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Alert, Chinese in the water! Turandot xianica at Bregenzer Festspiele [ Author Michael Daniel Watson ] [ From category THE Articles ] [ Subcategory OperaRail 2015 ] [ Translator Catalina Popescu ] [ Article date: 2015-08-15 ] [ From city Bregenz ] [ Country Austria ]   When I was in college, one of our teachers explained us the proper way to guide a student towards a library. "You never tell him to go to `Mihai Eminescu` or `Lucian Blaga` library, but you tell him to go to that library next to the `Gambrinus` beerhouse or at the one next to `Capsa` restaurant. He will surely know where the library is! " :-) I didn`t ask myself if the lemma is true or not only in Romania, but I found out anyway. Once arrived in Bregenz, I asked a young local where the theatre was. He replied... "I don`t know... But I know where the theatre café is! " :-) Somewhere around there was the theatre, too. ;-) Bregenz is a town of 27.000 inhabitants, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Vorarlberg, which has 352.000 inhabitants. It is in Austria`s westernmost, at 4 km from Germany and 12 km from Switzerland and it is well known both because here ends the railroad that crosses Austria from east to west :-) , and for the Opera Festival that takes place each summer. The festival is famous for its mountings, a reason why it attracts tens of thousands of visitors-tourists each year. The festival started in 1946, only one year after the end of the Second World War, and in 2008 scenes for the renowned film "James Bond" were filmed here during the "Tosca" opera. Lake Konstanz (Constantza) (in German Bodensee) is the biggest lake of the Alps. It is situated on the river Rhine, at the border between Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Lindau is a town from Lindau district, Svabia region, Bavaria land, ... Germany. Xi`an is a town in the center of China, and has a population of 2 million inhabitants (5-6 million with the metropolitan area), so it`s a small town. :-) Small for China, where Shanghai (the biggest city), Pekin-Beijing (the capital) and Chongquing easily exceed 16 million. It`s the capital of the Shaanxi region, which has almost the same surface as Romania and a population of 36 million inhabitants. Xi`an and Shaanxi region are well known because here is where the old and famous ancient Silk Road ends, but also because, around the 1970s, there were discovered... Several months ago I saw "Turandot" at Craiova, which reminded me the subject. It benefitted me, I didn`t know the actions very well - as I`ve already mentioned, I`m not a big fan of this opera, that I`ve seen only 5 times (Bucharest, Verona, Torre del Lago, Craiova, Bregenz), the first time only three years ago! I don`t deny that it is possible that, if I see it again several times, I might start liking it (the opera, no way that murderous princess :-) ), but momentarily it is not among my favourites. Besides, for the opera itself I went only to Bucharest and Craiova, otherwise, at Verona because... it was Verona, at Torre del Lago because... it was Torre del Lago, and at Bregenz because... it was Bregenz. :-) You can`t refuse an opera in any of these places, even if the show is not among your favourites. From the very beginning I want to mention that the Bregenz decors are hard to describe. Actually, searching on the internet I discovered the sensational decors from Bregenz Opera Festival and this was the reason why I wanted to come to this festival, even if this meant seeing an opera which is not in the top of the most attractive ones for me. What is interesting is that the decors can be seen by anybody before the show! During the day the entrance in the "hall" is free, so, if you happen to be in the west of Austria, in the east of Switzerland or in the south-west of Germany in the summer, it`s a must not to miss the chance of going seeing them, irrespective of the performance in the programme. I am certain they will amaze you. The scene is on water! Between the public and the scene there is water, lake, not very much, about 6-7 metres. There stands the orchestra, who play through the waves. With the piano it`s easy, because it`s floating, but at the violin it`s more difficult, because the violinist hits the water with his/ her elbow each time he/ she pulls the bow downwards. The conductor is advantaged, too, he has water only a little above his knees, with only the score playing him tricks, because it sways in the rhythm of the waves. Fortunately, it`s a lake, and the waves are not very big, but it would be like