Austria Vienna State Opera’s Opern Air: Soloists, Vienna State Opera Chorus and Orchestra / Bertrand de Billy (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Dominik Kepczynski) from the Burggarten, Vienna, 7.12.2025 and available from 18 September on ARTE.tv. (JPr)
We learn from the Vienna State Opera’s website how ‘2025 is an important year for Austria. It marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation from National Socialism and the establishment of the Second Republic, and we are also celebrating 70 years of the State Treaty. but 1945 and 1955 are also crucial dates in the history of the Vienna State Opera: On March 12, 1945, bombs hit the building on the Ring, large parts burned out and it took 24 hours to extinguish the fire. Just two months after the destruction, emergency artistic operations were made possible in the Volksoper and later also in the Theater an der Wien. Meanwhile, the Haus am Ring was rebuilt. The parties in the provisional government of 1945 … unanimously supported the reconstruction plan. The ceremonial reopening took place on November 5, 1955. After a ceremony in the morning with a lot of politics, Beethoven’s Fidelio, “the” opera about unjust rule and liberation through love, was performed in the evening. And the performance became a symbol of a new Austria.’
Fast-forward to 2025 and ‘in remembrance of the years 1945 and 1955’ there was a large, free open-air concert which drew thousands – many picnicking – to the Burggarten, famous for its Mozart statue. Introduced by journalist and TV presenter Barbara Rett and Vienna State Opera’s General Director Dr Bogdan Roščić, they looked backed at these events and also celebrated the current achievements of the Vienna State Opera by reflecting on its present and future. It was also an opportunity to continue to broaden the appeal of the venerable institution by performing for some who have never set foot in the opera house or may even know little about opera. To be honest the Vienna State Opera has always been quite democratic. I saw many operas in my formative years from the Parterre Stehplatz (standing room) centrally at the rear of stalls with the great(er) and good(er) in front or in the boxes to either side.
It was an eclectic selection of musical items designed to highlight – soloists notwithstanding – the outstanding musicians of the orchestra (members of the Vienna Philharmonic of course), the excellent chorus and the talented members of the Opera Studio and Opera School. Illness on the day robbed the event of one of its star attractions, Sonya Yoncheva, but she was replaced by Camilla Nylund, welcomed as ‘one of the greatest sopranos of her time’ and it was interesting to hear some of her Brϋnnhilde break through into Puccini’s ‘Visse d’arte’ which had greater defiance than some even bring to it. Later there was a role debut as Gretel – and never to be repeated I am certain – when she joined Elīna Garanča in the delightful Abendsegen (Evening Prayer) from Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel.
Though Yoncheva’s late withdrawal was a disappointment there was much spending singing from the other soloists and students headlined by Garanča, Nylund and Jonas Kaufmann. The always reliable chorus sang with verve and enthusiasm whether welcoming guests (Tannhäuser), with the engaging children of the Opera School in greeting the toreadors (Carmen) or as sailors (Der fliegende Holländer) and partygoers (Die Fledermaus). Betrand de Billy conducted with indefatigable energy and obvious joy all the different styles and moods of the music in the programme and he was splendidly supported by the orchestra led by Manfred Honeck. Notably this was when the focus was purely on them for the overture from Mozart’s Le nozze do Figaro (though perhaps lacking some ebullience on this occasion) and Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ which was suitably thunderous. Elsewhere there were wonderful solo contributions and typically unified warm string sound and glowing brass.
