-screen sets, often means lots of intricate detail to take in; characters are rarely off-stage in a Mitchell show. Annette Dasch sings the title role, while the pivotal role of Jenůfa’s stepmother is taken by Evelyn Herlitzius.
It’s always a special occasion when the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra plays for DNO. Next season culminates in a new production of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, where the RCO will be in the pit under chief conductor Daniele Gatti. Olivier Py, whose productions of French operas such as Dialogues des Carmélites have met with great critical acclaim, directs the new staging, which will be part of the 2019 Holland Festival. Stockhausen's Aus Licht, directed by Audi himself, is also a co-production with the Holland Festival and will be held in Amsterdam’s Gashouder. Twenty years after the cycle’s completion, Aus Licht has never been performed in its entirety. With an opera for every day of the week, Audi focuses on three episodes: Thursday to Saturday.
Wagner’s Tannhäuser appears in a new production by Christof Loy. Impressive soprano Svetlana Aksenova sings Elisabeth, while German tenor Daniel Kirch is Tannhäuser. Innovative stagings have always been important to Audi, as is the presence of new work in the company’s programming. When Audi joined DNO, György Kurtág had been commissioned to write an opera… a commission he finally fulfils with Fin de partie, based on Samuel Beckett’s Endgame. Audi directs the world première this November at La Scala before the production transfers to Amsterdam the following March.
Fin de partie features in the Opera Forward Festival, which celebrates new work in the genre. Other productions include the European première of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West, set in the California Gold Rush, which we reviewed at San Francisco last November. OFF also includes Micha Hamel’s Caruso a Cuba – based on an incident when a bomb exploded in a theatre in Havana while legendary tenor Enrico Caruso was singing a performance of Aida there – and Donnacha Dennehy’s The Second Violinist.