Donbass Opera proved that at the moment it is the main academic theater of our country. On December 8 the workers of the Anatolii Solovianenko National Opera and Ballet Theater in Donetsk performed on a really high level.
Not only the native of Donetsk such as the First Lady Liudmyla Yanukovych, governor Andrii Shyshatsky, speaker of the Donetsk Oblast Council Andrii Fedoruk, Mayor of Donetsk Oleksandr Lukianchenko attended the premiere of the legendary opera The Flying Dutchman by Richard Wagner (this opera was staged for the first time in Ukraine), but also some honorary guests like German Ambassador to Ukraine Christopher Weil, Consul General of Germany in Donetsk Klaus Zillikens, directors of the opera theaters in Odesa and Kharkiv, presidents of Wagner Society and Goethe-Institut, as well as all those who love the art of opera.
It took two years to complete the work on the project. The staging turned out to be unique and rather expensive (worth 3.5 million hryvnias). The play was staged according to the original score of the author and was performed in German with Ukrainian subtitles.
Top management of Donbass Opera and the German Consulate General in Donetsk were the initiators of the project. The German Consulate General in Donetsk purchased for the theater the original musical material published by Breitkopf publishing house. The theater workers prepared very carefully: there was a stage of preliminary preparations, when Ukrainian singers had to overcome the language barrier – they learned German texts, there were unique decorations made especially for this opera (they weigh nine tons), video projector that allows to imitate raging sea was purchased, and the whole stage was turned into tilted platform – imitation of a ship deck fixed at a certain angle, creating a 3D-effect. Specifically for the performance there were made 300 costumes, wigs, etc.
“Staging of the Richard Wagner’s opera The Flying Dutchman is a unique Ukrainian-German cultural project and the beginning of a series of events dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the composer, which will be celebrated in 2013. The fact that this opera was staged demonstrates the professionalism of our orchestra, chorus, ballet, and soloists. I am convinced that The Flying Dutchman will be a surprise for opera fans not only in Ukraine, but also for those in Europe, because even in Wagner’s homeland not many theaters, knowing the complexity of the work, dare to stage it on their own,” said Vadym PYSARIEV, artistic director of the Donbass Opera.
“Today Donbas is not only the land of metallurgy and coal mining, you can also listen to opera performed at modern European level here,” noted Klaus Zillikens, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Donetsk.
The Flying Dutchman is one of the first operas of Richard Wagner written to his own libretto and first staged in Dresden in 1843. There were many variants of the legend about the Dutchman before the composer crystallized them into his opera. Today this opera is a part of repertoire of many opera houses worldwide.
In the Donetsk Opera German director Mara KUROTSCHKA changed libretto: “In the original version it is a story of unrequited love, in which in the end the main character Senta in order to prove her loyalty to the Dutchman kills herself by jumping off a cliff. I tell the story of The Flying Dutchman as a feverish dream of Senta. In Senta’s dream we experience the events from the emotional perspective. We look at a limited, mercenary, hostile, and stale world ruled by Senta’s and Mary’s fathers. Senta dreams of Dutchman and sees the fictional soul mate in him. In this opera I tried to convey the sense of life of the 19th century through the story of Senta. I tried to get as close to it as possible, based on the modern perspective, the way I see the strong parallels with the current social mood. Globalization, hypercapitalism, shifts in values lead to the fact that a single person feels absolutely helpless… This is not my first staging of Wagner’s work. For me it was important to find what bothered people at that time and draw a parallel with modern world.”
With the help of the unique video projector the designers Momme Hinrichs, and Torge Moeller managed to create the illusion of a floating vessel, raging sea, and even images of the underwater world. It seemed that the waves of the sea were about to spill over into the orchestra pit and would then flood the entire hall. And when the ghost ship appeared the sight was so spectacular that the audience forgot to look at the subtitles, captivated by the stunning music and images.
In the production of The Flying Dutchman were involved the following professionals: Vasyl Vasylenko (Chief Conductor of Donbass Opera) and Mikhail Sinkevich (Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg – he conducted at the premiere), director Mara Kurotschka (Germany), Liudmyla Streltsova choir director and People’s Artist of Ukraine, designers Momme Hinrichs and Torge Moeller, Julia Harttung (Germany); singer of the Dutchman part – Andreas Macco (Germany), Daland’s part – Walter Fink (Austria), Senta’s part – Lesia Aleksieieva, winner of international competitions (National Opera of Ukraine), part of Senta in childhood was performed by Lia Bocharova (seven-year-old school student from Donetsk), choir and orchestra of Anatolii Solovianenko Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theater.
