Degout & Dessay: Pelleas et Melisande

On Virgin Classics DVD

Melisande … Natalie Dessay
Pelleas … Stephane Degout
Golaud … Laurent Naouri
Arkel … Phillip Ens
Genevieve … Marie-Nicole Lemieux
Yniold … Beate Ritter
Doctor, Shepherd … Tim Mirfin

I have to agree with the critics who found Laurent Pelly's production for Theater an der Wien of Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande missing too many elements to be considered a great one. Still, that should not deter any fan of the opera (or the curious) from spending time with it as there remains PLENTY to rejoice about. The set is worth owning for the performers, if not the setting. Though Pelly seems to be bumbling in the dark at times, he still has found moments - and is blessed with a marvelous cast of singers/actors.

As blind old King Arkel, poor Phillip Ens seems to have been practically forgotten by Pelly for most of the opera, and spends the evening sweeping the floor with the hem of his too-long and heavy looking overcoat as he shuffles along in bad ol' generic "old man" business (think Tim Conway on the Carol Burnett Show). Vocally, the voice is often beautiful. His interaction with Melisande is touching (the line "If I were God, I would take pity on the hearts of men" delivered with genuine poignancy. Ens's Arkel dominates the final scene with great lyrical beauty of sound and seems to believe every word he was singing. So did I.

Laurent Naouri (Dessay's husband) gives a properly brooding and confused performance of Golaud that wavers between subtlety and over-the-top - which is not a bad choice for this complex, tortured character. The curtain drops too quickly after the murder of his brother, but it appears that this Golaud has a crazed smile that would have been a nice touch to see more of. His abuse and foiled attempt of raping Melisande is enough to make a viewer cringe. A good Golaud will always make me pity him for his life choices and uncontrollable temper, and Naouri does the job well.

Natalie Dessay's first essay of opera's most enigmatic heroine is a nice, solid one and the role sounds good in her voice. One of the world of operas finest actors, Dessay really gets under Melisande's skin, however, with choices I think she will reconsider if she keeps this role in her repertoire (and she definitely should!). Twice during the show she spins around like a whirling dervish, and at the second, adding a bit of goofiness to Melisande's plight as, clearly dizzy, she stumbles a bit before regaining more sure footing. Speaking of footing, as Pelleas and Melisande head toward the cave, there is a wonderful moment as he helps her down from a platform about 7 feet, by her simply stepping into his open hand as he then lowers her to the ground. It lasts but a few seconds, yet it is touches like these which add immeasurably to both the complexities and believability of the character.

Stephene Degout joins a long list of really marvelous Pelleas's, the hesitancy in his voice (and manner) of the first acts leaving plenty of room for the character's development. Vocally, he opens up thrillingly in Act IV, singing in some of Debussy's greatest music with great ardor and near vocal abandon. Physically, he and Dessay - who have most of the night restrained and hidden their passion, burst into a fiery embrace, her leaping up into his arms - the music freezing in silence along with the tableaux - just enough for the viewer to catch his breath and then MURDER! (I still can't fathom how any one calls this opera "boring.")

I'm a fan of Bertrand de Billy but I tend to like a better mixture of the Debussy's gauzy/haziness and full throttle playing then de Billy gives us here leading the Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien. It is still rock solid, but (to my ears) felt a bit heavier, more Wagnerian if you will, than I typically want to hear this score.

The production is what I'd call "very theatrical" - a turntable revolving the set nicely to change the locales of the operas many scenes, sometimes to brilliant effect (e.g ., Golaud standing on the apron of the stage as the world seems to spin around him). It isn't a particularly attractive group of sets, but it doesn't take away from the fine work of the cast. Pelly is, I believe, on to something, but his work here feels unfinished, and as though not given enough thought. I'd like to see Pelly have another go at this, with the same cast, but as is, this DVD offers much to enjoy.

Tremendous Trittico!

I just finished watching the gorgeous production from Teatro Comunale di Modena and can only say if you love Trittico as I do, you must have this set - and priced as it is it's a steal!

