Placido slags off Bayreuth and Salzburg directors

In common with a large chunk of their audiences, Placido Domingo didn't care much for Sebastian Baumgarten's Biogas Tannhäuser at Bayreuth or Christof Loy's recording-studio Die Frau ohne Schatten in Salzburg.  "I have a problem with it," says Domingo, "It's incomprehensible to me. As the director of an opera house I would never allow anything like that. In Germany and Austria, controversial productions have unfortunately become the norm."

But unlike most, Placido is in a position to do something about it.

"When I haven't agreed with a staging, I've had a word with the director. When that hasn't helped, I've had the production shut down."

The world's hardest-working baritenor isn't afraid to accept a gig in Salzburg though. He's confirmed his involvement in a forthcoming co-production between the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival, engineered by incoming artistic director and fellow conservative Alexander Pereira.

Comments

[Bogda]

Judging by the Zurich opera productions, don't see how you can call Pereira "conservative". The same goes for Domingo, just take a look at LA's Ring.

[El Cajon]

While PD may be correct re: the regie productions in Salzburg and Bayreuth, he's allowed substandard productions by Marta to be staged. Her Traviata and Hoffmann especially were amateurish. So PD is talking out of both sides of his mouth.

[Disgruntled]

Don't give up hope yet. The Libyans were able to get rid of Gadaffi after 40+ years, so maybe ...

[HairmanWNO]

Pot / kettle.

[Rannaldini]

The problem really is that directors have way too much power these days, and the pendulum needs to swing back somewhat.

Having just seen Jonathan Kent's Turn of the Screw at Glyndebourne, (excellent by the way,) and various other things elsewhere recently, I hope we can all return to a situation where conductors deal with the music (and chose the singers) and directors and intendants deal with the production. Am i alone in thinking it really IS as simple as that....????

[Chris]

Totally agree with Placido.

[D]

It's a bit odd to hear this from PD. I was almost "angry" with his Iphigenie @ the MET last season. There are so many stupid stuff that ruined that beautiful piece of opera - but the final blow was when the orchestra went back to play the introduction of this piece AFTER the entire opera ended - just because the producer wanted to add all so unnecessary episode of Iphigenie's conflicting heart. I couldn't bear it - as a fan of PD for more than half a century, I couldn't believe PD was OK with it. I was too angry with this appalling after taste @ the MET, to the point that I had to go to Washington Opera later in the season on Acela to enjoy "proper" Iphigenie also with PD to wipe that off...

[FC]

Totally agree with Rannaldini...it really is as simple as that. 

I would prefer a Rattle or Levine behind the wheel over a Bondy or Bieito.  

[Henry Holland]

The hypocrisy is hilarious. He had no problem shunting the Recovered Voices operas "Die Vogel" and "Die Gezeichneten" to the same slots as the Freyer Ring, making the directors of them deal with Freyer's steeply raked stage, it also caused the original director of the Schreker, Olivier Tambosi to quit because they slashed his budget to the bone to pay for the fiasco of a Ring.

Plus, as mentioned, his wife's boring productions are on his tally, not to mention the second-rate singers from his singing competition.

His contract is up in Los Angeles in 2013, let it be his last here.

[Rose-Mary Hyslop]

Love his blue shirt and tie and matching hankey.

[JD]

I suppose it all comes down to what one views as constituting ‘Eurotrash’, and such a conversation inevitably gives way to tendentiousness on every side. For what it’s worth, I would imagine PD isn’t extolling the virtues of only staid, ultra-conservative productions….He is presumably lambasting productions that have no disregard for the source material, and Freyer’s Ring took meticulous care to work in conjunction with Wagner’s text. It obviously was not suited to every taste, and I am not trying to get into an argument over it—yet as much as it cohered fundamentally with both Wagner’s music and text, I do not think it correct to lump it into the same eurotrash category as works that explicitly contradict both. Love or hate the production, it did not undercut Wagner’s art. It is the lack of cohesion between concept and underlying art work that I find offensive, and I think PD is right in attacking this. But it doesn’t then follow that all interesting new productions ought to be ruled out from the start.

[sub opera]

Regardless of what directors / producers do to operas, when one leaves the opera house, the opera itself is and remains as it has always been, and will do so for eternity.

When I left the opening night performance of Katharina Wagner's Meistersinger (what a night that was!), some of my friends were saying "What has she done to this masterpiece?". She hasn't done anything to it. Just pick up the score or a CD and there is it in all its splendorous glory.

At least we are still talking passionately about her Meistersinger, unlike Glyndebourne's vacuous one.

I personally like to see a little of everything. Some of Bieito's works are splendid and some of Zefirelli's are dull beyond belief. And vice-versa.

But I do find the description of some operas as Eurotrash infuriating, particularly coming from insular, parochial opera goers.

But I agree that it is, after all, a matter of opinion.

[Les Mitchell]

I am probably way behind the times. I'm in my 60's and I remember going to the opera as a teen in the early 1960's. The productions and scenery were faithful to the opera stories I read in "The Victor Book of Operas" (yes - I know I'm dating myself!). I kept going to the opera and had a subscription until ten years ago (I now pick and choose), and my first experience with an "bizarro" production was Peter Sellars' production of "Tannhauser". I was appalled. When I see some of these productions on DVD's, I'm dumfounded. When I see photos of Sandra Radvanowsky looking like a rag-picker in a Canadian production of Aida, I start to wonder why people go to the opera at all. I find the Met's productions and our productions in Chicago to be pretty traditional
(though the Met's 2008 production of "Sonnambula" was pretty lousy (only Dessay and Florez made it worth hearing) most of the time. My question: why do opera superstars consent to appear in these productions?? I can't believe that the likes of Callas, Tebaldi, Nilsson, Sutherland, Corelli, Vickers, etc, would allow themselves to appear in such productions.
Is it a contest to see who can come up with most outrageous production? Is it austerity? Or is it a means of destroying one of the most beautiful art forms in the world? It's come to a point where I'd rather listen to the opera on a CD and imagine the whole production in my own mind.
I'm sure you will all think that I'm nuts, but this is the way I feel about the operatic landscape today. By the way, I DO find these productions in Germany and Austria to be the most offensive.

[sub opera]

@Les Mitchell

Whilst I respect your opinion, do save yourself the offence and do not attend opera performances outside NY/Chicago and avoid buying / borrowing / watching opera DVDs.

You state you like "faithful" productions. I guess, then, you'll never want to see pieces such as Gioconda, the Ring, etc., as some of their stated staging requirements are unperformable.

Vast numbers of us - including young and old, novices and aficionados - want more than pretty pictures. I might also add that opera is in a pretty health state at the moment, and some of it is due to the healthy discussion "controversial" productions create.

I, for one, don't want museum opera.

[Musicasola]

It's incomprehensible to him, yes, I do believe that. I didn't see those two productions (but did he, frankly? Or does he, like quite a lot of people, simply speak by hearsay or from pictures?), and the Tannhäuser seems indeed to be very difficult to stand for, but I had enough occasions to see how so-called Eurotrash directors are much more intelligent and relevant than the people who boo them. Opera is definitely not only good singing and synopsis. Long life Bieito, Marthaler, Konwitschny, Wieler (go to his Rusalka in London in Feb/March!) and all the others!