A Tannhäuser begging for silence

Lise Lindstrom, undisputed Queen of our hearts

Last Tannhäuser in Athens on February the 2nd, and this time no fire lit. At all.

But if you think that this was a boring, incident-less performance, you 're wrong!

Act 3, John Treleaven is lying on stage, in 10 minutes the opera will be over and it's the point when Tannhauser sings "Da sank ich in Vernichtung dumpf darnieder ".

Backstage, the Children Choir and the extras (that jump out of the holes of the stage at the finale) are getting prepared for their entrance...Not in silence though. The noise they make reaches the audience and it's more than audible. It's actually annoying.

John Treleaven seems patient but after about half a minute he just cannot contain himself:

"Sssssshhhhhht!!! QUIET!!!!!!"

...he shouts

....and throws away his stick in anger.


Many things were said after the performance and people seemed divided.
Others justified Treleaven's reaction (myself included) and others said that his reaction was disgraceful, towards Wagner's music and the audience.

"Wolfram, those boys won't let me sing!"

It doesn't really matter whether the kids that were producing the noise were the Choir or the extras. What really matters is that after 4 performances in total, and after 3,5 hours of singing a part as exhausting as Tannhäuser, the administration of the Athens Megaron or whoever was in charge of taking care of these children, forced an artist to react this way.

"It wasn't us, it was them who did it!!!!"

My guess though is that Treleavan's anger was accumulating as last night's performance happened to gather a very bad audience that seemed to be suffering from an epidemic of tuberculosis.
(Shut your mouth u coughers or stay home!)
There were moments when you could hear more coughing than music.
(Anger management: breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out ....)

HOWEVER

Even an incident like that, was not enough to ruin another wonderful performance of the wagnerian masterpiece.

Martin Snell

...and once again, Lise Lindstrom, Martin Snell and Ashley Holland were the leads that stood out.

...and once again, maestro Philippe Auguin made the audience cheer like mad!
I even saw a very well known greek soprano, that was sitting at the first row, standing and clapping like crazy when Auguin went on stage...

Lindstrom and hero Auguin!

If the musicians of the Greek National Opera Orchestra insist that Auguin is a dictator and that his demands were over their possibilities, I will just have to inform them that the way they played on opening night and last night should be their AVERAGE performance and not something exceptional
(avoiding to mention that the brass that were "playing" backstage were pre-recorded).



============

I can't remember any other time that the end of a run of performances made me feel so sad. Sad that this new standard of the Greek National Opera might as well stay unsurpassed for a very long time...


Divine Lise Lindstrom,
Martin Snell,
John Treleaven,
Ashley Holland,
John Horton Murray,
Rolf Haunstein,
Andreas Konrad,
Keel Watson,
Mina Polichronou,

and of course
maestro Auguin....

thank you for that little piece of your soul you left in Athens...

And for those who want to re-live the Grand Guignol shout..

Listen/download

Here or Here

How do you like your Tannhäuser? Rare, medium or well done?

And while the Greek National Opera is under occupation by some guys who think that the horrible theatre Olympia (that has been hosting the Greek National Opera for decades) is a symbol of plutocracy -like if it were the Palais Garnier or the Wiener Staatsoper- at the Athens Megaron that hosts the GNO's performances of Graham Vick's Tannhäuser, the audience last night had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to enjoy Wagner's long-lost opera
"Tann & Venus, grilled".

=========

During Act I, and while the magic fire circle was lit,
(oh! wait, this is from another opera!),
some branches caught fire, the stage technicians started shouting for the curtain to fall, and John Treleaven, as a real Knight, saved his Venus (Lise Lindstrom) from the flames.

After 30 minutes, the curtain rose again and no fire effects were used throughout the performance - according to my sources no fire will be used for the last performance tomorrow as well.

Catharsis: Tannhäuser opens in Athens

One of the highlights of the Greek opera history of the last 2 decades.

This is how I would describe the opening of Tannhäuser in Athens, on the night of January the 24th, at the Athens Megaron.


A triumph for:

-Graham Vick and his magnificent staging

-The Greek National Opera - with it's usually mediocre means and funding can work such marvels

-Meastro Philippe Auguin who made the Orchestra of the Greek National Opera find a totally different sound and balance

-The wonderful cast of singers and among them, Lise Lindstrom who received a totally deserved storm of applause and bravos at the curtain call.



Special kudos to Martin Snell as Herrmann, Landgrave of Thuringia
Rolf Haunstein as Bitterolf
Ashley Holland for a somewhat "rough" and idiomatic but nevertheless very interesting Wolfram.