in Tom and Jerry to see the conductor`s eyes running after the notes if the show were on the sea. :-) The contrabass is ok at the beginning of the season, but by its end, after it has stayed half-dipped into the water for so many shows, it swells and emits sounds like a pig beaten with the stick. :-) ) ) The flute is really funny, as while playing it lets out bubbles like the Albalux 3 washing machine. And the sounds are more likely a plop, but, come on, who is interested in the sounds? :-) And the drums� hey, heeey, when that guy plays the drums, it`s heard all the way to the bottom of the lake! It disturbs all the fish, they think it`s the New Year`s Eve party! And there is one more problem... the harp! Not up, where all are good, but the sounds from the bottom part are heard only by the fish... Hmmm, and why wouldn`t they have the right to listen to good music? Isn`t more tender a grilled sturgeon which has listened to Puccini? :-) I realize now that, the play being Turandot, one of the fish protests vehemently! Well, what do you mean... "Nessun dorma! " - �Let no one sleep! " What if I am... a SLEEPER? :-) So, the scene is on the water. Then follows 6-7 metres of lake between it and the public, then the chairs (about 7000 seats), on the upper part a large space which is both a hall, and a lounge, and where one of the entrances leads, and then, kind of symmetrically with the summer chairs, there is a concert hall. There is the orchestra, which, of course, can taste a melomaniac Prussian carp or sleeper at the restaurants around the halls complex. Probably when the shows are not on. :-) In the space between the scene and the public, which is in the water, there are... Chinese! I say... you should believe me! :-) In the years 1970s, close to Xi`an was discovered an army of� terracotta soldiers, about 8000 of them. A few copies were "deported" to Bregenz and set in the water between the scene and the public. They are lined up in several rows, the closest to the scene in water up to their necks, the second row is set a little upper, in water up to their chests, the following even upper and so on. They stand quietly, they don`t play, so their musical instruments don`t get wet. :-) Behind them there is the big scene, brown, like a lid slightly inclined over a huge round vertical cylinder, of about 9-10 metres. It is surrounded by another surface, also inclined, placed a little lower, and to the left there is "annexed" a small blue rectangular scene, which to me didn`t seem to match the assembly. Behind all these there is a section of The Great Wall of China, which is brown and has a general waved shape, a big S, elongated and �lying on its belly". Behind the wall you can see the lake Konstantz and... Lindau, which is Germany! :-) The centre of the wall collapses partially when the music starts and behind it you can see other terracotta soldiers similarly arranged. A group of people walk on the scene rhythmically, in the rigorous cadence of the music. The humans look like the "terracottas", but they are in grey, and the terracotta soldiers are brown. A few human soldiers enter, too, these ones in black and a little red. Liu, Timur and the Stranger have modern clothes, especially grey with something black. Liu, grey skirt under the knees, long overcoat, cap, her hair in two pigtails, looks like a nerdy schoolgirl. Timur, overcoat and grey trousers, modern-looking clothes, but Chinese-looking face, bearded, with a long mustache, brown like the hair. The stranger, grey overcoat, under it a vest and trousers of the same colour. The central scene (cylinder) spins and reveals under it a workshop for swords making. On the scene, soldiers in black and warriors in yellow are making warlike movements. At the back some seem to manufacture some white balloons looking like huge eggs. It is raining softly, but the show doesn`t interrupt! From the left side, from under the wall, a big boat with a squarish tent and many white lanterns shows up, from the right side, also from under the wall, another boat, red, with three soldiers and a prince in green. When it reaches the front part of the scene, Turandot come out of the tent, dressed entirely in white, sentences the prince in green to death, and her boat goes further and disappears to the right, under the wall. The green prince is taken up on the wall towards its left end, is beheaded, and his body is thrown into the water from the wall, from about 10 metres high. Ping, Pang and Pong - in German Pinz, Panz, Ponz :-) - have a kind of variegated gown, cloth pants, white socks and black slippers. At