Dear opera friends,
I recently embarked on my first European trip and took the opportunity to visit several opera houses. The experience was akin to a child with unrestricted access in a candy shop for the first time. So, while the memories are still fresh, I wanted to document them both as personal mementos and to share with fellow opera enthusiasts. As this marks my first offshore operatic adventure, I anticipate minimal profound insights from these superficial observations; however, I trust they may offer some useful references for your future travels or simply provide some amusement!
Performances Attended
- Aida @ Deutsche Oper Berlin (2/17)
- Tosca @ Oper Leipzig (2/18)
- Le Nozze di Figaro @ Staatsoper Berlin (2/23)
- La Gioconda @ Deutsche Oper Berlin (2/24)
- Parsifal @ Deutsche Oper Berlin (2/25)
- Jonas Kaufman Concert @ Teatro di San Carlo Napoli (3/2)
Key Observations
Disclaimer: these are heavily biased towards Berlin where I attended the most number of performances.
Uncompromising standard of music and acoustics
- The prioritization of music as the CORE of each opera is quite evident. The level of musicianship (conducting, orchestra, singing) across different performances and houses are consistently high, and the musical flow of each opera is steadily-paced.
- In comparing musical and visual aspects, there were moments when staging, costume design, and acting fell short of expectations; however, instances of unbalanced orchestration, inconsistent rhythm, or subpar singing were remarkably rare. To the extent that with eyes closed during a performance, one could easily appreciate music quality on par with professional recordings.
- The acoustics in opera houses generally excel, with newer constructions offering superior sound projection and overall volume compared to their classical counterparts (e.g., Deutsche Oper, Berliner Philharmonie versus Staatsoper, San Carlo). This focus on acoustic excellence is also evident in innovative productions like Aida, where the arrangement prioritizes maximizing music projection over visual effects.
An engaged, discerning and diverse community
- Most performances I attended were near full-house and I had to miss a couple of sold-out evenings, this surprised me considering the high number of performances each season and the number of opera houses. Extremely approachable ticket prices, along with an egalitarian, community-oriented atmosphere at the opera houses probably both helped encourage the high degree of community engagement.
- Many attendees display an impressive level of operatic knowledge and appreciation, evident through lively discussions about music and performers during intermissions. The applause is usually well-timed, enhancing the overall performance flow.
- While the general opera audience tends to be more mature and established, younger groups (working age, college students, and even high school attendees) are consistently present at these performances, either as self-organized groups or participating in educational events. Additionally, a diverse range of languages is heard within the venues – English, French, Russian, with occasional Korean and Chinese conversations taking place, although this may be specific to Berlin as an international city.
Multi-faceted Diversity and Innovation
- Diversity in programming is evident as various art forms are regularly showcased within a single venue throughout the entire season at major houses like Deutsche Oper, Staatsoper, San Carlo. While opera remains central to their core repertoire, one can also expect performances of ballet, concerts, and experimental work during the season calendar, enriching the overall experience for audiences.
- Innovation in staging (see Aida, Figaro below) and performance of new operas is very much active as reflected in the season calendars. Due to scheduling conflicts, I had to miss a couple of new operas presented at Semperoper Dresden and Staatsoper, but I look forward to a future trip centered around newer works.
- Many of the artists (musicians, singers, dancers) are of truly diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds (not unlike what we find here in the US) while maintaining a consistent high level of artistry.
- This reflection also led me towards recognizing North America’s immense potential for opera innovation. As a region teeming with rich cultural intersections and diverse identities, it offers an abundance of themes and subjects ripe for exploration in opera composition. By consistently fostering community engagement, we can cultivate the next generation of audience members who deeply appreciate opera and are open to experiencing increasingly eclectic styles.
Individual Houses and Performances
Deutsche Oper Berlin
I spent the most time (3 evenings) at Deutsche Oper and I was greatly impressed by its quality and egalitarianism:
The building itself was constructed post-WWII in a brutalist style with exposed-concrete. The overall atmosphere is extremely minimalist and understated, if not downright austere (in an elegant way). The entire building is so compact that it’s comparable to a city hall or community center in a medium-sized US city.
No decorations or embellishments in the building, only several musician-focused displays: wall posters highlighting important figures in plain language (including Kurt Adler, which I initially confused with SFOpera’s legendary general director Kurt Herbert Adler); particularly moving is a series of posters on the third floor honoring ordinary Jewish musicians persecution during the Nazi regime; and busts of musicians (Bruno Walter, Ferenc Fricsay etc.) in a small lecture room on the top floor.
