https://youtu.be/ZI7wXX0wNjk Intro/trailer
This was a grimly magnificent evening. Even by the dark standards of operatic stories, this work stands out with its almost unrelenting grimness of actions and characters where suicide really does seem like the best option.
And this darkness was well captured here from the moment the curtain rose on the starkly brutalist set. A large open-sided cube-shaped structure dominated and there were three levels visible, which could also rise and fall. Around the edges of the central revolve was a bright (steel? aluminum?) corrugated wall that went about two-thirds of the way round and being below waist height at its lowest while rising to near the top of the cube structure at its highest. This was an effective and versatile construction as it could reveal and conceal scenes, which it did very effectively. This was effectively and simply transformed into a watchtower with the addition of spotlights for the final scene. And in this final scene, the guards throwing down food scraps t the prisoners below well emphasized their status as not much more than animals. The only other items on stage were two angled platforms, one wide, one slightly narrower which were sparingly but effectively used e.g. to; bend Sergei over for a whipping by the brutal Boris.
The other significant element was a large screen which covered the back wall of the stage and on which were projected details of the performance and performers. However, there were times when parts of this were obscured which seemed a pity but for the most part it was effectively sparingly used. The quality of the acting meant that close-ups were justified and worked e.g., when Katerina picked up the rat poison to put in Boris’s mushrooms or to catch muttered asides. For the final scene it became the rushing river, effectively looming over the action from the start of that scene.
The colour palette was universally drab – shades of grey and occasional black for everyone except for the wedding scene with the chorus women in bright often-floral frocks and somewhat ‘clumpy’ best shoes – very nicely and smartly observed, I thought, as was the slightly flashy almost snakeskin-looking jacket that Sergei wore which effectively conveyed his flashy and, untrustworthy nature. It was a likewise a powerfully thoughtful touch to have Katerina wearing this in the final scene as a touching way of showing how she was still committed to him, even though he was not to her. There were other carefully chosen details too – Katerina’s white wedding dress had a few garish-coloured flowers attached to it, matching the extravagant headdress she wore, redolent I think of traditional Russian wedding garb. But it effectively managed to look both slightly wrong and vulgar at the same time.
The chorus were interestingly used. From the start, they moved in a mechanistic machine-like way, with repeated actions on various parts of the stage, such as painting the aluminum screen. This was an effect iveway of dehumanizing them. This was also a near-constant reminder of the sort of world in which they lived. However, at dramatically necessary moments e.g. the wedding, the whipping of Sergei, the prisoners in the camp, they were used in a more traditional and individualistic way – and again, every member was uniquely individual and committed in what they were doing as is so often the case with the best European operatic productions.
The orchestra, under Baumer, was very fine and he well-caught the raucousness of the score although there were some occasions when the orchestra did drown the singers and a couple of occasions when very distinctively orchestrated parts of the score suddenly and inexplicably leapt out of the orchestral texture.
The singers sang as well as they acted and were always wholly in their roles.
An excellent evening and well worth the journey (more so than the La Monnaie Rheingold!)