Billy Budd at the Vienna Opera, a worthy revival in a dated production

Mark Wigglesworth's somewhat soothing direction highlights the central trio of Gregory Kunde, Huw Montague Rendall and Brindley Sherratt.

The Vienna Opera, in addition to being an opera house, is also a tourist hotspot. When the local public, who can be discouraged by the price of tickets, does not fill the room, there are always tourists who do not spare the expense but who are not always very attentive.

However, the musical realization of this beautiful work by Britten which is Billy Buddwould justify the entire public devoting all their attention to it. Only musical production, to tell the truth: Willy Decker's staging, created in 2001, has nothing more to say to us, and in retrospect it does not appear to be one of the best of its author, who has all the same does much better to give birth to theater in opera, whether it is his famous Traviata Salzburg or this Lulu which, since 2003, has become a great classic of the Paris Opera. Very quickly during the evening we can no longer stand these uniforms as far as the eye can see and the impeccably identical sailors' costumes, which say nothing and kill the theater, not to mention the usual marbled panels in Wolfgang Gussmann's sets, but here invariably black. The Vienna Opera has largely shelved its old productions since the arrival of Bogdan Roščić at its head, there are still a few remaining – but it is after all better than not performing the work at all.

As for End of game the day before, the orchestra did not seem to be suffering from the departure of part of its troops for the Vienna Philharmonic's Asian tour. We can criticize Mark Wigglesworth for a lack of drive and dramatic power, but this is to the benefit of the orchestral beauty and musical precision: notwithstanding a few offbeat lines, the singers seem perfectly at ease thanks to the quality of the support orchestral. Captain Vere is none other than the indestructible Gregory Kunde who is well into his fifth decade of career: he who brilliantly made his debut in Bacchus a year and a half ago offers a solid interpretation of this beautiful role, including included in the aria which closes Act I of the four-act version, Officers and men of the Indomitablewhich retains great courage and enviable certainty in the treble. That said, we can't help but find the tone a little gray, and this monotony does not favor the character.

The two antagonists of the work, Huw Montague Rendall and Brindley Sherratt, deserve no reservations. The first, in the title role, even manages to draw a youthful and enthusiastic character, which is remarkable in this very untheatrical context; the voice seems just as young and ductile, both in the passion of the first scenes and in the sad meditation of its last. Brindley Sherratt is an elegant villain, with the dark tone we expect from Claggart, but without caricature: the words are enough for him, and that's very good.

The rest of the cast is without weakness; there is an element of arbitrariness in citing one rather than the other, but the Novice by Hiroshi Amako, or the veteran Dansker by Dan Paul Dumitrescu, who sang hundreds of performances on the Viennese stage in almost a quarter of a century in the troupe, are good examples of overall quality. There is, however, a protagonist that we cannot fail to mention: the chorus of the Vienna Opera this evening has a flexibility, a capacity for nuances, a musical and dramatic efficiency which carries the crowd scenes with enthusiasm.

Routine therefore, certainly, especially audible through the orchestral prudence, but routine without letting go, without complacency, and the spectator who loves this work can feel respected.

Photo credits © Wiener Staatsoper / Sofia Vargaiová

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Vienne. Staatsoper. 30-X-2024. Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) : Billy Budd, opéra en quatre actes d'après la nouvelle d'Herman Melville. Mise en scène: Willy Decker; décor and costumes: Wolfgang Gussmann. Avec : Gregory Kunde (Captain Vere), Huw Montague Rendall (Billy Budd), Brindley Sherratt (John Claggart), Adrian Eröd (Mr. Redburn), Wolfgang Bankl (Mr. Flint), Attila Mokus (Ratcliffe), Andrea Giovannini (Red Whiskers), Andrei Maksimov (Donald), Dan Paul Dumitrescu (Dansker), Hiroshi Amako (Novice), Lukas Schmidt (Squeak)… Wiener Staatsopernchor ; Orchestras of the Opéra de Vienne; direction: Mark Wigglesworth