Korngold Das Wunder der Heliane

[BerlinExpat]

There was no consumptive audience at last night's glorious performance of Korngold's Das Wunder der Heliane at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

While it's a shame that Deutschlandradio Kultur may not be broadcasting the opera, it was filmed for release as a DVD on the Naxos label.

The cast was as follows:
Heliane                            Sara Jakubiak
Der Herrscher, ihr Gemahl    Josef Wagner
Der Fremde                    Brian Jagde
Die Botin                            Okka von der Damerau
Der Pförtner                    Derek Welton
Der blinde Schwertrichter    Burkhard Ulrich
Der junge Mann                    Gideon Poppe
6 Richter                            Andrew Dickinson
                                            Dean Murphy   
                                            Thomas Florio
                                            Clemens Bieber
                                            Philipp Jekal
                                            Stephen Bronk
2 Seraphische Stimmen    Sandra Hamaoui
                                            Meechot Marrero
Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Conductor    - Marc Albrecht

Link to the DOB homepage trailer:

https://www.deutscheoperberlin.de/de_DE/home-live

Another performance of Korngold's Das Wunder der Heliane (that from concert performances last June in Freiburg) should be released this year by CPO.

[Alan Howe]

I may, of course, be proved wrong, but I very much doubt whether either of these will match the superlative Decca recording which ought to be investigated without delay:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Korngold-Wunder-Heliane-Anna-Tomowa-Sintow/dp/B006IOOXJ6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522671361&sr=8-1&keywords=das+wunder+der+heliane

[Gareth Vaughan]

I have the Decca recording and it is, as Alan writes, truly "superlative". I gave it as a Christmas present, shortly after it was released, to a friend who had never heard any Korngold and he became an instant convert.

[minacciosa]

I don't think the Decca Heliane is superlative at all, though it is indeed very good. The singing is largely very good, but it has pacing problems that I attribute to unfamiliarity and perhaps a lack of further rehearsal time. I laud them for doing as well as they did in a work with little established performance history, but listening to the opera with the vocal score supports my opinion. What I heard in the trailer for the new production is quite superior.

[Alan Howe]

I agree with Gareth. And it is in the singing department that the Berlin performance will likely be found wanting. However, it is always good to have another recording - and I'd love to be proved wrong...

[adriano]

I too, I agree with all 4 last posting authors. And I agree with myself, that the opera is quite boring here and there (I also find it too long), and that the libretto's literary taste is quite discussable...  :-)

[M. Yaskovsky]

I remember I became very irritated by the vibrato and wobbling-on by mrs. Anna Tomowa-Sintow on the Decca I sold the set on eBay years ago. Hope Naxos will provide a Bluray and the performance will be good; then I'll try again.

[Alan Howe]

Tomowa-Sintow was certainly not a perfect singer, but I definitely wouldn't get rid of my copy on account of her performance. I've heard far, far worse.

[Ebubu]

"And it is in the singing department that the Berlin performance will likely be found wanting."

You will indeed be proven wrong.  I have attended the 2 nights that were captured for the DVD release, and both nights, the singing was superlative on all accounts.  The 3 main singers were revelations to me.  Brian Jagde (tenor) was absolutely smashing in this killer of a role (more demanding even that Paul in Die Tote Stadt !)

https://brianjagde.com/

and the staging will compensate for the moments that may seem a bit lenghthy on the audio recording.  The dramatic tension is maintained from the 1st to the last second.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I am eagerly looking forward to the DVD, after your encouraging report.

[Alan Howe]

I'm afraid I must part company with you over Jagde. I find his tenor unattractive - not pleasant to listen to at all. So, the debate goes on. And, as for the production - well, judging by the excerpts at Jagde's website, this'll be a DVD better listened to rather than watched! Mind you, the soprano (Sara Jakubiak?) is stunningly good - better than Tomowa-Sintow? Well, maybe.

[Ebubu]

I don't know in what role or production you have seen /heard Jagde, but IN THIS ROLE and PRODUCTION, he was smashing. I'm not sure the quality of his voice is best tested in the italien repertoire, which he seems to have mostly been singing so far.  But he'll perfectly at ease in pretty much all the Wagner / Strauss / Korngold tenor roles, and we can hardly wait till he starts singing Paul (Tote Stadt), Lohengrin, Rienzi, or Siegmund (and even Tristan).
From all accounts I've read so far, he was the real revelation of these performances :
here's a french review for the readers who can read French : "Et l'on se doit de finir par un artiste encore peu connu mais bientôt coqueluche des salles du monde entier s'il sait faire les bons choix de carrière pour protéger sa voix. Taillé comme un joueur de football américain, le jeune Brian Jagde (bientôt à Paris dans Forza del Destino) entre avec vaillance dans un rôle de la longueur et de la difficulté de celui de l'Empereur de Die Frau ohne Schatten. Pendant les deux premiers actes, soit jusqu'à sa mort, son chant exalté et tendu ne souffre d'aucun défaut, ni de puissance, ni de couleur, avec un léger voile sombre particulièrement agréable dans le bas du spectre. Le physique massif permet au jeune homme de toujours avoir du charisme en scène, même lorsqu'il ne fait rien, ou qu'il doit tenter de convaincre Heliane nue qu'elle fait une erreur en lui offrant son être." (Resmusica)