John Treleaven had some good moments even if his overall vocal approach of the part of Tannhäuser wasn't my cup of tea.


Lise Lindstrom, undertook and learnt the part of Elizabeth on very short notice as originally announced Angela Marambio "got indisposed" leaving the production Elizabeth-less. Lise Lindstrom not only managed to sing both Venus and Elizabeth but, in my opinion, her Elizabeth was better than her Venus, that seemed to be lying a bit low for her. Displaying an incredibly powerful top register, a most welcome bigggg volume, a round, healthy voice, she was the undisputed star of the night. Her ovation was therefore expected to be tremendous and the truth is that the Greeks produced a petit earthquake when she stepped on stage leaving her speechless and stunned.


I don't think I could describe with words my feelings throughout the performance.
I can only say that the last 10 minutes were the justification of why people love opera with such passion and fanaticism, why people travel all around the world to listen and to feel, to experience the catharsis, to have those short, astral moments of unification with the Universe
(OK, enough).


Photos (C) Akriviadis

Graham Vick stages his Tannhauser in Athens, backstage drama is already served

Tickets to Graham Vick's Tannhäuser, opening at the Athens Megaron on the 24th of January, went on sale yesterday and it seems that by Monday all 4 performances will be sold out.

Director: Graham Vick
Set & Costume designer: Paul Brown
Choreographer: Ron Howell
Light designer: Adam Silverman

Hermann: Martin Snell
Tannhauser: John Treleaven
Wolfram von Eschenbach: Ashley Holland
Walther von der Vogelweide: John Horton Murray
Biterolf: Rolf Haunstein
Heinrich der Schreiber: Andreas Konrad
Reinmar von Zweter: Adrian Sampetrean
Elisabeth: Angela Marambio
Venus: Lise Lindstrom

Greek National Opera's Chorus & Orchestra

Chorus Master: Nikos Vassiliou

Conducted by Philippe Auguin

This is supposed to be the cast but Parsi knows for sure that it ain't.

Angela Marambio, Elisabeth, left Athens 10 days ago -according to the rumour due to vocal problems? a fight with Graham Vick and/or maestro Auguin? Who knows? (I do!)- leaving the production Elisabeth-less.

Lise Lindstrom, the excellent Berlin Turandot, has now undertaken the hard task to sing both Venus and Elisabeth, having to learn Elisabeth in just a month!

Here's what MostlyOpera had written on Lindstrom's Turandot:

"Lise Lindstrom, previously unknown to me, is quite spectacular as Turandot. The brilliance of her top is virtually unsurpassed, there is no vibrato to speak of, she is on pitch, she looks great and also acts well. In short: She should be able to make a world career with this part. That her middle register is somewhat dry seems insignificant considering all her other virtues."

Lise Lindstrom

Vick's production first opened in San Francisco in October 2007 and received raving reviews.

Music Triumphs in Tannhäuser

San Francisco stages triumphant Tannhäuser

Wagner’s Minstrel Knight, Entwined in Desires

Charismatic S. F. “Tannhauser”

S.F. Opera's 'Tannhäuser' delivers a night of musical heroics

Stunning new production launches the David Gockley Era


And some less praising ones...

If there were no other reason to sit through San Francisco Opera’s “Tannhäuser,” the overture would be worth the ticket price. Donald Runnicles, that consummate Wagnerian, led his orchestra in a breath-stopping, heartbreaking rendition of the opening to Wagner’s medieval parable of sacred and profane love. Unfortunately, it was marred three-quarters of the way through by writhing dancers in what was supposed to be an orgy but, in Ian Robertson’s choreography, looked more like an aerobics class.

Graham Vick’s production had a number of such odd moments: people popping in and out of holes in the ground, swords waving in the air for no apparent purpose and a ring of fire encircling the Act One confrontation between the hero and Venus that made you a little nervous about his shirt or her sheet going up in flames.


Or

Graham Vick’s busy, occasionally just plain silly direction will be discussed (and derided) heatedly.
There is a wealth of greatness squeezed in the four-hour evening that unfortunately opens with a ballet that’s a mix of Pina Bausch, Greco-Roman wrestling and a Groucho Marx routine, and ends with little boys emerging from the stage floor as if in a prairie dog hunting game.


3 weeks 'till opening night. I already have my tickets for more than 1 performances, premier included.

Till then...

LISTEN TO Lise Lindstrom singing "In Questa Regia", Berlin November 2008