{"id":36215,"date":"2016-04-14T16:15:20","date_gmt":"2016-04-14T20:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=36215"},"modified":"2016-04-17T10:28:50","modified_gmt":"2016-04-17T14:28:50","slug":"feature-review-letters-from-berlin-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2016\/04\/14\/feature-review-letters-from-berlin-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"FEATURE REVIEW | Letters From Berlin: Die \u00e4gyptische Helena and Die Liebe der Danae (Deutsche Oper)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part Two of a report from the Richard Strauss-Woche at the Deutsche Oper<\/h3>\n
\"Agyptische
Agyptische Helena (Photo: Marcus Lieberenz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A<\/span>fter two standard repertoire pieces of Salome<\/em> and Elektra<\/em> that opened the Strauss-Woche here in Berlin, we moved onto relatively unfamiliar territory with two rarely performed, Grecian themed operas. The first one, Die \u00e4gyptische Helena<\/em>, Op. 75, had its premiere at the Dresden Semperoper in 1928. Unlike the composer\u2019s other collaborations with librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal, this work never gained a solid foothold in the standard repertoire. Von Hofmannsthal based the libretto on Homer\u2019s Odyssey<\/em> and worked by Euripides. The rather convoluted story revolves around sorceress Aithra\u2019s attempt to save the marriage of Helen and Menelaus, who accuses his wife of being unfaithful. Through magic, Aithra convinces Menelaus that the Helen of Troy is an illusion and that the \u201creal\u201d Egyptian Helen is faithful to him. Given that Freud and the Subconscious were all the rage at the time of composition, there\u2019s a strong psychoanalytic streak in the libretto.<\/p>\n

Strauss composed it with the great Czech soprano Maria Jeritza in mind. \u00a0Not only is Helena a vocally treacherous role, audiences have high expectations when it comes to a singer who\u2019s supposed to play \u201cthe most beautiful woman in the world.\u201d \u00a0Jeritza, known for her vocal and<\/em> personal beauty, was deemed an ideal Helena. But the Semperoper bean counters balked at her huge fee and instead hired Elisabeth Rethberg, a soprano with a beautiful voice but less personal charisma, to sing the premiere. Jeritza sang the subsequent premieres in Vienna and New York. The Czech soprano had a big success thanks to her glamorous persona and generous vocalism, solidifying her reputation as the definitive Helena.<\/p>\n

\"Agyptische
Agyptische Helena (Photo: Marcus Lieberenz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This little bit of opera lore touches upon an interesting issue that continues to this day \u2013 is it fair as audience members to expect a singer to not only sound good but look good \u2013 or at least look believable? Given that we\u2019re in the visually-oriented 21st <\/sup>century, audiences expect singers to be visually credible. Remember the brouhaha over Deborah Voigt and the \u201cLittle Black Dress\u201d at the ROH Ariadne<\/em>, or the attack on Tara Erraught\u2019s Glyndebourne Octavian by members of the British press?\u00a0 It appears nothing has changed.\u00a0 When one is impersonating Helen of Troy, well, the bar is set awfully high for the soprano.<\/p>\n

I recall attending a staged performance of Die \u00e4gyptische Helena<\/em> some years ago, where a wonderful soprano with a beautiful voice and face sang Helena.\u00a0 She happened to be also very generous-figured, especially when paired with a slim tenor as Menelaus. Her entrance in Act One was met with some barely suppressed giggles around me. When she sang her first line, roughly translated as \u201cThe table is set \u2013 let\u2019s eat,\u201d shockingly it elicited audible laughter from a few people in the audience. \u00a0Of course, there\u2019s no excuse for such boorish behaviour, but it only underscores the premium our society places on superficial beauty.<\/p>\n

