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HENNING BROCKHAUS
ae
Architecture & Entertainment January 2017
The Scenographer
PiER luiGi PiER’Alli
THE SCENOGRAPHER
A vAluABlE REfERENCE
ivAN STEfANuTTi SOuRCE fOR All
HENNiNG BROCkHAuS PROfESSiONAlS Of STAGE- AND
ROBERT wilSON SCREEN-CRAfT
fRANCO ZEffiRElli AND fOR EvERyONE wHO
PiER luiGi PiZZi APPRECiATES A quAliTy
williAm kENTRiDGE PuBliCATiON PACkED wiTH
ROBERT lEPAGE NEwS, ExCluSivE iNTERviEwS,
RiCHly illuSTRATED iN-
DANTE fERRETTi
DEPTH ARTiClES AND
williAm ivEy lONG COvERAGE Of iNDuSTRy
mARiA BJORNSON EvENTS.
kEN ADAm info and subscription requests to:
AlEJANDRO luNA subscription@thescenographer.org
JOSEf SvOBODA
AlEx mCDOwEll
DANilO DONATi
MARIA BJORNSON
GABRiEllA PESCuCCi
milENA CANONERO
PiERO TOSi
luCiANO DAmiANi
AllAN STARSki
Guy HENDRix DyAS
EZiO fRiGERiO...
and many, many other great
set and costume designers
known and loved throughout the world.
CONTENTS
Henning Brockhaus and Josef Svoboda
Photo by Antonio Tabocchini
19
Of Henning Brockhaus
by Carla Moreni
Reflections of a Symbolic
and Musical Drama
by Valentina Escobar
THE SCENOGRAPHER
Winter Edition 2015
HENNiNG BROCkHAuS
my Theatre
Publisher
Study Centre Scenic Arts, Ltd. London.
Editor in Chief/Art Director
Graphic Design: Paolo Felici.
Ha collaborato a questo numero:
Carla Moreni, Valentina Escobar,
Maria Harman.
Translations: Maria Harman.
Photos: Antonio Tabocchini,
Rocco Casaluci, Giacomo Orlando,
Luciano Romano, Corrado
Lannino. Binci Fotografia Jesi,
Francesco Squeglia, Corrado Maria
Falsini.
Photo cover:
Lohengrin by R. Wagner
LA TRAVIATA
LA TRAVIATA
LA TRAVIATA, music by Giuseppe Verdi.
Direction by Henning Brockhaus.
Stage design by Josef Svoboda.
Costume design by Ulisse Santicchi.
Lighting design by Vannio Vanni.
Sferisterio, Macerata Opera Festival.
XXVIII stagione lirica, 1992.
THE ROOTS OF DRAMA AESTHETICS
IN THE WORK OF HENNING BROCKHAUS
by Carla Moreni
9
LOHENGRIN Photos by Manolis Baboussis
LOHENGRIN. Music by R. Wagner. Libretto by Arrigo Boito. Conductor: John Neschling. Director: Henning Brockhaus.
Assistent director and Coreography: Valentina Escobar. Stage design: Yannis Kounellis. Costume design: Patricia Toffolutti.
Lighting design: Guido Levi. Teatro Municipal de São Paulo - 2015.
Otello
OTELLO. Music by G. Verdi.
Libretto by Arrigo Boito.
Based on W. Shakespeare’s tragedy.
Director by Henning Brockhaus.
Assistent director by Valentina Escobar.
Stage design by Nicola Rubertelli.
Costume design by Patricia Toffolutti.
Lighting design by Alessandro Carletti.
Teatro di San Carlo.
Naples - 2014.
La serva Padrona
Paris, late 18th century. In salons
raged a heated cultural debate, which
would go down in history as
Querelle des Bouffons (La
disputa dei Buffoni). Briefly, the
question hinges on which of the two is
the better: the French drama or the
Neopolitan comic opera.
Neither The Encyclopedists nor Jean-
Jacques Rousseau (1752), harboured
any doubt, and the needle swings in
favour of the Neopolitan opera,
judged to be an authentic expression of
drama and sentiment.
