Reimann is a composer I'd been meaning to check out, and this is freely available from the Bavarian State Opera until the end of the month, so of course I had to watch it.
It is King Lear. I don't know what else to tell you about it, plotwise. It's a perfectly reasonable adaptation of the story. Unlike Sallinen's Kuningas Lear, it includes Kent. It's an innately powerful story, so you'd have to work hard to fuck it up, and Reimann does not do that. I'd go further, in fact, and say that this is in the short list of operas by living composers that ought to find a place in the repertoire; it's very good. Sometimes subdued, almost ambient, it also launches into blasts of atonal noise to punctuate lines of dialogue. It's very exciting; it seems to me that if Berg is a bit much for you, this might be a good entryway into that kind of music. I do think this is better than the Sallinen (which I also liked!), although Matti Salminen in that one definitely makes more of an impression in the title role.
And yet, overall this didn't have the same emotional impact on me that that one did. And you want to know why? Well, the fact that this performance worked at all is a testament to how good the opera itself is, and is entirely in spite of the production itself, which only sabotages it. The question emerges: is it possible for a production of an opera by a living composer to be Regietheater? Reimann himself presumably signed off on this, so does it make any sense to complain? Well, I am. Complaining, that is. The action is set in a museum. Characters climb into display cases at various points. People ride dollies on stage. Here are Lear and Cordelia reunited near the end:
...okay. And here are Edgar and Edmund:
...seriously, what are you DOING? And check this one out; try to figure out what scene it is:
This is Lear on the heath. The Fool is off-camera but on-stage; here we also see Gloucester, Kent, Edgar, and Inexplicable Bemulleted Curator Guy (whom we see at the very beginning guiding tourists around the room in French) who has a lot of stage time for no clear reason. Seriously, man. As I say, the opera is good enough that I like it anyway, but this could be SO MUCH BETTER. Wanna see Gloucester with his eyes removed?
...yes, they have been replaced with cartoon googly eyes. I cannot EVEN. Here's the Fool:
...actually, fair play: that's not bad. A striking interpretation that works for me. But overall, man, what a train wreck. There's a different production available on DVD, and without having seen it, I feel fairly confident in saying that that's the version you should seek out if you want to experience this opera, as you should.
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