Salzburger Zeitung 2014 #2

June  5, 2014

Well the Pfingstfestspeile began in semi-earnest last night with La Cenerentola to a mostly full house - I notice that for next year's Festival the idea of starting on the Thursday of the holiday weekend has been jettisoned.  As happens here there was high fashion, silly fashion, casual fashion and the odd smell of mothballs and dry cleaning fluid that suggested a few articles of summer finery had been in storage over the long winter.  Of the production itself I am of several minds and will have to try and get them all together to a degree where I can write something of some intelligence.  Let me just say that my restraint when stage director Damiano Michieletto and his crew took their curtain call was beyond admirable!

After seeing what's on the menu (see items below) at Don Magnifico's Buffet (don't ask!) Laurent
wasn't too sure if he really wanted to go in.

Prince Ramiro's car seemed a bit dodgy even before it crashes through the front window of the
 Don's Buffet - again don't ask or I'll have to explain it to you. 

A late night diner at the Sketch Bar of the Hotel Bristol was a wonderful occasion to have a chat with Herr Leitner, the Manager and see our friend Dr M., who at 81 is still travelling the world for opera, ballet and theatre.  He had just arrived from Toronto via Munich and after the Festival is heading to London to see Natalia Osipova in a new ballet.  He's already planning for next year's Whitsun Festival - the man is a wonder.  And as always we were spoiled in the Sketch Bar by Gabor and Peter and the late night kitchen staff while Herr Leitner got us up to speed on the gossip around town and the music scene in Austria.

June 6, 2014

Today was the first of two music free days and an old friend of Madame J's is arriving from Switzerland for a brief visit later today.  The day started a bit late and continued at a leisurely pace - but that's why they call it vacation, right?

In 1822 Rossini and his, by then wife, Isabella Colbran left Napoli and moved to Vienna.  The move was not unexpected - his music had been wildly successful in the Austrian capital and his friend-partner (and Colbran's former lover) Domenico Barbaja was the impresario at the Theater am Kärntnertor.  It might be added that Barbaja seemed to be the impresario and casino operator at half the opera houses in Europe at that point.  Rossini conducted La Cenerentola and Zelmira there and Colbran sang the title role in the later.

In celebration of this rather tenuous connection with Austria - at one point a Festival publication tries to, without much success, link Mozart and Rossini - the De Ponte Institute has set up an exhibition:  Rossini-mania Wien 1822.  Publicized widely in the Festival programmes and prospectus it was still difficult to find - a small sign pointed to the Festival Administrative Building but once inside there was nothing to indicate that it was buried in the basement.

Consisting mostly of prints and scores it covered more than the Swan of Pesaro's period in Vienna.  His years in Naples, the visit to London and the last years in Paris were well represented in the numerous prints, playbills and fashion plates on display.  Many were familiar from publications and website devoted to Rossini but just as many were new - to me at least - and portrayed the singers, musicians, dancers and vips who performed, befriended, celebrated and feted the composer during his life time.

A general view of Vienna - 1819 by Jacob Alt.  Some of the landmarks are still visible today, others have been blocked by the urban sprawl of the late 19th and 20th centuries. It was only one of the fascinating cityscapes on display at the Rossini-mania Wien 1822.

Perhaps most interesting were the representations of Vienna, London and Paris in those early years of the 19th century.  Many landmarks were recognizable but as with all cities what had once been forest or parklands has long since been filled in by urban sprawl - even if it is late 19th - early 20th century urban sprawl.

One of the more intriguing lithographs on display indicates the orchestra seating at the Kärntnertor-Theater in 1821.  By today's standards it seems odd that the conductor is situated right at the stage rather than between the hall and the orchestra.  There are 26 seats, most of which would have been given over to violins and oddly there does not seem to be any space provided for a harpsichord or cembelo. Given that Rossini was wont to conduct from that instrument it is likely the arrangement was changed when he conducted his works there.