First, all three, distinctive sets by Giacomo Andrico, costumes by Gianluca Fataschi and lighting by Cesare Accetta are nothing short of marvelous, each setting the mood of the piece as soon as the curtain rises.

For Il Tabarro we're plunged into dismal, watery world under the large arch of a Parisian bridge, the barge a depressing and effective playing area, where shadows loom everywhere. The colors and light effects are sensational.

For Suor Angelica, we're in an enormous vaulted room of shifting columns, with set pieces unobtrusively moved into place to change the settings throughout in a way I've not seen done before - even an enormous fountain glides into place for several spectacular effects in the first and final scenes. The miracle is beautifully staged, with a child Madonna leading Angelica's son toward his mother, the son racing to and falling onto and embracing his mother for a touching reunion of smiles before both expire, the little Madonna smiling down on them. Talk about lump in your throat moments!

Schicchi makes me wonder why any director would want to update it, the massive period set evoking the era, but the over-the-top costumes, elaborate wigs, ridiculous hats all like a renaissance painting come to life - save for Schicchi who first appears in a pinstriped suit.

Christina Pezzoli's direction in all three operas brings real theatre into the proceedings, all of the characters richly detailed, stripped (mostly) of old-fashioned cliches and rich with life.

Alberto Mastromarino shines both as Michele and Schicchi, even when his voice sometimes (rarely) threatens to break under pressure. For the most part he sings beautifully and he shows that even a corpulent singer/actor can learn to move and act with grace, style and be a physically thrilling performer. He is that and more - and his curtsey (still in Buoso's gown) at the end is charm itself. Dark, violently threatening as Michele, his Schicchi is fleet and light as a feather. I want to see more of this guy!

Amarilli Nizza pulls off the operatic equivalent of a hat trick nailing all three of the heroines. She is a wildly physical Giorgietta in her flapper get up, complete with garters, stockings and head band. She is both hope and sorrow personified as Angelica, and pulls off a shrewd, if slightly long in the tooth Lauretta, all winks and knowing nods. In one delicious bit of irony, "O mio babbino caro," is sung while daddy pulls her into his coat. It's little touches like this that Ms. Pezzoli injects throughout all three operas that give them a wonderful sense of theatricality. Nizza's voice is an exciting one, not always beautiful of sound, especially when pushing it in the mid range, but she has the most secure and thrilling top I've heard in a soprano in ANY of these roles in a very, very long time. Her high c at the end of the "Lodiam" sequence is thrilling and goes on forever.

Also in Schicchi, the movement from all of the singers is choreographed to the music in an almost comedic balletic fashion that brings it vividly to life. (Though I must say, I've rarely, if ever, seen this particular opera not done well).

The rest of the casts are all marvelous actors and (mostly) good singers, particularly Rubens Pelizzari as Luigi, who several times resembles the young, handsome Pavarotti. His murder at Michele's hands is terrifying, Michele plunging his head into the river, Luigi coming up gasping for air, soaking wet it's positively lugubrious!

The Orchestra della Fondazione Arturo Toscanini and the Coro Lirico Amadeus led by Julian Reynolds is in top form and the entire thing flew by so beautifully and quickly I couldn't believe 3+ hours had come and gone.

I (obviously) can't say enough good things about this one!

Lepage Reinvents The Rake's Progress!

Last night I watched an absolutely captivating production of Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress" from Brussel's Théâtre de la Monnaie, in a thrilling production sure to rattle some cages by director Robert Lepage.

Lepage has moved the opera up to the 1950's - the era in which Stravinsky composed the opera (and for some well thought out reasons), and set it in the American West. Taking advantage of the state of the art projection equipment available today, the curtain rises on a breathtaking view of an oil field that somehow combines George Steven's classic motion picture "Giant" with the Trevor Nunn production of Oklahoma, with Anne and Tom stretched out on a blanket declaring their love. When Shadow appears, he rises from the ground beneath an enormous, ever pumping, oil derrick - and is black - covered head to toe in Texas tea.

