Opera in Bavaria and Vienna

On a recent trip, I had two Strauss opera experiences that could not have been more different: Johann's Die Fledermaus in Nürnberg, then Richard's Elektra in Vienna. Both were dynamic and entertaining, but in very different ways. 

Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus (The Bat) from 1874 is the most popular example of Viennese operetta, composed in an era when the Strauss family (and others) provided the frothy musical backdrop for Viennese society, including its new craze: the waltz. The title refers rather obscurely to a practical joke played in the past on one of the main characters, leaving him eager to get back at the perpetrator, thus driving the operetta's silly plot, which is replete with confused identity, gender-bending gestures, and lots of partying. I think a good production should be heavy on the fun, with a dollop of whipped cream..it's an operetta that influenced Gilbert and Sullivan, as well as American operetta composers of the 20th century. Unfortunately, along the way this diversion started being taken a bit too seriously, with performances featuring big opera voices and major orchestras. The often-dour Gustav Mahler apparently started this tradition, and if you look in the record catalogue, recordings by serious maestros like Karajan, Knappertsbusch, and Harnoncourt are common. For me, these performances usually come across as either humor-challenged or as too much sonic whipped cream. I do not want to bathe in it, just sample it. 

This performance by the Staatstheater Nürnberg was just the thing. The opera house is intimate, and a bit decadent with bright red upholstery everywhere, which seemed to fit the performance. 

The plot's setting was updated to a modern office, and the second act party moved from a ballroom to a yacht rented for an office party. Strauss has lots of fun with power balances (esp. male vs female), confused identities (masks, mixed lovers, "bros" flirting with each other), and even a (wink-wink) lesbian, as the male party host Prince Orlovsky is cast as a female alto. This production extended some of these to our more overt century, with the Prince flirting with both male and female guests, waking up in bed with a woman, and with two male characters dancing together and making out at the festive end of the opera. This seemed to fit right into the libertine scene that Strauss had in mind. 

The operetta was performed with a smallish orchestra and with light-voiced singers who could convey character, dialogue, and silly flirtatiousness quite convincingly. I particularly enjoyed the charming performance of tenor Martin Platz, a skinny dancing machine who alternated between portraying a blond hunk and an awkward bird, flirting with male and female characters alike. I smiled throughout the performance, which is just what you would want in this operetta. The mostly-older audience seemed to enjoy themselves despite the updating and mild raunchiness of the production. All in all, a festive way to visit Nürnberg to cap a day at its famed Christmas market. 

About that market....its held in the central marketplace, with the looming Frauenkirche behind it. Here you can get local sausages, wine, pastries, and a myriad of holiday decorations. 

That big church looked very familiar to me, but I could not quite place it. Where had I seen it before? Ah, I remember! Below is a still from the famed 1934 propaganda film The Triumph of the Will, a technical (but not moral) masterpiece by director Leni Riefenstahl. Hitler is seen parading past adoring followers in the square, then named Adolf Hitler-Platz, with the Frauenkirche at left. 

History is never far away in Germany. Old medieval Nürnberg was almost completely destroyed in WWII during Allied air raids, not for strategic reasons, but apparently to punish the city for its Hitler-worship. It is now mostly reconstructed, but sadly often lacks the medieval ambiance and timbered houses of its past. 

On to Vienna. There I saw Richard Strauss' (no relation to Johann) expressionist music drama Elektra (1909) at the Vienna State Opera. This theater is surprisingly intimate, with only 1400 seats (the Metropolitan in NYC has 3700). It is set up old-style, with stacked opera boxes in a U-configuration facing the stage. I somehow got the innermost seat overlooking the pit orchestra, lowest down closest to the stage. I had to contort my body a bit to see the right side of the stage, so often missed some of the acting. However, I thrillingly felt like I was right in the belly of the writhing beast that is the enormous Strauss orchestra. Elektra is an unhinged operatic blood-fest, in which Elektra wreaks homicidal revenge on her mother and father-in-law, who have killed her father Agamemnon. This staging was plain, but effective, as a damaged statue of Agamemnon looms behind the action. 

The huge orchestra (including 5 horns, 4 Wagner horns, 4 trombones, 4 trumpets) roars and shrieks throughout the violent opera, and really portrays its own character alongside the singers. My location prevented me from really judging the singers or production--both seemed quite good. But I can certainly judge the  magnificent orchestra, with many members that I had heard several days earlier when I saw the Vienna Philharmonic (VPO) on tour (see my review here). It turns out that playing in the opera orchestra is a 6-year audition before you can be accepted into the VPO, and once accepted into the orchestra, you still play many events with the opera orchestra. So this is a really top-notch opera orchestra, perhaps the best anywhere. 

This quality is needed for the formidable demands of the Elektra score. Most opera companies perform this piece every 5-6 years or never, so most orchestras do not get the chance to really master the score. Not so in Vienna. They perform this score almost every year, and have recorded it multiple times, with the finest conductors, going back into the 1940s. They really nailed it. You can see the familiarity in the body language of the players, especially concertmaster Volkhard Steude. You could see how he anticipated entrances, not just following the (very clear and expressive) beat of British conductor Alexander Soddy but also listening to the singing. I even saw him paging through the score to give tips to a younger colleague at the end of the opera. This is how excellence is maintained in such orchestras. Overall, it was VERY exciting to experience this orchestra so up close, actually feeling the score, not just hearing it. This was one of my top experiences at an opera house, even though it was really just about the orchestra. What a night!