2023-07-20 04:39:57
Review – Verdi’s “Ernani” at the Bregenz Festival
Endgame of the Wagner mercenaries
07/20/2023 by Peter Jungblut
At the start of the festival on Lake Constance, “Ernani”, a rarely performed work by the young Verdi, was on the program. Director Lotte de Beer showed the insane plot very consistently as absurd theater, which was convincing all round – as was the excellent cast of singers.
Image source: Bregenz Festival/ Karl Forster
Carrying on is of course completely pointless, but as is well known, mankind does not mind. That’s the way it is in our absurd world: everything fizzles out, everything ends in nothing, one day only dust will remain of the planet, and yet quite a few are looking for the meaning of life, for stability, for orientation. This is sometimes not just absurd, but tragi-comic, as in Verdi’s rarely performed opera “Ernani” from 1844: the guys fight until blood spurts, and for what? Nothing!
absurdity of mankind
Image source: Bregenzer Festspiele/ Karl Forster, at least that’s how the Dutch director Lotte de Beer, who is the director of the Vienna Volksoper in her main job, sees it. With her, Verdi’s heroes are held together solely by a grotesque concept of honor, but in fact they fight against the meaninglessness of their lives, and they do so with all their might. On the stage of the Bregenz Festival Hall, it looks as if the notorious Russian mercenaries from the “Wagner” troupe are running amok, especially since acrobatic martial artists are also in action. Again and again, soldiers in combat gear break through walls, chop off their skulls, torture and murder, leaving crime scenes covered in blood. Verdi is of course about jealousy and love, but Lotte de Beer doesn’t want to make it that easy: “Actually, if you tell an absurd story, you can use it to demonstrate the absurdity of humanity. It’s a story of failure over a failed being: Us humans. We always have the option to do good, but for some reason we fail. I think we want to, but our ego gets in the way.”
Greens à la Satre
And so three men and one woman get lost in existence as if the play is by Samuel Beckett, the grand master of the theater of the absurd. Jean-Paul Sartre could also have had a hand in this, with his famous saying that hell is for him other people. Yes, mankind could despair of that, but in order to repress it, it calms itself down with insipid substitutes: invents terms of honor or chases after titles, as in this case King Karl, who absolutely wants to become German-Roman emperor. Then he can exchange his small crown for a large one and call himself Charles V, which looks silly and is intended to be.
Dark and very consistent interpretation
Designer Christof Hetzer had designed a desert island, an empty disc that could also be the roof of the world. On it are either tombstones or dreary paper backdrops, all empty practical jokes, according to Goethe’s motto: “Everything ephemeral is just a parable” – and in modern times not even that anymore. It is remarkable that this gloomy and very consistent interpretation was applauded so unanimously when not overly enthusiastic either. The message was probably too uncomfortable for that. But what could be more absurd than the opera, especially since such a confused one: Verdi, who was just 30 years old, composed his humtata rhythms cheerfully and didn’t give a damn about logic.
Brilliant ensemble of singers
Image source: Bregenzer Festspiele/ Karl Forster In this regard, the 19th century was ahead of us, which apparently had no problems with absurdities as long as they were mystical and entertaining. A summary of the plot is out of the question because it seems so unreal. The brilliant performances of the singers, on the other hand, were very concrete: the four main roles shone throughout with warm, full-sounding voices that seemed to master all registers with equal ease. Saimir Prigu in the title role was just as impressive as Franco Vassallo as the macho king, Goran Juric as the vengeful nobleman and Guanqun Yu as the Elvira coveted by everyone. Truly absurd, this beauty of singing in the face of the horror in the world. The Prague Philharmonic Choir had a lot to do and was extremely credible as a soldier. Conductor Enrique Mazzola did not approach Verdi’s Sturm und Drang work overly cautiously, as it should. This also tolerates the thick brush.
Consoling tragedy
And Lotte de Beer summarizes in a few words why viewers don’t necessarily have to go crazy with so much hopelessness: “I can look at it with a smile. It’s funny, touching and unfortunately very, very tragic.” But this tragedy is so far-fetched, so ludicrous, so horrifying that it is actually comforting. It also sounds absurd, but Samuel Beckett would probably have liked it.
Broadcast: “Allegro” am 20. July 2023 from 6:05 a.m. on BR-KLASSIK
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