Mayr: Medea In Corinto [DVD] [2011] [NTSC]

When I first saw this blu ray listed as a new release with Nadja Michael as Medea (saw her in Salome and Don Carlos) directed by Hans Neuenfels (saw his Fledermaus production in Salzburg), I knew this is bound to be an amazing production and it didn't even matter to me that I never heard of the composer before. And I was right, glorious music (Mayr was a German immigrating to Italy, where he was a celebrated opera composer during his life time and teacher of Donizetti and Bellini) combined with a powerful staging that sheds light on the underlying motives why a mother would kill her on children.
The cast led by Nadja Michael, who gives an almost superhuman performance both vocally and dramatically, portraying the whole range of human emotions and inner torment in this demanding role so believable that you almost feel sorry for her having to go through all that every performance. Partnered by Ramon Vargas (great voice, but compared to Nadja Michael he almost seemed a bit stiff on stage, which suited his role, so it might have been on purpose) as Giasone, her husband who leaves her for a younger woman, Creusa (Elena Tsallagova, what a beautiful voice!), daughter of Creonte (Alastair Miles, great acting!), king of Korinth. Interestingly, in Mayr's version of Medea also Creusa had a partner, Egeo (Alek Schrader, definitely an up and coming talent) who she leaves behind before getting involved with Giasone, which means another betrayed lover resulting musically in a very beautiful duet between him and Medea and a better balance of voices in bigger ensembles.
Medea's situation is probably the worst that any woman could experience: her husband leaves her for a younger woman, decides to take their two children as well, the population of the city she is living in wants to get rid of her, because they are scared of her (she knows witchcraft), but she can't go back to her homeland either, because she helped Giasone steal the golden fleece and killed a few people in the process. So you could probably say she hit rock bottom. So the only thing that seems to her would give her some sort of pleasure or satisfaction is to make Giasone's life as miserable as possible by taking away everything he holds dear, Creusa and his children. Even if it means she has to kill her own flesh and blood. It is hard to believe that any mother would go that far, but in a society where one is confronted with violence, rape and murder on a daily basis to a degree that people become unresponsive and numb to it, you could imagine that something like that could potentially happen. And that's exactly what the director put on stage. Or hold on, is that the world we live in?!?

I have to agree with some reviews on here and was a little worried at the beginning (in the fairly developed prologue) as the staging seemed to try too hard to pack information and seemingly unecessarilly chocking, often violent, actions. Fortunately, all this quietened down very quickly and soon the story started to unfold in a very exciting way.

This is not an entirely unknown opera since there are a couple of recordings available but, of course, the dvd or blu-ray will bring it to the attention of a much wider part of the opera curious public.

Technically, this blue-way is excellent. The filming and editing is faultless and the sound reproduction is one of the best I have heard with the voices well in front while the orchestra stays plush as well as vibrant and precise. All performers are excellent. A special mention should be given to Ramon Vargas who, although not the best actor on the block, displays a genuinely beautiful organ hardly stressed by the stratospheric notes of his entrance aria. Nadja Michael was a perfect choice for this part. Her acting was really involving and you could not fail to get completely drawn in the story with each of her interventions. Her dramatic soprano adds a dark(er) side to the heroine. Maybe she sacrifices some of the diction to the beauty and roundness of the sound but she does it very well. Her Cherubini's Medea is supposed to come out soon on DVD and that too should be an exciting issue.

I think that the updating of the story does not distract as much as others have mentioned from the original. The costumes are superb and it makes for a great afternoon opera viewing. Completely recommended!!!

The Medea myth has provided great material for opera composers over the years, and it's not difficult to see why. It has all the ingredients - as it's played here in this version - for the operatic favourite, the 'melodramma tragico'. There's a joyous wedding - between Creusa and Jason - but a psycho ex-wife, Medea, who still represents a threat to the union, and a struggle over custody of the kids from her and Jason's previous marriage, which he wants annulled based on the fact that the witch cast a spell over him. Don't they all. And would you believe it, the ex turns up at the wedding and causes a bit of a scene. Nightmare. For the director of this production of Mayr's 1813 opera Medea in Corinto, Hans Neuenfels, the story is about people living in fear and acting out of fear. You might not get that quite so much from the original score and libretto, but that at least is the spin put on this production of a rarely performed opera recorded in 2010 at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich.

In Medea in Corinto, the forthcoming union between Creusa and Jason (Giasone in Italian) is a promise to the end of the long wars that have devastated the nation and an end to living in fear. But right from the beginning, Neuenfel's radical staging puts forward a view that Corinth - perhaps on account of having to deal with the constant threat of violence - has become a corrupt and violent police state, with a cruel and sadistic king, Creon/Creonte. Much of this interpretation of the myth is, it has to be said, suggested by the staging rather more than anything in the score or the libretto. In the opening scenes then, while Creon is talking about peace, he and his troops are at the same time engaged in the abuse, torture and execution of ordinary citizens in a sadistic manner that clearly evokes Pasolini's Salò (thankfully without its worst excesses). In other scenes, either the director doesn't trust the singing to be strong enough or the score to be deep or interesting enough, and includes silent background figures of Hymen and Amor, who play out mimes in the background, as well as solo musicians to highlight and sometimes contrast the actions with the words of the libretto.

Whether it's true to Mayr's vision of the Medea myth, this kind of reworking of the material is of course valid in the context of the nature of the opera's theme of shifting political agendas, where the stated aims of those in power is often contrary to their actions and their actual intent. More than that however, without a little bit of subversion to enliven it, Medea in Corinto might otherwise be a very dull opera indeed. Musically, the studied classicism of Mayr's arrangements - stately Mozart-like opera seria without the recitative and singing that is heading towards bel canto - is quite beautiful, but can come across as rather bland, certainly when compared to Cherubini's fiery version, which is an evident model here. Although the qualities of his composition here are debatable, or at least unfashionable as far as modern opera tastes go, the composer now almost forgotten in the history of opera, Mayr could once count both Bellini and Donizetti as pupils, and Medea in Corinto is consequently not without a considerable amount of interest.

If the Bayerische Staatsoper production then is somewhat radical, it at least tries to make the classical themes relevant to a modern audience, the three-level stage reflecting the three periods through which the audience view this opera - a modern view of Mayr's period interpretation of classical antiquity. The motivations and intentions however can be a bit dubious in some other respects - Medea first appearing in a witch-doctor costume, Aegeus bizarrely killing his own men in the second act - but it certainly holds the attention better than a more straightforward traditional production might. The production however also benefits here from some fine singing, Nadja Michael in particular delivering a fabulous rich deep almost mezzo performance as Medea - here as elsewhere a real showpiece role - but the singing all round is of a very high quality. A slimmed-down Ramón Vargas is notable as Giasone, but the role requires a deeper near-baritone range in some parts that the Mexican tenor can't reach with sufficient force. Unfashionable it may be, but if you are looking to study the often fascinating intricacies and colour of the score, it's superbly delivered by the Bayerische Staatsorchester under Ivor Bolton, and reproduced brilliantly on the high-quality Blu-ray release.