Productions on the lake stage at Bregenz are usually spectacular but rarely stray very far from the traditional/canonical.  The production of Weber’s Der Freischütz, directed by Philipp Stölzl and recorded in 2023 is quite radical though.  I think there are three main elements to this quite ambitious reworking.  One is to give Samiel a much enhanced role.  Here he is both MC and puppetmaster; controlling the action, including playing with time, and addressing the audience directly.  The second element is to emphasize that this is taking place in the aftermath of the Thirty Year War and, to add to the misery of that, the village has suffered severe flooding.  This sets up a duality between Agathe as the one who still, despite everything, trusts in God and Ännchen who believes God has forsaken them.  This tension serves to make the two girls perhaps the most important figures, after Samiel, in the piece.

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