Hunter's Bride

I recently stumbled across a second hand Bluray of this movie opera.

I had no idea that this had been made. After a bit of research, I found out that it seems to have totally failed at the box office.

After having seen it, I wonder why. Maybe 2010 was a bad time for this kind of experiment.

Anyway, this is so far the most amazing movie opera I have seen.

You need to know about opera history to really appreciate what they did: "Der Freischütz" (or as it is called here by the original title Hunter's Bride - yes, producers changed the names already back then) is what the perfect horror-romance B-Movie would be in today's cinema. Its influence on romantic opera is immense.

The story is as B-Movie horror as it gets: Max is a run down war veteran with PTSD. To marry his sweetheart Agathe (she is still in love with him), he has to win her family by showing off as a good marksman, as family tradition demands.

Unfortunately, because of his PTSD he can't shoot anymore.

He's approached by creepy guy Kaspar, who is a demon worshipper and can create magic bullets. He promises to make 7 bullets with him. Little does Max know that Kaspar has some beef with him because he also had a crush on Max's bride.

So they go into a creepy canyon to summon the demon Samiel and make those bullets.

Kaspar already has some debt to pay to the demon. He promises him the bride. So the 7th bullet will hit Agathe when it's fired... Classic horror thriller stuff.

After this opera's success, many more opera composers turned towards horror and fantasy material. Marschner's "Der Vampyr" is an opera version of the first modern vampire story by Polidori. Richard Wagner evokes zombie pirates in The Flying Dutchman (yeah, the one from Pirates of the Carribean), and later, after some history drama, goes on to write the first epic fantasy tetralogy about a dwarf who crafts a magic ring to bind them all, then curses it as it's taken from him by the gods. The ring corrupts everyone who has it. Over four operas (the first one is the shorter "prequel") he manages to create a world of power and deceit among gods, demigods, dwarves, giants, dragons, and mortals with lots of good dialogue and action scenes.

It was the LOTR of that time. Dwarf chases after cursed ring...

Then cinema came, and everything was rolled up again, in silent movie, and then again in B&W talkies, and then again in color...

Now opera should return to the cinema, and I think Jens Neubert was cursed to be too early.

It is an awesome effort, for sure.

Neubert uses original locations and has an eye for extreme detail and realism.

The movie is therefore sometimes pretty gory and gruesome. But it's in the opera, and developed all logically.

Horror fans will be pleased.

The cast and orchestra are recorded in a way that resembles more of a movie score, which is perfect, because now one can feel how creepy the soundtrack in the canyon scene really is.

The whole acting is surprisingly good, because many singers just can't act properly.

The cinematic way also deepens the characters.

One little flaw: there's some weird CGI effects used in the canyon scene, that could have been done better, or maybe different.

But then again - it looks exactly like good independent horror of that time, cinematography included.

I didn't mind it too much. I was actually surprised that they went through so much work for that scene to make it really look like a horror movie of the demon worshipping type.

Not a flaw in itself, but I would have preferred them to work with a historically informed orchestra like Anima Eterna. The sound would have been even more creepy and the singers wouldn't have had to strain their voices as much.

Unfortunately, after the commercial fail of this great movie, I guess there was no other attempt at an opera movie.

But now is the time - young people are more interested in this stuff, after having been confronted with it through influencers of different kinds.

Tons of operas are waiting.

How about The Flying Dutchman, The Vampyre, or even a LOTR style Ring Cycle?

Romantic opera is full of interesting stuff that works like modern movies.

And the soundtracks are always amazing.

Der Freischütz is a lovely opera, the story is silly but still compelling, with the Wolf's Glen Scene being the highlight, while the music from the popular overture to the numerous memorable arias (Agathe and Ännchen's especially) is wonderful.

While the best version on DVD of Der Freischütz is still the 1968 Hamburg production with Edith Mathis and Gottlib Frick, Hunter's Bride is an interesting filmed version and one of the better versions (with the musically excellent but visually bewildering 2004 Zurich production being the weakest), even with its faults.

For me a better job could have been done with the hunting choruses, they are very well played (with terrific-sounding horns) and performed but treated as incidental to the story when they should ideally be part of, and the heart of, the drama. The chorus sound great, but were recorded in a venue that was indoors and echoey, which jars sometimes with the outdoor setting, and this is including in the hunting choruses. As admirable as the attempts at hyper-realism were, the film decides to keep characters like Max unkempt and unclean throughout which did seem a bit overdone, as if they'd never had baths in their lives and the skinning and hacking of animals didn't really fit the music and with the hunting choruses being reduced to background those moments felt unneeded. There is also a good deal of background noise, while it is in keeping with the realism Hunter's Bride is trying to show it tends to suffocate the music, so that it's not given as much presence as it could do, the Overture being one of the worst cases.

However, the film does look great. The period detail is handsome and evocative, it's well-lit (very atmospheric in the Wolf's Glen Scene), beautifully shot and the scenery is often breath-taking and as if you've been transported back in time to where the film and opera is set. The staging, with a mix of cinematic and how it would look like on stage, is mostly very effective, the drama is never dull and has emotional impact at the end. The film in particular comes to life in the Act 2 scenes between Agathe and Annchen, which have so much perky charm (Ännchen's Kommt ein Schlanker even has some funny moments) and in the goose bump-inducing Wolf's Glen Scene. Musically, it's of a very high standard. The orchestra provide some powerful, stylish and nuanced playing and always sound involved in the drama (a big shout out has to go to the terrific horn playing in the hunting choruses), while the chorus sing with an engaged and well-balanced sound. Daniel Harding's conducting is impressive, he accommodates the singers well (even in the very intense second half of Max's Durch die Wälder) while always giving the drama energy and intensity.

The performances in Hunter's Bride are also on the money. Julianne Banse really stood out as a beautifully sung (especially in Leise, Leise) and sympathetically acted Agathe, as did Michael Volle as a resonant and authoritative in voice and thrillingly demonic Kaspar. Michael König sings with a ringing tenor voice (Durch die Wälder is a heavy sing, but König didn't sound taxed by it at all with little hints of strain), and is suitably anguished as Max, being particularly moving at the end. Regula Mühlemann is the most age appropriate to her role of the principals and has a lovely appearance, but what was more important was how good a job she did with Ännchen and how she held up against the rest of the better-known cast, the good news is that she holds up just fine, her voice is bright and flexible without being shrill and she acts with lots of perky charm which was incidental to the success of her scenes with Banse. Rene Pape sounds wonderful as always and while he is not my favourite Hermit, or the most subtle one, he does a nice job with the role, while Franz Grundheber is a distinguished Prince Ottokar.

All in all, an interesting film that has some major flaws but does more right than wrong. 7/10 Bethany Cox