Rescuing 'Die Frau ohne Schatten'

Opera is a live performance and live performances have their problems. We should probably wonder why they don't fail more often than they do.

The third and final opera I saw in Leipzig was Die Frau ohne Schatten by Richard Strauß and the problem they had was that Jennifer Wilson, the dramatic soprano who was to sing the role of the Dyers Wife, called in sick two days before the show. Not many people can sing this role - it is extraordinarily demanding and requires a certain type of voice - well, the voice of a dramatic soprano.

Leipzig opera was very lucky though. The Russian dramatic soprano  Elena Pankratowa is studying the role for Munich and found time (flying in from another engagement a couple of hours before the curtain went up) to sing the role in Leipzig.

She sung it from the score, standing to the side of the stage where the audience could see her. The role was 'acted’ by one of the staff, though acted is too strong a word really. The substitute dressed in approximately the clothes the Dyers Wife would wear and moved to the spots where the singer would have stood.

It was a good tactic, because you could see the emotion of the actual singer at the same time as you saw where she was meant to be.

The substitute moved about the stage like a wooden doll and this lack of acting made you realise how much you depend on real acting by the singers to bring their roles alive. It was a fascinating experience and a  rewarding insight. Elena Pankratowa got a huge ovation and it wasn't only gratitude that she had made the effort to come to Leipzig but a sincere appreciation of her singing. It is such a demanding role, and she sang it wonderfully well. 

'Frau ohne Schatten' cast take their bows
with Elena Pankratowa in the pink stole (middle right)

My only previous contact with the opera was listening to a YouTube recording of a friend singing one of the Dyers Wife pieces. The Dyers Wife is unhappy and it shows in her singing so I had been prepared for a discordant opera that I mightn't much like.  I was surprised to discover how very beautiful the music is (I am sure having Ulf Schirmer conducting helped), particularly the part of Barak, the Dyer, sung by Franz  Grundheber.  I'll remember Barak, the Dyer, long after I have forgotten many other singers.

Now I understand why Die Frau ohne Schatten is called Strauß's best opera and why it is so often performed. I just count myself lucky that this, my first experience, was with such an accomplished cast and orchestra.

Leipzig- present and past

This is my favourite photo of Leipzig. It seems to encapsulate the city. Music and musicians are so much part of Leipzig but so is being lively and different.

Leipzig has many layers though. Not far from where this musician is playing are two museums devoted to the often difficult history of the city.

One of them is called the Forum - it is free and is devoted to contemporary German history since 1945. It is several stories and full of information about former East Germany and what it was like to live there.

Russian uniform (front) and East German uniform

It felt as if the city father's wanted to be sure the upcoming generation were informed of their past.

The Forum seems to be circular and is easy to get lost in. There are so many corners of video screens, displays and posters I felt rather overwhelmed. I guess I'd read a lot of it already, one way or another.

I decided a maze of DDR paraphernalia was all too much early in the morning but I couldn't find the exit and had to ask how to get out.
Hmm.

Stalin-at the Leipzig Forum

Mendelssohn House

I had not intended to visit Mendelssohn House in Leipzig, but after being so moved by his Oratorium I decided to see where it was written.

Mendelssohn House, Leipzig

Mendelssohn House is within easy walking distance of the Leipzig Oper so was a no-brainer really. The house is large and imposing, as expected, with an elegant interior but without any of the embellishments that the wealthy surround themselves with nowadays.  Polished wood floors and a small music room where Mendelssohn probably spent most of his time. I found the house aesthetically pleasing.

Music room at Mendelssohn House

Mendelssohn painted as well as composed and several of his watercolours were on display. 

A watercolour by Mendelssohn.

On Sundays concerts are held in the concert room that was once used by the Mendelssohns for their own musical pleasure. It is a particular pleasure to hear music in such surroundings and I was lucky I arrived early enough to get a ticket. The ticket seller told me they were often fully booked.

Perhaps these concerts are on the radar of companies who organise music tours as most of the attendees on the day I was there seemed to be English speakers (Australians?)  

