As Hans Neuenfels, whose production of Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades premieres on 5 August 2018, points out, it is very rare and almost bizarre for conductor and director to form a close-knit unit. Mariss Jansons, however, who conducts the opera, is not only a renowned Tchaikovsky expert and aficionado, but also describes their cooperation as excellent. “I have rarely felt that conductor and director could communicate so well,” Neuenfels says. And Jansons agrees, calling the collaboration “delightful” during the Terrace Talk. “It is immensely joyful to be working at the Salzburg Festival with a first-rate orchestra such as the Vienna Philharmonic, a wonderful ensemble of singers and an outstanding director – I feel as if I’m in paradise,” the conductor says.
Hans Neuenfels, Mariss Jansons and Michael Braderer, photo Salzburg Festival/Anne Zeuner
To Mariss Jansons, The Queen of Spades is among the ten best operas in music history, and definitely the best by Tchaikovsky. “He himself was a rather tragic figure and a highly sensitive man, and that is reflected in the music,” Jansons says, adding that the composer cried copiously while composing the last scene. Another thing that tortured his soul was the fact that he was unable to openly live his homosexuality. In a certain sense, Tchaikovsky himself experienced what the figure of Hermann goes through during the opera, says Mariss Jansons. To him, it is a very dramatic work, and the emotionality is mainly the orchestra’s responsibility. “Without the passion of every single musician, without colour and heart, this opera would be boring,” he says, stressing the importance of giving free rein to one’s emotions. Tchaikovsky is one of the best inventors of melodies in music history, so the orchestra needs to be alert and lively in order to support the action on stage. “Every note is important and must be played with expressivity and vividness,” the maestro says.
Evgenia Muraeva (Liza), photo TACT International Art Management
Sympathy for the protagonists? – No. He has none, not for one single figure in the opera, says Hans Neuenfels – yet of course he has empathy. Hermann, for example, is a figure unable to cope with normality. Neuenfels considers him a very modern figure, not a static one. A figure who does not want to feel normal life, and then falls in love. At this moment, he leaves his predetermined path. “And then there is the gambling – with winning the decisive element. Winning means total independence,” says Hans Neuenfels. “I am sorry that he then develops in the wrong direction.” Hermann’s fall, his journey into a nervous crisis, is inscribed in the piece from the very beginning. The Countess, on the other hand, represents the irrational in the opera, and the point of decisions about the rest of one’s life. From this moment onward, Mariss Jansons adds, Hermann consists of 50 percent love and 50 percent gambling. In the beginning he still wants to use his riches to run away from society with Liza. In the end, almost out of his mind, he asks her: “Who are you?”
Hans Neuenfels, photo Monika Rittershaus
According to Hans Neuenfels, the chorus in this opera represents normal life. There are bathing scenes, festivities, scenes of daily life – life according to accepted rules. “I often feel the chorus to be ironic; it has a certain bitterness, but also vitality. However, I do not see it as satire, but an observation from the subjective perspective of Hermann,” the director says.
Brandon Jovanovich (Hermann), photo Peter Dressel
Jansons approaches this opera with an open mind and curiosity for the director’s ideas: “It would be boring to do the same thing over and over. But the new ideas must come from the heart, and must not be artificial and contrived,” the conductor says. The Vienna Philharmonic is an ideal partner for him. “The Vienna Philharmonic’s musicians are not only highly musical and highly intelligent. They play with an incredible love for music and are very flexible and versatile,” the maestro says. The Vienna Philharmonic repays the compliment to the conductor, who was recently made an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic. Michael Bladerer, Managing Director of the Vienna Philharmonic and one of its double bass players, considers Jansons very detail-oriented: “He does not give up until it sounds like he wants it to sound, and in the end that always pays off,” he says. The orchestra’s focus is on making the various levels clearly audible. For example, Hermann’s nervousness, which is reflected in the music, is portrayed through syncopations, which must be played very accurately in order to create a character with a forward drive.
Oksana Volkova (Polina/Daphnis), photo Emil Matveev
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky The Queen of Spades
Opera in three acts Op. 68 (1890)
Libretto by Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky after the eponymous novella (1833) by Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin
Stanislav Trofimov (Surin), photo Impresario Artists Management
Mariss Jansons, Conductor
Hans Neuenfels, Director
Christian Schmidt, Stage Sets
Reinhard von der Thannen, Costumes
Stefan Bolliger, Lighting
Nicolas Humbert, Martin Otter, Video
Teresa Rotemberg, Choreography
Yvonne Gebauer, Dramaturgy
Vladislav Sulimsky (Count Tomsky/Plutus), photo Maria Torshina
Brandon Jovanovich, Hermann
Vladislav Sulimsky, Count Tomsky / Plutus
Igor Golovatenko, Prince Yeletsky
Evgenia Muraveva, Liza
Oksana Volkova, Polina / Daphnis
Hanna Schwarz, Countess
Alexander Kravets, Chekalinsky
Stanislav Trofimov, Surin
Gleb Peryazev, Narumov
Pavel Petrov, Chaplitsky
Margarita Nekrasova, Governess
Oleg Zalytskiy, Master of Ceremonies
Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, Masha
Yulia Suleimanova, Chloe / Prilepa
Imola Kacso, Márton Gláser, Juan Aguila Cuevas, Pastoral
Salzburger Festspiele und Theater Kinderchor
Wolfgang Götz, Conductor, Kinderchor
Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus
Ernst Raffelsberger, Chorus Master
Vienna Philharmonic
Premiere: 5 August 2018, Additional Performances: 10, 13, 18, 22, 25 August 2018, Großes Festspielhaus
(After Press Release)