Die Rheinnixen Erkel Theatre Budapest
Feb 24th 2018
A fascinating and unusual evening – for all sorts of reasons. Firstly kudos to the opera for reviving this – which musically and (largely) dramatically it was well worth doing. It received a performance from all concerned that put everything in its best light. The orchestra (as ever) was excellent with tremendous driving momentum and the richness musically of the score (the whole thing was through-composed) was shown to its best effect. There was some fascinating orchestral details in terms of timbres and always the music was being used to drive the drama forward and was not there just a pretty accompaniment to the action. I particularly noticed this when the Rheinixen were on stage/mentioned – and Wagner’s mode/style re musical depiction of Rhine-related matters was definitely there – not sure who came first but there was a connection. (checked: Offenbach 1864, Rheingold 1869; kudos Jacques!)
The fact that the Hoffman barcarolle theme made its first appearance here is probably the best known ‘fact’ about the work and it reminded me of what a superb melodist and creator of worlds Offenbach was – much under-rated I think.
The role of the mother Hedwig is a big dramatic and meaty one (created by Emmy Destinn) and Andréa Ulbricht rose superbly well to it with stage presence and vocal ‘chops’ of equal power and effectiveness. As her daughter Armgard, Rita Racz was equally effective. Dramatically the role is I thought, less interesting – she is something of a figure to whom events happen rather than instigating them herself – but the performance made her more dramatically effective than I thought the role might be from a reading of a plot summary. The fact that Racz had quite a large and powerful voice (although with a sweetly powerful top) meant that this helped the role dramatically. One interesting element that also connected with Hoffman was the running theme of the danger of singing and how it could lead to death (hello Antonia!) Not sure this was terribly convincingly worked incorporated and the death and then implausible resurrection of Armgad was particularly operatically ridiculous (bit partially saved by wonderful music)
I was not so sure about the production. Certainly in the first part, I did not have a sense of where the director was coming from, what he was trying to show, the significance of costume and set details. – it did not seem to ‘gell’ into a coherent whole although it did tell the story effectively and in an involving manner. The costumes said, most of the time 20’s/30’s but then elements of modern day. The set in Part 1 definitely recalled Budapest bridges but was not sure of significance of there being some sort of opening ceremony. There was a Mutter Merkel-looking figure taking an important part (I knew it was meant to be Merkel as she was a wearing a box-cut two-piece in a bright colour, which I think, is the visual shorthand these days for ‘Mutter’!) Historical Hungarian elements? And Gellert Hill was definitely recalled in the backdrop outline… Bit puzzling.
With the bridge at an angle across the stage and saying ‘modern setting’ confirmed by the costumes, in the wings were very old-fashioned flats with sky and clouds painted on them. Again distinctive but could not really see why that particular ‘look’ and style. Periodically the flats and backdrop were suffused in red which, in Part 1 was puzzling but which, when seen in part 2 when we encounter the RheinNixen for the first tome, did make a connection – but again why did this colour wash appear at the times it did in the drama? I could not make a connection between this and what was happening/being said on the stage. Unless it was just trying to suggest that the Nixen are a permanent element in this society. Sort of makes sense I think…but still a bit unsatisfying. And why a game of badminton in the middle of a crowd? Pointless ‘action’ for the chorus! The direction of the chorus was one of the weaker production elements I thought -it is obvious when they have not been given clear indications as to what to do and are left to their own devices.
Part 2 was very good indeed. The work entered a different realm I think (except for the end of which more shortly). Here all the different elements seemed to come together and there was much more sense of a dramatic and coherent forward drive of the drama. While Part 1 was not uninvolving, Part 2 was riveting. The appearance of the Nixen was tremendously effective – white-robed with obscured faces and a glowing red band around the neck – at once both rather frightening and yet strangely alluring and seductive – just what the darker aspects of folk tales should convey I think.
Again some wonderful musical effects – rushing chromatic scales that conveyed, as I recall, quite a disturbing sense of other-worldliness. Precursor of Wagner again – perhaps the rushing scales of the Rhine in the Rheingold prelude. A dance element towards the end was highly effective but the actual ending was terribly rushed and not convincing – but this was definitely a fault of the story/libretto. It did seem to just stop rather than come to a conclusion although the staging did its best to convey a more final mending with an intriguingly apocalyptic element that came across more convincingly on the stage than it did in the summary where it sounded just ‘rather silly’.
Anyway a super evening. Always good to discover something new.