Bang to rights: a rare outing for an opera from the former GDR

By Matthew Rye, 14 November 2021

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“an extravagant and multi-layered spectacle”

Reviewed at Staatsoper Stuttgart, Stuttgart on 13 November 2021

Dessau, The Condemnation of Lucullus (Die Verurteilung des Lukullus)

Staatsoper Stuttgart

Bernhard Kontarsky, Conductor

Franziska Kronfoth, Director

Christina Schmitt, Set Designer

Yassu Yabara, Costume Designer

Reinhard Traub, Lighting Designer

Julia Lwowski, Director

Martin Mallon, Video

Alina Adamski, First Barker, The Queen

Laia Vallés, Second Barker

Clare Tunney, Third Barker

Linsey Coppens, The Courtesan

Maria Theresa Ullrich, The Fishwife

Torsten Hofmann, Lasus

Gerhard Siegel, Lucullus

Cheryl Studer, Tertullia

Heinz Göhrig, The Baker

Philipp Nicklaus, The Teacher

Elliott Carlton Hines, The Cherrytree Bearer

Jasper Leever, The Farmer

Friedemann Röhlig, The King

Simon Bailey, The Judge

Martin Gerke, The Court Speaker

Gina-Lise Maiwald, A woman's commentary

In Konwitschny's modern Medea, monsters are made by men

Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 27th December

Director Peter Konwitschny's staging of Cherubini's Medea critiques rejection and mistreatment of refugees. A strong new German translation and a talented cast make this a must-see.

****1

Rousseau and a boxing ring: Ariodante in Stuttgart

Jonathan Sutherland, 17th December

In Jussi Wieler and Sergio Morabito’s pugilistic production of Ariodante, the singers needed as much physical and gymnastic dexterity as vocal finesse.

***11

Sex and violence in the ghetto: Pique Dame

Ako Imamura, 6th July

Oper Stuttgart’s new production of The Queen of Spades (Pique-Dame) pushes a directorial tendency to update opera to a modern setting to an extreme.

***11

Devil in the detail: Gounod's Faust in Stuttgart

Matthew Rye, 3rd November

A thrilling new staging of Gounod's opera from the team that brought Bayreuth its current Ring, with musical rewards to match.

*****

Modern terror: Salome in Stuttgart

Ako Imamura, 1st December

Director Kirill Serebrennikov gives us a frightening new reality of the modern world beset by war and terrorism in his reimagining of Strauss's Salome

****1

Im Sog der Radikalisierung: Die Meistersinger in Stuttgart

Alexandra Richter, 1st March

Die neue Produktion von Wagners komischer Oper beeindruckt mit einer stimmlichen Top-Besetzung auch aus dem eigenen Ensemble; die Regie dagegen versucht konzeptionell zu viel und bleibt dabei auf der Strecke.

***11

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Matthew Rye

Matthew read music at Oxford and worked in music journalism for 30 years as a writer, critic and editor. He wrote numerous programme and CD booklet notes, spent 13 years as a Daily Telegraph critic, worked at BBC Music Magazine and was reviews editor of The Strad. He also wrote for The Wagner Journal and Opera and blogged at ferneklang.blogspot.co.uk. He was general editor of 1001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die (Cassell Illustrated, 2007) and was the author of a new series of eBooks, Masterpieces of Music (Erudition).