Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.If you love Jan\u00e1\u010dek\u2019s operas, now would be a good time to visit Germany. Berlin\u2019s Staatsoper opened Robert Carsen\u2019s production of the seldom-performed Die Ausfl\u00fcge des Herrn Brou\u010dek (The Excursions of Mr Brou\u010dek) on Sunday, with Bavarian National Opera\u2019s K\u00e1\u0165a Kabanov\u00e1 following the next day in Munich.While K\u00e1\u0165a Kabanov\u00e1\u2019s themes of provincial ennui, yearning and self-recrimination have helped seal its international popularity, Brou\u010dek\u2019s bizarre tale of a mean-spirited landlord\u2019s beer-fuelled dreams has been frequently dismissed as incoherent.Only a year separates the first performances of the two works (1920 and 1921 respectively), though the former suffered a far more convoluted creation process. But with Simon Rattle on the podium, Berlin has all it really needs to argue that Brou\u010dek deserves more attention than it gets.Rattle\u2019s aptitude for shaping the small moment and his feel for biting irony are a perfect match for Jan\u00e1\u010dek\u2019s somewhat disjunct score. The Staatskapelle orchestra plays for him with utter commitment, and he creates lines of glassy clarity infused with lush warmth. The angularity and the astringent wit of the score suit him \u2014 he makes a formidable case for the piece.Carsen\u2019s production, which premiered in Brno last November, is gorgeous to look at. In a rundown village pub, the first half of the opera, in which Brou\u010dek journeys to the Moon, is set in 1968-69; the lunar landing plays on a TV screen, and the chorus is decked out in flower-power regalia. For the second half, where Brou\u010dek tangles with the 15th-century siege of Prague, Carsen and his team update the action to the 1968 Prague Spring uprising. It is a clever concept that never quite takes off; his glib appropriation of images from self-immolating student Jan Palach\u2019s funeral leaves a bitter aftertaste.Still, Carsen\u2019s stagecraft, his ability to move bodies through space, and his design team\u2019s psychedelic imagery mean that there is much to admire. There is a German saying: \u201cThe egg-laying wool-milk-pig does not exist.\u201d Perhaps the challenge of finding political imagery that would have an equal impact in the Czech Republic and Germany was too much.The cast is good, with Peter Hoare embodying the title role admirably. His combination of bumbling physicality and confident musicality is superb. Lucy Crowe is charming and sweet-toned as Malinka\/Etherea\/Kunka, while tenors Carles Pachon and Linard Vrielink cope manfully with Jan\u00e1\u010dek\u2019s stratospherically high vocal lines.\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606Berlin has created a pleasing encounter with an engaging work, but Munich\u2019s K\u00e1\u0165a Kabanov\u00e1 is a gut punch. Krzysztof Warlikowski, like a handful of other top stage directors, is becoming a victim of his own success, with so many productions that some inevitably begin to ring hollow. Not this one. Warlikowski must harbour a passion for K\u00e1\u0165a, because this is his finest work in years.Designer Ma\u0142gorzata Szcz\u0119\u015bniak has created an eloquent set that is part waiting room, part dance hall, part courtyard; costumes recall both the US Deep South in the 1960s and parts of eastern Europe today. We feel the constant surveillance of a close-knit yet emotionally undernourished community, where bigotry boils just beneath the surface, and keeping up appearances is mandatory. K\u00e1\u0165a is a misfit from the beginning. We find her swaying to a jukebox that only she can hear, her face (amplified by a video projection) showing a wash of emotions that suggest borderline personality disorder. She carries sharp scissors in her handbag and commits self-harm.Corinne Winters is the star of the show as K\u00e1\u0165a, her waif-like fragility and giant charisma dominating the stage; conductor Marc Albrecht manages his forces to ensure that she is never swamped by orchestral sound. Pavel \u010cernoch\u2019s emotionally unavailable Boris, John Daszak\u2019s helpless Tichon, and Violeta Urmana\u2019s toe-curlingly grand turn as the beastly Kabanicha are all benchmark performances. Albrecht\u2019s musicianship keeps the audience mesmerised for this 90-minute rollercoaster ride; we hear the transcendence of K\u00e1\u0165a\u2019s unfulfilled dreams throughout.Warlikowski and Albrecht have created a meticulous, dark and profound evening, with more than a dash of David Lynch. If you don\u2019t already love Jan\u00e1\u010dek operas, you will after this. See it!\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2018Mr Brou\u010dek\u2019 to April 3, staatsoper-berlin.de; \u2018K\u00e1\u0165a Kabanov\u00e1\u2019 to March 30 and on July 7, staatsoper.de<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.If you love Jan\u00e1\u010dek\u2019s operas, now would be a good time to visit Germany. Berlin\u2019s Staatsoper opened Robert Carsen\u2019s production of the seldom-performed Die Ausfl\u00fcge des<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":245792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-245791","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245791"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":245793,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245791\/revisions\/245793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}