Jul 10, 2022 5pm Nationaltheater, Munich (Bavarian Opera)
Berlioz: Les Troyens
Cond: Daniele Rustioni, Dir: Christophe Honoré
Gregory Kunde (Aeneas), Jennifer Holloway (Cassandra), Ekaterina Semenchuk (Dido), Stéphane Degout (Chorebe), Bálint Szabó (Narbal), Martin Mitterrutzner (Iopas)
(scroll down for English review)
有兩個因素令我想看巴伐利亞歌劇院這個《特洛伊人》新製作，首先是它在五月首演後，劇院網頁說不計兩次中場休息，演出時間差不多是四小時。以前在柏林德意志歌劇院及漢堡歌劇院都看過《特洛伊人》，但都刪到三小時左右，另外在東京也看過格杰夫指揮音樂會版本，七點開場，一次中休，未夠十一點完場，好像剪了一點，所以我想趁這機會看一次足本（錄音及錄影的足本多的是）。第二個原因是導演Honoré，十年前常見到他的電影在電影節上映，但又好像沒認真看過，期望他會在歌劇世界有點驚喜。
可是最令人失望就是他，很悶，很懶，除了迦太基部分的裸男，第四幕打獵及暴風雨時播放男男男男雜交的片段，完全沒有新念頭，連念頭都沒有。最要命是他的佈景把歌唱破壞到體無完膚，舞台為空而空，於是既無天花，側牆及背景太低，聲音全走掉了。簡直是前一晚《彼德格林》Herheim拱型天花板的相反，所有人的歌唱都被影響，包括合唱，以及一流的唱將Semenchuk和Degout，聽完前一晚就更覺痛苦。受最少影響是唱主角Aeneas的Kunde。他在五月首演那輪唱過，七月歌劇節這兩場本來由Jovanovich唱，但他辭演，Kunde頂硬上，於是九天內唱了兩次《奧塞羅》及兩次《特洛伊人》。似乎一半是技術，一半是經驗，Kunde出場時仍能先聲奪人，第五幕的詠嘆調他走得更前，讓大家聽得更清楚。
要不是有他，這四小時真不知怎過，實際演奏時間是221分鐘，我相信仍是足本，因為指揮Rustioni指得很激烈。本來我也想他遷就一下被垃圾佈景連累的歌手，但聽着聽着，與其大家攬住死，不如讓白遼士的精彩管弦樂盡情發揮吧。看過這個可能足本、歌唱被嚴重拖垮的演出，我應該沒那麼渴望現場看此劇了。聽多了法國大歌劇後，這次第四次現場看《特洛伊人》，覺得此劇在音樂上（即是樂隊）以大歌劇來說太精彩，歌唱卻寫得太多悶場，很多地方像神劇多過歌劇。一和同期的威爾第《西西里晚禱》比，真是差天共地，不過《特洛伊人》始終有一種cult status，《西西里晚禱》太難找到知音了。
I was drawn to this new production of Les Troyens by two reasons. Bavarian Opera’s homepage listed the a run time of almost four hours, so I presumed this is uncut, I’ve already had my share of abridged Les Troyens. The second reason was French director Christophe Honoré, whom I knew by name for his film work. But after this show I’ll probably stay away from his work, both film and opera.
Far from courting controversy Honoré was too dull. He had no new ideas, or even, no ideas. He almost let the four hours go on auto-pilot. The only shocking images were naked men sunbathing in Act 3, and the gay sex orgy video accompanying Act 4’s Royal Hunt and Storm, The main flaw was him allowing a set that left too much open space on all sides of the stage. Even reliable singers such as Semenchuk and Degout were struggling to get heard. The chorus also. This is truly hell, after the vocal heaven of last night’s Peter Grimes, with a ceilinged set that boosted every singer’s voice.
The least affected was Gregory Kunde’s Aeneas. He sang in the premiere run in May. He wasn’t scheduled to sing this pair of festival shows but Jovanovich called in sick, so Kunde did both Otello and Les Troyens, eventually doing two shows of each in just nine days. Obviously he not only has the expertise but also the experience on what to do in such disastrous conditions so he managed to shine. Without him, these four hours would have been unbearable. The actual play time was 221 minutes, still a few minutes short of the fastest complete recordings. But conductor Rustioni had such vigour so I still believed this was uncut. At first I felt Rustioni should have made things easier for his affected singers. But then I thought otherwise, the singing was such a hopeless case that doing Berlioz’s innovative orchestral writing full justice was better than losing both birds.
My obsession for this opera might have been cured by this fiasco. I felt that the music (orchestra) was too superior for a grand opera, but the vocal singing wasn’t exciting enough. There are great moments but too many sections sound like oratorios than operas. Having seen the French original version of Verdi’s Sicilian Vespers earlier, this contemporary work of Berlioz paled in comparison, despite the Berlioz work having a cult status.