That didn't detract from the performance however, which was played and narrated (in German) by the accomplished Subéja Trio, comprising Flautist, Oboist and Pianist. They played a selection of music (including by Bach's eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach) but no Mendelssohn.

Leipzig and Dresden

If you know the language of countries you visit, your visit is so much richer. I wish I knew more languages than two. A good example of added richness this visit were the pre-concert lectures, but chatting with chance acquaintances was equally informative. 

After seeing Salome, my head was in the clouds and I got on the wrong tram. It was a lucky mistake as it brought me in contact with a friendly student from Erfurt. We talked about opera, about music and about the difference between Dresden and Leipzig.

‘ Oh yes,’ he said. 'You' are right. There is a big difference between the two cities. Leipzig is very ‘Weltoffen’ (open to the world). Dresden, not so much.’

I had read in Dresden that the city had been at the end of the train line during the days of divided Germany and too far from the border to get western TV, so they had to rely on state television. (How times have changed.) My student friend said that the impact is still being felt. He said that there have been big demonstrations in Dresden against asylum seekers that shocked the rest of the country.

I told him about the woman in Dresden who said she couldn't imagine people wanting to live in a place they weren't born in. She had been astonished to hear I was traveling alone and I doubt I could ever have changed her mind set. My student friend said that in his opinion the changes since 1989 had simply been too much for people to cope with. The wall came down, the old order was replaced by a new order that was not always better, and then there was the refugee crisis. 

My Leipzig landlady on the other hand was an example of Leipzig openness. She said that there were a lot of mixed marriages nowadays, 'whites and blacks; Christians and Muslims, Germans and foreigners' and in her opinion the only thing that mattered was that the couples were nice to each other. 

A lecturer staying at my pension who runs exchange programs with the Leipzig University told me that students love Leipzig. She said it is not only cheaper but 'much cheaper' than studying in the big cities where the price of a room is very high. The waitress at the little Italian restaurant across the road confirmed this. She was from Albania and has spent a year in Hamburg before moving to Leipzig. 
"I've been here seven years now," she said proudly. "I love it here."

Südplatz, Leipzig:
the Italian restaurant
 is on the ground floor

Spinnerei, Leipzig

Spinnerei, Leipzig

The Spinnerei ist an old cotton spinning factory on a 10 ha block in Leipzig's Plagwitz (get there on the S14 tram) that now houses artist studios, galleries, event spaces and more (including a wonderful art supplies shop).

When the wall came down in 1989 there were still more than 1500 people employed  at the Spinnerei spinning cotton but soon afterwards the site was sold and work dwindled. Alternative art and performances started to take place on the site and over time it has transformed into a vibrant arts hub.

If cities want to stay livable (Sydney City, I'm looking at you) they need to create spaces where their artists can thrive and the Spinnerei ist a good example of what can be achieved with a bit of imagination.

There are tours of the site, so if you are going to Leipzig, look up the timetable. I was sorry I hadn't know about the tours as the site is an interesting one.

Spinnerei, site plan

Arabella in Leipzig

It is amazing what a difference a short talk  by the chef dramaturg (head dramatist?) Dr Christian Geltinger made to my understanding of the Strauß operas I saw in Leipzig. He gave a short description of what to expect to see and then explained why the set was chosen. 

Dr Christian Geltinger
(from the Leipzig Oper program)

Both the operas he introduced (Arabella and Frau ohne Schatten) had sets that were particularly relevant to the time in which the operas were written, but if you didn't know that, you might have been left wondering. The Arabella set in particular was very much a comment on the time in which the Opera was set and after the Opera, at the tram stop, when I overheard some Australians complaining about the Arabella production I was sorry they had not been able to hear the pre-concert talk.

Arabella is often talked about as a sort of musical, light and frothy, but there was nothing frothy about this production. All the characters were played straight and without frivolity and it made the Opera work as a serious comment about society and women's choices in society.

Arabella: cast take a bow in front of the completed set

The set was disjointed for much of the Opera, much like floundering society structures at the time, only coming together right at the end of the opera when the characters had learned that dreams are fine, but not to be mistaken for reality.

