Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.UFOs have landed on the broad stage of Salzburg’s Felsenreitschule; they have been there for so long that moss has grown over some of them. Then the lighting changes and the objects come to life — as gaudy roulette tables, spinning, rising and falling.George Tsypin’s sets and James F Ingall’s lighting create a breathtakingly changeable space. On a stage which — having been literally hewn from the cliffs behind — has so few technical possibilities, that is no mean feat. Peter Sellars’ new production of Prokofiev’s The Gambler for the Salzburg Festival is set loosely in the present, but Tsypin’s flying saucers add a touch of visual magic.Sellars, with his all-embracing spirituality, is an odd choice for this dark, cynical opera. Dostoevsky’s novel, on which Prokofiev based his libretto, is a biting reckoning with the author’s own gambling addiction, as well as a savage evisceration of the high society of his time. Young tutor Alexei loves Polina, ward of the General, who is indebted to the Marquis, who is also involved with Polina. The General hopes that his aunt, Babulenka, will die, leaving him her money; instead, she turns up, very much alive, and loses everything in a wild gambling binge.In the translated surtitles, Sellars has switched the word “telegram” to “email” and tossed in a few asides about venture capitalists and climate-change activism. Some words, such as “MONEY”, are written in capital letters, lending the piece a polemic tone. His cast is strong, which is fortunate, as he leaves them to stand around doing nothing for long stretches of time. Asmik Grigorian is a vehement, impassioned Polina, and Sean Panikkar gives a no-holds-barred performance as Alexei. As the Marquis, Juan Francisco Gatell gets to duck and weave obsequiously and occasionally rope Polina in for some bondage, all the while applying a clean, cutting purity of tone to his vocal lines. Peixin Chen’s General sings with sonorous authority that is similarly at odds with his chin-quivering onstage persona; Violeta Urmana steals the show as the very-much-not-dead Babulenka. This is the festival debut of 30-year-old Russian conductor Timur Zangiev, who has been hurtling round the big European houses (Brussels, Munich, Milan) in the past season, in addition to his well-established work in Moscow and St Petersburg. He takes a brutal approach to Prokofiev’s score, and though the Vienna Philharmonic plays for him with precision and discipline, he lets his singers scream for their lives. More subtlety, a broader dynamic range and some sensitivity would help.It is hard not to feel heckled. Tickets cost up to €435 each, and sponsors include Rolex, Audi and Siemens; it is highly unlikely that the audience is full of climate activists and idealistic students. To whom does Sellars think he is preaching? Still, there is nothing like a little bit of neo-Marxism with your music before a nice dinner out.★★★☆☆To August 28, salzburgerfestspiele.at
