VIENNA, Austria - In opera, singing well is the best revenge. Neil Shicoff, savaged by the local media this summer for his bid to become director of the Vienna State Opera, celebrated a triumph Sunday on the stage of the same establishment. And no wonder. While there may be doubt about his managerial abilities, he is among the world's top tenors on a good night -- and this was one of them.
Shicoff shone as the demented Hermann in a new production of Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades," a gothic tale of gambling obsession intertwined with murder, suicide and copious doses of Russian gloom.
It was his first performance in Austria since he was hung out to dry by the nation's newspapers, which accused him of using his friendship with Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer as leverage for a job -- the directorship -- that they said he was under-qualified for. He did not get the position and subsequently canceled an appearance at the Salzburg Festival, citing ill health.
But on Sunday, with Gusenbauer in the audience, Shicoff seemed to have put all that behind him.
While lacking the steely quality that some Russian singers use to wonderful effect in this role, Shicoff got down to business after a wobbly start characterized by fickle intonation and lack of vocal focus. Herman is a notoriously difficult role to sing, requiring lots of volume and the ability to reach for treacherously placed top notes without strain -- qualities Shicoff possessed for the majority of the performance.
And as the obsessive gambler who kills to win -- and drives his love to suicide -- Shicoff was also dramatically powerful, delivering a convincing portrayal of a man not playing with a full deck as he slides from gloom to madness.
But if Shicoff deserved four stars, Martina Serafin was worth five.
As Liza, the young woman who gives up both respectability and a prince in exchange for Hermann's dark charms, the tall redhead blended power, breadth and suppleness in a captivating vocal and visual performance that climaxed in the hauntingly delivered Act II aria before she jumps -- figuratively, because in this sparsely staged production there is no river to plunge into.
All the more credit to her acting -- she drowns without water, and it's believable.
Less visible than those on stage but crucial to this fine evening at the opera was conductor Seiji Ozawa and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.
Ozawa and his ensemble occasionally overpowered the singers in the opening minutes of the performance. But all was well by the second act, with the orchestra quickly falling into line to complement and blend with the vocals.
The score of this opera is thrilling and that's how Ozawa presented it on Sunday. He coaxed the most out of his woodwinds to make them a menacing underpinning to Hermann's increasingly demented ravings and his tremulous strings gave a vivid platform to Liza's angst as she slowly came to terms with the choice she has made in Hermann.
Director Vera Nemirova took only a few liberties, but they worked. In Sunday's staging, the ancient countess dies after a bout of violent sex with Hermann, instead of being shot by him as the original script called for.
The stage effects by Johannnes Leilacker were restrained, as were Maria-Luise Standt's costumes -- good choices, allowing the music and drama to dominate.
Tchaikovsky wrote that he believed "The Queen of Spades" to be "the crowning glory of my life's work."
He would not have been disappointed Sunday.