The next scene London is transformed into a movie set and the derrick has turned into a director's boom/jib with Shadow riding high above the action calling out through a megaphone. Mother Goose is transformed into a Marlene Dietrich styled brothel madam and when Tom takes her they sink beneath the stage taking miles of pink satin sheets with them leaving a giant heart-shaped bed, and a bar room brawl. With Stravinsky's music - it all seems to work perfectly!

When Anne races to rescue Tom, it is in a little red convertible sportscar, windshield wipers going and Anne's silk scarves blowing in the wind until carried off on a life of its own. Projected images speed by and she even makes a few hairpin turns, and the images filling the stage around her slow down into the city's streets. It is nothing short of dazzling showmanship - I can't recall anything quite like it. She arrives at a movie theatre complete with Hollywood searchlights and a marquee emblazoned with "Baba the Turk and Tom Rakewell - a Nick Shadow Production." The scene is at once, hilarious and infinitely touching.

Later, we find Baba and Tom lounging poolside, Baba taking a dip, Tom reading Variety with the hilarious headline "Gloria Swanson to star in Sunset Boulevard" (next to that is an opera review!). The entire thing here has a "Sunset Blvd." feel entirely appropriate to the proceedings.

The scenes primarily involving Tom and Nick have a lovely, eerily sinister feel to them, the first taking place before Tom's trailer on the movie set (a hilarious bit of scenery change that provokes laughter from an otherwise fairly staid audience) ... Tom is partially dressed in what appears to be a Cassanova costume, the stars are twinkling, his ego is raging and evil is afoot. It's brilliant.

Vocally things could hardly be better. Andrew Kennedy - all milkfed faced and slightly smarmy charm makes this Rake's "progress" all too believable. His arias are dispatched with a gorgeous, liquid old-school British lyric tenor sound that has just a touch of honey to it. Kennedy is not one of today's matinee idol tenors, and so to have him believing he's "all that" makes his journey all the more poignant. He's quite wonderful, really. His scene in Bedlam where he believes he is Adonis, is perfectly acted and sung with golden tone.

Quite simply, Laura Claycomb was born to sing Anne Truelove. Her voice is a mystery - at once light as a feather, but with a steel spine or core to it, there is an odd dichotmy of delicacy and strength that is entirely unique. She spins out these silvery high notes that float like gossamer - then she applies pressure to increase them to a size and volume not quite believable, but still entirely true to her sound. I'm grasping at words here, so, in a nutshell: she rocks. Her "No word from Tom" and the aria and cabaletta that follow are all of a piece, with an ease through the coloratura paces Stavinsky demands of her capping it all with a solid, ringing top C and - boy it's exciting! The scene where she discovers Tom's marriage to Baba - well, vocally and visually Claycomb, as, dejected and lost, she climbs back into her little red car - well, if she doesn't break your heart, you haven't got one. As good as she is in all of those scenes, it is when she returns to Tom in Bedlam that Claycomb's Anne shines brightest. That silvery, pure voice is now wedded to the heart of a woman who knows this love is lost and yet has nothing but compassion and tenderness to express. I think I've quite fallen in love with her. This is a remarkable performance.

Always a fan of William Shimell, I must admit to being just a bit surprised when he arrived on the scene for he looked remarkably like Jose van Dam - something I'd never noticed before. Shimell plays Nick Shadow to the hilt, the voice booming out nicely when called for, but more lyrical than many Shadows of recent vintage who seem to want to "boom" a lot more than really is necessary. All that Handel and Mozart singing shows nicely in this role. And what a great physical presence he is, agile and swift seemingly appearing out of nowhere. He's seductive, suave - even when dripping with black crude.

I was less excited about Dagmar Peckova's Baba - her heavily accented English and thick vibrato seeming to be a less than perfect match for Stravinsky's music, but she acts up a storm - in one of the more bizarre costumes to ever grace a stage (kinda creepy too).

