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| Photo courtesy the Israel Chamber Orchestra |
Taking place in the Recanati Auditorium of the Tel Aviv
Museum of Art on March 23rd 2017, the Israel Chamber Orchestra’s
recent all-Mozart concert offered a broad range of repertoire, covering
orchestral music, opera and theatre. Conducting the somewhat non-mainstream
event was Stanley Sperber. The program opened with W.A.Mozart’s Symphony No.38
in D-major K.504, “Prague”, so-called because it was premiered in that city in
1787, where the composer was enjoying great popularity. It is clear that this
symphony was not originally written to be played in Prague: it was heard in
what ensued as a number of triumphant concerts for him there, resulting in the
commission for “Don Giovanni”. From the separate, ceremonious utterances of the
brooding opening Adagio, Maestro Sperber (choosing to conduct without a baton)
brought into play the various elements indicative of Mozart’s mature symphonic
craft – exuberance, energy, melodiousness, the composer’s economy of ideas,
purity of expression, his skilful use of dissonance and his subtlety of
layering – in performance incisive, eloquent and flavoured with a sense-of-wellbeing.
Some fine woodwind playing characterises the ICO’s splendid orchestral sound.
Following intermission, the stage took on a different guise:
the right side was now occupied by a grand armchair, a door frame and a glistening
motorcycle in preparation for Rosemarie Danziger’s adaptation and stage direction
of Mozart’s Singspiel “Der Schauspieldirektor” (The Impresario) composed to a
libretto by Gottlieb Stephanie jnr. Since
2013, Danziger has been directing the Vienna-Tel Aviv Vocal Connection (founded
by Sylvia Greenberg and conductor/vocal coach David Aronson). All the singers of
this ICO production have been participants in seminars of the Vienna-Tel Aviv
Vocal Connection.
The comic chamber opera, a farcical look behind the scenes
of an opera company, satirizes the rivalries and divas of show business. As the
ICO sets the scene with its effervescent playing of the overture to
“Impresario” (the only part of the opera really familiar to most concert-goers)
the music offers a sneak preview of the naïve melodiousness of the ensuing
arias and of Mozart’s characteristic tongue-in-cheek wit, but also of his generous
orchestral scoring. And as we hear the overture, La Roche (the opera director,
portrayed by actor and pantomimic Fyodor Makarov) is seeing to his appearance –
powdering his face, plastering down his hair, donning his jacket and bow-tie.
And in readiness for the proceedings, the stage needs vacuum-cleaning. The
vacuum cleaner pipe will then serve La Roche (in a non-singing role) as a
kind-of hoarse, massive wind instrument joining the orchestra at certain moments
throughout the production; a comical touch, for, after all, Makarov is a very
fine clown. As to the other characters on stage, all (except for Ayelet
Amots-Avramson) are dubious characters. Mezzo-soprano Zlata Hershberg, for
example, (as Clairon) plays the part of a leather-clad, whip-wielding sadist
with oomph, her ample, well-grounded voice, joy and natural stage presence
making for fine, jocose entertainment. Soprano Avigail Gurtler-Har-Tuv plays
the scantily-clothed Madame Herz; here, the young opera singer’s creamy soprano
timbre and already secure coloratura merge comfortably with her waggish
penchant for comedy as she sails effortlessly through registers of her voice in
delightful solo- and ensemble singing. Her rival, Madame Silberklang, is played
by soprano Christina Maria Fercher (Austria); in her performance, as colourful
as her outfit (Fercher made the transition from musical comedy to opera) her
powerful voice making its statement, as does her skilful dancing of the
Charleston, with the ICO digressing momentarily from Mozart to accompany it
with a reminder of the ebullient music of the Roaring 20s. As Buff, La Roche’s
handsome assistant, Brazilian-born baritone Robson Bueno Tavares displayed fine
vocal ability, spending much of his time on stage flirting with the young
ladies. Endowed with a powerful, rich and warm voice, young Austrian-born tenor
Franz Gürtelschmied,
a singer fast making his mark on the European opera-, Lied- and church music
scene, played Vogelsang, an opera agent working for La Roche, luring lady
singers to their company by means of his beloved motorcycle. And he is owed
money!
A whimsical touch is that Makarov and each of the singers is
speaking his/her own language: we hear Hebrew, German, Russian, English and
Portuguese spoken; it is somewhat possible to grasp the gist of what is being
said. And then, a certain Madame Krone,
the exquisitely-dressed Ayelet Amots-Avramson, appears on the scene looking
totally out-of-place among this motley collection of characters. She observes
what is happening, is impartial to the changes being discussed and is about to
leave. In her quiet self-assurance, Amots-Abramson is convincing on stage; her strong, resonant voice and fine diction invite the audience to listen. The pompous La Roche, aware that all those around are rebelling, holds a
grandiloquent speech in order to bring about order and harmony…to make new laws.
The speech, based on La Roche’s speech from Richard Strauss’ opera “Capriccio”,
might well be inferring to the state of the local Israeli culture scene.
Stephanie (himself an impresario) was given the idea for the
opera by Emperor Joseph II. Not an original plot, the subject appealed to
Mozart, who would have been familiar with the difficulties encountered by an
impresario endeavouring to assemble a theatrical company in Salzburg. Mozart’s
original score comprises only five numbers – each masterful and funny - and the
opera has passed through many hands, undergoing much adaptation. Danziger has
made several changes, among them, the addition of four arias from other Mozart
operas, these working in well with the characters and plot. Maestro Sperber,
entering into the convivial spirit of the production, drew all musical threads
together in music-making that was high-spirited, energetic and appealing. In
this production, the Israel Chamber Orchestra really let its hair down! I think
Mozart would have liked it a lot.
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