It was a fascinating exhibition but sadly so poorly advertised that there were very few people there.  It was almost representative of what seemed a slightly under-planed Festival.  However more about that later.

The entrance to the Haus für Mozart and Felsenreitschule features a colourful mural highlighting the first performance of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's Jedermann at the Festival on 22 August 1920. The architect and stage designer Clemens Holzmeister is seen at the left holding plans for what was to become the first Festspeilhaus. 

After a nice lunch at the Goldener Hirsch Laurent and I headed over to the Festspeilhaus for a tour.  In all the years we have been going to the Festival we've never been through the houses that make up the complex set against and deep inside the Mönchsberg. Unfortunately the Grosses Festspeilhaus was closed for rehearsals for the next day's concerts but we still went through the Haus für Mozart and - my own favourite venue - the Felsenreitschule.  That included a visit backstage to see the workings of Paolo Fantin's sets for Cenerentola - though thankfully the labyrinth of chairs that cluttered Don Magnifico's Buffet were absent.

Don Magnifico's Buffet minus the chairs that were moved, piled on tables, thrown, upended and occasionally - just occasionally - used to sit on.  We also saw the multitude of cables that bore it heaven word when the scene changed to ...

.... Prince Ramiro's party at the Palace Disco.  Do they still actually do the frug - except in operatic productions where they are trying to show decadence and high living?

At Don Magnifico's they serve up all manner of appetizing - from a distance - goodies. 
I must say that even up close a good deal of it looks very realistic.

But the real surprise came at the Felsenreitschule (Rock Riding School).  The great arched boxes  carved into the sides of the old stone quarry in 1693 have been hidden by a set being built for Charlotte Salomon - a modern opera being presented at this year's summer festival.  Only the side boxes were clearly visible;  I mentioned what a shame it was and several people, including the guide, agreed. 

Only the side boxes of the Felsenreitschule were the only portion of this wonderful space that clearly visible - the stage itself was taken up with a unit set for a production for the summer festival.

The stage of the Felsenreitschule was a mass of suspended flats, unfinished lumber and carpenters tools.  The sets for the upcoming opera were being constructed in place.

But  more surprising than the decision to hide this architectural marvel, was the revalation that the entire front section of seating had disappeared.  Or at least appeared to have.  The sloped floor and seats are on hydraulic arms that are cantilevered and can swing the seating units up out of the way to allow equipment to be brought in.  It also serves as a scenery dock and storage area.

The first nine rows of the centre sections of seats in the Felsenreitschule are on hydraulic arms.  This allows them to be lifted out of the way.  The day we visited the area served as storage space for the chairs that would be used at the gala dinner on Sunday evening in the Karl-Böhm-Saal.

The Karl-Böhm-Saal serves as the refreshment hall for both the Haus für Mozart and the Felsenreitschule.  Originally created to serve as the winter riding school by Prince-Archbishop Guidobald Graf von Thun it was the scene of tournaments and military training in the 17th century.  This year it was also the site of a gala dinner prepared by Elena Arzak, one of Europe's more noted chefs.  Needless to say that as it was being held in honour of Rossini the famous Tournedos of that name were on the menu.

The beautiful Karl-Böhm-Saal serves as the intermission foyer and crush bar for the Haus für Mozart
and the Felsenreitschule.  It was built in 1662 as the winter riding school and restored by Clemens
Holzmeister and again with the major renovations of 1960/70.

The balcony and staircases were added by Holzmeister in the style of the original period when further work was done in 1999.

The Karl-Böhm-Saal serves as the refreshment hall for both the Haus für Mozart and the Felsenreitschule.  Originally created to serve as the winter riding school by Prince-Archbishop Guidobald Graf von Thun it was the scene of tournaments and military training in the 17th century.  This year it was also the site of a gala dinner prepared by Elena Arzak, one of Europe's more noted chefs.  Needless to say that as it was being held in honour of Rossini the famous Tournedos of that name were on the menu.