The la Monnaie chorus and orchestra are led by their maestro (someone new to me), Kazushi Ono who gives a crisp, very classical feel to the score. The orchestra sounds wonderful and the chorus is quite amazing in all their music, particularly the Bedlam scene. Lepage's production is sure to cause a ruckus (it has) but for anyone who loves this opera as much as I do, this is a must have DVD of a thoroughly engaging, well thought out and immensely moving production. I loved every minute of it!

The disc is available from the OpusArte label and well worth owning.

Holy Tosca, Batman!

Although I saw it (on a poorly transferred PAL tape) when new, I just purchased the new Decca Tosca DVD from the Amsterdam production in
1998. Last night I watched it in superior conditions to those of a decade ago and am haunted still. I like when that
happens.

First off, Lehnhoff's production is going to seriously piss some people off but it is singularly one of the
most exciting performances of Tosca I can recall seeing in years. Lehnhoff has taken Puccini's "shabby little shocker" and done what many of us have been eternally waiting for – putting it over the top, right where it belongs. He has stripped the tale of its ornate baroque trappings and set it in what appears to be hell. For those who want read only about the musical performance - jump about half a dozen paragraphs.

Act 1's church is an enormous cavernous, foreboding place. Cavarodossi's Magdalene painting absolutely gargantuan on a highly raised platform that dominates the rear of the stage. Instead of rococo pillar and posts, the stage floor is filled with countless metal and glass columns a mite taller than your average man. These columns provide incredible playing areas turning the enormous stage into a series of more intimate settings that work magnificently. During the Te Deum, Scarpia alone is on stage before a painting of the devil and at each cannon burst during this the tops of the columns erupt into flame – the cameras catching Scarpia's malevolent sneer, the flames leaping up towards him. It is one of the most exciting images I've ever seen. And there were more of these to come.

Scarpia's apartment is of the industrial-strength variety. A massively long two prong staircase dominates the rear stage wall the massive walls go seemingly all the way to the fly space of the opera house. Stage right's wall is dominated by an enormous turbine which, along with the stairs charges the atmosphere with an ominous subterranean feeling. This is not a fun place. At
curtain's rise Big Bad Scarpia is on an eight foot long divan, in tight silk lounge pants with a lizard/snakeskin motif and matching sleeveless vest (my Mom had something similar in the 70's . . . Hostess Pants). He is stroking a beautiful yellow tabby. Cool.

When Tosca first appears, all we see are her red high heels coming down the first staircase – shoes she will remove before reclining on the divan for Scarpia to collect his prize. Only after the murder do we realize the massive staircases have disappeared and we feel, along with Tosca completely trapped. There are no other doors – the room converted into an enormous death trap, the only air seemingly coming from the turbine. Tosca goes into a genuine panic during the dumb show – now stripped/relieved of the pseudo- religious crucifix/candelabra business. In her search for the safe passage conduct, Tosca discovers and takes a gun – almost hinting at suicide in her terror. When a panel opens moonlight seems to stream in revealing a hidden
exit. With pistol in hand and tea-length fur coat dragging behind . . . It is thrilling business.

The final act is on an enormous stage filling disc, the floor of which is covered by the shadow of light pouring down from the turbine – which is now in the ceiling. The rear of the stage gives the feeling of being at the edge of the world – with the moon and stars reflecting in the night. It's stunning and chilling all at once.

After the execution, the distraught, now fully deranged Tosca holds Scarpia's henchmen at bay waving the gun – and one almost senses she's going to blow her brains out . . . but instead she runs, flings it to the ground and takes a flying leap out the heavens that took my breath away – her hair wildly trailing behind her as Sciarrone and Spoletta hit the ground to safely watch her from above.

I have read some startling bad reviews of this production, and I simply cannot fathom how anyone would not be wowed by it. It is an absolutely chilling performance.

