The Cunning Little Vixen, преглед на Staatsoper Berlin — Саймън Ратъл владее Яначек, но липсва магия

Заглавието е подвеждащо. Хитрата дребна лисица на Яначек не е пухкава животинска история. It is, like so much of the composer’s work, about the cycle of life: love, loss, yearning and the transcendence that can be found by embracing mortality. Yet for so human a drama, this one does contain an unusually high density of fluffy animals.

Remarkably, last Saturday’s premiere was the first time the piece had ever been performed at Berlin’s august Staatsoper Unter den Linden. Given the work’s nature, it was fitting that the production also marked the completion of Simon Rattle’s Janáček cycle at the house, providing another pithy highlight after a series of musical joys. Even before Rattle married Magdalena Kožená, cast here as the Fox, he had absorbed the peculiarly angular linguistic rhythms of Janáček’s music, along with its bittersweet mixture of ecstasy and grief. He follows Charles Mackerras as knighted torchbearer for the Czech composer, while bringing his own blend of urgency and dry wit to the scores.

Few living conductors match Rattle’s aptitude for balancing the animal vitality and human complexity of Janáček’s Vixen. He knows exactly when to let raw instinct and rough nature burst from the orchestra pit, and when to rein his players back into torrents of sweetly luxuriant lyricism. He carries his singers tenderly, never letting the sound engulf their voices, always breathing with them.

This was also American stage director Ted Huffman’s debut at Berlin’s Staatsoper. Until recently viewed as a young newcomer on European opera stages, Huffman leapfrogged over many of his peers to take on the coveted role of artistic director of the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Така че би изглеждало рационално да се чака известна степен на изисканост от неговото театрално изкуство. In interviews and programme notes, he made promising claims about his plans to explore the blurred boundaries between human and animal.

So it was disappointing when his production proved awkward and unfinished, depressingly devoid of both magic and polish. Комплектът на Nadja Sofie Eller е празна бяла стая, доминирана от дървесни стърготини; Костюмите на Астрид Клайн дефинират животните най-вече посредством цвета на телесните им чорапи. Децата-акробати извършват извънредно приключени подвизи на катурване във въздуха и на пода, по едно и също време красиви и любопитно безсмислени. Малко други сопрани биха могли да съберат толкоз физическа убеденост в трико, колкото Вера-Лоте Бьокер; тя придава на основната роля трескава телесност, съчетана с вокална увереност. Кожена дава точно направен роман за нейния сватбен брачен партньор, Лисицата, и любовният им дует е спиращо елегантен. Svatopluk Sem brings unusual warmth and complexity to the part of the Forester, and the smaller roles are impeccably cast.

Huffman introduces a note of pedagogical feminism by allocating the usually-invisible part of Terynka to a supernumerary, with the male characters typing her cringeworthy love letters, revealed in surtitles. По този метод той изравнява намеците на Яначек. Докато младата хубавица, жадувана от мъжете, остава невидима, тя действа като естествена мощ. Видимо, тя е сведена до функционалността на ударна линия. Има доста капани в постановката на The Cunning Little Vixen; Хъфман заобикаля множеството от тях. Жалко, че намира толкоз малко наличие по пътя.

★★★☆☆

До 15 март