This “querelle”, or dispute, topped
the bill of the 4th edition of the
Festival Pergolesi Spontini in 2004,
with the title
“Filosofi e Buffoni. Il genio
musicale che incendiò Parigi”
(Philosophers and Bufoons. The
LE DEVIN DU VILLAGE
Musical Genius that Inflamed Paris)
T
Madonna destroyed by Iago, thus emphasising her devoutness and
the strength of her faith in contrast with man’s wickedness. Othello
by Valentina Escobar by now crushed turns cruel and malicious like Iago who has now
completely dominated Othello, stripped him of his true nature; he
fter the first decade of a career spent working in major too will now destroy fragments of Bosch’s paintings and dash to the
repertory theatres and opera houses, I had the good fortune ground part of an old piano, thereby symbolising the disintegration
and the honour to meet Henning Brockhaus, the great director, of harmony, of art and culture by the hand of men like Iago now
musician and man of theatre with whom I had long dreamed of absolutely incapable of loving or simply hungry for power.
working. We immediately developed a great understanding and mutual In the context of symbolic language and of a Shakespearian play
respect; we discovered that we had both worked at the Piccolo Teatro within a play much admired and studied by Verdi, we decided to
in Milan, in different years, for the staging of two shows by Giorgio include several mime actors who also take on the role of doubles,
Strehler (Giorni Felici and La storia della bambola abbandonata). acting as "reflections" of Othello, Desdemona and Cassius, thus
representing their thoughts, fears and anxieties, their desires and
From that day on our intensive professional partnership has been ongoing.
dreams animated by Verdi’s music.
Over time, we have shared much endeavour, success and satisfaction when La Traviata and Macbeth are also immersed in a world of dreams, of
working together on shows that are staged in prestigious theatres and opera symbolism and mirror images. The directing of La Traviata is also
houses in Italy and the rest of the world. based on a voyeuristic dimension, in which the performers and the
It’s always difficult to sum up in just a few lines the work of many a spectators can see themselves reflected thanks to the mirror, the set’s
year, but in this brief account of mine I would like to look back on a principal element with its painted carpets, creating an epic, three-
trio of Verdi operas that have become "classics" for the value they dimensional visual, that bears witness to the flux and the
have acquired in the history of Musical Drama: La Traviata and Macbeth transformation of sentiments and actions (the minor roles build the
for which I was also choreographer, and Otello that I myself re-staged scene in view of the audience who will later join the performers as
at Teatro San Carlo in Naples. onlookers in the scene of Violetta’s demise, to participate in the
heartrending event with rationality mixed with commotion).
The symbolic language of Otello is intended to help the audience and My choreography is totally in line with Brockhaus’ direction, the sets by
the performers to comprehend and create a narrative linked to Verdi’s Josef Svoboda and the costumes created by Giancarlo Colis, immersed in
music and poetry and it is based on a deep analysis of Verdi’s musical "dreams" and in poetry. It all springs from the search for a harmonious
score and the universal themes inherent both in the libretto and balance between the music and Verdi’s passion for all things Spanish and,
Shakespeare’s original tragedy. Themes that convey their eternal nature, for the staging at the Sferisterio di Macerata, the tantalising, erotic flamenco
represented by Shakespeare’s drama and Verdi’s opera, tightly bound without neglecting references to the Sevillana that precedes the first dance
to the world of dreams, the oneiric realm, so dear to Brockhaus but of the gypsy girls and the tango-flamenco following the arrival of Alfredo
also to Shakespeare and to Verdi, in which our true feelings, our during the card game. The mime movements of the vocalists, the chorus,
anguish, our desires, unconscious thoughts, ambitions, as well as the the dancers and the minor players point at being sensual, graceful,
strength, the fragility, the psychology, the nature and the true identity fascinated, poetic in every scene just as Verdi’s music while avoiding the
pitfalls of triviality and vulgarity as an end in itself.