The fire firescreen fronting the great fireplace built into the rock of the Mönchsberg was also created by Holzmeister to symbolize the history of the room - ecclesiastical, military and artistic.

The Festival venues are used primarily during the Easter, Whitsun and Summer Festivals and lay largely empty during the rest of the year.  He made a point of mentioning that it was the Festival that gave the city much of its status and, its very apparent, wealth.

A few facts the guide revealed concerning the Festival made us very aware of its importance to the city of Salzburg:

• The Festival employees 226 people year round but that figure jumps to over 6000 during the summer months.  
• The budget is around 60 million euros with ticket revenue covering about of third of that amount.  
• Its been estimated that the Festival brings in tax revenues equal to three times what it receives in public subsidies.  
• In 2011 it was estimated that the Festival generated some 276 million euros in business revenues for the district.  

The afternoon was capped off by finding a table on the loge of Café Tomaselli overlooking the Alter Markt and choosing from their extensive eis menu.

A view from the loge at Tomaselli and a choice between an eis-caffe and a mocha frappe - what more could a gnome of vacation ask for?

Music, drama, history, a great setting and good (and fattening) food - that's why they call it vacation.  Right?

June 14 - 1789: Whiskey distilled from maize is first produced by American clergyman the Rev Elijah Craig. It is named Bourbon because Rev Craig lived in Bourbon County, Kentucky.

Salzburger Zeitung - Friday Evening's Opera

I'm really late with this one, it was the first event of the festival but the last thing I'm commenting on. After reading my friend Opera Chic's review I feel a bit inadequate as there is no way I can match her witty and wise ways. But here goes....

Il matrimonio inaspettato

As I've mentioned this was a delightful evening of music making. Again Giovanni Paisiello's opera buffa - written for the court of Catherine the Great when he was employed in St. Petersburg - isn't a great piece of music but it is a charming one. Paisiello wrote to certain restrictions set out by the Empress - an opera could be no longer than 90 minutes, recitative had to be brief as her court didn't understand Italian and the libretto had to meet certain rules of decorum. Given that opera buffa was a form of Neapolitan popular entertainment the later was perhaps the hardest restriction, that and a lack of singers schooled in the buffa tradition. Perhaps it was the last restriction that forced him to compose a four character piece for two baritones and two mezzo-sopranos.

It's stock opera buffa plot: Farmer Tulipano (Nicola Alaimo) has become rich and bought himself a title; he wants his son Giorgino (Markus Werba) to marry the Countess di Sarzana (Marie-Claude Chappuis) but Giorgino is in love with and loved by a local peasant girl Vespina (Alessia Nadin.)

The edition Riccardo Muti and his forces gave us was a revised version played throughout Italy in the 1700s but hardly ever since. It was still only a brief two hours, but what a two hours! Neapolitan conductor Muti and Neapolitan director Andrea Da Rosa joined forces to make sure that the ear was bewitched and the eye was enchanted.

Da Rosa knows what make opera buffa buffo – not always a given in Italy as witness the laughless Barbiere di Sivilgia we saw last month in Venice – and didn't resort to the stock ideas of operatic haha! He had Farmer Tulipano’s estate - a marvelous complex with pivoting facades and crumbling interiors - peopled with wonderful types - as well as the Salzburger Bachchor as farmhands, villagers and the Countess's retinue there was a doddering Overseer (Paolo Sirotti), a youngster with a ready and accurate pea-shooter (Norbert Steidel)and a friend for Vespina (Anna Redi) whose sole purpose seemed to be to shriek Sarzana at given moments. Even the Countess had a silent housemaster (Ivan Merlo) with an S and M streak. All wordless or rather songless but adding to the amusement of the story.

