# Favourite directors?



## Guest (Aug 5, 2018)

An enormous part of our experience with opera is how it is interpreted on the stage.

I've always loved seeing how directors read into the libretti and create a compelling world on the stage guided by the themes and ideas explored in the original works. In collaboration with designers they really bring more life to an opera than just the music.

So far I have really enjoyed what I have seen from directors like Romeo Castellucci, Harry Kupfer, Barrie Kosky, Martin Kušej, Patrice Chereau, Hans Neuenfels and Pierre Audi. I'd really like to watch something by Calixto Bieito, but I have heard he can be a bit hit and miss (his recent Die Soldaten in Madrid was meant to be wonderful but also my girlfriend says his Fidelio wasn't that great). 

I'd be curious to know who else has directed some amazing productions.


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

The Alden brothers ... never been disappointed with anything they've done. But I think I prefer Christopher to David, who tends to be a bit more conservative.

The single greatest production I've ever seen, and one that will be forever indelibly etched upon my memory and my heart, was the Christopher Alden production of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the ENO in 2011. Controversial, surprising, grim, yet stunning in its execution. Set in a boys' school some time in the 1950's. Imagine the boys as the fairies, Oberon as the headmaster, Tytania as the headmistress, the changeling boy as the headmaster's new love interest, and Puck as an older boy, his jilted former love interest. Did I say controversial? Did I say stunning? It was fantastic! The entire set went up in flames in the end ... not literally, but the fire was very real, and the effect impressive.

I love any director who can go well outside the box but still make it work. Those who wander aimlessly outside the box with no compass bore me ridiculously. That was never the case with the Aldens.









Christopher Alden: A Midsummer Night's Dream (2011)









David Alden: Semiramide (2017)


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Zeffirelli Zeffirelli


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## Guest (Aug 6, 2018)

nina foresti said:


> Zeffirelli Zeffirelli


I watched his Met Turandot a while ago and honestly it looked awful on stage. It was like someone tried to find everything they could that reminded them of a stereotypical ancient China and threw it all on the stage, and then crammed in even more. I didn't really understand his interpretation either as it wasn't exactly obvious to me what he was doing. Was he trying to a point about the really superficial and uncomfortable ending? It didn't really come across clearly......... There was a real sense of claustrophobia about the production and that worked well when the crowd turned really viscous before Liu's death, but only seemed to work against the staging everywhere else.

Could you perhaps enlighten me a little on Zeffirrelli's work in opera? Are there other things I should watch where he has done better?


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

No director gets it right every single time out. I will name only 2. 
His Callas/Gobbi _Tosca_ has never been duplicated in my mind. He shows Scarpia to be a real person with a certain amount of dignity through his evil acts rather than a cardboard cartoon characterization.
I suggest you also look to his beautiful and mournful _La Boheme_ which was done in the finest taste with a magical and unforgettable snowfall scene.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Göran Järvefelt, Elijah Moshinsky, Jonathan Miller, and Zeffirelli again!

And, of course, Calixto Bieito.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

shirime said:


> I watched his Met Turandot a while ago and honestly it looked awful on stage. It was like someone tried to find everything they could that reminded them of a stereotypical ancient China and threw it all on the stage, and then crammed in even more. I didn't really understand his interpretation either as it wasn't exactly obvious to me what he was doing. Was he trying to a point about the really superficial and uncomfortable ending? It didn't really come across clearly......... There was a real sense of claustrophobia about the production and that worked well when the crowd turned really viscous before Liu's death, but only seemed to work against the staging everywhere else.
> 
> Could you perhaps enlighten me a little on Zeffirrelli's work in opera? Are there other things I should watch where he has done better?


His _Turandot_ is wonderful. This is the sort of production where the scenery gets a round of applause - and with good reason! Zeffirelli has recreated legendary China onstage - no beehives or robots for him! Beautiful costumes; pagodas rising out of the floor; and even a dragon dance!

And how can you not love this?


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## Guest (Aug 6, 2018)

nina foresti said:


> No director gets it right every single time out. I will name only 2.
> His Callas/Gobbi _Tosca_ has never been duplicated in my mind. He shows Scarpia to be a real person with a certain amount of dignity through his evil acts rather than a cardboard cartoon characterization.
> I suggest you also look to his beautiful and mournful _La Boheme_ which was done in the finest taste with a magical and unforgettable snowfall scene.


Thanks! I'll check out _Tosca_ when I can.


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## Thomyum2 (Apr 18, 2018)

Zeffirrelli's _La Bohème _is a wonder to behold, especially seen in person. I've had the opportunity to attend at the Met three times since that production first appeared, and it never fails to please and to draw the audience into the performance. But I do tend to agree with you that his _Turandot_ set (while I also saw in person the first year it ran) was overdone - it seems cluttered and inauthentic, and I thought it detracted from the music and the story.

