Ruth Walz
Another of the composer’s neglected operas, this performance features Anne Schwanewilms heading a large cast conducted by Michael Gielen.
I first saw Schwanewilms as a mesmerizing Senta in the Harry Kupfer Der fliegende Holländer in Spring 2002 also at the Berlin Staatsoper, not long after this acclaimed Ferne Klang premiere. If I recall correctly, it was a short time later that the soprano pulled out of a number of contracts for both Senta and Leonore in Fidelio deciding she wanted to take her career in another direction and earning considerable ill-will from some opera companies.
Numerous triumphs as the Marschallin followed, but her change in direction also included a particularly unfortunate engagement at the Chicago Lyric as the Countess Le nozze di Figaro. She sang the premiere then withdrew from the rest of the run. Having enjoyed recordings of her Strauss performances including her sole Met appearances as the Kaiserin and a superb recital at Alice Tully Hall, I was saddened that the pandemic prevented her from returning to New York in the fall of 2020 with Fabio Luisi and the Dallas Symphony for the Vier letzte Lieder.
Gielen may not be particularly remembered for his work in opera but he did lead the Frankfurt Opera for ten years. He primarily concerned himself with 20th century repertoire both symphonic and operatic which might explain why I didn’t hear him much during the 1980s when he was leading the Cincinnati Symphony though I was living not too many blocks away from Music Hall.
Franz Schreker’s large-scale works have had periodic revivals as interest has risen in so-called “Entartete Musik,” although not as often as his contemporary Alexander von Zemlinsky whose shorter operas Der Zwerg and Eine florentinische Tragödie surface more often.
Schreker: Der ferne Klang
Der alte Graumann: Bernd Zettisch
Seine Frau: Yehudit Silcher
Grete: Anne Schwanewilms
Fritz: Robert Künzli
Der Wirt/Ein Polizeimann: Gerd Wolf
Ein Schmierenschauspieler: Klaus Häger
Dr. Vigelius/Der Baron: Wolfgang Newerla
Ein altes Weib: Uta Priew
Der Chevalier/ Ein zweifelhaftes Individuum: Stephan Rügamer
Der Graf/Rudolf: Hanno Müller-Brachmann
Conductor: Michael Gielen
Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden
21 October 2001
Broadcast
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