Verdi Wars: Frank Castorf’s Forza del destino at Deutsche Oper

By Hugo Shirley, 16 September 2019

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“But none of these additions... could distract from what, at core, was pretty unexceptional theatre”

Reviewed at Deutsche Oper, Berlin on 14 September 2019

Verdi, La forza del destino

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Jordi Bernàcer, Conductor

Frank Castorf, Director

Aleksandar Denić, Set Designer

Adriana Braga Peretzki, Costume Designer

María José Siri, Leonora

Markus Brück, Don Carlo

Russell Thomas, Don Alvaro

Marko Mimica, Padre Guardiano

Agunda Kulaeva, Preziosilla

Stephen Bronk, Marquis of Calatrava

Misha Kiria, Fra Melitone

Michael Kim, Trabuco

Amber Fasquelle, Curra

Patrick Guetti, Alcade

Timothy Newton, Chirurgo

Ronni Maciel, Dancer

Lothar Baumgarte, Lighting Designer

Andreas Deinert, Video

Jens Crull, Video

Jörg Königsdorf, Dramaturgy

Jeremy Bines, Choirmaster / chorus director

Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin

Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin

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A classic opera buffa gets an update by Rolando Villazón to a produce a staging that celebrates the timeless vitality of Rossini’s comic imagination.

****1

Between ecstasy and abyss: Korngold’s Violanta at the Deutsche Oper

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David Hermann directs a new production of Korngold’s teenage opera, conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles, at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

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Giordano's Fedora at the Deutsche Oper Berlin

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A new production of Fedora at the Deutsche Oper Berlin warms up the cold German winter, featuring strong lead performances by Vida Miknevičiūtė and Jonathan Tetelman.

***11

Thalheimer’s directs a static new Berlin Tristan und Isolde

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At the start of his farewell to Deutsche Oper Berlin, Sir Donald Runnicles shines with his orchestra, supplying the passion and tension withheld in Michael Thalheimer’s production.

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Anatomy of a love: Rebecca Saunders’ Lash at Deutsche Oper Berlin

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Nearing the close of the season, Deutsche Oper Berlin premieres Rebecca Saunders’ first opera Lash – Acts of Love, a visceral reflection on love and death.

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Tobias Kratzer gives his third Strauss production in three seasons at Deutsche Oper Berlin another contemporary spin.

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Hugo Shirley

Hugo Shirley is a Berlin-based writer and musicologist. He has written widely as a critic in the UK, including for The Spectator, the Financial Times and Daily Telegraph, and has held editorial posts at both Opera and Gramophone. He was editor of 30-Second Opera (Ivy Press, 2015) and has a PhD in musicology from King's College London, where his thesis focused on Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s Die Frau ohne Schatten.

Verdi Wars: Frank Castorf’s Forza del destino at Deutsche Oper Berlin