I really enjoyed this non-musical-like version.

A Salome to die for

Wow! Wow! Wow!

I just saw the most fantastic Salome. I had been running on empty today but this opera and music has completely revived me. Now I sit in a tiny Italian restaurant with a candle, a glass of wine and spaghetti, trying to absorb what I have just seen.

The scene and costume designer of Salome, Rosalie, died on 12 June this year ( just a few days ago)  and this production was her last work. The cast dedicated the evening to her.  She is well known for her work and judging by the quality of this production she deserved every accolade she has received.

I had seen the American Met of Salome as a movie. All I remember of that production was an alluring dance and Salome singing to a dreadful severed head. Any explanation of why Salome acts as she does remained a mystery. Perhaps seeing Salome simply as evil seductress (the whore/saint divide) makes sense to the Americans.

In the Leipzig production Salome's behaviour is no longer a riddle. She is shown in the middle of a decadent society with an dissolute mother and abusive step-father. The dance which is central to the opera is no longer a dance of seduction but a story of Salome's abuse as a child. The step father sits taking photos on his smart phone during the dance performed by Salome and figures with masks, including two small girls.

The score is very moving and particularly so when played by the Leipzig orchestra conducted by Ulf Schirmer, who has a reputation as the best Strauss conductor alive. What better place to hear a Strauss festival?  What better place to hear an inspired Salome.

Last but not least, all credit to the marvellous Swedish soprano Elisabet Strid  who sang and acted this difficult role with such persuasiveness. Brava Brava!

Elisabet Strid takes a bow, with cast of Salome

Mendelssohn's Oratorium in Leipzig

I became an instant fan of Mendelssohn on Thursday night. I heard his Oratorium in the Thomaskirche (St Thomas Church) in Leipzig, a church with wonderful acoustics and a long history of musical excellence, both orchestra and choir.

Bach's burial place in Thomaskirche choir stalls

Bach was music director here for over 20 years and his bones are buried in the choir stalls of the church. He was originally buried elsewhere but in 1945 it was decided to bring the bones to St Thomas for safe keeping. It was considered so urgent that they were dug up and taken by wheelbarrow through the bombed city. The wheelbarrower delivered them to the the church with the words "So I've brought you Bach then". 

I found the Oratorium an emotional experience. Hearing this music swell through this magnificent church sent my thoughts to those departed. I am sure the Mendelssohn family's personal history affected me as well.   I kept thinking of how Mendelssohn would have felt when writing  it. The most beautiful music accompanied the end of the story of the stoning of St Stephen, where he, being stoned, called on God to accept his soul and fell asleep.

From the program

I felt so fortunate to be able to hear this music in this city and in this church. 

Arriving in Leipzig

I arrived in Leipzig on Wednesday and couldn't believe the difference to Dresden. I thought they must be similar, being so close (an hour and fifteen minutes by train) but the are very different cities.  In Dresden I felt very DDR but in Leipzig I have landed in a very buzzy area. Perhaps Dresden would have felt like Leipzig does now if it had not been fire bombed in 1945, who knows. The difference between the feel of the two cities in 2017 though is remarkable.

A bit of the old East survives in Leipzig. Like Dresden, Leipzig does not have an information office in the main station. It is hidden in the city center. Perhaps they imagine tourists parachute in? I had a friendly but very blunt woman from the train service tell me she can only sell tickets and the info office is at the market and I should go there (but how?) 

Luckily I had researched the place before I came and knew I had to get the #10 tram to my lodgings. Eastern Google seems to be a bit behind the times too as Google maps doesn't list Leipzig trams. They would have sent me by train and a very long walk whereas the #10 tram took me to my door. 

Pension stairs - lucky my suitcase is not heavy.

I am in a pension here with old fashioned keys,  spacious room and comfortable bed. What more could one wish for? 

Well WiFi. When I log on with the correct password the WiFi doesn't connect. The manageress here tells me the WiFi here is very doubtful.
"What can you do?" she says spreading her hands.

So I am very glad I bought a big data package from AldiTalk when I arrived as it looks as if I'll need it here in Leipzig.

My street