As someone who loves Korngold's film scores (The Adventures of Robin Hood is an all-time favourite) his Die Tote Stadt is every bit as great. The story intrigues with a great surreal atmosphere and is very compelling dramatically, and Korngold's music is gorgeous and haunts the mind, Fritz's Pierrot aria and Marietta's Glück Das Mir Verblieb (one of my favourite German soprano arias) being the score's highlights.
While this 2010 Finnish National Opera production is not quite as unforgettable as the 1983 James King and Karan Armstrong production (that is well worth tracking down on Youtube), even with the pessimistic alternate ending, it's still incredibly impressive and stuck with me for some time afterwards. Definitely one of the better productions of the opera on all counts on DVD. With the DVD, while the video directing is atmospheric and unobtrusive and the sound is resonant, it does not quite transfer as well in the picture quality, which is a bit juddery in places and lacks clarity.
The production is very striking visually, the production values are wonderfully Expressionistic, representing Paul's dilemma and reality, while never being too drab and it also very ideally represents the surrealistic/idealistic element of the opera, reflecting Paul's inner mind, with the portraits, pictures and photos of Marie without emphasising it too heavily. Kaspar Holten's directing is mostly remarkable, with very few misjudgements and it is some of the most consistently involving and best directing he's ever done. The only touch I wasn't so sure on was the decision to show the silent ghostly figure of Marie on stage omnipresently throughout, it looks good and it was clear the intent was to make Paul's dilemma slightly more real, but the opera has a division of illusion and realism and that was lost a little here with this touch and maybe the personality contrasts between Marietta (seductive and outworldly) and Marie (more saintly) was made a little too obvious.
Musically, this Die Tote Stadt is just wonderful. The orchestral playing is so lush and sweeping with a truly incandescent glow, and every texture is perfectly blended. Mikko Franck's conducting is very charismatic, dramatically alert and accommodating, Glück Das Mir Verblieb having all the tenderness it ought to have. Klaus Florian Vogt is a dignified and affecting Paul, and while his voice may be deemed by some to be too small for the role it's a highly attractive sound that soars positively in the higher tessitura passages. Matching him all the way is Camilla Nylund, whose Marietta is comfortably seductive but equally poignantly acted and vocally she doesn't sound at all taxed by what is by far the opera's most difficult role, parts that could easily sound wobbly or curdled with some sopranos are very warmly and beautifully sung by Nylund, her Glück Das Mir Verblieb appropriately tender.
As for the other roles, Frank is authoritatively portrayed by Markus Eiche and Eiche doubles also as Fritz "Pierrot" very sympathetically, he has a sonorous controlled voice that sounds beautiful in the Pierrot aria (if with occasional need of more lyricism). Sari Nordqvist's loyal Brigitta was strongly sung and vibrantly acted.
Overall, powerful and moving production that makes its mark. 9/10 Bethany Cox
