Der Freischutz - Barbican; LSO, c. Davis

[gurnemanz]

I can't actually see why you might want to do Freischütz as a concert performance. I have only seen it once - in Germany about 40 years ago in a production that made a striking impression on me. I have two classic recordings - Jochum and Kleiber - but they serve to remind me of that theatrical experience that has stayed with me - the visual impact and spatial effects, light and dark, the magic and mystery, sounds and scents of a stage performance which seem to be so quintessential to an appreciation of the piece.

[aeolium]

Well, I'm with you, gurnemanz. I'd love to see it done on stage, but I fear that a modern staging (as with the most recent DVD versions) is more likely to portray an ironic take on the story than to try to recapture its affinities with early German romanticism. I heard an interview with Mackerras on R3 some years back in which he said it was virtually impossible to stage the Wolf's Glen scene now because people would just laugh at the schlock horror, the sort of Gothic effects that have been parodied for decades now.

Incidentally, the Freischütz you saw in Germany 40 years ago was not this one , originally from Hamburg State Opera, was it? I have the DVD of it and it's quite impressive, especially Edith Mathis as Ännchen.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I can't actually see why you might want to do Freischütz as a concert performance.

In this instance, because it's the only way (alas) that we're going to hear Davis conduct the score, perhaps? The only reason I can come up with: it is a work that so needs stage effects, I agree.