And until the gentle readers of Opera Today avail themselves of the experience of viewing Rued Langgaardís Antikrist, they will have no idea how strange it is.
It is very, very strange. But more importantly ó it fascinates on a deeper level than mere stunned incomprehension could ever effect.
The production comes from 2002, from the Royal Danish Opera and the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. An American citizen has the right to let his mind reel contemplating the Metropolitan Opera and PBS putting on a similar showÖ
Briefly, Langgaard created a ìreligious mystery opera,î an allegory of the Antikrist wreaking havoc in the despoiled realm of modern society. Many a singer has a Rodolfo or Mimi or Marcello on his/her resume. How many have ìThe Mouth Speaking Great Thingsî or ìSpirit of Mystery.î Camilla Nylund takes on the demanding role of ìThe Great Whore.î Before this production perhaps no other soprano had ever ventured this role on stage. How many have assayed it offstage is a very different matter.
The accompanying booklet has two extensive, well-written essays. Bendt Vinholt Nielsenís introduction gives the sources and inspiration for Langgaardís work, and Jorgen I. Jensen offers a more analytical approach to the work and its meaning. Your reviewer read these AFTER viewing the DVD, and can vouch that they both clarify some matters, but that the opera as performed here works well on its own, on its own very, very odd terms.
Nielsen succinctly describes the operaís form: ìThere are no recurrent characters, there is no plot in the traditional sense, and the opera consists to a great extent of monologues.î Almost an oratorio? But an oratorio, with a row of singers in tidy eveningwear, would belie the composerís vision. This production, with a fine cast of actor/singers, lands us in his surreal landscape from the first moment and keeps us there, willing prisoners, until the end. At the very least, the repeated references to our modern world as ìthe church- ruin of noiseî provides a useful epithet for flinging at the TV when watching the nightly news.
Not much set is required. The bare stage suggests the austere interior of a Protestant church, and the singers at first look dressed for Sunday service. Sten Bryielís wild-eyed Lucifer calls forth the antichrist, and off we go. No film director is listed, so perhaps stage director Staffan Valdemar Holm decided to include a roving on-stage cameraperson (unseen), who zooms in for close-ups and follows the stage action closely. This heightens the immediacy of the production, not to mention its oddness.
And the music? One might think the score would be some harsh, modernistic screech-and -scream affair. Not at all. Langgaardís textures are thick and at times streaked through with bi- or polytonality. For the most part, however, the music is recognizably tonal, but driven and nervous, hardly starting off on one theme before scattering off onto another idea. It makes for brilliant, unsettling listening, and Thomas Dausgaard leads the Danish Symphony orchestra with confidence, as if this were another ìTurandotî or possibly ìSalome.î The hall might have been unfriendly to voices, or the orchestration; for one or both of those reasons, the singers have been provided with unobtrusive microphones. The sound suffers a bit, therefore, from a lack of real focus as to origin. But better to have heard the music than to have it swallowed up by the acoustics.
So who should seek out this DVD? Obviously, fans of twentieth century should consider this an essential purchase. But at only 95 minutes, the opera has something for even those usually averse to more progressive works. At the very least, they will be able to say they have seen ìThe Great Whoreî on DVD.
But who hasnít?
Chris Mullins
Los Angeles Unified School District, Secondary Literacy
image=http://www.operatoday.com/content/antikrist.gif
image_description=Rued Langgaard: Antikrist
product=yes
product_title=Rued Langgaard: Antikrist
product_by=Sten Byriel, Anne Margrethe Dahl, Poul Elming, Helene Gjerris, Johnny van Hal, Jon Ketilsson, John Lundgren, Susanne Resmark, Morten Suurballe. Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR, Thomas Dausgaard (cond.)
product_id=Dacapo 2.110402 [DVD]