The service displays great efficiency (common for all three German houses I visited): helpful staff with clear instructions; easy coat check on the first floor for everyone; simple selection of beverages and snacks (including of course pretzels, with AND without butter!) and quick service.
Finally, the performance hall itself displays the same simple style as the building itself, with relatively few levels (3) and compact seating, which seemed to help ensure a uniform acoustic across all sections. However, the simplicity was deceptive as I witnessed the extreme versatility of the stage configuration over the three performances, where it accommodated highly varying styles and sizes of staging: enormous and grand Italian (La Gioconda); large and classic German (Parsifal) and minimalist modern (Aida)
To me all these factors helped create a highly egalitarian and community-oriented atmosphere, which in turn: 1) Directed the audience focus towards the performances themselves throughout the evening, rather than external stimulation. 2) Encouraged more mingling and socialization amongst guests in close proximity.
Aida @ Deutsche Oper Berlin (2/17)
This was my first European opera, and it proved not only to be of high level of artistry, but also the most innovative of all performances during this trip. The opera house’s architecture was exploited to its full potential in both length and breadth as part of the innovation:
- The main stage is mostly the covered orchestra pit, with a runway extending into the mid-front orchestra seating section. The staging was minimalist and modern, employing simple furniture, newspaper clippings via a projector, Egyptian scholar books, and photos of the pyramid as motifs.
- The orchestra is moved behind the stage, separated by a transparent screen. This enabled the full orchestra and conductor’s actions to be visible throughout the entire performance.
- The choir is closely embedded into the audience at all sections during the entire performance. It was a pleasant surprise when one “audience member” dressed in black two rows in front of me promptly stood up and started singing during the first chorus piece.
The connection between the audience and the music that this intimate setup created is hard to describe in words, especially considering how it was able to pack a 60-person orchestra and 80-person chorus in such a minimalistic setting. One particularly electrifying example of this is the Act II finale (Gloria all’ Egitto). In which all four voices of the chorus, and the soprano-tenor duo (Jorge Puerta as Radamès and Rebeka Lokar as Aida) are in full display and the acoustic truly surrounds the audience from all sides. The animated conducting of Carlo Montanaro steadily builds up the full ensemble (with the chorus facing the orchestra and conductor FROM the audience) to a climax, invoking the famous Aida-march.
La Gioconda @ Deutsche Oper Berlin (2/24)
This performance of La Gioconda had arguably the most opulent stage set that I have seen in-person: a grand Italian set evoking the full wealth and luxury of Renaissance Venice in three-dimension. I later learned this is actually THE original set (source): “Some of the sections are even likely to have been used in the world premiere – all preserved, along with the original costume designs.” which had been discovered by director Filippo Sanjust, and purchased and lovingly maintained by the Deutsche Oper.
Therefore it came as a great surprise, when I later learned that the evening happened to be the very last performance of La Gioconda in this classical production (at least at Deutsche Oper) due to future cancellation. This could be the explanation of the curtain calls after every single act, which at the time I found puzzling and somewhat interruptive of the flow.
My lack of familiarity with La Gioconda prohibited me from observing and tracking the development of the story and each character in-depth. However, a couple of outstanding features that this amazing performance highlighted for me:
- Ballet (with a particularly memorable Dance of the Hours) and other dances are integrated seamlessly into the opera, and expertly performed by the Opernballett der Deutschen Oper. This was evocative of French grand operas while maintaining a characteristically Italian music style, which partially explains its significance as the most popular opera between Aida and Otello.
- The distinct character development of all six major principal roles was impressive, both acting-wise and musically (which corresponds to the 6 major voice types). Particularly memorable was Marianne Cornetti’s portrayal of La Cieca and that of Dalibor Jenis as Barnabà.
Parsifal @ Deutsche Oper Berlin (2/25)
Watching Parsifal in Berlin on a Sunday, and under maestro Sir Donald Runnicles is perhaps my most quintessential Wagner experience to date. Although my time of attending SF Opera (post-2015) did not overlap with Sir Donald’s legendary tenure with the company, I still had high expectations based on last year’s performance of Die Frau when I witnessed the maestro’s conducting for the first time.
