Berg : Lulu. Petibon, Albrecht.

   in Opera Now (Sep, 2012)
Vera Nemirova’s production was filmed at Salzburg’s Haus für Mozart in 2011, and it’s a fine record. Nemirova doesn’t confuse the narrative and draws excellent performances from her cast, and Daniel Richter’s sets are accordingly uncluttered but have great impact – and all of this is filmed excellently by Brian Large. Marc Albrecht leads the Wiener Philharmoniker in a detailed traversal of the complex score, and is rewarded by some stunning playing, plus he never drowns his singers. Patricia Petibon works hard as Lulu; I found her slightly too pouting and disingenuous, but it’s a valid approach and her tone remains true despite some understandable stridency at the top. Thomas Piffka …