OF ONE BLOOD • MUNICH OPERA FESTIVAL
★★★★★☆
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
REVIEW: OF ONE BLOOD, MUNICH: RAW, SENSUAL AND DRAMATICALLY ELECTRIFYING
A stunning, sci-fi-esque set design opens the Bavarian State Opera’s world premiere of Brett Dean’s Of One Blood at this year’s Munich Opera Festival: a modern opera in Claus Guth’s masterful staging, brimming with dramatic intensity and overwhelming visual impact.
The work is a modern interpretation of the story of Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart – the same iconic conflict that Donizetti immortalised in Maria Stuarda – but here told through a hallucinatory dissection of letters, documents, artefacts and inner states rather than romantic operatic drama.
From the very first moment, it is Claus Guth’s staging that takes centre stage. The curtain rises to reveal an enormous, sterile white room. On either side stand marble sarcophagi surrounded by technicians clad in white, resembling laboratory workers plucked from somewhere between 2001: A Space Odyssey and The X-Files.
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
A bright orange robotic arm lifts the lid off one of the sarcophagi, whilst the helmeted scientists set about their examination. Not of corpses, but of history itself. The two queens are dissected as historical case studies in a laboratory where the past is examined, relived and perhaps even attempted to be healed.
The approach is both original and fascinating. Guth is one of Europe’s most astute opera directors, and he manages to combine psychological precision with spectacular imagery. The production unfolds as a visual exploration of guilt, power and memory. The second act is particularly powerful, with the set design gradually collapsing in step with the characters’ lives and relationships. In a few places, the symbolism becomes a little heavy-handed, but the overall impression is impressive.
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
Musically, Of One Blood is just as ambitious as it is scenically. Vladimir Jurowski conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchester through Brett Dean’s complex score with a sure hand. This is not a matter of bel canto melodies, but of a fierce and physical sonic universe in which modern orchestral textures, Baroque, electronics and an almost ghostly harpsichord on stage collide. The result is raw, sensuous and dramatically compelling.
Johanni van Oostrum as Elizabeth and Vera-Lotte Boecker as Mary Stuart deliver powerful vocal performances with dramatic presence. Together with an outstanding chorus, they help to imbue the opera’s fragmented narrative with tremendous power.
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
The work is on the long side and could benefit from being tightened up. The drama occasionally loses momentum. But even when the narrative stagnates, Guth’s imagery and Dean’s music keep the audience engaged.
Of One Blood feels like a significant new opera: intelligent, bold and artistically compelling.
See it for Claus Guth’s masterful staging, the overwhelming stage imagery and a musical tour de force by star conductor Jurowski and the Bayerisches Staatsorchester. Five stars.