However, this performance still far exceeded my expectations. Music-wise, below is the raw note I took that evening and I’m failing to come up with other words that could further highlight that transcendental experience: “Soul cleansing. Faith and piety at the core of every phrase. Extraordinary balance between orchestra and singers throughout. Biblical and epic in expression rather than dramatic.”
Staging was large, yet compact and effective in character arrangement, where story-telling and story-enactment often occurred at different parts of the set. Creative use of the same set across different acts. Acting-wise, Klaus Florian Vogt’s portrayal of the Parsifal brought out the full piety and conviction of the “pure fool”, along with Irene Roberts’s portrayal of Kundry with all of her seduction and ultimate redemption were the highlights for me.
Le Nozze di Figaro @ Staatsoper Berlin (2/23)
Staatsoper is another one of the three major opera houses of Berlin (Komische Oper being the third, whose performance dates unfortunately did not overlap with my trip). The house itself is classical, beautifully ornate and almost the polar opposite of Deutsche Oper.
Acoustically, the sound was clear and balanced at the mezzanine level where I sat, but did not project to the same magnitude of volume as in the Deutsche Oper or the Berliner Philharmonie. Considering the level of musicianship is equally high, this could potentially be attributed to advancement in acoustic design in the newer buildings, but this is pure speculation.
The performance of Figaro was very delightful, and brought out the delicacy and elegance of Mozart to its full capacity:
- Solid singing and orchestra playing throughout, with a quick yet non-rushed velocity under Marc Minkowski.
- The quality of recitatives has always been a key differentiator between good and great Mozart performances for me, as a haphazard treatment of recitatives destroys the continuity of the drama. This performance maintained a very consistent quality of vocal expression in both arias and recitatives, with excellent harpsichord accompaniment.
- Witnessing this exact quality in the great Simon Keenlyside’s performance of “Hai gia vinta la causa” was a highlight for me.
- The modern set design also had some tricky maneuvering actions (leaping from the roof to the floor below, for instance), which were handled well by all the characters, and especially Emily D’Angelo as a delightfully chaotic Cherubino.
Tosca @ Oper Leipzig (2/18)
Taking advantage of my day trip to Leipzig (mostly oriented towards Bach-related activities), I took a quick detour to see a production of Tosca at Oper Leipzig. The company is smaller than other major European and German houses, but has the distinction of having the world-class Gewandhaus orchestra performing its productions.
This was reflected in the Tosca performance itself, where the prominent presence of the orchestra became the highlight, despite great quality of singing. There was little propensity to highlight individual arias, as often done for Puccini, but rather the music is treated as a continuous, and holistic piece of (almost orchestral) work. I found this style quite refreshing, but could also see how it can be interpreted as diminishing the vocal exhibition. Although there was one exception: Andrea Shin’s interpretation of “E lucevan le stelle” (Caravadossi) was balanced with the orchestra, and profoundly moving.
Jonas Kaufman Concert @ Teatro di San Carlo Napoli (3/2)
Arguably one of the grandest opera houses in the world (and the oldest continuously operating), Teatro di San Carlo is worth a visit in its own right as an architectural and artistic marvel showcases the pinnacle of Bourbon wealth, and a witness to the full history of Italian opera development dating back to the 1700s.
Filled with reverence for legacy and tradition for this great house, I was surprised to discover its only performance that overlapped with my trip was one of Jonas Kaufmann singing (most English) film music! But it turned out to be an absolutely delightful and relaxing experience, especially after a full week of complete operas in Germany.
“20th Century Fox Fanfare” and “Superman march” as orchestral openers for the concert was jarring at first (I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve never been performed in this house before!) but the high level of musicianship soon immersed the audience in these familiar modern tunes.
After which, Kaufmann’s intro in fluent Italian earned a warm applause from the audience. Familiar film tunes (“What a wonderful world”, “Singing in the Rain”, “Maria”, “The Loveliest Night of the Year”, “Moon River”) soon followed and I was tapping my toes even as a novice to film music. Kaufmann’s interpretation is refined yet lighthearted, his passion and attention to details reflects his equal enthusiasm for film music as that for opera music. A mix of other Italian and Spanish tunes further showcased his versatility as a polyglot.
The final standing ovation and repeated encores (6 in total I believe) are both testaments to Kaufmann’s versatile artistry, and proof of how a well-executed and fun concert can be equally engaging as a full-length opera, even at one of the oldest and grandest opera house.
OG