Now to the cast. Malfitano is Tosca to the teeth. Not your average Tosca, this one is neurotic and obsessive from her first appearance. In the final act she is barefoot and costumed like a Martha Graham dancer. Indeed, Malfitano never stops moving – her body, her hair all fluid movement – almost hallucinatory. It's a marvelous performance. The down side is that the voice was never built for Tosca. So much of the musical drama sits at either end of the range – really low lows, and pretty high highs. At both ends Malfitano's instrument simply lacks body and beauty. To her credit she insists on singing every note, but the low "chesty" business that so many singers make thrilling, are here unlovely and growled and at times barely audible. The less said about
the inaccurate pitching at the top of the range the better. Still MUCH of Tosca lies in the middle to middle high and here, Malfitano still possesses a voice of bright, unforced lyric beauty. If this is going to bother you, you should skip it, but if you want a performance that is 75% really good singing and 100% committed acting, Malfitano's your gal. I loved her.

In Act II, I kept thinking Theda Bara had been reincarnated – Malfitano HAS to know this and have played on the similarities. She looks terrific (some complain that even 10 years ago she looked too old for Tosca . . . nonsense). Her "Vissi d'arte " is exceptionally powerful – revealing more than a dozen other Tosca's combined. Her Act III performance is pure over-the-top, flitting and dancing and laughing – a mad scene, really and believe it or not, it works perfectly in this context. I always thought Behrens had the best flying leap of any Tosca – but Cathy M. goes her one better - it is and it's captured with breathtaking, horrifying beauty.

Richard Margison. I've never been a big fan of the man, but having read so many negatives about his Cavaradossi I must admit to being pleasantly surprised. He's involved and engaging, and I bought what he brought to the role. Recondita Armonia is beautifully sung if a little inelegantly phrased at times. The central act he rings out passionately. Oddly "E lucevan la stele" is sung accurately, but with an odd tone that sounds more furious than forlorn.
When Tosca arrives, Margison's Mario sounds much better, caressing the line and believable in the drama. Yes, he's got a big gut . . . so what? I was surprised at the depth of some of his acting here, and confused by those who accuse him of just walking through the role. Nope.

The night, of course belonged to Terfel in this, his first assumption of Scarpia. Some may not like him, but this is the Scarpia of my dreams in every way. Larger than life, Terfel's voice rings out with a liquidity one seldom hears in this role anymore. There is a "wetness" to his sound that reminds me of Elisabeth Soderstrom (if you know what I mean). Physically, Terfel exudes a creepy sensuality that feels almost x-rated. Everything seems to revolve around sex,
evil and cruelty. The ending of the first act with the Te Deum sung so rapturously, flames licking up as this devil holds the stage by himself is a theatrical tour de force. Poured into his lizard lounge pants he amps up the carnality and when he stalks Tosca up the stairs I truly sensed danger as the hair rose on the back of my neck. This Scarpia has everything planned and
intricately ordered – seemingly controlling the very universe from his bunker- like world. For a clue to his sense of order in this nightmare watch him polish a glass before he pours that "vin d'espagna."

The Welshman performs this role as though he were born to play it – and I think he was. How exciting it is to see this different approach to one of opera's greatest roles and Terfel rises to the challenges imposed by Puccini and Lehnhoff, looking not just comfortable but entirely natural and believable every sick step of the way.

Riccardo Chailly has no less than the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as the pit band and the score has rarely sounded this lush and symphonic. Chailly brings out details frequently lost in other performances, his pacing is fluid and at times much slower than I am used to hearing in modern performances, but never indulgent. The sound on the DVD is almost more "studio" than live performance and this is enhanced by the silence of the audience until the very
end when they go properly mad. So did I.

There is an interesting 17 minute behind the scenes documentary with some cast interviews and Lehnhoff and Chailly offering up their opinions.

I've heard the evil "E" word hurled at this production, and indeed some may find they simply cannot tolerate the changes of settings, but for anyone who can keep an open mind about these sorts of things – hang on tight 'cause you're in for a hair raising ride!

p.

