LIVE RECORDING FROM THE ZURICH OPERA HOUSE 2008

With:

GENOVEVA Juliane Banse
GOLO Shawn Mathey
SIEGFRIED Martin Gantner
MARGARETHA Cornelia Kallisch
DRAGO Alfred Muff

Orchestra and Chorus of the Zurich Opera House
Conducted by NIKOLAUS HARNONCOURT
Directed by MARTIN KUŠEJ
Set Design / Costumes by ROLF GLITTENBERG
Costumes by HEIDI HACKL
Lighting by JÜRGEN HOFFMANN

SCHUMANN’S GENOVEVA – A MODERN-DAY DRAMA OF THE SOUL
On 25th June 1850, Robert Schumann’s only opera, Genoveva, received its fi rst performance at Leipzig State Theatre. It was a much-awaited event, as Schumann, widely regarded as the leading German instrumental composer, had set his mind to the urgent task of creating a national opera. However, despite the efforts of the composer’s supporters to maintain interest in the work, the opera was soon forgotten.

When conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt fi rst came across Genoveva some 15 years ago (he subsequently recorded a CD of it in 1996), he voiced the opinion that “Genoveva is a work of art for which one should be prepared to go to the barricades”. Harnoncourt sees the main reason why Genoveva has not been recognised as a brilliant composition and perhaps the most signifi cant opera written during the second half of the 19th century, as having much to do with the false expectations attached to the work.

“You mustn’t look for dramatic events in this opera. What it offers us is a glimpse into the soul. Schumann was not interested in creating something naturalistic – he wanted to write a type of opera in which the music had a greater say.”
“Never before so vivid! Robert Schumann was only too familiar with passionate
yearning, cold possessiveness and madness. In Zurich his underestimated
opera Genoveva has undergone a brilliant revival.” Die Zeit

“Juliane Banse as Genoveva produces a wonderfully soft, velvety sound, into which
individual high notes are inserted with precision and passion. Martin Gantner [...]
is an authoritative and grand-scale Siegfried.” Frankfurter Rundschau