2023-04-30 14:38:00
The director Kerstin Steeb has staged the drama of a woman for the Plauen-Zwickau theater, who nobody restricts in her actions until she finally fails on her own.
Staging operas from a female point of view is no longer entirely new. Think of the impressive realization of Richard Wagner’s “Ring” by four female directors at the Chemnitz Opera in the 2018/19 season. Director Kerstin Steeb followed a similar approach, and now as a guest for the Plauen-Zwickau theater she brought the rarely performed opera “Manon Lescaut” to the stage, with which Giacomo Puccini achieved his breakthrough as a music dramatist in the 1890s. Saturday was the premiere in Zwickau. The question arises: A female perspective on an opera that is already titled with its female protagonist? Owls to Athens? If someone is the focus of this opera based on Abbé Prévost’s scandalous novel from 1731, it is that Manon (Małgorzata Pawłowska), who, shortly before going to the convent, elopes to Paris with the noble student De Grieux (Wonjong Lee), when he is broke, the rich Geronte (Andrej Valiguras) and returns to De Grieux for lack of real passion. Not without stealing extensively from the ex beforehand. Banished to America for this reason, among other things, Manon dies there – in the presence of the faithful De Grieux, who was allowed to accompany her.
Finest framing
With Kerstin Steeb it reads like this: “‘Manon Lescaut’ contains a story about a lack of access to money, power, education and also freedom. It’s about glass barriers that prevent social advancement, make the desired unattainable and thus the longing ultimately into Increase immeasurably. Even love is doomed to fail in this underprivileged situation. And the downward spiral only ends when one’s dreams and love are literally buried.”
Respect. You first have to come up with such a framing in a story in which the main heroine, at least in the first two of four acts, is always the master of the process, acts without resistance or coercion, always chooses the most comfortable way of life for her at the expense of her husbands and in which Consequence in the end fails in itself. It’s always the others’ fault. Or the circumstances.
The hammer in hand turns every problem into a nail
A “woke” production, then. Despite all the indisputable merits of wokeness in the fight against racism, sexism, neoliberalism and reactionary-totalitarian tendencies, it sometimes suffers from seeing a nail in every problem, hammer in hand. According to the programme, the colorful people with whom the opera begins become the “working class of the city”. It’s not colorful either. Set designer Sophie Lenglachner decked out the choir and extras in vintage outfits in all sorts of shades of gray. The costumes of the soloists cover the last 300 years. It should probably be said that conditions have hardly changed since then. Is that so? It remains unproven claim. Reality says otherwise.
Three mute sisters mean: This is not an isolated case!
In general, a lot is taught. So Manon is accompanied at every turn by three mute doubles (whose actresses are not named in the program booklet, after all), who are supposed to reflect their inner life and stand for the fact that the case being negotiated here is not an isolated case. The red-haired trio smeared themselves with blood, stands in the scene pregnant with meaning, gesticulates, mimics. Since 2010 there have been around 90 productions of “Manon Lescaut” worldwide. Most of them might have been missing such accessories. And nobody missed it.
If surtitles, then right!
What is missing, however, is stringency. Things are sung about that don’t happen on stage at all. About kisses for the dying Manon, for example, when Brieux is meters away. And if an Italian opera has a German surtitle, then please include the whole text! Some viewers understand the idiom of the Appennines so well that they notice when lines and content rush past them untranslated.
Musically the finest is delivered
But why go to a Puccini opera? Because of Puccini! And the ensemble delivers in an exemplary manner. The relationship triangle of Pawlowska, Lee and Valiguras moves vocally at the top level and always gives everything hard at the performance limit. poignant! The Clara Schumann Philharmonic under GMD Leo Siberski bring the melt of the Luccheser in double cream level as harmonious as creamy over the ramp. Big cinema!
Whether the thunderous applause of the premiere audience was primarily for the musical performance or also for the implementation cannot be said. There were no boos for the production team. And of course: there must be interpretations like this. Also in the region. Without them, the opera is boring. They are contributions to social discourse and to the question of how we want to live. And if the theater no longer delivers it, it’s not just lost itself.
The opera “Manon Lescaut” can be seen again on May 6th and 21st at the Gewandhaus in Zwickau. The Plauen premiere on May 26th in the Vogtlandtheater will be followed by a performance on June 11th. www.theater-plauen-zwickau.de
#Woke #staging #Puccinis #opera #classic #celebrates #premiere #Zwickau #Manon #mute #doppelgangers #free #press