Un ballo in maschera

The Production

With the British stage directing team Richard Jones and Antony McDonald Verdi's whole opera 'Un ballo in maschera' becomes a dance into death in a fantastic -surrealistic stage and light aesthetic carried by the music's bow of tension , which Marcello Viotti and the Vienna Symphonists never let tear off. That Richard Jones and Antony McDonald always have had strong relations to the dance, is obvious in the new production on the floating stage. At the same time the British duo, which is responsible for stage direction, sets and costumes, give a good example with its fascinating production for the 'Bregenz Dramaturgy'. This term - developed further and further since the mid-eighties - stands for the conversion of an opera from indoor performance into an outdoor spectacle on an outsized stage. Without a curtain, but with permanent technical surprises and changes, which makes it also to the persons not knowing the libretto understandable what is going on on the stage and create unforgettable experiences.

Jones' and McDonald's settings impress on one hand by their plainness and clear conception and at the same time by all the trimmings and the light-design (Wolfgang Göbbel). The same counts true for the imaginative, to some parts timeless-surrealistic costumes (costume assistant: Emma Ryott). The directing duo succeeds to create - in spite of the extend of the stage - intimacy in several scenes and to work out the psychology of the characters. Already the stage in form of a book with its 23 meters high and 15 tons heavy, through a book leafing steel skeleton is an attraction itself, which draws a lot of spectators also over the day. Incomparable stronger is the effect at dusk, when the sun sinks red-hot on the Swiss side of the 'Bodensee' and the light-design creates a romantic

Photo: Miro Kuzmanovic weird atmosphere.

The Vienna Symphonists under the baton of Marcello Viotti spread out with Verdi's by ease and joie de vivre but also tragic carried music a filigree, colorful, well-accentuated, sometimes chamber music-like sound carpet, on which the production soars. Very obviously becomes how much Verdi has used in the 1859 for the first time stages opera already the 'Leitmotive'.

The dancing element becomes already a part of the overture, when Oscar dances to its sounds on the dance-manual on the book page. A great work perform also the fifty dancers (choreography: Philippe Giraudeau), when they get rid of their coats, trousers and ties in just five seconds while passing through the oversized crown and change from loyalists and conspirators to seamen, which ring the departure to Ulrica by a dance scene. Ulrica's home is a swimming coffin. A good idea, but which was not totally matured and especially acoustically created some problems. About three weeks before the first night the coffin had sunk in his garage behind the floating stage and it took some days to salvage and restore it. So the rehearsal with the coffin could only continue short before the premiere.

Very impressive is the idea of the guillotine coming blood-red lighted out off the waves of the lake, in which it will vanish later again with a noise just like the sound of the wind. To this guillotine replacing the gallows leads a small footbridge, over which Amelia has to go to get the herb against her loving feelings for the king. Excellent also the 'Spottchor' (mockery chorus) (choir directors: Robert Jud/Vladimir Minin - Festival Choir Bregenz/ Chamber Choir Moscow) just some moments later. The in this scene like from nowhere coming vintage does not suit to the life dates of the Swedish king Gustav III., which are printed on the book page (1746 - 1792), whose assassination was the historical example for Verdi's opera, but the idea supports the image of the mockery chorus brilliantly. The open vintage from the twenties appears like stocks for the supposed cheated husband Ankarström and his wife Amelia.

Technical perfection also in the next scene when the front part of the upper book page moves up and reveals Ankarström's working chamber with an oversized painting of the king at the back wall and a table extending over the whole length of the stage. In this chamber Renato Count Ankarström becomes finally a conspirator and by draw the murderer of his so far friend King Gustav. The Bregenz production team has decided to use the original 'Swedish' version and not the by the censorship on Verdi forced second 'Boston' version.

To a large ballroom becomes the last, with the for Bregenz obligatory fireworks punctuated scene. 48 masked dance pairs are marched up on the stage in six rows for the ,menuett. They are creating very quickly, when Renato asks the page Oscar for the costume of the king, his master, a question mark - a great, very precisely into action put idea. In the end the by Renato during the ball fatally wounded king will move on the hand of the skeleton towards the water, where the coffin 'has driven up' again. But Gustavo has to lift again, stand up from the hand and climb himself with his last ounce of strength into the coffin, where he sings his final part. Everybody asks himself now, why the last technical refinement has not been done and the hand would drop the king directly into the coffin. The answer gives a witness report of the historical events. During a fency-dress-ball in the opera house shot in his back Gustav III. walked still upright at the arm of a friend out of the room. If he did not mention that he had been shot in the back, the persons standing around would only have believed in a banger. The king lived still for two weeks before he finally died. The Counts Ankarström, Horn and Ribbing are as well historical persons, who wanted to kill the by the folk beloved ruler, since he had limited the rights of the nobility. As in the opera also the historical Gustav III., who has become part of history as the 'theater king', because he liked to be an actor in theater plays and wrote several of them himself, did not take the warnings for serious. A love story like in the opera it had not had in the historical events. Count Ankarström, the assassin, was obviously not married.