Opera Reviews
29 March 2024
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Death in Venice finally gets its La Scala premiere



by Silvia Luraghi
Britten: Death in Venice
Teatro all Scala, Milan
8 March 2011

Photo: Brescia e Amisano © Teatro alla ScalaThe long overdue company premiere of Benjamin Britten's Death in Venice was welcomed with a warm nine minute applause at La Scala by an attentive audience.

Britten's last opera, which closely follows Luchino Visconti's cinema production of Thomas Mann's famous novel, has been relatively infrequently performed on Italian stages, which certainly explains the almost sold out theater for the whole run of this little known masterpiece.

Apparently Britten did not want to see Visconti's film, in order to avoid the risk of being sued for plagiarism; perhaps for this reason, he produced an extremely cinematic score. Now both the Deborah Warner production and conductor Edward Gardner's musical interpretation highlighted this aspect of Britten's opera, and came up with an extremely compelling result, which deeply moved the audience.

The production, already seen at London's Coliseum and at La Monnaie in Brussels, is set in the early 20th century and featured very effective sets designed by Tom Pye, which represented the Venetian lagoon in a dreamlike fashion, reminiscent of Turner's paintings. Chloe Obolensky's period costumes and Jean Kalman's evocative lighting added to the visual impact of the performance.

Particularly effective were the scenes in which Gustav von Aschenbach is travelling in a gondola in the midst of the lagoon. The suffocating damp of the town contrasted with the light atmosphere of the beach, where the elderly writer meets the Polish teenager Tadzio, who hangs like a haunting phantom in his mind, a phantom with whom he never even dares to speak.

The light disappointment which preceded opening night for the cancellation of Ian Bostridge was wiped away by the compelling interpretation of tenor John Graham-Hall as Aschenbach. The singer displayed a solid middle range with an easy top, which made him a perfect fit for the role, originally written by the composer for tenor Robert Tear.

Death in Venice is essentially a one man story; however, it features some smaller roles which are not irrelevant, and were very well covered in the current production. Peter Coleman-Wright proved extremely versatile in the multiple role of the Traveler, the Elderly Fop, and the Voice of Dionysius, and countertenor Iestyn Davies lent his charming voice to the Voice of Apollo.

Dancers also have an important role in this opera, not least of course the principal dancer who represents Tadzio. In this role, Alberto Terribile had all qualities one might wish for: youthful and delicate looks, and a typical teenager attitude toward adults, which prevented him from consciously realize anything about Aschenbach's feelings. His companions from the La Scala Dance Academy were his valuable partners.

The orchestra, new to this score, performed gorgeously under Gardner's baton, with special mention deserved for the percussions. All performances thus far have attracted a large audience and have ended in success.

Text © Silvia Luraghi
Photo © Brescia/Amisano © Teatro alla Scala
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