Die Tote Stadt

In the mid-1990s I attended an art exhibition in Montreal dealing with the Symbolist Movement in Europe. The Symbolists were an odd bunch of mostly minor but intriguing artists who flourished from around the last quarter of the 19th century up until the First World War. Some of them, like Kandinsky and Klimt, were, or became, major figures, but most of them are relatively unknown. But what a bunch! Their work embodies a fascination with dreams, visions, and myths; they were haunted by religion, death and sexuality-- the latter especially in its weirder aspects-- and their quest for paradise and search for primal innocence took them down many fascinating byways. The Symbolist artist Ferdnand Khnopff (yeah, that's how it's spelled!) in particular was haunted by the city of Bruges, and produced more than one gloomy vision of that old Flemish Hanseatic town.This leads us to the subject at hand, the opera Die Tote Stadt by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, which, in this wonderful 1983 production from Berlin, is like a Symbolist painting--one by Khnopff especially-- come to life. I have a distinct liking for offbeat operas, and have seen many, but I've never managed to get to a live production of this gem.Korngold, of course, is probably best known for his splendid Hollywood movie scores, but he was a remarkable child prodigy who grew up to write quite excellent music, original, but somewhat in the vein of Mahler and Strauss. Die Tote Stadt is his best-known opera and it has a particularly striking number for the two leads-- "Gluck, das mir verblieb." It comes in the first act and we hear it again --for the tenor alone--right at the end when the dream or nightmare of the hero seems to be dissolving, or reaching a dire climax. As the director Gotz Friedrich reminds us in his brief introduction to this disc, this number is one of the few real "hits" in 20th century opera.I love Die Tote Stadt, and I do own the out-of-print and much admired CD version, but I can't express my delight in getting this DVD of the wonderful Berlin production. The CD features the impressive Carol Neblett, with Rene Kollo as Paul, the hero, and Hermann Prey in the role of Fritz the clown. Erich Leinsdorf is the conductor of the CD version--and that's a hard team to beat, but this DVD production is also marvelous. It is hugely well-served by the singers and the conductor Heinrich Hollresier, not to mention the stage director Gotz Friedrich and the designer Andreas Reinhardt. The production is tasteful and totally relevant to the opera and to the Symbolist vision of reality and unreality. (Don't even think of getting the Eurotrash take-offs!). The Deutsche Oper singers include James King as Paul, Karan Armstrong as Marietta, and William Murray as Fritz, and they are all terrific--King handles the scary high tessitura of Paul very well. In fact, the five main performers all act and sing very well, and the two main sets are simply perfect in their decadent gloom.I won't attempt to run through the plot, although it might be summarized by a line from Edgar Allan Poe: "Is all that we see or seem, but a dream within a dream?" It’s about a lonely man who is still mourning years later for his dead wife and who suddenly meets a woman who seems to be her double. The moral of the piece, never crudely stated, is that obsessions are not so easily gotten rid of, and that a fixation on death and the dead, even a dead love, can be hopelessly destructive. The gloomy city of Bruges encircles the action, and a clear counterpoint of sacred worship and profane love is conveyed throughout.A few further comments. Yes, this opera is indeed an ingenious combination of reality and dream, and it has a good deal of genuine psychological profundity (which can't be said for some operas that are much better known). It plays on the conflict between religious "purity" and sexual license, and, yes, it all borders somewhat on camp, and can be played as camp--but, thank goodness, that's not what happens here. In this production you will see a strong suggestion, (and a quite valid one given the psychology) that the ending will be tragic, but you don't actually see the tragedy. (If you were disappointed by the imposed tragic ending in the fine Washington D.C. production of La Rondine--and I wasn't, because of its restraint--you will find this much more acceptable.) Korngold's score is rich and satisfying, and conveys the drama beautifully. You will be hypnotized by this piece and will want to visit it more than once, I'm sure. Be advised that this is a TV production, so if you are partial only to the filming of works actually staged live before an audience, you may be a little disappointed. I saw some advantages and almost no disadvantages in the TV form of presentation. Although this production is some thirty years old now the picture is more than acceptable, and the sound is excellent.If you have the slightest interest in late-Romantic music, or the gloomy art-themes and psychological quirks and moods I've described above, you will simply love Korngold's opera. And this production does it proud.

