The ultimate price of womanhood. 'Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk’
<Translated from Danish automatically, to be edited later>
The Wife Is Bored and just wants to be loved until she dies. But Katerina's lust has deadly consequences in 'Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk’, which was banned by Stalin but now plays in a brilliant staging at the Opera.
With his back to the audience, a man in a gray suit and newspaper hat paints black with broad brushstrokes on the stage's bathroom-like white tile walls. The satirical and the tragic are closely linked in the NYE production by the famous opera director Peter Konwitschny. Black, black, black it seems to Katerina, although for the first time in a long time she has just had her understimulated need for physical intimacy filled.
Now darkness descends on the merchant's wife after she and her lover Sergei murder her absent (and impotent?) husbond, Zinovij. Before that, Katerina has poisoned her approaching father-in-law, Boris, but she initially escapes with the horror and is not caught for this murder.
Criticism of those in power abounds in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, which premiered in 1934 and began as a great success in the Soviet Union, Western Europe and the United States, but which Stalin put an end to two years later, with serious consequences for all Soviet artists. It is especially the power of the male sex that Shostakovich criticizes. After all, Katerina just wants to pursue her happiness, experience physical closeness with her husband, which, respectively, the master of the House prevents her from, and father – in-law Boris Hunds with her and salivatingly disgustingly smacks at her-if only he was a young man, then he would probably have to fix her.
At the police station, the officers moan about their low pay and wait to receive some form of compensation. It comes as if sent from heaven when a drunk finds Zinovy buried in the basement. "God be praised," the Corps shouts in chorus-yes, now they have to find the damn culprits and exercise their power!
Katerina and Sergei are arrested, she, Of course, also just raped by a Panzer, and the two murderers are now marching along with a bunch of other prisoners towards Siberia.
In captivity, the interest of her lover in her drops tremendously. He was a day laborer and went from farm to farm taking care of unsatisfied wives. Katerina was married to a rich merchant, now she is just a poor prisoner like the others. The final humiliation comes when Sergei, as another animal, suddenly wants to copulate with fellow inmate Sonijetka, who manipulates him into luring away Katerina's long stockings so she can keep warm in the Siberian cold. The deceived throws his rival into the river and afterwards drowns himself as typical opera punktum.
Sad but hilarious
It is a sad story, but Shostakovich had intended his opera as both satirical and tragic, and Konwitschny does not neglect to emphasize both sides. The characters are more caricatured in him than in many other stagings.
The famous intercourse scenes are cartoonishly exaggerated, Anne Margrethe Dahl is perfectly cast vocally and playfully as the attention-hungry, teenage and strong Katerina, who dares to speak out against the dominance of men. Johnny van Hal was consistently solid, but may be a little more out, like for example the Polish bass Alexander Teliga, who was charismatic, dynamic on stage and lovely to love-hate as Father-in-law Boris.
Hanne Fischer's naughty and unattainable Sonijetka was unforgettable-have we seen her so sexy before? And again I must say: good choice, Royal opera, that you use an actor in a performance, namely Morten Staugaard, who is right in the eye as the chief constable, who has a surprising element in the production.
The staging is bursting with good ideas. The dramatic tempo is constantly in motion – unlike many other operas-so you never lose interest. The scenography is simple with the white bathroom-like space, which is varied in surprisingly many ways via Guido Petzold's masterful lighting design; the color of the stage curtain changes along the way, depending on the developments in the Opera, the main characters are dressed in different colors of clothes: Katerina in yellow, Sergei in blue, Boris in red, Zinovy in light green (all four in satin clothes), the day workers and the police in Coke Gray. The colours contribute greatly to experiencing scenic variety and being able to distinguish the important characters from the crowds, and they increase the caricature as far as the main characters are concerned.
The many fantastic orchestral passages the Royal Chapel plays sovereignly under Russian Alexander Vedernikov. The orchestra has expanded considerably, but plays mostly chamber music. In particular, the performance of the bassoons should be highlighted, and the woodwinds have a prominent role in Lady Macbeth, which is why they were also cleverly moved very close to the conductor.
Divinely cast a 14-piece brass group from the balcony and later on the stage floor. Vedernikov has the proper patience for the drama to develop at the proper speed and not drown in effects, even during the famous intercourse scene he makes sure that the euphoria does not run away with the troops.
A brilliant production that can be recommended, regardless of whether you are usually for opera or not.
'Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk' opera by Dmitry Shostakovich. Playing Period: 2. nov. until 25. jan. Singers: Anne Margrethe Dahl (Katerina), Johnny van Hal (Sergej), Alexander Teliga (father-in-law), Gert Henning-Jensen (Zinovij), Morten Staugaard (Chief Constable), Hanne Fischer (Sonyetka) m.fl. Conductor: Alexander Vedernikov. Directed By Peter Konwitschny. Set design and costumes: Timo Dentler and Okarina Peter based on an idea by Hans-Joachim Schlieker. Lighting Design: Guido Petzold
Source.
