Seeing Lo Sposo Deluso/L'Oca Del Cairo, I was not expecting among Mozart's best and I didn't get that. The music is pleasant enough but does feel somewhat fragmented in how it's structured here. If it weren't for the singing and musical values to be as good as they were, as well as the staging of the finale, this performance would have been unwatchable. It is not as bad as Ascanio in Alba and Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail when it comes to this series but I found the likes of Mitradate Re Di Ponto, Idomeneo, La Finta Giardinera, Il Sogno Di Scipione and Cosi Fan Tutte to be much much entertaining.
Lo Sposo Deluso: Let's get the positives out of the way first. The overture is stimulating, and Io Ti Lascio is sung beautifully. The orchestral playing is stylish, Wolfgang Goetz plays the forte piano beautifully and the conducting showing an understanding for Mozart's style. The singing is generally outstanding made up of generally young and good-looking people. Marisa Martins sings beautifully and can act charmingly, while Silvia Moi, even with a rather vain character, is the same. Josef Wagner may be somewhat too young for the role of Bocconio but makes up for intelligent acting and stylish singing. Jeremy Ovendon is wonderfully courageous, and Matthias Klink sings resonantly.
However the production values in what looks like an industrial setting don't add anything to the music and look very bland as well. The costumes are modern and look ridiculous. The dancing is well danced but done in a style that is entirely disconnected with the music, while the staging is silly and hilariously over-the-top in places, like one character repeatedly stabbing another with a knife that you can tell is fake. The video directing is annoying, too many close-ups not enough action on stage. And sadly while I liked her presence in La Finta Semplice, which I liked, and Abendempfindung, which didn't work for me personally, I found myself irritated by Marianne Hammre. She does what she can, but she is not used well.
My reservations about the stage direction are the same with Abendempfindung and L'Oca Del Cairo. Schloemer does have talent, he proved that with La Finta Semplice, but with these three productions not only does staging add nothing to the production and seems to be on a different planet altogether, but he seems to forget about the music. In my mind when it comes to opera, whether it is traditional or a concept opera(just for the record I have liked productions that fit in both categories), that is an unforgivable mistake.
L'Oca Del Cairo: For me this wasn't much better, having pretty much the same pros and cons. Starting with the redeeming qualities the orchestral playing is again excellent and that is the same with the conducting. Malin Hartelius stands out as Auretta with her usual brightly radiant voice and many vocal colours and her acting is wonderful. Marisa Martins' colouratura dazzles and she blends superbly with Hartelius, while Josef Wagner is suitably hearty and Jeremy Ovendon and Matthias Klink are appealing. Silvia Moi also impresses, though the decision to have two Aurettas proved to be very confusing for me.
The costumes are horrible though, especially Hartelius'. If she has worn a worse costume on DVD, I've not seen it and I am not kidding. The staging is actually a little better here, there is more music, no ballet that jars with the music stylistically and more development of characters, but it still suffers from silly and very annoying staging and interruptions such as passing gas jokes, silly sound effects and quotations that only slow things down. The video directing is not as bad as it was Lo Sposo Deluso, but more shots of the action on stage would be more welcome. Again, Hammre tries hard but her role is irritating sadly.
Other than the singing, orchestra and conducting, the best thing was the finale. Helped enormously by the dimming lighting, with only Hammre's face being lit, as a metaphor for death it was incredibly moving indeed. Unfortunately it was the only staging touch that worked.
All in all, visually infuriating, but the musical side is impeccable and for curiosity you might want to see it but I doubt you would again. Not one of the absolute nadirs of the series, but one of the weakest and most disappointing. 4/10 Bethany Cox
Lo Sposo Deluso: Let's get the positives out of the way first. The overture is stimulating, and Io Ti Lascio is sung beautifully. The orchestral playing is stylish, Wolfgang Goetz plays the forte piano beautifully and the conducting showing an understanding for Mozart's style. The singing is generally outstanding made up of generally young and good-looking people. Marisa Martins sings beautifully and can act charmingly, while Silvia Moi, even with a rather vain character, is the same. Josef Wagner may be somewhat too young for the role of Bocconio but makes up for intelligent acting and stylish singing. Jeremy Ovendon is wonderfully courageous, and Matthias Klink sings resonantly.
However the production values in what looks like an industrial setting don't add anything to the music and look very bland as well. The costumes are modern and look ridiculous. The dancing is well danced but done in a style that is entirely disconnected with the music, while the staging is silly and hilariously over-the-top in places, like one character repeatedly stabbing another with a knife that you can tell is fake. The video directing is annoying, too many close-ups not enough action on stage. And sadly while I liked her presence in La Finta Semplice, which I liked, and Abendempfindung, which didn't work for me personally, I found myself irritated by Marianne Hammre. She does what she can, but she is not used well.
My reservations about the stage direction are the same with Abendempfindung and L'Oca Del Cairo. Schloemer does have talent, he proved that with La Finta Semplice, but with these three productions not only does staging add nothing to the production and seems to be on a different planet altogether, but he seems to forget about the music. In my mind when it comes to opera, whether it is traditional or a concept opera(just for the record I have liked productions that fit in both categories), that is an unforgivable mistake.
L'Oca Del Cairo: For me this wasn't much better, having pretty much the same pros and cons. Starting with the redeeming qualities the orchestral playing is again excellent and that is the same with the conducting. Malin Hartelius stands out as Auretta with her usual brightly radiant voice and many vocal colours and her acting is wonderful. Marisa Martins' colouratura dazzles and she blends superbly with Hartelius, while Josef Wagner is suitably hearty and Jeremy Ovendon and Matthias Klink are appealing. Silvia Moi also impresses, though the decision to have two Aurettas proved to be very confusing for me.
The costumes are horrible though, especially Hartelius'. If she has worn a worse costume on DVD, I've not seen it and I am not kidding. The staging is actually a little better here, there is more music, no ballet that jars with the music stylistically and more development of characters, but it still suffers from silly and very annoying staging and interruptions such as passing gas jokes, silly sound effects and quotations that only slow things down. The video directing is not as bad as it was Lo Sposo Deluso, but more shots of the action on stage would be more welcome. Again, Hammre tries hard but her role is irritating sadly.
Other than the singing, orchestra and conducting, the best thing was the finale. Helped enormously by the dimming lighting, with only Hammre's face being lit, as a metaphor for death it was incredibly moving indeed. Unfortunately it was the only staging touch that worked.
All in all, visually infuriating, but the musical side is impeccable and for curiosity you might want to see it but I doubt you would again. Not one of the absolute nadirs of the series, but one of the weakest and most disappointing. 4/10 Bethany Cox
