Opera Graz

“The Trojans” wrestle with the spirits of war

The extended opera choir is one of the stars of the evening

(Bild: Werner Kmetitsch)

For the first time in the opera house's 125-year history, "Les Troyens (The Trojans)" by Hector Berlioz will be performed at Graz Opera. Director Tatjana Gürbaca and her team have shrunk the eight-thousander of opera literature to a climbable height. The result is a must-see for opera fans.

The opera begins with the supposed end of a war. The Trojans are convinced that they have won - but the seer Cassandra is the only one who suspects that the wooden horse standing outside the city gates will bring disaster and death.

War, that is one of the key points of Hector Berlioz's grand opera "Les Troyens", knows no end. Rather, it is a constant of human existence. And so Aeneas and his warriors are only just able to escape their doomed homeland of Troy. But even in Carthage, where Queen Dido grants them exile, they are haunted by the ghosts of war - and ultimately leave only pain and destruction in their wake.

This eight-thousander in opera history can be experienced in Graz for the first time - but shrunk to a climbable size. A good quarter of the work (especially the ballets) has been cut, and the evening (with two intermissions) lasts just under four hours.

Mareike Jankowski as Cassandra

(Bild: Werner Kmetitsch)

A trio bound by fate
Director Tatjana Gürbaca focuses primarily on the fateful trio of Cassandra-Aeneas-Dido. Set designer Henrik Ahr has created a sloping, wooden clod for this, which does not impose itself as a feast for the eyes, but above all offers space for Gürbaca's tableau-like arrangement of the characters and crowd scenes. And Barbara Drosihn's rather bleak costumes do anything but play to the foreground.

Ultimately, however, all of this fits in well with Gürbaca's concept, as she is primarily interested in the psychology of the three main characters - and can rely on great actors. First and foremost Anna Brull as Dido, who pulls out all the stops, both vocally and dramatically, to bring her development from heartfelt lover to desperate fury to the stage.

The tipping point of this development is, of course, the heartbreaking duet "Nuit d'ivresse" with Aeneas in Act 4, which Iurie Ciobanu sings with solid strength and glorious high notes. Mareike Jankowski, on the other hand, lends her Cassandra a dark vocal note that perfectly correlates with the dark forebodings of her character.

Anna Brull shines as Dido, Iurie Ciobanus Aeneas has solid strength

(Bild: Werner Kmetitsch)

As Berlioz intended, the chorus and orchestra play a leading role on this evening. Chief conductor Vassilis Christopoulos does not rely on blind pomp, but brings out the many tonal colors of this work with sensitivity. Both the extended opera choir (conducted by Johannes Köhler) and the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra are in absolute top form.

The result is a psychologically and musically finely balanced evening that is an absolute must for opera fans, not only because of its rarity, but also because of the quality of the performance.