Otello in Munich

WOW!

Forget clichés. Throw away the usual adjectives. Reach beyond the common terms but know in advance that words are useless to describe the rare convergence of art, music, and personalities at the Munich Opern-Festspeile in early July. Those of us lucky enough to be in the National Theater to watch Otello and Desdemona live and die shared an experience that will not soon be forgotten. With José Cura and Barbara Frittoli on stage, with Zubin Mehta on the podium, the passion and power of this great tragedy engulfed the audience and swept us along in a whirlpool of intrigue and despair.

The stars may never again align so favorably; we may never again be so touched. At least we can look at the photos and read the reviews and remember when, once upon a time, we experienced magic. And for that, we are grateful.

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Audible intrigue

Star studded Otello performance – Cura and Frittoli at the opera festival

Abendzeitung

4 July 2005

Rudiger Schwarz / translated by Monica B

Verdi’s score for Otello is a masterpiece in its psychological intertwining of schemes and intrigues of the most subtle variety. As protagonists, Otello, Desdemona and Iago stand in a very intense and deep triangular relationship to each other; only an integrated unity of equals can lend true dramatic power to the opera. In an otherwise brilliant Otello at the National Theater a colorless Iago noticeably undermined the effect of this unity.

Sergei Leiferkus never managed to conjure up the demonic motivation and depth required of a schemer. His was a beautiful sound that gave the impression he had lost his way and ended up in a concert performance of an oratorio. Thus the balance was lost in the psychological interplay. It was, then, almost a miracle that Barbara Frittoli (Desdemona) and José Cura (Otello) could immerse themselves vocally in such pointed and detailed identification with their characters without Iago’s scheming.

Both were in superb form vocally.

Above all their stage presence and performance were fashioned with such a degree of passion at all stages of psychological development as well as in the confrontation and juxtaposition of love and hate that – given an appropriate Iago—this could have been an Otello of exceptional merit.

Zubin Mehta guided the State Orchestra with sovereignty through all the heights and depths of the developing drama as well as in the lyrical moments of intimacy. He granted his singers the time they needed and let the orchestra play with chamber-music transparency.

Magnificent

Verdi’s “Otello” with Barbara Frittoli and José Cura at the National Theatre

Suddeutsche Zeitung

4 July 2005

Klaus Kalchschmid / translated by Monica B

It was an overwhelming performance, truly worthy of being a part of the festival. Zubin Mehta conducted a state orchestra that grew ever more centered, ever more intense in its play. It presented the last act (including Desdemona’s presentiment of death) at such a slow pace and with such tender and desperate beauty that one could have heard a pin drop, so absolute was the silence of the audience. Barbara Frittoli, who at the start of the tragedy somewhat missed Desdemona’s characteristic naturalness and penetrating persistence by portraying her rather as a figure of art, went on to sing bewitching piani in her ‘Song of the Willow,’ holding back in the ‘Cantiamo’ outbursts to such a degree that the audience held a collective breath.

As Otello, José Cura unveiled the study of a man so consumed by jealousy that he actually lapsed into a terrifying insanity. The way he dealt with Iago time and again, the way he doubled over on the ground at the end of Act III, the way he struggled to control his bouts of aggression, face buried in his hands in sheer despair, the manner in which he made his rapidly progressing mental disintegration so musically and vocally believable was magnificent, sublime.

The protagonists transformed Francesca Zambello’s space-filling mountain of metal walkways into something of Shakespearean greatness. Sergei Leiferkus’ Iago, more quiet and intellectual and therefore all the more dangerous, should be counted here, too. Seldom does Verdi’s grandiose music unfold with such darkly brooding force, such fascinating and frightening power. Frenetic applause.

Who needs stage directions these days?

Otello as Macho: Cheers and jubilation for tenor José Cura, the star performer at the Munich Opera Fest

Munchen Merkur

4 July 2005

Marleus Thiel / translated by Monica B

For directors who might have been in the audience, it must have been a frustrating evening. Two singers who are totally absorbed in their roles, who put their hearts and souls into them, who have internalized their parts so believably and show such vocal brilliance on top of it – how can they possibly need a stage manual or director’s notes? To be sure, that kind of thing can only work with stars such as Barbara Frittoli and José Cura, who are booked around the globe as Desdemona and Otello. They may have delivered an often tried and tested performance and some things may have appeared slightly exaggerated – but it was exactly the right thing for Munich’s Opera Festival: fans in the National Theatre went crazy, the ovation continuing even after the curtain was raised to show workers on stage taking apart the scaffolding.

Cura’s voice has evidently changed considerably. While in the past he used to show off his one-colored, one-dimensional dark tenor, his heroic voice has now gained metal and precision. That he at times seems content with an ‘economy version’ in the upper register, that some phrases seem more forced than formed – granted; Verdi, after all, did not want bel canto.

It was suitable also that Cura played Otello as a cross between macho and softie, as someone torn back and forth, as a man not above collapsing is shocked disbelief after slapping the woman he adores in the face. Barbara Frittoli put Desdemona’s vulnerability more into the voice, into vocal expression, than into her (gracious) bearing. In her ethereally flowing, entirely effortless ‘piano’ moments, she should be without competition at present, and she engaged her artistic skill accordingly – vocally the highlight of the evening.

Zubin Mehta also seemed most interested in this melancholy melody. The lyrical qualities, put there like something magical in the last act – a miracle. Otherwise, the GMD offered up appropriate archetypal forces, sometimes also routinely coordinated furor. Sergei Leiferkus, even though somewhat grown out of the role of Iago, offered a fully effective, stridently singing villain. Also in the rest of the ensemble, every role was covered true to festival expectation. Something like that doesn’t often occur at the Staatsoper these days, even on premiere evening.