Berg - Lulu

La Monnaie, Brussels, Sunday November 14 2021

Conductor: Alain Altinoglu. Production: Krzysztof Warlikowski. Sets and costumes: Malgorzata Szczesniak. Lighting: Felice Ross. Choreography: Claude Bardouil. Video: Denis Guéguin. Lulu: Barbara Hannigan. Gräfin Geschwitz: Natascha Petrinsky. Theater-Garderobiere, Gymnasiast & Groom: Lilly Jørstad. Maler & Neger: Rainer Trost. Dr. Schön & Jack The Ripper: Bo Skovhus. Alwa: Toby Spence. Schigolch: Pavlo Hunka. Tierbändiger & Athlet: Martin Winkler. Prinz, Kammerdiener & Marquis: Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke*. Theaterdirektor & Bankier: Georg Festl. Mutter: Mireille Capelle. Kunstgewerblerin: Beata Morawska. Journalist: Lucas Cortoos. Polizeikommissar & Diener: Kris Belligh. Medizinalrat & Professor: Gerard Lavalle. Eine Fünfzehnjährige: Julie Mathevet. Ballerina: Rosalba Torres Guerrero. Dancer: Claude Bardouil. Orchestre symphonique de la Monnaie.

This Lulu was a revival of Warlikowski's Brussels production, now well-known to many from the video, which I originally reported on in 2012. 

Photo: BUhlig

The reprise made for an interesting case-study in the tricks of memory, as all four of us attending together had the impression Warlikowski had totally reworked his production, stripping away some of the veneer of seductive, cynical glamour you often find in his work, to make it sparser, grittier, darker... but in fact, if 2012 clips I looked through when I got home were anything to go by, the actual changes were minimal. Perhaps it was the wintry gloom of a November Sunday in Brussels that did it. There were, however, some important cast changes, though not for Lulu and Geschwitz.

Barbara Hannigan was, if anything, in even better voice than nine years ago, as if by now she could toss the role off with astonishing fluency while dancing on points... which in this ballet-oriented production she still had to do. Back then, I noted her voice was less audible in the lower range, especially in ensembles, but there was none of that on Sunday. Natascha Petrinsky, though as glamorous, was in less sumptuous voice than before, sounding unruly and tending to 'boom'.

Bo Skovhus is still in fine voice, apart from occasional tailing off at the bottom, and of course his acting is just what you need for this part. He and Toby Spence made a visually convincing father-and-son pair, and Spence's elegant lyricism brought an unusual, and welcome, degree of humanity to Alwa's part.

Berg

Pavlo Hunka was still an excellent Schigolch, and Martin Winkler threw himself with abandon into a strong and evilly striking Athlete. So overall, as in 2012, we had a very sound cast (though this was not a good day for Rainer Trost), and the orchestra of La Monnaie, who took some time to warm up, must have been glad they have Alain Altinoglu (whom they seem to love: each time he entered the pit, you could hear them applauding, even cheering him) to guide them through the score. The result was a clear, rhythmic, detailed account (not a lush, 'late Romantic' Viennese one), and sometimes actually sounded, so I thought, like film music.

Four hours in a surgical mask is a trial: we went outside for a breather at the intervals. (The house was, by the way, pretty much full.) But as my neighbour commented, despite some potentially irritating directorial ticks and, perhaps, superfluities - and despite the mask - this was 'quand même un bon spectacle' - still a good show.

(Edited in on December 14:) As of this week, the whole performance is available on YouTube:

*If I heard the announcement correctly, Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke replaced Florian Hoffmann, singing from the wings or pit while someone else acted the part on stage. The trouble is, I didn't see any sign of anyone miming a part while on stage, so was a bit bemused - and I wasn't alone.