But no number of extras could have stolen the spotlight from the Laurel and Hardy team of Werba and Alaimo. I would guess that Werba is black and blue from the number of pratfalls he took during rehearsals and performances. And all the while singing like an angel - a slightly dazed angel as the frequent cuffs across the back of the head could be the reason poor Giorgino was a trifle slow. One of the highlights was the mock heroic (a very funny spoof on opera seria)duet as the father and son struggled into antique armour to battle the Countess's men. Though, like OC, I loved Werba I have to give top honours to Alaimo. Though a trifle young for the part his Tulipano was entirely believable as an operatic M. Jourdain - and he didn't have to do the vocal equivalent of mugging to get his laughs.

The women were only marginally less successful. I find Nadin's voice on the sharp side but that is really the only problem I had with her Vespina - who you just know will take up cuffing poor Giorgino where his father left off. Unfortunately the Countess doesn't show up until the second act so Chappuis had to make much of little and if her vengeance aria didn't have quite the fire the programme notes promised it had more to do with Paisiello than her.

As for Muti and his young orchestra - what more can I say about the Maestro that I haven't already. I think OC said it best in her review and I hope she doesn't mind me quoting:

Muti's read of the score left nothing to be desired, the most controlled, driven, seamless push and pull, which his Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini lovingly embraced, following Maestro Muti's every minor twitch -- and let us praise those kids from the Orchestra dreamed by Muti out of nothing....
Read the entire review here.

Next year he'll turn his attention to opera seria with Jommelli's Demofoonte. Since OC and I are such big fans I really think the maestro should invite us over to his compound in Salzburg for a drink. Then maybe she can convince to do one of her favorite opera seria Paisiello's Fedra and I can talk him into Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto.

All photos are by Sylvia Lelli.

20 maggio - San Bernardino da Sienna

Salzburger Zeitung - Monday Morning's Concert

I pellegrini al sepolcro di Nostro Signore

One could be forgiven for thinking that 75% of the ladies in the audience had brought baby blue wraps with them on Monday morning – the stunning Kollegiatekirch was as cold as a Neapolitan whore’s heart on a night when the fleets in. But the thoughtful people as the Festspeile had provided blankets at the door, and we were just glad that, even for a morning matinee, gentlemen are expected to wear jackets. I had been telling Laurent about the glorious Bernini alter piece all weekend but sadly it was obscured by sound panels and recording equipment. Those were the only drawbacks in Johann Adolph Hasse’s Good Friday oratorio I pellegrini al sepolcro di Nostro Signore, the concert that Laurent ranked as his favourite of the Festival.

Hasse started life as a tenor then went up in the world (?) and began composing; he studied in Naples and became one of the most loved, respected and performed composer in Europe. I pelligrini was written for the court at Dresden and uses the unusual conceit of four Pilgrims being led by an old hermit through the places of Christ’s Passion in Jerusalem until they arrive at the Sepulchre. As they stop at each they are moved to comment on their emotions and feelings. When they reach the place of Christ’s burial they join in an exquisite Lauda to the Holy City.

Riccardo Muti had gathered a group of young singers – all of who, it would seem, have benefited from his mentoring – and his Orchestra Giovanile "Luigi Cherubini" and worked his magic once again. We were seated to one side and could see him clearly. No dancing, lunging or choreography but it is amazing what he can convey with a few movements of his left hand, which more often than not simply rests on his chest. He drew beautiful sound from his orchestra and stylistically superb and committed performances from his soloists.

Riccardo Muti acknowledges our applause with his singers and orchestra; (l-r)Monica Tarone, Elena Monti, Muti, Daniela Barcellona, Franco Fagioli and Luca Pisaroni. Photo by Silvia Lelli.

If I was not a captivated as Laurent it had more to do with Hasse’s composition than the performance. I find that the formula of recitative followed by da Capo aria becomes a bit tedious but those were the conventions of the time. Though Monica Tarone, Elena Monti, Franco Fagioli and Daniela Barcellona all sang their music superbly I was most moved by Luca Pisaroni’s old guide. The young Italian bass delivered his aria describing the suffering of Christ powerfully and sensitively and with his handling of the recitative descriptions of events leading to the crucifixion it was no wonder that the Pilgrims in Pallavinco’s text were stirred.