of each character all emerge. This then becomes a vehicle for As for Macbeth, Svoboda’s mirror and panels become essential elements
embracing fundamental aspects of the opera that may not otherwise for the directing, the choreography and the lighting of the ghostly
be revealed. I’m thinking, for example, of the opera’s first symbol: a apparitions that first attracted Shakespeare and Verdi and then Brockhaus,
heavenly image of a painting by Hieronymus Bosch that Iago lets fall, the people who work with him, the audience and critics. So the witches
and in doing so lays bare his cynisism, his sadistic tendencies and his (choristers and mimes) in effect also become protagonists from both a
desire to destabilise, to shatter the peace of mind and compromise directorial and choreographic perspective. Brockhaus therefore aims to
the coexistance of all the other characters. create a theatrical experience that is innovative, epic, symbolic, oneiric and
Moreover, the passionate rapport that Othello and Desdemona share in harmony with the music, to become memorable.
is inevitably associated with death. Verdi himself wrote that
Desdemona fell in love with her proud warrior Othello and his
misfortunes.
In the second act Desdemona and Emilia bring broth to the war- lEGGi l’ARTiCOlO
wounded in the hospital where we also find angelic voices with
iN iTAliANO
bunches of white lilies, as stipulated by Verdi, which serve to represent
Desdemona’s goodness and devout Christian piety. So the imagery of
the hospital associated with the choir ends with Othello’s erotic,
19
Jakob Lenz Photos by Rocco Casaluci
Photos by Antonio Tabocchini
JAKOB LENZ by Wolfgang Rihm. Libretto by Michael Fröhling from the novella “Lenz” by Karl Georg Büchner. Direction,
stage and lighting design by Henning Brockhaus. Costume design by Giancarlo Colis. Production “Palcoscenico Marche”, Festival
“Teatro di teatri”, Teatro Lauro Rossi, Macerata. 2007. Re-staged in 2012 with new scenery (as per the photo on this page) at the
Teatro Comunale di Bologna, in coproduction with Teatro Rossini di Lugo.
Jakob Lenz
Photos by Rocco Casaluci
Jakob Lenz
JAKOB LENZ by di Wolfgang Rihm.
Direction, stage design and lighting design
by Henning Brockhaus.
Teatro Comunale di Bologna, 2012.
MACBETH. Music by Giuseppe Verdi.Opera in four acts from the libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and Andrea Maffei
based on William Shakespeare’s tragedy. Direction and lighting design by Henning Brockhaus. Stage design by Josef
Svoboda. Costume design by Nanà Cecchi. Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa 2013. In coproduction with the Fondazione Teatro
Lirico G. Verdi, Trieste and Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini, Jesi.
Macbeth
Rigoletto
RIGOLETTO. Music by
Giuseppe Verdi. Direction by
Henning Brockhaus. Stage
design Alessandro Camera.
Costume design Patricia
Toffolutti. Lighting design
Roberto Venturi. Teatro
Massimo, Palermo. 2013
26
RIGOLETTO. Music by Giuseppe Verdi. Direction by Henning Brockhaus. Stage design Alessandro Camera.
Costume design Patricia Toffolutti. Lighting design Roberto Venturi. Teatro Massimo, Palermo. 2013
27
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR
Photos by Antonio Tabocchini
(edizione Sferisterio di Macerata 1992 )
Photos by Binci Fotografia Jesi
(edizione Teatro Pergolesi 2013)
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR
Let’s
The second part comprises the opera itself, entitled The Little Sweep, set in about 1810, which
narrates the act of solidarity that a group of wealthy children feel for a young boy forced to work
as a chimney-sweep. M ak e
An
The Little Sweep
Opera
working as a voluntary assistant to the Teatro with L'affare by Egidio in Hamburg for La vera storia
director on a number of diverse productions Bertazzoni, is appointed the theatre by Luciano Berio, at Reggio
at the renowned Volksbühne Berlin DDR company’s dramatist for the Faust Emilia for Don Quixote by
with Benno Besson and Heiner Müller, and Project (while also directing a Miguel de Cervantes, then
at the Berliner Ensemble with Manfred number of other productions there) staged in Turin (a prose
Weckwerth and La Staatsoper in Berlin with in addition to working for the Union performance, adaptation by
Ruth Berghaus. des Théâtres de l’Europe. Henning Brockhaus in five
But it was an encounter with Giorgio In 1990, Henning Brockhaus directs different evenings).
