Ascanio in Alba is a new opera to me, and one that is not among Mozart's best but still an interesting listen. This production doesn't do the opera justice, and that is true of Mozart and opera in general as well. It does have a few good things. The orchestral playing is lively and vivacious. Adam Fischer's conducting is very musical and authoritative. And Diana Damrau's colouratura still dazzles in its purity and she commands the stage well, though she has been better before and since this production.
The rest though is disastrous, making Ascanio in Alba possibly the nadir of the Mozart 22 series. Iris Kupke and Sonia Prina do sing beautifully but their Venus and Ascanio are rather bland dramatically. Charles Reid is un-engaging as Aceste, and his basic tone is not very pretty. Marie-Belle Sandis is a shrill Silvia, and looks ridiculous in the outfit that she has to wear throughout, which seems to have a mind of its own.
Visually, the production is disgusting. The sets and costumes are ugly-looking, while the staging right from flying carpets, robot-like chorus, Venus and Ascania appearing in a sleeping bag and Silvia arriving in a wheelbarrow shows a complete disregard for the story and the music. I also found the use of actors introducing, dubbing and acting their way through the recitatives a real form of annoyance, so much so I considered turning the television off. The only person who actually gets any respect dramatically from stage directors David Hermann and Christof Hetzer is Damrau, everybody else is eluded and is clearly embarrassed by the staging and I am not surprised, I'd be too.
Overall, the orchestral playing, conducting and Damrau are great, but everything else is a disaster. 3/10 Bethany Cox
The rest though is disastrous, making Ascanio in Alba possibly the nadir of the Mozart 22 series. Iris Kupke and Sonia Prina do sing beautifully but their Venus and Ascanio are rather bland dramatically. Charles Reid is un-engaging as Aceste, and his basic tone is not very pretty. Marie-Belle Sandis is a shrill Silvia, and looks ridiculous in the outfit that she has to wear throughout, which seems to have a mind of its own.
Visually, the production is disgusting. The sets and costumes are ugly-looking, while the staging right from flying carpets, robot-like chorus, Venus and Ascania appearing in a sleeping bag and Silvia arriving in a wheelbarrow shows a complete disregard for the story and the music. I also found the use of actors introducing, dubbing and acting their way through the recitatives a real form of annoyance, so much so I considered turning the television off. The only person who actually gets any respect dramatically from stage directors David Hermann and Christof Hetzer is Damrau, everybody else is eluded and is clearly embarrassed by the staging and I am not surprised, I'd be too.
Overall, the orchestral playing, conducting and Damrau are great, but everything else is a disaster. 3/10 Bethany Cox