the back the gong is being brought in. From the right upper part, from the wall, girls are throwing petals. The terracotta soldiers are lighted greenishly with slightly phosphorescent light blue. Some of them are gathering cut off heads and are putting them into sacks. The stranger sees this, but he still beats the gong and enrolls in the competition. Because of the light rain, which could have become too heavy at any time, there weren`t any breaks. Ping, Pang, Pong have taken off their variegated gowns, they are in cloth costume without jackets, they are in the workshop, preparing... heads! In the workshop there is a computer, modern tables, folder organizers and... many glass cylinders in which there are... heads in formalin. The three of them put on the white lab analyst gowns, red rubber gloves and �cook" the skull of the last beheaded prince, to whom they sing farewell ironically, putting it in the "bookshelf" collection. Through the space around the central cylinder enter the crowd, the people in grey similar to the terracotta soldiers, as well as some in yellow who are making kung-fu movements and others in black who have ribbons as if for artistic gymnastics. The lid of the cylinder... opens! Under it there is... the emperor. He is in white, old, and... in a wheel chair. Under the former lid of the cylinder there is a huge round screen! On it there is a white and orange sun. The emperor greets the crowd, on the screen appears an orange dragon with a head a little too small. The challenge starts. The screen reddens, and then on it Chinese letters are written in black until the whole screen is black. Then a big face shows up. It is seen from a very small distance, and its features will change during the challenge. "Fremder, so h�re! " - "Straniero, ascolta! " - �You foreigner, listen! " "Die Hoffnung! " - "La speranza! " - �The hope! " The face furrowed vertically on its entire length like a crevice in the ground. Then it disappears, the screen remaining black. The face reappears, it is red and furrowed. "Das Blut! " - "Il sangue! " - �The blood! " A new crevice furrows the face. Now the face is light blue. The third answer comes, too. "Il mio fuoco ti sgela: Turandot! " - �My fire will melt you: Turandot! " The face starts to melt from the left to the right. Somebody takes Turandot`s white cloak, and she remains in a white dress in the upper part, in shades of pink-grena in the bottom part. She grabs a knife and threatens the Stranger, then she threatens to kill herself. The Stranger takes the knife from her hand and proposes her to find out his name. The tunes of the magic aria can be heard... "Keiner schlafe! " "Keiner schlafe! " "Nessun dorma! " "Nessun dorma! " �Let no one sleep! " The lid of the cylinder has become floor again for the scene taking place in the middle. At the front the workshop reappears, now it is lighted phosphorescently, green and violet and the same are the terracotta soldiers. At the back, on the lake, a lighted yacht can be seen. "Ich werde siegen! " "Vincerooo! " �I will win! " The Foreigner is tempted by PangPingPong with women, then with jewelry. The crowd shows up, the people clothed completely in black - the women with furs, the men a kind of sailors, but in black, too. But the Foreigner is stubborn. "Ich will Turandot! " - "Io voglio Turandot! " - �I want Turandot! " Liu and Timur are brought in, too. The lid of the cylinder/ the wall of the central scene rises with about 30 degrees, Turandot climbs on it, looks around and orders threateningly. She has a black veil, which reaches her legs over the green dress that can hardly be seen from under it. The rain is heavier, but the show doesn`t stop, not even now! The Foreigner is tied to the bed from the small blue rectangular scene, Liu commits suicide and is at first placed next to him, on the bed, then carried out on the arms, with Timur first, limping. "Prinzessin des Todes! Prinzessin des Eis! " "Principessa di morte! Principessa di gelo! " �Princess of death! Princess of the frost! " Turandot kisses him. "Ich bin Calaf, Sohn des Timur! " - "Io sono Calaf, figlio di Timur! " - I am Calaf, Timur`s son! " Fountains spring from the upper part of the walls. After the show, the boat filled with well behaved Germans who were going back to Lindau. (I had seen them when I had come, I had guessed they were Germans come to the opera, but I wasn`t sure.) Other spectators "hid" in restaurants and others left home. And the closest, the fish, went to sleep, although somebody had told them not to sleep.

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