A defiant Deutsche Oper's reduced open-air Rheingold

By Hugo Shirley, 13 June 2020

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“at their head was the magnificent Wotan of Derek Welton”

Reviewed at Deutsche Oper Berlin: Parkhaus, Berlin on 12 June 2020

Wagner, Das Rheingold (Chamber version by Jonathan Dove, semi-staged performance)

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Sir Donald Runnicles, Conductor

Neil Barry Moss, Director, Costume Designer

Lili Avar, Set Designer

Derek Welton, Wotan

Padraic Rowan, Donner, Froh

Thomas Blondelle, Loge

Markus Brück, Alberich

Andrew Harris, Fasolt

Tobias Kehrer, Fafner

Annika Schlicht, Fricka

Flurina Stucki, Freia

Judit Kutasi, Erda

Elena Tsallagova, Woglinde

Irene Roberts, Wellgunde

Karis Tucker, Flosshilde

Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin

L’italiana in Algeri in the wrestling ring at Deutsche Oper Berlin

Zenaida des Aubris, 8th March

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

Zenaida des Aubris, 25th January

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

****1

Giordano's Fedora at the Deutsche Oper Berlin

Elena Luporini, 27th November

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

Zenaida des Aubris, 1st November

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.

****1

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

Elena Luporini, 20th June

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.

*****

Upstairs, downstairs: Die Frau ohne Schatten at Deutsche Oper

Zenaida des Aubris, 26th January

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

****1

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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.

Back in business: a defiant Deutsche Oper's reduced open-air Rheingold