Tippett's King Priam Arrives On DVD

I was thrilled to find in this morning’s mail, the hot-off-the-press DVD release of the Kent Opera production of Sir Michael’s “King Priam.” This has for years been one of my favorite videos of any opera, and though I still own it on VHS, that tape has seen better days, so I’ve been waiting for this to appear on DVD – for years never believing it would finally happen. Well, here it is! First the technical: Little seems to have been done in transferring it to DVD, though it appears to have been minorly cleaned up, but since this was shot on videotape in 1985 lacks the visual "pop" we're getting used to with HD. It is still looks good. I did have to cruank up the sound as the audio seems to have been recorded at a lower volume, but that's a minor quibble. There are no extras, save for the standard subtitles in several languages and chapter settings.

The VHS release was little known and seemed to be something of a cult hit – even amongst modern opera aficionados. It’s my hope that this attractive new DVD incarnation, nicely put together by Arthaus, will find this production – and Tippett’s magnificent opera, a whole new audience. While there has always been some debate on Tippett providing his own libretto, some finding it subpar to the music, I find the text to be one of incredible imagery, and beauty. Often criticized for sometimes arty-ponderous turns of phrase in his other works, here, working from The Ilyiad and the Fabulae of Hyginus, Tippett was inspired - artful and direct, fusing equally its components of text and music and condensing one of the world’s great tales into a gripping musical drama.

One of the most interesting aspects of the score is that its composer uses a sparseness to the orchestration – recitatives, arias and ensembles with spare accompaniments, broken up – punctuated and punctured by violent outbursts sometimes by solo instruments, others by massive walls of sound. The opera, composed in 1962, sounds fresh enough that, were its composer still among us, one might not be surprised to learn the ink hadn’t yet dried on the score. I have read some compare Priam's score to Berg's Wozzeck, in matters of tonality and structure, but I fail to see the connection or any necessity in comparing one with the other: Each has plenty to comment upon on certain aspects of the human condition, but then so do Massenet's Manon and Bach's Passions. Musically, I find there is more here in common with Stravinsky and Barber.

Another feature I very much like was how Tippet scores a number of scenes with only one, or several instruments, e.g., guitar, piano, cello, and harp. One of the most hauntingly beautiful and odd moments in this opera is Achilles' aria "O rich soiled land" – accompanied only by guitar. Somewhat boldly (especially for 1962) Tippett makes clear what is at best usually only hinted at and that is the great love shared between Achilles and Patroclus.

The original direction for the Kent Opera by Nicholas Hytner (directed for television by Robin Lough)is presents a timeless, "indoor" Troy, both futuristic and ancient feels more like an office building, partially in ruins but gleaming white as it steadily grows jagged, jumbled, its surfaces –as the evening wears on - cluttered variously and stained by earth, blood, wire, sandbags and eventually everything we perceive as the wreckage of war. While not "realistic" in appearance this production is every bit as powerful visually as it is musically.

Several moments stand out and provide lump-in-your-throat terror, excitement and beauty. The image of Priam and his sons standing over the corpse of Patroclus and stripping down to smear their torsos with his spilt blood reaches a fever pitch, their triumph turned inside out by Achilles’ horrifying battle cry at the discovery of his beloved’s murder. The scene that moves me most is that of the King, barefoot and broken who, humbled bows before Achilles and, kissing “the hands of him who slew my son," begs for the mutilated body of Hector. As the two enemies share wine they discuss the futilities of their efforts and, in candor, prophecy how each will die at the hand of the other’s son.

Without ever getting preachy, by guiding the story through its natural contours, Tippett’s opera is among the strongest anti-war statements made by any artist equal to Britten’s harrowingly beautiful “War Requiem.” Historically these works are also linked together, premiering in back-to-back in Coventry in May 1962; Priam on the 29th, the War Requiem on the 30th.

As Priam, Rodney Macann gives a tour-de-force performance, giving the enormous palette of Priam’s emotions full range, musically and dramatically. He is never short of amazing. The Achilles of Neil Jenkins, makes this “hero” equal parts seductive and repulsive. Christopher Gillett, his body painted gold and at first wearing but a G-String, has an otherworldly ease and his aria preparing the final scene is beautiful. The trio of women – Andromache, Helen and Hecuba are, respectively, Sarah Walker, Anne Mason and Janet Price – while looking a little older than their male counterparts, handle their difficult music wonderfully and dramatically. (They also briefly appear as the godesses Athene, Hera and Aphrodite.)