Korngold's once phenomenally successful opera, first performed simultaneously in the German cities of Hamburg and Cologne in 1920 when the composer was only 23 years old, is vividly brought to life in this superior German TV production, which was produced in 1983 by the Deutsche Oper Berlin opera company and was partly responsible for the gradual rehabilitation of this three-act opera in the European repertoire in recent times.Freely adapted from Georges Rodenbach's 1892 novel "Bruges-la-Morte" by Erich and his father Julius (under the pen name "Paul Schott"), the story of DIE TOTE STADT is simple: Paul (played by the late tenor James King, who resembles 1940s Belgian-born actor Victor Francen with his thin mustache), mourning over the loss of his beautiful blonde wife Marie in the Belgian city of Bruges, is ecstatic to encounter her exact double one day, the flirtatious opera dancer Marietta (played by soprano Karan Armstrong, who resembles a curvaceous and strawberry blonde version of Myrna Loy). After he invites Marietta to his home to sing and dance for him, she is surprised to find a giant portrait of Marie upstairs. After Marietta leaves to attend her rehearsal, Paul, torn by his loyalty to the deceased Marie and his longing for the living Marietta, imagines his brief, doomed romance with Marietta that will bloom and wither in the weeks to come. Most of the opera takes place as a fantasy in Paul's troubled mind, from the ghost of Marie (also played by Armstrong) appearing to Paul to encourage him to go out into life to a demonic church procession invading Paul's home the morning after Marietta has seduced Paul.Mr. King is exceptional as Paul, the romantic yet obsessive and delusional protagonist. Under the direction of Götz Friedrich, the Kansas-born James King delivers all his singing and acting prowess to create a meticulous and memorable portrayal of a lost soul. There are several individual and subtle elements that make his performance so appealing: the horizontal movement of his hand while describing the shimmering canal waters of Bruges in one of his more romantic arias, his charming stroking and inhaling a bouquet of red roses before Marietta's arrival, his misty eyes and dazed movements while reacting to the gorgeous and haunting aria "Gluck, das mir verblieb", and his defeatist sobs while arguing with Marietta during a highly dramatic confrontation. He's wonderful.The Montana-born Karan Armstrong as Marie/Marietta exudes otherworldliness as the ghostly Marie as well as sex appeal and playfulness as Marietta. It's a difficult dual role, but she pulls it off very well with her tremendous lung power and sensual, well-shaped figure. Special mention should go to baritone William Murray in the dual role of Frank/Fritz, Paul's friend in reality and a Pierrot clown in Paul's fantasy, and mezzo-soprano Margit Neubauer as Brigitta, Paul's faithful housekeeper.The production values are impressive, featuring a spacious and somewhat Expressionist interior for Paul's home in the first and third acts and a slightly flooded square of Bruges in the second act. The 1920s costume design, which includes double-breasted suits and homburg hats for the males and simple dresses for the females, is unassuming in the reality scenes yet colorful and opulent in Paul's fantasy. Kudos to the camera and editing crew members for using traditional cinematic techniques like close-up shots, zooms, dissolves, multiple exposures, and quick cuts in order to prevent the production from descending into a dully and amateurishly presented "filmed play" style.For all its virtues, the production has its few flaws. Firstly, some passages from the German libretto and the music score are excised in order to accommodate a two-hour running time. Secondly, the Deutsche Oper Berlin orchestra is pretty competent yet it drowns out the singing voices of King and Armstrong once or twice throughout the opera (a very common mistake in the performing arts, nevertheless). Thirdly and most importantly, Friedrich has modified Korngold's original optimistic ending in favor of a more pessimistic ending, perhaps in order to prove Paul's extreme, obsessive love for the deceased Marie and his strong mental and emotional torment after experiencing such a vivid fantasy. But whether this modified ending is a good or bad decision by the director is up to the viewer to decide, and the aforementioned flaws can easily be ignored.Incidentally, the two-disc RCA Victor recording of DIE TOTE STADT is worth purchasing, featuring Rene Kollo as Paul and Carol Neblett as Marie/Marietta under the conduction of Erich Leinsdorf with the Munich Radio Orchestra. This CD version is widely considered to be the best available recording of this forgotten opera and is the ideal companion piece for this DVD.By all means, this TV production of DIE TOTE STADT is a must-see for all Korngold and opera fans. Let us give thanks to Arthaus Musik for finally releasing this production onto DVD at last!Those interested in DIE TOTE STADT may also be interested in reading my review on the Kollo/Neblett/Leinsdorf recording here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R4WESDKKRNYEH/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Una realización de la ópera estupenda: excelente puesta en escena e interpretación.Para amigos de la ópera - óperas poco representadas.