Project manager is Vasyl Riabenky, General Manager of the Theater, Honored Artist of Ukraine; artistic consultants of the project are Vadym Pysariev, artistic director of the Donbass Opera and People’s Artist of Ukraine and Alexander Jankov, director of Pro Musica Classic Company (Switzerland). The fact that the opera appeared on a poster of Donbass Opera was made possible thanks to the assistance of the Ukrainian and German partners: Donetsk Oblast State Administration, Donetsk Oblast Council, the German Embassy in Ukraine, Consulate General of Germany in Donetsk, German Cultural Center Goethe-Institut in Kyiv, and CKM Company.
“The opera had very interesting stage direction, a lot of new scenery,” Maryna CHERKASHYNA-HUBARENKO, renowned musicologist, chairperson at the Wagner Society in Kyiv and a regular contributor to this newspaper told The Day. “This premiere is a great event for Ukraine. I do not want to talk about a few remarks because all the positive sides of it outweigh the negative. The play had certain complicated moments but it all was determined by the author – Wagner. The Flying Dutchman was the first reform opera written by the composer and here the maestro had a double principle. On the one hand, Wagner moved forward to the integrity of the opera, while, on the other hand, the composer was shackled by the old opera conventions, which are difficult to stage. The orchestra, at first, sounded more straightforward but then as the action moved on the musicians played much better. For Wagner’s music it is very important how wind and brass instruments sound and this is the ‘Achilles’ heel’ of many opera orchestras not only in our country! But the fact that the staff of the Donetsk Opera managed to perform such a complex score deserves glory and praise. Singer of the Dutchman part – Andreas Macco was very good, he is a very original singer. I also liked the performance of Walter Fink who sang Daland’s part. Perhaps, he does not have a very rich and powerful voice but he acts very naturally. Senta (Lesia Aleksieieva) was very scenic, but the singer did not perform everything equally well (there were irregularities in the singing, especially in beginning of the ballad) but all in all she managed to create a complete image of the heroine. The scenery design is outstanding. Especially the first act. With the second act, where Wagner’s difficulties (with social conventions) take place, stage directors did not manage to solve them all completely. Music was also somewhat lingering. Perhaps, this was only due to the excitement of the premiere.
“Next year will be the year of Wagner in the world, but none of the opera houses of Ukraine, except for Donbass Opera, dared to stage something from the works of the German classic. Although, during Bulgakov time, Kyiv Opera staged five operas of the composer and in Lviv before the Soviet era almost all of the composer’s operas were staged. Audience in Kharkiv also heard Wagner’s works. It is good that now Donetsk Opera has restored the interrupted traditions.
“You know, staging of Harry Kupfer presented at the Bayreuth Festival was truly unforgettable for me. He was the first one to build the performance as Senta’s dying hallucinations. The heroine would not let go of the portrait of the Dutchman… Director Mara Kurotschka apparently was inspired by that show and also decided to make Senta and not the Dutchman the main character.”
“I compare the impressions from this production with the staging in Bayreuth (during Wagner Festival). Here the acoustics in the hall is worse, but during the opera the orchestra sounded pretty convincing,” said Oleksandr SERDIUK, Ph.D. in Art, Chairman of the Wagner Society in Kharkiv. “Director Mara Kurotschka tried to take another look at the story and set different accents. What concerns the soloists, Daland (Walter Fink) was convincing to me, while I had to get used to the Dutchman (Andreas Macco). He and Senta (Lesia Aleksieieva) seemed somewhat rational, and I did not see enough of the emotional charisma in them. But in general, the performance was very good. After all, we must not forget that Wagner’s works are rarely performed in Ukraine, he is a rather difficult composer and our actors and musicians do not have enough experience of playing such difficult pieces.”
When the opera was over the audience kept applauding. This premiere for Donbass Opera, as well as for the whole country, became the model we should follow. Directors and stage designers of all Ukrainian theaters should see the play in order to see how an opera can be staged in a new way that attracts huge audience.
Your can listen to Wagner’s music and appreciate the staging of Donbass Opera on December 12. The play The Flying Dutchman will be staged again on February 14 and 17. Believe me, it is worth making a trip to Donetsk to see this premiere!
