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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Der Freischütz, by Carl Maria von Weber

Sept 29 – Oct 27, 2019
Falkenstrasse 1, 8008 Zürich, Switzerland

On the brink of getting hitched to the boss’s daughter, the top marksman in the royal Bohemian backwoods has been missing his shot, and this is a problem. Time for a deal with the devil. The current Zurich edition of the opera (direction and scenic design by Herbert Fritsch, costumes by Victoria Behr) lays on a garish Pop Art color scheme that could hardly clash more violently with the burnished Old Master patina of Weber’s score. With wigs from the salon of Edward Scissorhands, leg-of-mutton sleeves like hot-air balloons, and a Mel Brooks chorus line of hunters in Kelly green wagging their booties, the show is way over the top. Yet viewed another way, the off-the-wall visuals are right on the money, injecting diabolical verve into exactly the right folkloric traditions. —M.G.