Benjamin Bernheim is the epitome of style and a worthy successor to tenors of the past such as Alfredo Kraus and Nicolai Gedda (both of whom I heard live) and Bernheim’s singing is characterised by similar beauty of tone and exquisite vocal control. This was shown at its best in ‘Ah! Iève-toi soleil!’ (from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette) and ‘Je crois entendre encore’ (Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de perles) and the Act III duet with Sandra Hamaoui of renewed passion and anxiety for the future from Massenet’s Manon. Elīna Garanča inhabits everything she sings whether in concert or on the stage and employing her remarkable mezzo-soprano voice from its smoky depths to clarion top she sang superb heartfelt renditions of arias of unrequited love from Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur and deep despair and regret from Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust. Jonas Kaufmann looked and sounded as good as he has for years. There is always that familiar baritonal grounding to his tenor voice but there was effortless expression and no lack of lyrical beauty in another aria of love and desire from Ponchielli’s La Gioconda, the bittersweet farewell to Tosca of ‘E lucevan le stelle’ and the declaration of enduring friendship in the fight for liberty that was the Don Carlo Act II duet sung with the characterful baritone of Boris Pinkhasovich.
Much fun was had by all as many of the cast with glasses in hand (Kaufmann had a bottle!) returned to the platform for Elīna Garanča to lead everyone in the exuberant Champagne Chorus from Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus which sent the crowd away happy after an evening of mostly joy and hope, though with its occasional reflective moments.
Jim Pritchard
Featured Image: Vienna State Opera’s Opern Air in the Burggarten © WS/Michael Pöhn
Cast – Camilla Nylund, Sandra Hamaoui, Ilia Staple, Hannah-Theres Weigl, Jenni Hietala (sopranos), Elīna Garanča, Daria Sushkova, Anita Monserrat (mezzo-sopranos), Benjamin Bernheim, Jonas Kaufmann, Jörg Schneider, Andrei Maksimov (tenors), Boris Pinkhasovich, Clemens Unterreiner, Hans Peter Kammerer (baritones), Dan Paul Dumitrescu (bass)
Programme –
Chorus of the Vienna State Opera – ‘Entry of the Guests’ (Wagner, Tannhäuser)
Jonas Kaufmann – ‘Cielo e mar’ (Ponchielli, La Gioconda)
Elīna Garanča – ‘Acerba voluttà’ (Cilea, Adriana Lecouvreur)
Benjamin Bernheim, Sandra Hamaoui – ‘Toi! Vous! … Oui… c’est moi’ (Massenet, Manon)
Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera – Overture, Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro
Opera Studio of the Vienna State Opera – ‘Soave sia il vento’ (Mozart, Così fan tutte)
Opera School of the Vienna State Opera – ‘Avec la garde montante’ (Bizet, Carmen)
Chorus of the Vienna State Opera, Opera School of the Vienna State Opera – ‘Les voici! Les voici!’ (Bizet, Carmen)
Jonas Kaufmann, Boris Pinkhasovich, Dan Paul Dumitrescu, Chorus of the Vienna State Opera – ‘Dio che nell’alma infondere’ (Verdi, Don Carlo)
Chorus of the Vienna State Opera – ‘Sailors’ Chorus’ (Wagner, Der fliegende Holländer)
Benjamin Bernheim – ‘Ah! Iève-toi soleil!’ (Gounod, Roméo et Juliette)
Elīna Garanča – ‘D’amour l’ardente flamme’ (Berlioz, La Damnation de Faust)
Camilla Nylund – ‘Vissi d’arte’ (Puccini, Tosca)
Ensemble, Chorus of the Vienna State Opera – ‘Brüderlein und Schwesterlein’ (J Strauss II, Die Fledermaus)
Benjamin Bernheim – ‘Je crois entendre encore’ (Bizet, Les Pêcheurs de perles)
Jonas Kaufmann – ‘E lucevan le stelle’ (Puccini, Tosca)
Elīna Garanča, Camilla Nylund – ‘Evening Prayer’ (Humperdinck, Hänsel und Gretel)
Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera – ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ (Wagner, Die Walküre)
Elīna Garanča, Jonas Kaufmann, Benjamin Bernheim, Camilla Nylund, Boris Pinkhasovich, Chorus of the Vienna State Opera – ‘Im Feuerstrom der Reben’ (J Strauss II, Die Fledermaus)