Walter BRAUNFELS (1882-1954)
Die Vögel (The Birds) (1920) [138:54]
Nightingale – Désirée Rancatore (soprano); Good Hope – Brandon Jovanovich
(tenor); Loyal Friend – James Johnson (bass) Hoopoe – Martin Gantner (baritone);
Wren – Stacey Tappan (soprano); Prometheus – Brian Mulligan (baritone); Eagle/Zeus
– Matthew Moore (bass/baritone); First Thrush – Valerie Vinzant (soprano);
Second Thrush – Courtney Taylor (soprano); Flamingo – John Kimberling (tenor);
First Swallow – Renee Sousa (soprano); Second Swallow – Rebecca Tomlinson
(soprano); Third Swallow – Ayana Haviv (soprano); First Tit – Nicole Fernandes
(soprano); Second Tit – Tara Victoria Smith (soprano); First Dove – Adriana
Manfredi (mezzo); Second Dove – Helene Quintana (mezzo); Third Dove – Amber
Erwin (mezzo); Fourth Dove – Jennifer Wallace (mezzo)
Los Angeles Opera Orchestra and Chorus/James Conlon
Stage Director – Darko Tresnjak
Set Designer – David P. Gordon
Costume Designer – Linda Cho
Lighting Designer – David Weiner
Choreographer – Peggy Hickey
rec. live, 23, 26 April 2009, Los Angeles Opera
1080i Full HD; PCM Stereo/DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
ARTHAUS
MUSIK 
101530 BLU-RAY [138:54] 
DVD 101529
There have been just two recordings of this Walter Braunfels opera to date,
the 1996 Decca CD set (recorded December, 1994), led by Lothar Zagrosek, with
Helen Kwon as Nightingale and Endrik Wottrich as Good Hope, and this effort,
a production of the Los Angeles Opera. Because this new one is the only video
release of the opera and is as good or better a performance as the Decca,
it is quite an essential acquisition for those interested in the byways of
early-20th century opera.
Braunfels was a talented composer, particularly of opera, one of the most
prominent in Germany in the 1920s. He actually became a rival of Richard Strauss
and, along with Schreker, was the most highly regarded young composer of opera
at the time. The Birds (1920), based on the Aristophanes comedy of
the same title, was Braunfels’ third opera and achieved wide popularity in
Germany.
Why did the opera and the composer fade? Braunfels, a practising Roman Catholic,
was half-Jewish, but still had a chance to curry favor with the fledgling
Nazi party in 1923 when he was asked to write an anthem for their movement.
He refused, cognizant of their political extremism and evil. One reliable
account, by the composer’s grandson, the architect Stephan Braunfels, has
it that Braunfels threw Hitler out when he asked the composer for the anthem.
Many German citizens with partial Jewish ancestry were arrested and deported
to death camps, but Braunfels survived in exile in Switzerland, having been
dismissed by the Nazis from his post as director of the Cologne Academy of
Music in 1933, with all performances of his works banned in Germany. He was
a talented concert pianist and continued to compose throughout the 1930s and
war years. He regained his post at the Cologne Academy in 1945, but in the
post-war years his music was largely ignored because he was a conservative
at a time when Boulez, Stockhausen, Cage and members of the Darmstadt School
were coming into vogue.
The Birds was revived in Karlsruhe in 1971 and finally recorded by
Decca in 1994, based on a Berlin production. But it still remains an obscure
work. The story is fairly simple, if a little silly. Good Hope, a man feeling
betrayed in love by women, and Loyal Friend, disappointed by declining art,
abandon civilization for the place of their dreams — the domain of the birds,
ruled by Hoopoe, who was once a man. The birds are initially suspicious of
the men — as they are of all mankind — but are eventually convinced by the
two to build a fortress around their world against the wishes of the gods.
In the end, Zeus becomes displeased and summons a powerful storm that destroys
the birds’ fortress. The two men return to civilization, but with the enamored
Good Hope feeling transformed by a kiss he had shared with the captivating
Nightingale.
What is remarkable about this production of The Birds are its visual
aspects, from the resplendent costumes (including lavish headwear for the
birds) and imaginative sets to the brilliant lighting effects and dancing.
For once, we have a modern production not visually barren or anachronistically
annoying. In the Second Act the lighting effects are spectacular: shortly
after Good Hope kisses the Nightingale luminescent images of flowers appear
on the stage floor, eventually covering the entire surface. The birds’ costumes
are brilliantly and colorfully designed, and when the singers flap their arms
a waving and fluttering of the fabric makes them seem almost airborne. Often
the colors on stage from the lighting, costumes and sets combine to create
delightfully colorful images and befitting atmosphere to deftly complement
the highly imaginative music. Stage director Darko Tresnjak and staff have
lavished the greatest care and artistic insight on this effort. Bravo to them!
But what about the singing? Désirée Rancatore is charming throughout as the
Nightingale. Her Second Act number Ah! Ah! Narzissus… is really a sort of
challenging vocal cadenza, wherein she delivers the twittering notes beautifully
and accurately. Brandon Jovanovich soon joins in and the two offer some of
the finest singing here in this production. Some of Rancatore’s high notes
in the opera are a bit weak, but overall her voice, a beautiful lyric coloratura
soprano, is attractive and ample in volume. Stacey Tappan, as the Wren, sings
with equal charm, and Martin Gantner makes a fine Hoopoe. In the brief role
of Prometheus Brian Mulligan is brilliant in his dire demeanor: he gives the
character a Wagnerian depth and offers a much needed contrast to the often
lighthearted atmosphere. The ballet sequence in the opera, a dance to celebrate
the marriage of two doves, is brilliantly executed, and features good though
not particularly imaginative choreography.
James Conlon conducts with a real sense for Braunfels’ style, a style which,
while exhibiting the influence of Richard Strauss and Wagner, is less saccharine
than the former’s can sometimes be and more colorful and varied than the latter’s.
Conlon’s tempos are brisker than Zagrosek’s: although the opera’s overall
timing is given as 138:54 (as compared with Zagrosek’s nearly identical 138:46!),
Conlon’s is padded by ten minutes of curtain calls and opening and closing
credits. The Los Angeles opera orchestra and chorus turn in fine work, though
I must comment that the French horn is perhaps too closely miked in some softer
passages. It could be, however, that Braunfels’ orchestral writing often featured
slightly more prominent horn writing in quieter passages. It’s a minor matter
in any event, and does not detract from the overall success of this wonderful
production. Although Zagrosek’s CD set is worthwhile, this Blu-ray DVD is
certainly the way to enjoy this still neglected opera. In sum, this is a superb
recording that merits the highest praise!
Robert Cummings
A superb recording that merits the highest praise!