A director who is controversial but I think is worth of mention is Peter Sellars. He's a champion of new opera works, but also of putting new spins on traditional operas. Although I've only actually seen three of his productions in person, I've heard and read interviews with him about his other work. I think his ideas are very insightful and work well on stage, and bring new understandings and ways of looking at an opera that make them fresh and interesting. But there's no question that he is controversial and some people do not like some of the things he does.


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

I've seen several Calixto Bieito productions recently and was not overly impressed. Was expecting something more radical from him. His productions work, they're ok, but I go away feeling I haven't really gotten my money's worth.

Notable mentions:

David McVicar (an outstanding, creepy _Turn of The Screw_ at the ENO in 2009)
Paul Curran (A fine _Peter Grimes_ in Oslo, a sumptuous _Tzar's Bride_ at the RO)
Christof Loy (an out of this world _Ariodante_ in Salzburg - OMG!)
Barbara Frey (a heart-wrenching _Jenůfa_ in Munich last year)
Krzysztof Warlikowski (A very nice, otherworldly _Die Frau Ohne Schatten_, described by someone else here as "eurotrash" so I just have to stick up for him)


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Taplow said:


> Barbara Frey (a heart-wrenching _Jenůfa_ in Munich last year)


I watched the live stream of this several years ago and remember it as being really fantastic!


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

mountmccabe said:


> I watched the live stream of this several years ago and remember it as being really fantastic!


Not sure if you saw the same cast, but Karita Mattila stole the show as Kostelnička Buryjovka.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Patrice Chéreau was one of my favorite directors. Beyond that I don't have much of a ranking. I think it depends a lot on the opera: just as not every role is right for a singer, not every opera is right for a director (for my tastes, at least).

I would like to see more operas that were directed by Götz Friedrich, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, and Harry Kupfer. What I have seen has been fantastic.

Others:
Stefan Herheim. I have loved a lot of his productions (Parsifal, Eugene Onegin, La bohème) but they typically require a lot of work. That can be both a good and a bad thing, depending.

Katie Mitchell. Her productions are fascinating. Written on Skin, Alcina, and Pelléas et Mélisande were all fantastic. The first two acts of Lucia di Lammermoor were stunning, though I don't think the final act worked.

Christof Loy. The ones I have seen tend towards being spare and focused on what is going on in an opera rather than details. Die Frau ohne Schatten, Das Wunder der Heliane.

Stefano Poda has some really stunning productions (Faust, Thaïs), but I'm not sure what there is beyond that.

Claus Guth, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Martin Kušej are all on my list of interesting directors. Calixto Bieito is there, too, but I'm not sure what I've seen other than the old (1998?) _Carmen_. It's a great production, direct and streamlined. I wouldn't want it as my only take on the opera, but that's always the case.

I also have to mention Elkhanah Pulitzer; her recent work has mostly been in California. Her _Powder Her Face_ for West Edge Opera is one of the best productions I have ever seen; it really revealed how amazing that opera is. I've seen a few others from her and they've all been good; looking forward to seeing Quartett (by Luca Francesconi) directed by her next weekend.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Taplow said:


> Not sure if you saw the same cast, but Karita Mattila stole the show as Kostelnička Buryjovka.


I don't know who was in the cast, but Mattila was not yet singing that role. The stream was in 2013.

I have seen Mattila as Kostelnička Buryjovka, though; she sang it here in SF in the summer of 2106.

Side note on directors: that was in the much-traveled production by Olivier Tambosi. The only other thing I've seen from him was a _Věc Makropulos_, also here in SF. Both productions were fine? The _Jenůfa_ has somewhat groan-worthy staging images, but is effective?


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

NickFuller said:


> His _Turandot_ is wonderful. This is the sort of production where the scenery gets a round of applause - and with good reason! Zeffirelli has recreated legendary China onstage - no beehives or robots for him! Beautiful costumes; pagodas rising out of the floor; and even a dragon dance!
> 
> And how can you not love this?


I don't normally watch youtube videos posted here, but how can I resist Turandot? This gave me goosebumps. I'll have to hunt down the whole production.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Of the modern ones Robert Carsen is inventive without being offensive and it's clear that he has a great love for opera, as opposed to (of course) Calixto Bieito who seems more interested in destroying the art form. Holten's work doesn't do it for me at all.

Pountney and the Aldens are fine. Pierre Audi is interesting.

Of the old guard, certainly Jonathan Miller, and I'm content with a Moshinsky or Zeffirelli.


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