Requiring 38 soloists, chorus and large orchestra, "Palestrina", Hans
Pfitzner's (1869-1949) "most important work" (Süddeutsche Zeitung), is a
challenging opera to stage. In Munich, the city in which it was given its
world premiere in 1917, the Bavarian State Opera succeeded - director
Christian Stückl, best known for his staging of the Oberammergau Passion
Play and the Salzburg Festival's "Jedermann", transformed the monumental
work into an optical pop art event.
Stückl's production infuses such color and life into the serious work that
even the German tabloid "Abendzeitung" delightedly wrote: "Who would have
thought that Pfitzner could be such fun?" Written in a lush late-Romantic
idiom, the masterpiece weaves a fictitious tale around Giovanni Pierluigi
da Palestrina, one of the most important Renaissance composers and
renovators of sacred music, who fears losing his creative powers and his
role in society.
Conductor Simone Young maintains a silky, organic orchestral texture, and
expertly holds the reins of the many vocal and instrumental parts. Heading
the many outstanding soloists are the imposing Christopher Ventris as
Palestrina, Bayreuth regular Falk Struckmann and baritone Michael Volle.
This production continues UNITEL CLASSICA's cooperation of many years
with the Bavarian State Opera.
