Puccini’s Tosca staged as a premiere at Bucharest National Opera

Newsroom 04/06/2014 | 11:08

Director Alfred Kirchner presents to the Bucharest public his latest performance, Tosca, the opera that Giaccomo Puccini himself described as “not a romantic and poetic opera, but a passionate, searing and somber one”.

The first performances will be conducted by the Canadian Keri Lynn Wilson (in picture), known to Romanian audiences from the George Enescu International Festival and other events at the Bucharest National Opera. The other special guests are soprano Iano Tamar, tenors Marcello Giordani, Daniel Magdal and Bogdan Zahariea and baritone Luis Ledesma.

German director Alfred Kirchner staged Puccini’s Tosca in 2001, in Frankfurt, and seven years later revived the production with the scenographer Karl Kneidl at the Viennese Volksoper. The Austrian staging was replicated by the Bucharest National Opera and will premiere on June 6.

Tosca contains depictions of torture, murder and suicide, as well as some of Puccini’s best-known lyrical arias, and has inspired memorable performances by many of the world’s leading opera singers. Puccini’s aim was to create a realistic world on stage that included the specific locale of the drama, so he included in his music sounds that give the sense of a real place, as in the opening of Act III, notes the Royal Opera House.

BR has talked with Rudi Klaban, assistant director for Tosca, who was in charge with the premiere.

What is your training and background in opera works?

After my final exams in Musical Theatre Direction at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, I worked first in free opera groups in Vienna, then for three years at the Klagenfurter Stadttheater in the Austrian province of Carinthia. Since 1997, I am an assistant director and rehearsal director at the Volksoper Wien. There I have been working with directors such as Christine Mielitz, Olivier Tambosi, Renaud Doucet and Alfred Kirchner.

How was your collaboration with director Alfred Kirchner for this performance? But with scenographer Karl Kneidl?

I worked with Mr. Kirchner when he directed “Tosca” at the Volksoper in 2008. I remember his his very political and psychological approach to the drama, demanding a lot from the singers in the extreme moments of their characters.

What has been the biggest challenge you have come across to stage this performance in Bucharest?

It was some work to adapt the set and the lighting to a new stage but the main challenge was the relatively short period of availability of the principal guest singers for an interpretation off the beaten track.

How much time did you need to stage Puccini’s Tosca in Bucharest?

We worked four weeks, three in the rehearsal studio and one on the main stage.

It is said that Puccini’s music gives the sense of a real place. Was it difficult to create this atmosphere on Bucharest National Opera’s stage?

As you mentioned it is the music that creates most of the atmosphere. In theatre we are used to travel to past periods and to any place on the globe (and sometimes beyond …). Theatre is an universal art. Once we are with Puccini’s help in Rome in the year 1800 it is a very short trip from Vienna to Bucharest.

Is there any difference between Viennese Tosca and Tosca that is staged in Bucharest? Maybe costumes or decors?

We use the original set and costumes from Vienna. The biggest difference maybe is that the opera was performed in German at the Volksoper. I think the language has a certain influence on the singer’s interpretation of their characters. But apart from that it is my aim to stage “Tosca” as we did it in Vienna – if possible even better.

 

Don’t miss: Tosca, Giaccomo Puccini

Bucharest National Opera

Premiere: June 6, 19.00

Next performances: June 8, June 13, June 15

Oana Vasiliu

 

 

BR Magazine | Latest Issue

Download PDF: Business Review Magazine March (II) 2024 Issue

The March (II) 2024 issue of Business Review Magazine is now available in digital format, featuring the main cover story titled “BAT DBS Romania Hub: A Vibrant New Office For An Employee-Centric
Newsroom | 27/03/2024 | 17:32
Advertisement Advertisement
Close ×

We use cookies for keeping our website reliable and secure, personalising content and ads, providing social media features and to analyse how our website is used.

Accept & continue