The one...the only...

...Rene Pape takes a bow as Don Giovanni, December 18th, Staatsoper unter den linden, Berlin

It was my great fortune to see Rene Pape in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Berlin State Opera this past Saturday, December 15 and Tuesday, December 18. I've seen Pape before as Philip in Don Carlo and as himself with the group, Chanticleer, at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. His Don Giovanni was quite marvelous, sung to perfection as usual, but a little wooden and tentative in the delivery. It's as if Pape can't imagine himself in the role of ladies' man, never mind that in real life female fans pant unapologetically. I've heard he's under appreciated in Berlin and I would concur. His lovely serenade to Elvira's maid and his duet with Zerlina did not produce the show stopping applause one would expect at the Met. On Tuesday night he finally found reward. At the end of the opera at the curtain call, each soloist came forward for a solo bow. When Pape came forward, the audience arose en masse, the first standing "O" of the night.

This was also my first opportunity to see and hear Barenboim conduct live. While Maestro is assuredly a master technician conducting without notes or score, getting wonderful sound from the orchestra, I had the feeling that he was conducting an orchestra where the singers were welcome to sing along if they wanted, not an orchestral accompaniment to an opera. Oftentimes it seemed that Pape's extraordinary voice was drowned out by a trombone or oboe, with Barenboim mindful only of the sound of his orchestra, not his singers. Also, the staging and sets were rather underwhelming, as if produced on a budget. But it was a wonderful opportunity to see Pape and I think he will come to own the role, as he does Philip in Don Carlo, Mephistopheles in Faust, and Marke in Tristan and Isolde.