Un'opera immeritatamente dimenticata e messa in scena a Milano solo questo anno. Una profonda introspezione psicologica da udirsi leggendo i testi di riferimento.

1983年 ベルリン・ドイツオペラでの収録。Korngold の耽美な世界を、G.Friedrichの厳しく暗いリアリズム演出で描いて、当時ドイツで絶賛された名舞台を30数年ぶりに再見する感動に包まれる。Friedrich夫人のK.Armstrongの、眩惑するスピントとブリリアントを併せ持つマリー＝マリエッタの自在な演唱もいいが、やはり何と言っても当時の知的ヘルデン・テノールの最高峰 James King のパウルが最高に素晴らしい。亡妻の Geist に憑かれる初老の紳士の哀しみと狂気を演じて余すところがない。その誠実なオペラキャリア、最後を飾る名唱である。

Perhaps this will not be a fair review of this production. It is comparatively simple to review a stand alone performance; but there are now 4 DVD’s of Die Tote Stadt available. I have seen them all and it is very difficult not to compare them. In my opinion, the two best are this Finnish production by Holten and the Pizzi production from La Fenice.The outstanding thing that this production has going for it is the beautiful singing of Klaus Florian Vogt. He can easily handle everything that Korngold has written, and seemingly effortlessly at that. This is a very nuanced interpretation. He comes across as a very sensitive gentle person who has been unable to come to terms with the death of his wife. However, I do not think that this is what the libretto and the music call for. He does not show enough passion. Probably that is the fault of the director, Kaspar Holten (who did such a wonderful interpretation of the Copenhagen Ring). But given the nature of his dream/hallucination/fantasy, there was a lot boiling under the surface of the character Paul; and I did not feel that came across sufficiently.[I do not know how to describe the singing of Stefan Vinke in the Pizzi production. On the positive side, he is filled with passion and energy. However, his singing is mostly at full throttle (dare I use the term, “bray”?), which I suppose is a blessing because his sotto voce is uneven. Given the demands of the role, and what he puts into it, it is a wonder that he is still standing at the end. But he is well into the interactions with Solveig Kringelborn and into an interpretation of the role as obsessed, barely suppressed, near psychotic. So, much as I really liked the musicality of Vogt, I am more than prepared to overlook the vocal limitations of Vinke because of his acting.]Another reason for Vogt’s apparent lack of passion is the interpretation of Camilla Nylund as Marie/Marietta. She too sings very well, but she has no fire -- and given what she is singing, it is essential. Not only does she not dance, but she is relatively static. Her physical groping of Paul near the end of Act III is so mechanical and cold that Paul does not react until the music calls for it. And she is so well groomed the morning after, that one wonders what, if anything, happened during their stated torrid activities of the night. She comes across throughout as almost as cold as Marie -- and Marie is dead (more about that later).[Kringelborn is a wonder. She gives a beautiful, passionate depiction of what comes out of Paul’s mind. She moves, she dances, she taunts and flirts and enrages. She sings almost as well as Nylund, but given all that she brings to the performance that Nylund does not, she is a hands-down winner.]The set was far too busy and cluttered for my taste. All of Act I and the end of Act III had to take place in this room, dominated by a huge bed and with many artifacts placed along the walls and scattered over the floor. But it was marvellously effective when it opened up for the fantasies. The off-kilter depiction of Bruges at the end of what came to seem like a long tunnel -- particularly when darkened was wonderful.My criticisms of Holten's interpretation have to be seen in the light of my admiration for that of Pizzi which seems so right to me. I do not know why Holten has Marie, played by a mute actress, onstage throughout the performance. Sometimes it works, mostly it does not. The Commedia dell’Arte scene is violent and suppressive, rather than liberating through art. The procession does not process and is as static as much else. There are many occasions where the action is at odds with the libretto. And the two principals are emotionally flat.Orchestrally, I would say that the productions are equal. I can only wish that my sound system could give a reproduction equal to that experienced in a concert hall. This is a very lush complex score with an augmented orchestra. It is hard to recognise that Korngold was only 23 when the opera was premiered, after having worked on it for some years. Up until the late 1930’s it was the most performed opera, appearing on some 70 stages. Unfortunately, his next opera, Das Wunder der Heliane, was severely panned by the critics; partially because it was out of the developing fashion of the time, and partially because panning the opera was a way settling scores with Korngold’s father who, as a severe, dogmatic, conservative, influential music critic himself, had antagonised the musical establishment. Also the plot was not realistic, to say the least -- and offended the Roman Catholic establishment. This failure of what he had considered a great works had a strong negative emotional effect upon him.But Die Tote Stadt is a wonderful opera. It makes one wonder what he might have done in classical music were it not for his rejection following the failure of Heliane -- and of course due to the German Anschluss of Austria from which he was lucky to escape to Hollywood. He did go on to be arguably the most influential composer of the Twentieth Century because of his defining the music of the movies.

