Gottfried Helnwein | PRESSE | deutsche Presse | DER EXORZIST UND DER STADTNEUROTIKER VEREINT DURCH PUCCINI AUF DER OPERNBÜHNE IN LOS ANGELES.

Gottfried Helnwein's wondrous staging of "Der Rosenkavalier" is eccentric and anachronistic — yet utterly faithful to its spirit.
The thing you should know about this "Rosenkavalier" is that it is terrific. Richard Strauss' opera sounds great and looks sensational. It is excellently sung, sumptuously conducted by Kent Nagano and, thanks to Gottfried Helnwein, wondrously strange. Helnwein — the Austrian artist (painter, photographer, performance artist, filmmaker) who has a studio in downtown L.A. — is known for everything from Marilyn Manson videos to Holocaust installations. He is responsible for the sets, costumes and that ad (which, by the way, looks like an image from a recent staging of a Schumann oratorio that Helnwein designed in Düsseldorf). Helnwein's vision of "Rosenkavalier" is monochromatic and a riot of color. It is oddly traditional yet seriously odd. It is updated but couldn't be more 18th century. And none of those opposites contradicts.


		23. Juni 2007 Die Welt bru DER EXORZIST UND DER STADTNEUROTIKER VEREINT DURCH PUCCINI AUF DER OPERNBÜHNE IN LOS ANGELES. Maler David Hockney und Gottfried Helnwein haben schon an der L.A. Opera gearbeitet. Am 6. September 2008 kehrt Hollywood-Regisseur William Friedkin in den Dorothy Chandler Pavillon zurück, um Giacomo Puccinis "Der Mantel" sowie "Schwester Angelica", beides Werke des Operndreiteilers "Il Trittico", zu inszenieren. Für den komischen Einakter "Gianni Schicchi", wo es um einen Bande von Erbschleichern geht, die nur auf den Tod ihres Anverwandten wartet, wird Woody Allen aus New York nach Kalifornien kommen, um dort sein Operndebüt zu geben. Das gab der Opernchef von Los Angeles, Plácido Domingo, bekannt. "Ich habe keine Ahnung, was ich da machen werde", sagte Woody Allen, " aber fehlende Kenntnis hat mich noch niemals davon abgehalten, mit Eifer in eine Sache einzusteigen." Und Friedkin fügte hinzu: "Irgendwo auf dem Olymp, da bin ich sicher, wird Mr. Puccini lächeln." Auch die Filmregisseure Gary Marshall ("Pretty Woman") und Maximilian Schell sowie die Maler David Hockney und Gottfried Helnwein haben schon an der L.A. Opera gearbeitet.


		STRANGE BUT TRUE, Los Angeles Times, Mark Swed, 31. May 2005 Gottfried Helnwein's wondrous staging of "Der Rosenkavalier" is eccentric and anachronistic — yet utterly faithful to its spirit. The thing you should know about this "Rosenkavalier" is that it is terrific. Richard Strauss' opera sounds great and looks sensational. It is excellently sung, sumptuously conducted by Kent Nagano and, thanks to Gottfried Helnwein, wondrously strange. Helnwein — the Austrian artist (painter, photographer, performance artist, filmmaker) who has a studio in downtown L.A. — is known for everything from Marilyn Manson videos to Holocaust installations. He is responsible for the sets, costumes and that ad (which, by the way, looks like an image from a recent staging of a Schumann oratorio that Helnwein designed in Düsseldorf). Helnwein's vision of "Rosenkavalier" is monochromatic and a riot of color. It is oddly traditional yet seriously odd. It is updated but couldn't be more 18th century. And none of those opposites contradicts. STRANGE BUT TRUE, Los Angeles Times, Mark Swed, 31. May 2005


		Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss Los Angeles Opera 2005 Stage and Costumes: Gottfried Helnwein Conductor: Kent Nagano Director: Maximilian Schell The Israeli Opera, Tel Aviv 2006 Conductor: Asher Fisch Der Rosenkavalier, Los Angeles Opera 2005