Bregenz Festival

Enthusiasm for two one-act plays by the opera studio

Fassbaender's direction is characterized by subtle humour.

(Bild: Bregenzer Festspiele/ Karl Forster)

(Bild: Bregenzer Festspiele / Karl Forster)

Unanimous enthusiasm for the Opera Studio's performance on Monday evening at the Theater am Kornmarkt in Bregenz.

"This is how opera should be," enthused one visitor after the premiere, "entertaining and at the highest level!" Indeed, the performance of the two one-act operas, Gioachino Rossini's "The Marriage Contract" and Giacomo Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi", was fascinating across the board. Claire Levacher conducted the Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra, which admittedly sounded quite loud in this room, and the fourteen young singers were convincing both vocally and dramatically.

Brigitte Fassbaender's direction was inspiring to kneel down to. The subtle humor that the now 85-year-old puts into the situations, the way she draws the characters with both sensitivity and a wink, is something that hardly anyone can imitate. Dietrich von Grebmer, whose stage design and costumes underline Fassbaender's work, must of course be mentioned in the same breath. In Rossini, we find ourselves in a bridal store in the 1960s. The owner Tobia Mill (Dionysos Avgerinos) makes a very special deal with his partner Mister Slook (Francesco Auriemma), who wants to marry his daughter, and Mill agrees to do so without question. But Fanni (great: Idyl Kutay) refuses, as she secretly loves the penniless Eduardo Milford (Francesco Lucii). When Slook realizes this, he provides Milford with a nice fortune and thus makes the young couple's happiness possible. Fassbaender knows how to visualize this act of redemption; only very briefly, in the backlight, does Slook appear as Christ.

A macabre play about a great inheritance
Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi" is a macabre and quirky play. The wealthy Florentine Buoso Donati has just died and his relatives are already frantically searching for his will. Once they have it, they find what they feared confirmed: He has left everything to a monastery. The young Rinuccio (wonderful tenor: Gonzalo Quinchahual) knows what to do: they should get the smart Gianni Schicchi. Rincuccio's ulterior motive is that this will increase his chances of being allowed to marry Schicchi's daughter, Lauretta (Idil Kutay). As nobody knows that Donati is dead, the body is taken away, Schicchi is put to bed instead and a notary is called in to draw up a better will.

Initially, the relatives each receive a small amount, but Schicchi assigns himself the most important parts of the inheritance, especially the city palace. This means he can throw everyone out and Lauretta and Rinuccio can marry. And lo and behold, Tobia Mill from Rossini's bridal salon arrives and brings the wedding dress in person - you could fill pages with Brigitte Fassbaender's enchanting directorial ideas! Further performances on August 14, 16 and 17.