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| Ursula (Vida Mikneviciute), Regina (Dorin Rahardja) and Mathis (Derrick Ballard). Photos: Andreas Etter |
Mathis – Derrick Ballard
Cardinal
Albrecht – Alexander Spemann
Ursula
– Vida Mikneviciute
Hans
Schwalb – Lars-Oliver Rühl
Wolfgang
Capito – Steven Ebel
Regina
– Dorin Rahardja
Riedinger
– Stephan Bootz
Lorenz
von Pommersfelden – Hans-Otto Weiß
Sylvester
von Schaumberg – Johannes Mayer
Countess
of Helfenstein – Geneviève King
Chorus,
Extra Chorus & Statisterie of Staatstheater Mainz
Philharmonisches
Staatsorchester Mainz
Conductor
– Hermann Bäumer
Director
– Elisabeth Stöppler
Sets
– Annika Haller
Costumes
– Su Sigmund
Lighting
– Stefan Bauer
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| The vision of angels: Schwalb (Lars-Oliver Rühl) and Mathis (Derrick Ballard), centre |
Hindemith
conceived his opera Mathis der Maler
in response to the situation in which he found himself during the
early years of the Nazi regime in 1930s Germany. The dilemma facing
artist Matthias Grunewald at the time of the Peasants’ War in
Germany in the 1520s whether to fight or paint is one that struck a
chord with the composer and is a theme that seems to have lost little
of its relevance in today’s fractious world. The war in the story
was partly a religious one, as newly inspired Protestants fought with
Catholics, and Staatstheater Mainz has mounted the opera to mark the
Luther anniversary that falls this year. But Mainz also has the
advantage that the work is actually set in the city and features
historic figures of the time.
There’s
no pandering to medieval Mainz in Elisabeth Stöppler’s spare
staging, however. Annika Haller’s ‘set’ is merely a raked
stage, upon which Mathis chalks texts (unreadable from my seat) as
his artwork, surrounded by black curtains on sides and rear. It
focuses attention on the characters, and Stöppler makes excellent
use of the space in marshalling them. Costumes are contemporary, with
even Cardinal Albrecht wearing a business suit beneath his red cape –
emphasising, perhaps, the way he is torn between the attractions of
the new religion and the financial trappings of his position. The
angelic vision of Scene 6 at least allows some brightness to lighten
up what is otherwise a very muted palette of colours. Stöppler
doesn’t hold back in her portrayal of violence in a society rent
asunder by class and religious conflict: the rich are strung up and
the fate of the peasants’ leader Hans Schwalb is a bit of a
gore-fest.
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| Capito (Steven Ebel) and Cardinal Albrecht (Alexander Spemann) |
Mathis
is an ambitious work for a company of the scale of Mainz’s to
mount, but it would be hard to imagine it done more compellingly by a
major international house. Admittedly, one or two of the individual
singers fall a little short – Lars-Oliver Rühl’s Schwalb
struggled with a couple of the high notes in his part and as Ursula,
Vida Mikneviciute’s shrill soprano and rapid beat proved to be an
acquired taste. But Derrick Ballard’s Mathis was commanding, an
assumption to rank alongside his accomplished Sachs, seen both in
Mainz and in Detmold. There were moments when a little roughness
emerged, but it went with his burly, highly physical portrayal of the
troubled artist. Tenor Alexander Spemann was convincing as the
cardinal archbishop and Steven Ebel’s contortions made his adviser
Capito a particularly oleaginous creep of a character – a
sinisterly comic portrayal somewhat at odds with the seriousness
everywhere else. If Mikneviciute’s Ursula was a little strident,
more subtlety was to be found in the singing of Dorin Rahardja as
Schwalb’s daughter Regina.
Much of the success of
the dramatic performance fell on the expanded chorus, which truly
thrilled with the power and focus of its singing. Its members can act
convincingly, too – it wasn’t so many years ago that ‘provincial’
German opera choruses could almost be relied upon for their wooden
theatrical appearance. The orchestra, too, makes a most impressive
sound under Mainz’s GMD Hermann Bäumer, who has no problem
maintaining both the momentum and tension in Hindemith’s highly
dramatic writing.
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