Strehler in 1975 that veered him towards The Lady from the Sea by Henrik But among his most critically
directing as a career. Ibsen, also staged at the Teatro acclaimed productions we
He then became assistent to and close collaborator Argentina in Rome. have the unforgettable La
of the founder of the Piccolo Teatro in Milan. Here we reference his most Traviata, Rigoletto, and Attila by
While at the Piccolo Teatro, and with important productions as director in Giuseppe Verdi, Lucia di
Strehler, he worked on the sets for a number successive years: The Seven Deadly Sins Lammermoor by Gaetano
42
Festival; Jaokob Lenz by Wolfgang Rihm, Teatro Comunale di
Bologna and Festival Lugo; Lucia di Lammermoor, Circuito Lirico
Lombardo, Ravenna and Fondazione Pergolesi Jesi; Macbeth,
Fondazione Pergolesi Jesi; Macbeth, Teatro Carlo Felice, Teatro
Verdi di Trieste.
In 2014. Otello at Teatro Massimo, Palermo and at San Carlo,
Naples; Macbeth, Royal Opera House, Oman; La Traviata at
Trieste and Udine, at Macerata Opera Festival, in
Astana/Kazakistan, at Festival Verdi di Busseto.
In 2015. Lohengrin at Teatro Municipal de São Paulo.
Josef Svobota (a sinistra) insieme a Henning Brockhaus durante la conferenza
stampa per la La Traviata a Macerata Opera Festival.
In addition to his long and illustrious career he teaches directing
at university level, at I.U.A.V. in Venice and since 2004, at the
Donizetti and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the Macerata Opera Accademia di Belle Arti di Macerata.
Festival; Verdi’s Otello at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, also
La Traviata and Macbeth, and Elektra by Richard Strauss at the
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.
His productions have attained wide consensus in Japan:
La Traviata in Nagoya, and Faust, Lucia di Lammermoor
and Macbeth in Tokyo, which was the recipient of the
Japanese critics’ top award.
In 1993, for La Traviata and in 2003, for El Cimarrón by H.W.
Henze, at Macerata he receives the Premio Abbiati (Italian
music critics’ award).
For the Pergolesi-Spontini di Jesi festival in 2004 he
stages La Serva Padrona by Gian Battista Pergolesi and
a prose performance on various texts by J. J. Rousseau:
Le devin du village.
In 2005, Vanne, carta amorosa. Festival Pergolesi-Spontini.
In 2006, Turandot, by Giacomo Puccini. Baths of Caracalla,
Summer Festival, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.
In 2007, Jakob Lenz by Wolfgang Rihm at Macerata, Terra dei
Teatri.
In 2008, La Traviata at Palm Beach, USA, Turandot at New
National Theatre of Tokyo.
In 2009, The Emperor Jones by Louis Gruenberg at Teatro delle
Muse, Ancona; Il Prigionier superbo by G.B. Pergolesi at Jesi.
In 2010, La Traviata at San Carlo in Naples, Palau de les Arts
di Valencia andNCPA in Beijing (conducted by Lorin Maazel);
Beatrice di Tenda by Vincenzo Bellini at Teatro Bellini di Catania.
In 2011, La Serva Padrona by G.B. Pergolesi and Le Devin
du village by J. J. Rousseau for the Festival Pergolesi-
Spontini at Jesi.
In 2012, Le Notti Bianche by Dostojevsky, Grotte di Frasassi;
La Traviata, Teatro Massimo di Palermo and Macerata Opera
43
Photo by Antonio Tabocchini