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05/20/2026
Fromental Halévy: La Juive
Ambur Braid (Rachel), John Osborn (Eléazar), Gerard Schneider (Léopold), Monika Buczkowska (Princess Eudoxie), Simon Lim (Cardinal Brogni), Sebastian Geyer (Ruggiero), Danylo Matviienko (Albert), Frankfurt Opera Chorus and Extra Chorus, Tilman Michael (chorus master), Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, Henrik Nánási (conductor), Tatjana Gürbaca (stage director), Klaus Grünberg (set and lighting designer, video animations), Silke Willrett (costume designer), Nadja Krüger (video designer), Götz Filenius (film director)
Recording: Oper Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (July 11 & 14, 2024) – 199’
Naxos 2.110781 (or Blu-ray NBD0190V) (Distributed by Naxos of America) – NTSC 16:9 – Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 and Dolby Digital Surround 5.1 – Region 0 – Subtitles in French, English, German, Japanese and Korean – Booklet in English
 
Many historical events have been (and still are) surrounded by religious tensions and intolerances. “History repeats itself” in this juxtaposed revisit of Fromental Halévy’s grand opéra, La Juive of 1835. Tatjana Gübaca’s staging is avant‑garde, edgy and thought‑provoking. Klaus Grünberg chooses to remove vestiges of traditionality, and, instead, is replaced by an asymmetrical edifice with tempered inclusions of modern paraphernalia (i.e. iPhone, et al.). While these accoutrements are not exceedingly “earth shattering”, or confounding, it still places more profundity on singing, character blocking and Halévy’s music itself.
Henrik Nánási’s incisive conducting has a super-meticulous appeal and tight direction, especially when approaching the score with required friction and tension-splitting junctures. The attuned orchestra places importance on singers’ support: well‑balanced tempos, tempered dynamics, never overbearance with the voice.
On balance, the cast is well-positioned: Ambur Braid’s Rachel possesses a richly deep soprano voice while John’s Osborne’s Eléazar is filled with a lighter timbre and billowy pockets of softness: it’s no wonder, since he has excelled in other “like” operas, namely, Le Prophète and Robert le Diable. The signature tenor aria, “Rachel, quand du Seigneur la grâce tutélaire”, is deftly handled by M. Osborn with intimacy, privacy and clarified poignancy, especially when he “re‑creates” his daughter with two simple props. Brilliantly executed. Monika Buczkowska’s Princess Eudoxie is well‑articulated with an insensitive, steely, might: a haughty, forceful entry, at times, that bears an edgy, racy perspective, and, at times, condescending quality. Superb.
(Prince) Léopold, under the banner of Gerard Schneider, has a beautiful tenor lilt; however, the voice doesn’t well‑balance the vocal acumen exhibited by the other protagonists in group numbers and his voice gets a bit “buried” inside the orchestra. Silke Willrett’s interprétation of M. Schneider is more “buffoonery”, looking like he just stepped out of Churchill Downs (huh?) at The Kentucky Derby! Conversely, one of the most aesthetically pleasing compartments, wardrobe‑wise, is buried inside Act II where there is cohesion, less “conflict” and respectful “levels” to honor the Passover holiday.
Use of video animation “paraphrases” the historical reflect of heretic Jan Hus and a sharpened retrospect of the Council of Constance of 1414...the foundational premise of Eugène Scribe’s sharpened libretto for La Juive. This conveyance brings back fond‑mild reminders of the video‑graphic Eisenstein Potemkin or Alexander Nevsky. Visceral and wonderfully executed!
Those of a modern construct will find this updated La Juive stultifying, inventive, illuminating and a bit fractionalized. But while daringly advancing the modus operandi, it is, simultaneously, an exhilarating thought-provoking sojourn to a masterpiece which must be respected and well‑represented.
Christie Grimstad
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