The sold out audience gave Muti and his forces a deserved 10 minute ovation. We were on our feet with the rest of them.

Photo of the Kollegeinkirche by Andrew Bossi

17 maggio - San Pasquale Baylon

Salzburger Zeitung - Sunday Morning's Concert

Via Toledo - Music of the Streets

This was perhaps the most interesting concert of the Festival. Given amidst the pseudo-baroque decorations of the Gosser Saal(at the right) in the Mozarteum, the church and conservatories gave way to music that had grown from the streets of Naples and the surrounding countryside. Six men sat in a semi-circle, some with baroque guitars, others with lutes and one with two tambourines and a boron drum; another stood at a combination portive organ and harpsichord. A tambourine rattled and then a single voice - Italian actor and singer Giuseppe Di Vittorio - rose in a passionate love cry - Cori miu (My Heart.) Marco Beasley, De Vittorio, Guido Morini and Accordone joined forces to present an exciting programme of tarantellas, love songs and working songs from the Medieval to the modern.

Beasley is a short stocky bald man, he looks like he could be a Neapolitan dock worker. The son of an English father and a Neapolitan mother, he’s devoted his career to the music of his native city in all its forms - classical, church, folk. He has a powerful tenor voice and a commanding presence but remains firmly grounded on and of the earth. De Vittorio is tall, craggy and handsome in a world-beaten way – when he stands eyes closed, head thrown back, hands held in an almost priestly manner he embodies all the raw passion and sexuality of the south.

The instrumentalists occasionally rose to join in song or to add percussive vocal effects. When not singing Beasley or Di Vittorio would pick up the rhythm with bone castanets. Percussionist Mauro Durante took centre stage and stopped the show with a solo that was worthy of Gene Krupa except he did it all with one large tambourine not a trap set.

The 60 minutes programme flew by – often one number leading into another without break – but the sold-out audience called them back for three encores before they were willing to let them go, gather up their belongings and head out for Mother’s Day brunch.

And again here'a bit of what we heard: Marco Beasely and Accordone doing a tarantala:



They are scheduled back for next year's Festival with a programme tantalizingly titled The Temptation of Evil!

As a sidebar Laurent and I came away with four CDs by the various artists involved and there are at least two more I'm planning on getting.

18 maggio - Santi Trinità

Salzburger Zeitung - Saturday's Concerts

Arias for Senesino

As well as being a sweetie, who I may have mentioned I have a crush on, Andreas Scholl is a wise performer; at the outset of his recital career he realized that people could find an entire concert of countertenor arias a bit much. So he has teamed up with various musical ensembles to present a varied vocal and instrumental programme.

It was apparent on Saturday morning that his relationship with Accademia Bizantina is a happy one. There was obvious enjoyment and at times playful interaction between him, director Ottavio Dantone and first violinist Stefano Montanari. And the programme allowed Scholl, Montanari and the ensemble to display their individual and joint talents. And I now have another crush - Montanari can tune my fiddle any time!

As the title suggests the vocal music was arias written for the celebrated castrato Senesino by Handel, Albinoni, Porpora, Geminiani and Lotti. I've always preferred Scholl when he sings the more lyrical arias and this concert was no different - two of the Handel pieces Caro Sposa and Dove Sei are part of his usual repertoire and he delivered them with a gentle simplicity that pulled at the heart strings. In the more showy pieces he doesn’t have the power or range of a David Daniels but the sound is never less than beautiful. In Lotti's Discordi pensieri, a piece new to me, it was often difficult to tell where Montanari’s violin ended and Scholl's voice began. And as a sidebar he was utterly sweet and sexy at the CD signing session afterwards - he knew how to charm the 100 or so fans who crowded around taking pictures and gushing. I wasn't like them though, I didn't take a picture!

