Robert Schumann Scenes from Goethe’s Faust concert. Directed 2017 by Jürgen Flimm at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. Stars singers Roman Trekel (Faust/Doctor Marianus), Elsa Dreisig (Gretchen/Una Poenitentium), René Pape (Mephistopheles/Evil Spirit/Pater Profundus), Katharina Kammerloher ) (Marthe/Sorge/Mater Gloriosa), Evelin Novak (Not/Magna Peccatrix), Stephan Rügamer (Ariel/Pater Ecstaticus), Gyula Orendt (Pater Seraphicus), Adriane Queiroz (Mangel/Mulier Samaritana), and Natalia Skrycka (Schuld/Maria Aegyptiaca). Also stars actors André Jung (Faust/Horold), Sven-Eric Bechtolf (Mephistopheles/Liechen), Meike Droste (Gretchen/Astrolog/Engel/Tümer), and Anna Tomowa-Sintow (Zueignung). Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Martin Wright), and the Staatsopernkinderchor (Chorus Master Vinzens Weissenburger). Sets by Markus Lüpertz; costumes by Ursula Kudrna; lighting by Olaf Freese; choreography by Gail Skrela, and dramaturgy by Detlef Giese. Sung in German. Directed for TV by Michael Beyer. Released 2019, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
This was the official reopening concert for the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden after many years of renovations of the opera building. With too many politicians/celebrities in the audience and too many artists from too many disciplines working on onstage, the newly- launched ship threatened—per the print critics anyway—to sink while still in the harbor. But if you’re interested in German literature and culture, this show may be the ultimate trivia contest.
Here are several videos suggesting what all the controversy was about:
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