It's definitely been a while since I have last seen an opera. So when a friend was visiting us last February, we ended up getting tickets to Rued Langgaard's Antikrist, which was produced in the Deutsche Oper this season. I was actually already looking at this opera since last year (the Deutsche Oper decided to include this production in their previous season) but didn't have the guts to purchase a ticket. After all, it was a surreal production, and looking at the trailer, it was a very different opera from what I have already seen previously. Nevertheless, our friend who was visiting us encouraged us to do so, so we all bought tickets and went one evening. And I am glad that I went.
As my tenth opera (eleventh if I include Chinese opera), I can compare and contrast this production with how I enjoyed the previous one. Antikrist tells the story of the Biblical Antichrist, who comes to the world to spread evil. The opera begins with Lucifer waking up the Antichrist, and then bad things happen to the world. The storyline is so mystic and surreal, and I think the production took that one step further. The visuals were definitely very much captivating, and I never tired of looking at what was happening on stage. Perhaps this distracted me from appreciating the music, then again, I do not know anything at all about Langgaard's music at this point. In fact, this is my very first sampling of his work. Until now, I never even knew he existed.
But that's okay. I thought his music reminded me of Stravinsky: the Antikrist dates from 1926 (we saw the revised version from 1930), which puts Stravinsky's famous ballets within close proximity. I especially liked the parts of the music which was intended to "move the scene" as these were long dance segments, and nobody was singing. The singing sections weren't so memorable: I couldn't recall an aria that had a good hook which would stick in my head. But in any case, overall, given the production, and the relative rawness of the music, I absolutely had a good time.
Let me focus on the production: it was surreal. It wasn't a traditional production, nor a modern one. After all, how would you represent characters if the characters have names such as The Air of Mystery, The Mouth Speaking Great Words, and Hatred? It was an opera where abstract concepts were personified, so going all out surreal perhaps is the only way to go. Like I said, it was something else, and it kept me at the edge of my seat.
Overall, I had fun. If you have a chance to see this production, definitely go for it.