And here's a bit of what we heard - Dove Sei from the 1998 producton of Handel's Rodelinda at Glyndebourne with William Chrisite conducting. Bertarido laments his seperation from his wife Rodelinda.



The three instrumental pieces – two by Vivaldi, the third a variation on La Follia by Geminiani – had a brilliance and spark that it often seems to me only Italian musicians can bring to this type of music.

Neapolitan Church Music

It was that spark that was missing in that evening’s concert. Thomas Hengelbrock and his Balthasar-Neumann Chor and Ensemble are well know for their eclectic repertoire ranging from early music to 20th century pieces so it was no surprise that they were scheduled at this year’s festival. Their programme was made up of three choral pieces – including a beautiful but seldom heard Stabat Mater by Emanuele d’Astorgo – and one Scarlatti church concerto grosso.

I recall remarking to Laurent once, after a performance of the Monteverdi Vespers by a German group at the Frari in Venice, that though the music making was lovely there was something missing. To my mind Italian church music – even a Miserere - has a certain dance like quality to it that Northern Ensembles often just can’t quite catch. This concert was an example of that – beautifully sung but there was a certain fire missing. And when they gave an exquisite performance of a Bach chorale as an encore it only reinforced that belief. It had a style and sense of musicality that the rest of the programme lacked.

17 maggio - San Pascal Bayon

Salzburger Zeitung - Whitsun Festival

We were on the go constantly in Trento, Salzburg and briefly in Innsbruck and between opera, concerts, great food and sightseeing its been hard to find time to write anything about the Pfingstfestpiele (Whitsun Festival) that was the principal reason for our trip.

I’ve only been in Salzburg during the Summer Festival, back in 1969, 1971 and again in 1978, when crowds are chaotic, hotels are full and prices are astronomical. Fortunately the Whitsun Festival is still small enough that things are quieter, hotels available and it’s possible to have a good meal without mortgaging your first born. One thing that will never change is the abundance of ticky-tacky Mozartiana souvenirs - to bad the family isn't still around to benefit from the copyright.

Beginning with last year what was once a festival featuring Baroque music in a general way now celebrates the musical genius of Naples. And behind it is that modern Neapolitan genius Riccardo Muti. Like my friend OC, I’m one of those people who worship at the shrine of Muti – and this weekend Laurent has also become a convert to the cause. After watching him at close quarters yesterday, our seats at the side choir of the Kollegenkirche gave us a perfect view of his interaction with the soloists and orchestra, Laurent remarked that he had an almost palpable sense of Muti’s love of music and musicians. Yes there may be stories of his vanity and arrogance but for the two performances he gave us this weekend alone in my book he’s entitled.

Speaking of his vanity I recall the last time we saw him conduct in 1998 – Milan, Les Dialogues des Carmelites – he mounted the podium took his bows, turned away from the audience and surreptitiously slipped his glasses out of his pocket; his year he arrived specs firmly in place and still looking leonine and handsome.

The form of the Festival seems pretty much set now: three concerts of secular and sacred music mixing the classical and the popular (folk) bookended by a Muti-led opera and a Muti-led cantata/oratorio/mass. The Muti performances feature his exceptional group of young Italian musicians, Orchestra Giovanile "Luigi Cherubini" and young singers who in many cases he has mentored. The concerts are by international soloists and ensembles - e.g. this year's Andreas Scholl, theBalthasar-Neumann Chor and Ensemble, Accademia Bizantina and Accordone.

In what has become standard practice for Muti, his Orchestra Giovanile "Luigi Cherubini" joined the performers on stage to share in the 20 minute ovation opening night of Il matrimonio inaspettato . (Photos by Silvia Lelli)

On Satrday Muti was confirmed as Festival director until 2011 and next year's programme was announced. Sunday we decided that we'll be there - God willing and the Salzach don't rise.

I am honestly going to try and get something up about the indivdual performances tomorrow or Friday - it just we're still doing the sight-seeing thing here in Verona.

14 maggio - San San Pachomius