The Wife Is Bored and just wants to be loved until she dies. But Katerina's lust has deadly consequences in 'Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk’, which was banned by Stalin but now plays in a brilliant staging at the Opera.
With his back to the audience, a man in a gray suit and newspaper hat paints black with broad brushstrokes on the stage's bathroom-like white tile walls. The satirical and the tragic are closely linked in the NYE production by the famous opera director Peter Konwitschny. Black, black, black it seems to Katerina, although for the first time in a long time she has just had her understimulated need for physical intimacy filled.
Now darkness descends on the merchant's wife after she and her lover Sergei murder her absent (and impotent?) husbond, Zinovij. Before that, Katerina has poisoned her approaching father-in-law, Boris, but she initially escapes with the horror and is not caught for this murder.
Criticism of those in power abounds in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, which premiered in 1934 and began as a great success in the Soviet Union, Western Europe and the United States, but which Stalin put an end to two years later, with serious consequences for all Soviet artists. It is especially the power of the male sex that Shostakovich criticizes. After all, Katerina just wants to pursue her happiness, experience physical closeness with her husband, which, respectively, the master of the House prevents her from, and father – in-law Boris Hunds with her and salivatingly disgustingly smacks at her-if only he was a young man, then he would probably have to fix her.
At the police station, the officers moan about their low pay and wait to receive some form of compensation. It comes as if sent from heaven when a drunk finds Zinovy buried in the basement. "God be praised," the Corps shouts in chorus-yes, now they have to find the damn culprits and exercise their power!
Katerina and Sergei are arrested, she, Of course, also just raped by a Panzer, and the two murderers are now marching along with a bunch of other prisoners towards Siberia.
In captivity, the interest of her lover in her drops tremendously. He was a day laborer and went from farm to farm taking care of unsatisfied wives. Katerina was married to a rich merchant, now she is just a poor prisoner like the others. The final humiliation comes when Sergei, as another animal, suddenly wants to copulate with fellow inmate Sonijetka, who manipulates him into luring away Katerina's long stockings so she can keep warm in the Siberian cold. The deceived throws his rival into the river and afterwards drowns himself as typical opera punktum.
Sad but hilarious
It is a sad story, but Shostakovich had intended his opera as both satirical and tragic, and Konwitschny does not neglect to emphasize both sides. The characters are more caricatured in him than in many other stagings.
The famous intercourse scenes are cartoonishly exaggerated, Anne Margrethe Dahl is perfectly cast vocally and playfully as the attention-hungry, teenage and strong Katerina, who dares to speak out against the dominance of men. Johnny van Hal was consistently solid, but may be a little more out, like for example the Polish bass Alexander Teliga, who was charismatic, dynamic on stage and lovely to love-hate as Father-in-law Boris.
Hanne Fischer's naughty and unattainable Sonijetka was unforgettable-have we seen her so sexy before? And again I must say: good choice, Royal opera, that you use an actor in a performance, namely Morten Staugaard, who is right in the eye as the chief constable, who has a surprising element in the production.
The staging is bursting with good ideas. The dramatic tempo is constantly in motion – unlike many other operas-so you never lose interest. The scenography is simple with the white bathroom-like space, which is varied in surprisingly many ways via Guido Petzold's masterful lighting design; the color of the stage curtain changes along the way, depending on the developments in the Opera, the main characters are dressed in different colors of clothes: Katerina in yellow, Sergei in blue, Boris in red, Zinovy in light green (all four in satin clothes), the day workers and the police in Coke Gray. The colours contribute greatly to experiencing scenic variety and being able to distinguish the important characters from the crowds, and they increase the caricature as far as the main characters are concerned.
The many fantastic orchestral passages the Royal Chapel plays sovereignly under Russian Alexander Vedernikov. The orchestra has expanded considerably, but plays mostly chamber music. In particular, the performance of the bassoons should be highlighted, and the woodwinds have a prominent role in Lady Macbeth, which is why they were also cleverly moved very close to the conductor.
Divinely cast a 14-piece brass group from the balcony and later on the stage floor. Vedernikov has the proper patience for the drama to develop at the proper speed and not drown in effects, even during the famous intercourse scene he makes sure that the euphoria does not run away with the troops.
A brilliant production that can be recommended, regardless of whether you are usually for opera or not.
'Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk' opera by Dmitry Shostakovich. Playing Period: 2. nov. until 25. jan. Singers: Anne Margrethe Dahl (Katerina), Johnny van Hal (Sergej), Alexander Teliga (father-in-law), Gert Henning-Jensen (Zinovij), Morten Staugaard (Chief Constable), Hanne Fischer (Sonyetka) m.fl. Conductor: Alexander Vedernikov. Directed By Peter Konwitschny. Set design and costumes: Timo Dentler and Okarina Peter based on an idea by Hans-Joachim Schlieker. Lighting Design: Guido Petzold
Source.
Per Rask MADSEN,
Information, November 7, 2014
Information, November 7, 2014
