Korngold Violanta Performance & Recording

[brendangcarroll]

 Korngold's rarely performed 2nd opera Violanta will be presented in Turin (premiere Jan 21) which will be the Italian premiere of the work.

It will also be streamed on the internet for six months, starting February 28 on http://operavision.eu .

Furthermore, a DVD will also be made of the production for release later in 2020! Once I know further details, I will post in the 'Recordings' section.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Thanks very much. I really enjoy Violanta and rate it highly.

[Alan Howe]

Details here:
https://www.teatroregio.torino.it/en/opera-e-balletto-2019-2020/violanta

Norman Reinhardt's a pretty good tenor. I just hope Alfonso isn't too much of a stretch for him.

[brendangcarroll]

I shall be attending the premiere and will send a brief report. The director is a genius so I am anticipating a fine production. The conductor is also at the top of his game in this repertoire so the performance should be splendid. 

[brendangcarroll]

I have now returned from TURIN and what was an outstanding production of this astonishing work, and in every respect.

The first important review is already online and although it is in German, the description is absolutely spot on, and I cannot really say it any better:

https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/korngold-renaissance-in-italien-woher-genies-ihr-wissen-nehmen-ld.1536002?mktcid=smsh&mktcval=OS%20Share%20Hub

The occasional catastrophe in the orchestra I ascribe to first nigght nerves and a need for more rehearsal, and I am sure wil be eliminated by the end of the run, esepcially for the DVD recording. It was a thrilling night in the theatre.

Here is a Youtube taster taken during rehearsals...

https://youtu.be/fXSblm0KtJ4

The DVD will be eagerly awaited!

[Alan Howe]

The review is positive about the soprano and tenor, which is a relief. Let's hope the writer knows what good singing is - not always the case with critics, unfortunately.

[brendangcarroll]

Well I know what good singing is and he was right on the money with his review, which is why I did not repeat or add anything. It will live streams from Feb 28 on Operavision.eu so you can check it out then for yourself.

BTW, this critic is also the reviewer for OPERNWELT so he knows his stuff. He had also clearly done his research because none of the factual information he gave in his review was included in the programme.

[Alan Howe]

While respecting your opinion and that of the reviewer, I'm sorry to say that I - and many others over the years - have found ourselves bitterly disappointed at the failure of so-called experts not to report poor singing when they encounter it. In this case, I'm sure you'll be proved correct, but I'd prefer to hear the recording for myself - particularly in an era when there is a desperate shortage of the types of voices needed for this repertoire.

[ewk]

Delighted to read about this performance and how well it was received.
I am going to hear Ring des Polykrates on Sunday (Freiburg/Germany) along with some orchestral and choral works (I.a. passover Psalm). The premiere review was somehow mixed but mainly for the mise-en-scene and the concept of mixing concert and staged opera performance. I'll report (probably in a thread on its own for keeping the order here)
Best wishes, ewk

[brendangcarroll]

Thankyou EWK - look forward to your report very much!!!

[DK]

Available on demand (I believe for just a week after the live broadcast) is yesterday's broadcast from Torino.  I have not yet listened to this but will find time in the next couple of days.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Violanta
Opera in un atto di Hans Müller.
Prima esecuzione in Italia.  In diretta dal Teatro Regio di Torino, radio3.rai.it, 28 gennaio 2020.

Violanta, consorte di Simone Trovai, Annemarie Kremer
Simone Trovai, capitano della Repubblica di Venezia, Michael Kupfer-Radecky
Alfonso, figlio illegittimo del re di Napoli, Norman Reinhardt
Giovanni Bracca, pittore, Peter Sonn
Bice, Soula Parassidis
Barbara, nutrice di Violanta, Anna Maria Chiuri     
Matteo, Joan Francesc Folqué
Primo soldato, Cristiano Olivieri
Secondo soldato, Gabriel Alexander Wernick
Prima ancella, Eugenia Braynova
Seconda ancella, Claudia De Pian
Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Regio di Torino
maestro del Coro, Andrea Secchi
direttore, Pinchas Steinberg
regia, scene e costumi, Pier Luigi Pizzi

https://www.raiplayradio.it/programmi/radio3suite-ilcartellone/

DK

[Alan Howe]

Well, I'm a fair way in and the singing so far has been uniformly terrible - not a steady or attractive voice within earshot. No, this won't do at all. As I've said before, many critics these days simply don't know what they're talking about when it comes to correct voice production - especially in repertoire which makes such huge demands on the singers. (This has led, for example, to the absurd situation where a leading dramatic soprano of today is compared favourably with a great singer such as Birgit Nilsson and yet is possessed of an uncontrolled wobble that anyone can hear.)

In this production Annemarie Kremer just about manages to sing the notes, but there's precious little to enjoy in her vocalism - no glamour, no beauty. Once heard, best forgotten, I'm afraid. What appears to have happened is that she has ruined her voice over the years by singing roles far too heavy for her, such as Turandot. Her once fine voice has now become much less even, especially when she pushes her tone in her higher register. It's a familiar story. Then there's the tenor, Norman Reinhardt, and frankly, he simply doesn't have the voice for the role.

Try this historic performance from 1949, terrible sonics and all, for singers who can actually sing this properly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNaVPCoCIWU
(posted by Brendan Carroll, no less)

Or this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-0KucGc-4w - for the tenor, not the soprano!

[Alan Howe]

More on Annemarie Kremer, here on her performance in Das Wunder der Heliane, recorded in 2017 (Naxos):

soprano Annemarie Kremer is fine in the role of Heliane, though in the higher ranges her sustained louder notes tend to exhibit a vibrato with a bit of wobble. Despite this pardonable flaw, she delivers a beautiful 'Ich ging zu ihm' and sings well throughout the opera

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Jan/Korngold_Heliane_8660410.htm

Annemarie Kremer is occasionally shrill but excels in the lyric moments. She certainly has both the heft and tenderness for the role of Heliane, not only in "Ich ging zu ihm" but in other sections such as "Steh auf" in Scene 5 of Act II.

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Apr/Korngold_Heliane_8660410.htm

Annemarie Kremer, as Heliane, is at her most affecting in the quieter moments: the fragility that she brings to her great Act 2 aria 'Ich ging zu ihm' makes it, quite properly, the heart of the whole drama. She's shakier when she really has to soar, though again that's understandable, and there's a glow to her voice that's well suited to Heliane's chaste sensuality.

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/korngold-das-wunder-der-heliane-bollon

In 2017 her voice was clearly a bit of a mixed bag. Since this recording was made, however, Kremer has clearly been singing heavier roles and her voice has suffered further deterioration.

[Gareth Vaughan]

What appears to have happened is that she has ruined her voice over the years by singing roles far too heavy for her,

Unfortunately, this seems to happen a lot with many younger singers. They are allowed, or encouraged, take on these big roles before they are ready for them and ruin their voices as a result. It is really wicked.

[Alan Howe]

You're absolutely right, Gareth.

The question, though, is why ostensibly expert critics and reviewers can't hear what is going on and frequently fail to comment on the problem. I'm sorry to say that we have examples of this failure in this very thread.