Korngold, enfant surdoué, avait 23 ans lorsque son opéra Die Tote Stadt fut créé triomphalement à Hambourg en 1920. Fuyant le nazisme, il partagea ensuite sa vie entre l'Europe et l'Amérique, où il devint célèbre pour ses musiques de films (notamment ceux avec Errol Flynn) jusqu'à sa mort en 1957, à Hollywood, à l'âge de 60 ans.Götz Friedrich enregistre en studio, avec la complicité du Deutsche Oper de Berlin, une version gothique très proche des contes d'Edgar Poe : appartement-sanctuaire très sombre des 1er et 3ème actes, place de Bruges au 2ème, avec façade de couvent, et plan d'eau morte dans une nuit grise et plate. Curieusement, on retrouvera de nos jours cette atmosphère lugubre dans certains films de Tim Burton, par exemple.Marietta, la danseuse qui débarque à Bruges avec sa petite troupe de comédiens-saltimbanques, vient troubler la vie de Paul, un veuf qui vit retranché chez lui, dans le souvenir morbide de Marie, sa femme défunte, avec rideaux tirés sur la ville, natte de cheveux de sa femme dans un bocal transparent, et portrait grandeur nature en robe blanche lumineuse en haut de l'escalier. Si Paul a invité Marietta chez lui, c'est qu'elle ressemble étrangement à Marie. Les souvenirs se raniment dans la tête de l'homme au son d'une ancienne chanson, qu'elle fredonne d'abord avant qu'il ne se joigne à elle.Mais le 2ème acte verra le fantôme de la vision de Marie se déchirer : Marietta est une femme de chair et de sang et, sur la place déserte, elle danse et s'amuse avec ses soupirants et ses danseuses, dans une ambiance très "carnaval à Venise". Paul la surveille en cachette et fait irruption, excédé, en l'accusant de toutes les perversités.Revenu chez lui avec Marietta, Paul, qui a succombé au péché, et détruit ainsi la pureté éternelle de son amour pour Marie, se laisse envahir par l'extase des cantiques issus de cette ville mortifère et se repait d'images de flagellations. Alors que Marietta essaie de le ramener à l' amour vrai et charnel qui est l'essence même de sa vie, Paul, au bord de l'hallucination, saisit la natte-fêtiche de Marie et l'étrangle avec. De nouveau seul, on le retrouve dans son attitude frigide du 1er acte, comme si rien ne s'était passé, et que Marietta pouvait réapparaître, en robe blanche, avec le même air enjoué, comme lors de leur première rencontre. Paul comprend alors qu'il n'a que deux solutions pour sortir du tombeau où il s'est enfermé : partir de Bruges, ou se suicider....Tout, dans cette production, est d'une pertinence extraordinaire : le raffinement des décors et des costumes, le refus absolu de la vulgarité (comme on la voit trop souvent dans le divertissement du 2è acte) et la psychologie des attitudes et des accessoires (la robe blanche, les roses rouges, le costume noir de Paul). James King est hallucinant de vérité dans son rôle de bourgeois étriqué et moralement détraqué. Karan Armstrong est vive, pleine de vie et de compassion aussi pour cet amant qui ne veut voir en elle que le reflet de sa femme défunte. Dans la tessiture très tendue de leurs rôles, leurs voix s'accordent à la perfection. Et William Murray chante parfaitement la chanson de Pierrot sur la place de Bruges. Ajoutons à celà un orchestre très présent. dirigé de main de maitre par Heinrich Hollreiser.