Langgaard
Antikrist
Valeriia Savinskaia, Flurina Stucki (soprano) et al; Orchestra and Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin/Stephan Zilias; dir. Ersan Mondtag (Berlin, 2023)
Naxos 2.110764 (DVD) 102 mins
There’s been a belated surge of interest in Rued Langgaard (1893-1952), a Danish composer almost entirely neglected in his lifetime, including when the Royal Danish Opera repeatedly turned down Antikrist (1921-23) despite Langgaard offering revisions to make it more palatable.
It is not hard to see why it was refused. Langgaard called Antikrist a ‘church opera,’ by which he meant not one to be performed in church, but a religious and indeed apocalyptic work: his alternative title was Scenes from the Last Judgment.
In effect it is Langgaard’s attack on contemporary Western civilisation from his own spiritual point of view and might by extension be considered an attack on ours today.
The result is a vast allegory in which the characters include Lucifer, The Great Whore, The Lie and The Scarlet Beast, many of them representing aspects of the Antichrist mentioned in the New Testament.
The score incorporates a wide diversity of musical styles, from Bachian counterpoint to Wagner and Strauss, with a distinctive and potent idiom perhaps more Langgaard’s own; whatever one thinks of the message, this is an impressive work of art.
Sung in German, this production uses imagery from Expressionist art to depict the out-of-joint morality.
Visually, the result is outstanding, an almost non-stop use of choreography practically turning the piece into an opera-ballet. Stephan Zilias conducts a memorable performance. George Hall