It was certainly not the fault of director Matthias Davids and conductor Tom Bitterlich that large parts of the audience were alienated by this European premiere. The stage looked like a Berlin house factory: many platforms, some poles, lots of dangerous stumbling steps. Plenty of light fans and spots above it, it looked great and could be reused for any number of less historical musicals, from “Sweeney Todd” to “West Side Story”, where the dancers had very little flat playing surface.
The ensemble, above all Hanna Kastner as Natascha, Christian Fröhlich as the good-natured Pierre and Gernot Romic as the villain Anatol, was convincing in every respect, both vocally and in terms of acting. Yes, the mood on stage seemed at times better than the mood in front of the stage, which is not a good sign, but the lack of spark had to do entirely with Dave Malloy’s compositional daring.
It is possible that hardly anyone would follow his exuberant and rather superficial view of Tolstoy because our times are once again warlike. The war was completely ignored here, although it was grimly “sung about” several times. Soldier Andrej does not return from the front traumatized, but as relaxed as if he had gone for a walk. The comet of 1812 should be more important because it finally resolves all amorous entanglements by its appearance. Fit for a musical, but not for Tolstoy.
Again on March 7th, 9th and 15th at the Landestheater Linz.
