Copenhagen Pleasures: Part Two

Before leaving for Denmark, I'd taken the precaution of ordering tickets online for two tempting events-- a new staging of Giselle at the Royal Danish Ballet and a new production of Handel's Partenope at the Royal Danish Opera. Both were scheduled at the "Gamle Scene"-- the handsome old opera house in the square named Kongens Nytorv. And both, for reasons I'll explain below, were especially newsworthy. I suspected-- quite rightly-- that tickets might be difficult to get on the spot.

On October 25th, shortly after our arrival in Copenhagen, we attended Giselle. It was a lovely introduction to the Danish cultural scene, but also exciting because this production was Nicolaj Hubbe's first project in his interesting new job as director of the RDB. Though I hadn't seen Hubbe dance very recently, I knew him-- and his reputation-- as a splendid principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. I expected his history with the NYCB to shape what he'd do as director in Copenhagen-- especially in this important initial production. I guess I was looking forward to an edgy, Balanchine-inspired evening, rather than the conventional romantic version of Giselle that he did mount. Conventional, but beautiful! And beautifully danced by the long-legged, elegant Silja Schandorff and Nehemiah Kish, her Canadian Albrecht. I've since read that Hubbe dedicated this production to Henning Kronstan (an earlier dancer, ballet-master and director at the RDB) in whose staging he himself apparently danced his first Albrecht. I also heard that the second cast (we saw the first), with Mads Blangstrup and Gudrun Bojesen, had a very different feel. When I asked an usher about it, she gushed "Oh Mads-- he's so gorgeous!" Kish may not have been as dramatically compelling as his Danish colleague, but he was no slouch in the role. At any rate, the audience was ecstatic. Since this was the last night for Giselle, the applause went on and on. No one wanted to let the dancers go home.

Our opera experience a few days later was even more thrilling. But first I must write about our pre-opera cab ride with an articulate and intelligent driver (not at all unusual in Copenhagen!). When he learned that we were going to the venerable "Old Stage," and that we were a bit early, he offered to turn off his meter and take us for a short tour of the city. He particularly wanted us to see the Operaen-- Copenhagen's modern new opera house, which had opened in 2005. Parking at the edge of the Inderhavnen Canal, he pointed across the harbor to the striking, Henning Larsen-designed building, blazing with lights, on Holmen Island. As we looked across the water and nodded admiringly, the cabbie told us about Maersk McKinney Moeller, the Danish tycoon who had commissioned and paid for the entire cost of the expensive new structure. Moeller, whose family owns a vast container ship company, was for years considered to be Denmark's wealthiest citizen. (Lately, he's been replaced in that stratospheric niche by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the head of Lego.) We had a lively discussion about the pros and cons of such beneficence. Only a day later, we would hear again about this prominent billionaire. Invited to pay a visit to new friends in Charlottenlund, up the coast from Copenhagen, we were given explicit instructions for approaching their house. It was accessible only from one end of their street, since the street was awkwardly divided in half midway by a barrier built to protect a wealthy neighbor-- this same Moeller.

But back to the opera. Again, we were present at the final night of a sold-out production. The lobby of the Gamle Scene was packed, the audience buzzing with anticipation as we all waited impatiently for the doors to open. This was not my first Partenope. In fact, I'd seen a glorious production of it by the same director-- Francisco Negrin-- at Glimmerglass in 1998. I rather doubted that many in the Copenhagen audience had caught that one. But they probably had seen, or certainly knew about, the RDO's 2005 Giulio Cesare, also directed by Negrin and with much of the same cast. It received rave reviews in Copenhagen as well as enthusiastic attention elsewhere when it came out on DVD.

Which explains why there was proleptic excitement for this new Partenope. Like Negrin's Giulio Cesare, it was a modern dress version-- witty and lively, full of humorous quirks and comic absurdities, but its modernity unblemished by "Eurotrash." Handel's music and its glorious lyricism, it goes without saying, is magnificent. I still remembered the terrific performances of it at Glimmerglass by counter-tenors David Daniels and David Walker. The RDO, on this last night, was equally memorable. Andreas Scholl, as Arsace, started out slightly wan, but quickly picked up strength and ended the evening singing powerfully and beautifully. Christophe Dumaux, a counter-tenor new to me, was a sweet-voiced, tender Armindo. I especially liked Tuva Semmingsen's peformance in the pants role of Rosmira. Only Inger Dam-Jensen, in the title role, seemed slightly outclassed. The orchestra-- the original instrument band Concerto Copenhagen led by Lars Ulrik Mortensen-- was outstanding and vigorously cheered by the audience. But so was the entire cast. Bravos, bravissimos, whistles and rhythmic clapping went on forever! In sum-- a wonderful Copenhagen evening.