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Opernwelt 5/1979 |
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A feast of
singers |
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Verdi's "Don Carlos" at the Salzburg Easter Festival |
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English Translation © Maria Kozlova |
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Herbert von Karajan who
led the Easter Festival this year with his usual energy and concentration has
always been a master of economy. He took a rest before the demanding new
production of Wagner's "Parsifal" next year and as an Easter
present gave Verdi's "Don Carlos", that under his leadership
triumphed at Summer Festivals. His "Don Carlos", celebrated since
1975, made a stop on its way to Vienna so to say, where it was going to be
the culmination of "Karajan weeks" at the Staatsoper. In the
old-new Salzburg environment "Don Carlos" remains a feast of great
singers and of a conductor of genius, for the Verdi orchestra under Karajan
receives a new quality, like it was at the new production of Aida in Munich under
Muti. Karajan lets his excellent instrument - the Berlin Philharmonic - play the central part
in the Carlos drama. He puts it forward exceedingly, almost damaging the
singers' voices, but also brings the orchestra and soloists together in a chamber
consonance, like in the farewell duet of Elisabeth and Carlos in the fourth
act. Moments like these add a festive air to this Festival. There is hardly a
theater where one can see Verdi's "Don Carlos" in a musical interpretation
of such standard, extremely convincing and making one forget imperfections of
production, and see the scenic interpretation as quantité negligeable. The star of the evening
was Agnes Baltsa who sang her brilliant princess Eboli part for the first
time. She was an extraordinary Eboli, a princess whose ambition seems quite
commensurable, a royal of a passionate and impetuous temperament. The stage
presence and singing quality of Mrs. Baltsa in the role of this unhappy and desperate
woman who yields to her fate only at the last moment, sets new standards for
this part. Her great aria in the third act, "O don fatale", with
its varied interpretation showing feelings from despair and wild desire to
life-giving remembrance takes on the dimension Verdi probably dreamed of: it becomes
a summing up of a life, a psychologram of an extreme state of mind. Jose Carreras' Don Carlos is full of
youthful ardor and ready to give everything for the sake of his ideals, love
and friendship. Piero Cappuccilli, one of the greatest Verdi singers of all
times, as Posa portrays a noble Spanish grandee with the marvelous timbre of
his voice resembling a precious, non-material sound of a Guarneri cello. The singular artist Mirella Freni
keeps her high standard in the role of Elisabeth for many years. Nicolai
Ghiaurov as King Philip represents an unbridled, a little Boris-like ruler.
His rival in the fight for authority, the Grand Inquisitor, through the noble
sound of Jules Bastin radiates paternal dignity, rather than severity and
inexorability. Jose van Dam sang the small but important part of Karl V
without false pathos. Verdi, "Don
Carlos" Performance attended on
8 April 1979 Artistic director: Herbert von Karajan Scenery: Günther Schneider-Siemssen Costume designer:
Georges Wakhevitch Soloists: Nicolai Ghiaurov (Philip
II) José Carreras (Don Carlos) Piero Cappuccilli
(Rodrigo) Jules Bastin (Great
Inquisitor) José van Dam (Karl V) Mirella Freni (Elisabeth) Agnes Baltsa (Eboli) Marjon Lambriks (Tebaldo) Walburga Wallner
(countess Aremberg) Horst Nitsche (count
Lerma) Marjorie Vance (Voice
from heaven) Walter Fink, Serje Kopcák, Chigusa Tomita,
Klaus Wallprecht, Peter Weber (deputies
from Flanders) |
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Original German article by Imre Fabian |