Thankfully no such embarrassing moment transpired at the Deutsche Oper, where the audience was on model behaviour. Die \u00e4gyptische Helena<\/em> was the attractive Ricarda Merbeth, a jugendlich dramatischer sopran<\/em> in the great Wagner-Strauss tradition. Merbeth showed impressive volume, long breath line and easy top \u2013 up to a high D in the Act Two aria \u201cZweite Brautnacht.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Her husband Menelaus was German Heldentenor Stefan Vinke, who was a sensational Siegfried at the COC just a couple of months ago.<\/p>\n

While Strauss writes beautifully for the soprano voice, his tenors often are given rather ungrateful music. Menelaus happens to be one of the more rewarding, if fiendishly difficult, Strauss tenor roles. Vinke was up to the task, his trumpet of a voice matching Merbeth decibel for decibel, even a high C – not subtle but exciting. The two engaged in what Anna Russell would have coined \u201chighly competitive singing\u201d especially in the Finale, with the huge orchestra thundering away. I have to say there\u2019s something rather unrelenting about Strauss\u2019s orchestration, not unlike having an excessively rich 8-course dinner in front of you. Strauss devotees will want it all, but for others, its attraction may wear a bit thin after 20 minutes of non-stop triple-forte singing! And one wonders why this piece is so rarely performed?<\/p>\n

The sorceress Aithra was American dramatic coloratura Laura Aikin, whom I haven\u2019t heard in some time. After a steady diet of Lulu, Marie (Die Soldaten<\/em>), Emilia Marty and the like, her voice remains fresh and appealing, a testament to her technique. Then there\u2019s the weird character of the Omniscient Mussel, here taken by contralto Ronnita Miller. I recall seeing a funny historical production sketch where an enormous clam shell opens and up pops the head of the singer!\u00a0 These days, it\u2019s usually staged with the singer holding a huge conch shell to her ear. The stage director Marco Arturo Marelli chooses to go the High Camp route for this production, and the result is colourful and entertaining, actually a preferable solution than to take this piece too seriously. Here, the Omniscient Mussel has the requisite conch shell, but also a portable TV to report on her prophecies of the shipwreck! It\u2019s an elaborate production, complete with a revolving set that works beautifully for scene changes, a relief from the single unit sets that Regie<\/em> productions seem to favour these days.<\/p>\n

\"Die
Die Liebe der Danae (Photo: Barbara Aumuller)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Die Liebe der Danae<\/em> is a late work. Strauss composed it in 1938-40 but died before its Salzburg premiere in 1952. By the 30\u2019s, Strauss\u2019s longtime librettist Hofmannsthal had died, and Strauss started working with Josef Gregor. This was one of their three collaborations, the other two being Friedenstag<\/em> and Daphne<\/em>. While none has a strong hold on the standard repertoire, Daphne<\/em> and Die Liebe<\/em> do receive occasional revivals, especially in German houses. If Die Liebe<\/em> has stronger music than Helena<\/em>, that strength doesn\u2019t extend to the story!\u00a0 In a nutshell, it\u2019s a tale of marriage of convenience versus true love, with various disguises and mistaken identities thrown in for good measure, a mix of comic and the serious, all suitably operatic!<\/p>\n

The music is glorious, particularly Act 3, with the interlude, the Farewell of Jupiter to Danae, and the duet between Midas and Danae \u2013 in that abandoned road setting that reminds me of the Covent Garden Manon Lescaut<\/em> Act 4!\u00a0\u00a0 Act 3 alone is enough to convince anyone of the genius of Strauss \u2013 it is one continuous lyrical outpouring, with the composer at his most divine. The director is Kirsten Harms, who created this production in 2011, near the end of her tenure as the Intendant of Deutsche Oper. If her Elektra <\/em>was pretty straight forward, this Die Liebe<\/em> is more idiosyncratic. The production is visually very striking, not least is the grand piano that gets hoisted upside down to the top of the stage during the beginning of the opera when creditors take all the paintings and valuables in the palace of the bankrupt King Pollux. There the piano remains at the top for the rest of the opera, even through Act 3 when Danae descends into poverty. For those curious about this production, I can highly recommend the commercial DVD on the Arthaus label with Manuela Uhl and Mark Delavan (Jupiter).<\/p>\n