Honors extend also to riveting performances by Omar Ebrahim as Hector and Howard Haskin as Paris. While neither possesses a voice of great beauty, each serves the music well and make believable the difficulties between Priam's sons. Tippett populates his tale with a trio of huntsman, nurse, Old Man, Young Guard, soldiers, etc.

Musically everything is held together perfectly by then Ken Opera’s Music Director, Roger Norrington who leads a reading from those forces that is appropriately propulsive, contemplative and compelling. “King Priam” is not an easy entertainment that can move you, sweeping the observer along in the easy manner of Puccini or Mozart. Its subject matter, its musical language and its individualistic way with the story require – or should I say “demand” one pays complete attention in order to reap its many, and powerful rewards.

This is a most welcome release to DVD and, again, I hope this wins new fans to one of Tippett’s greatest works.

p.

DVD: Janacek's From The House Of The Dead

What an emotionally harrowing experience is watching this opera for the first time. Stephane Metge has made a film using the production by Patrice Chereau and Pierre Boulez (together again 30 some years after their famous Bayreuth Ring) and what a film it is. Boulez, almost literally seems to conjure this stunning performance from the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. From its haunting, jangly opening I was brought to mind of Strauss and Prokofiev and how all three use the orchestral colors in the boldest possible - and not always most subtle ways. The score is a wonder of violence, tenderness, dreamlike and gritty realism. It is magnificent.


Metge's camera work gets right into the middle of things, roaming through Richard Peduzzi's stark mile high walls with a voyueristic violence that thrusts the viewer into the world of this terrible place. Pulling episodes from Dostoevsky's tale, Janacek's opera is virtually plotless, yet this which is not to say "nothing happens" because there is plenty to focus on, as these hapless gulag prisoners live, suffer, dance, dream and reminisce of their lives outside these walls. Note I didn't say dream "of happier times" for the stories they tell of their pre-prison lives are as terrifying and violent as the world they create for themselves within the walls.

As Alexandr, Olaf Bar's entrance is terrifying stuff, clearly a man of some means, besuited and bespectacled, the guards and inmates encircle and strip him, hurling his glasses into the courtyard. When he later emerges near the end of the act, filthy, shackled, and blindly crawling across ground, it's tough not to weep But, as in life, there are occasional acts of kindness and one such here between Alexandr and the boy prisoner Aljeja (a remarkable and heartbreaking performance by young tenor Eric Stoklossa) is sufficient to remind us these are still human beings, still part of the family of man, still "us."

John Mark Ainsley is a riveting presence throughout giving seering performance as Skuratov. Mad with grief, and imprisoned "for falling in love" - we watch his pathetic tale played out as he changes his garments, his mind seeming to hold the focus of his love story to keep him centered - but clearly not working. Mostly silent during the 3rd act, Ainsley still manages to give a tour de force performance - simultaneously chilling and touching. It is a stand out performance from an ensemble filled with amazing work.

At the center of the second act - and perhaps the longest sequence of the opera - is a harrowing "pageant" a ballet of depraved sexuality played out by some of the prisoners for the entertainment of the rest of the gulag. The symbolic meanings of what goes on are made clear without feeling obvious. It is stunningly choreographed (as is most of the movement seen throughout) by Chereau's collaborator Theirry Thieu Niang.

Centering on the lives and stories of these men, Chereau tends to keep the spectacles down, but he cannot resist giving us several arresting coups de theatre, particularly at the end of each act. Each of these is, in their own way, visually stunning and complimentary to Janacek's amazing score. Everything comes together perfectly, every element of the score, drama, characterizations and visual elements serves to bring this difficult work to life and when it's brief 100 minutes are over, every feeling, every emotion was felt both deep in my bones and raw on the surface.

I am thrilled the Metropolitan Opera will be featuring this production in 2009/10 season. Wild horses won't be able to keep me away.

p.