You certainly cannot judge the staging by the one short excerpt shown on the "production trailer" : certainly it was a sober production on the visual aspect, but everything was in the acting and, of course, I cannot predict what the visual impact in DVD will be (as it's NEVER the same from the stage to the DVD), but on stage it was a stunningly intelligent production (and I'm generally not a fan of Christopher Loy).

For the Freiburg concert version, to be issued on DVD, I'm of course a bit more skeptical as the Freiburger orchestra, however good, will have a hard time matching the Deutsche Oper orchestra's performance.  And except for Nuttaporn Thammathi (in the role of the Blind Judge) I don't know any of the other voices. At any rate, it will be interesting to be able to compare these 2 new versions with the Decca recording.

The main interest of all of this, for sure, is that more houses will now be tempted to take on the challenge, and more singers to learn these daring roles.

[Alan Howe]

I have listened to excerpts of Jagde singing in a number of roles; my view is that, if a singer isn't up to the highest standards in the Italian repertoire (and IMHO Jagde isn't), he certainly won't be great in Wagner, Strauss, Schreker, Korngold, etc. either. All-too often these days often we are forced to accept standards of vocal production in the German repertoire which make for excruciating listening (e.g. Stephen Gould).

Here's Jagde in Tosca: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTSsXtmwbU4
And here's Kaufmann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GVRoRILVD4
And Domingo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-AF1T4OehM
And Wunderlich: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcnoWl-h-Wk
And finally, the great Helge Rosvaenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_pM1wwMy4w

Of course, I accept that reactions to voices vary tremendously; this may be one of those cases, so we may simply have to agree to disagree. However, I have to report that, judging by the above excerpt, Jagde is sorely stretched at the top of his range and comes perilously close to a wobble. If he attempts the heavy German repertoire for any length of time, he's likely to damage his voice, as this excerpt suggests (try his strangled and wobbly ending!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCrR4n7X34w
...and this is only with piano accompaniment! So, you'll forgive me if I treat your enconium and the Resmusica review with some suspicion...

Now, if only the magnificent (and magnificently named) Nuttaporn Thammathi were singing instead of Jagde...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O_w1iEgtv8

And of course, there's the great Ben Heppner, who would have been unmatchable in the modern era in this repertoire:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbrGONUmK10 (from Daphne/Richard Strauss)

[BerlinExpat]

I completely agree with Ebubu. What Marc Albrecht achieved musically with this production was astonishing. According to everything I have read about this opera it is one of the most demanding ever written; for singers, chorus and orchestra. Although I had my reservations about Christopher Loy's interpretation, I couldn't imagine the opera being better produced. IMHO everything jelled and even the incredulous final scene was believably brought off.
The audience (practically a full house) was enraptured. There was hardly a cough throughout, and thanks to Korngold's orchestration, no opportunity to clap after "Ich ging zu ihm". At the end there was justly earned thunderous jubilation.
On the negative side the use of a single set for all three acts is maybe a detraction for DVD purchasers, but it must be stressed this was a necessary solution to the fact that nearly all the stage machinery and some lighting was damaged by water infiltration through the sprinkler system last Christmas Eve.

[Alan Howe]

Thanks for that review. I note with interest, however, that no mention of the singing was made. And this is opera!!

By the way: what is an 'incredulous last scene'? Scenes can't be incredulous, but people can be so described. And I am still incredulous with regard to reviews/opinions of at least some of the singing in this production. So, again, you'll forgive me if I refer friends to brendangcarroll's penetrating remarks on this topic in the Schreker thread:

One of the problems is that the big, important singers of our time do not want to spend the time learning and singing an opera of such difficulty which they feel they will never be asked to sing again - or hardly ever. So it falls to lesser talents to do it and they just  'sing the notes'.

I feel we are not actually hearing these works as they should really sound. When one reads the casts that originally sang these operas before the war in  Vienna, Berlin, Frankfurt etc - it is clear the wide gulf, between then and now.