Tokyo Performances

Turandot

New National Theater
Conductor: Antonello Allemandi
Production Design: Henning Brockhaus
Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra
October 15, 2008

Yet another weird production. The last Turandot here was a space-age epic with Alessandra Marc encased in a cone suspended in a sphere hovering over the stage singing "In Questa Reggia" while only being able to move her head. It worked. This new production, however, relied on the old Italian villagers gathering in a village square routine (startlingly similar to Pagliaci and Cavalleria Rusticana), this time for the circus. The center of the stage was dominated by a band wagon, and one of the clever bits of the production was having some of the brass players perform from atop the wagon while dressed in marching band uniforms. The circus members circulated among the crowd distributing Chinese costumes and singled out a a couple to portray Turandot and Calaf, while the waitress at the cafe got to be Liu.

Let the circus begin. Ping, Pang and Pong were circus clowns, and three of their fellow clowns spent a great deal of their time performing back flips and cartwheels throughout the evening. There was, of course, the obligatory Chinese dragon. And in the background a carousel and a carnival ride. My seatmate remarked that the production was "vivid", but I thought it was just silly. I longed for the excesses of Old Peking, or else, at least, a nice sphere suspended over the stage.

Need I say more? I didn't like the production.

But, the singing was very good. Turandot was portrayed by Irene Theorin who reminded me of Caballe. She had some beautiful high pianissimos, and her dramatic moments were strong without being overwrought. Walter Fraccaro's Calaf was acceptable - he sang well but was no Pavarotti. Hamada Rie's Liu was, I suspect, miked. Her voice seemed to emanate from the middle of the stage and was unwavering even when she turned her head to the side. Miking opera singers is another sign of the breakdown of society, in my opinion.

At Liu's death, the company returned to their black villager oufits as she was conveyed off the stage. It would have been a great place to stop - it's the point at which Puccini died. Instead we got the overwrought Alfano ending. I would love to hear the Berio ending live. I have a recording of it, and it seems vastly superior to the Alfano.

The orchestra was excellent, as was the conducting. My criticism of this company is that the money appears to be spent on the productions and not on the singers. People must be coming for the show and not for the music.

The theater was appallingly hot, but my seat in the center of the second row of the first tier was about as good as one could get. I could see the entire stage and hear everything clearly. That's what $250 gets you.

posted by Larry Wells @ 7:55 PM 0 comments

Busan Philharmonic Orchestra

Asia Orchestra Week
Tokyo Opera City
4 October 2008

As part of the Asia Orchestra Week, the Busan (or is it Pusan?) Philharmonic performed under the direction of Alexander Anissimov. Notable for the large number of women in the ensemble, compared to Japanese orchestras at least, the group played enthusiastically in a very alive hall. The sound was so bright at times I wondered if the hall had been recently "tuned" or if the orchestra was just very bright sounding.

The program opened with Kim Ok Sung's "A Song of Good Harvest", a banal piece I'd guess based on Korean folk motifs and of the Vaughan-Williams meets Korea with startling Latin dance percussion rhythm in parts. It was short and forgettable.

Next was Barber's violin concerto performed by Dennis Kim. Having heard a fine performance in 2005 by Reiko Watanabe, this performance was pedestrian in comparison. The violin was sometimes completely covered by the orchestra, and the solo work in the first two movements was just OK. Kim did come alive in the brief third movement, which requires virtuoso technique, but the entirety was at best pleasant.

After the intermission there was an acceptable performance of Shostakovich's 5th symphony. Having heard all of Shostakovich's symphonies last year, I had high expectations. The playing was spirited, and the performance was very good but not exceptional. Part of the problem was an occasional lapse in intonation. But, the winds were excellent.

An encore of another Korean folk tune based orchestral work closed an interesting but unremarkable experience.

posted by Larry Wells @ 5:35 PM 0 comments