The Pressure is on Honeck in Germany
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Manfred Honeck conducts the Stuttgart State Opera orchestra. Credit Martin Sigmund.
The Pittsburgh Symphony's music directorship is not the only new post for Manfred Honeck. He has just begun his tenure as general music director of Stuttgart State Opera in Germany.
The position puts him at the helm of opera productions and also stage concerts of the opera orchestra. It was in one of the latter that he officially debuted as general music director last week.
But the 'real' season begins Oct. 26 when Honeck opens the Stuttgart State Opera's stage season with Berlioz's "The Trojans" with stage direction by Joachim Schlomer that "tells the historical epic as a clash of cultures." As they are setting Carthage as "something of Dubai - desert town and conjured up out of nothing" it's likely one can expect some dose of Regietheater.
Yet Honeck will be under the microscope more than the set. It's the first production conducted by a new music director and the opening of an opera house's season in Germany, but there will actually be more fireworks because Stuttgart hosts an "Opernkonferenz." That will bring the directors of the big German opera houses as well as those of Zurich, Covent Garden and Paris to Stuttgart that weekend. The conference takes place every half year and, along with Opera Europa's conventions, is one of the most high-profile operatic gatherings in Europe.
It certainly adds to the pressure as Honeck will have expert ears trained on him, but he might as well get used to it as he becomes more and more famous here and abroad.
First Published October 10, 2007 12:00 am
