In 2008, the conductor did just that at the Opernhaus Zurich, featuring a fine cast of singers and a worthy orchestral rendition. The music is clearly identifiable as Schumann's, yet despite its seemingly progressive nature, the work hardly qualifies as being one of the most significant operas written in the second half of the 19^th century, as Harnoncourt has claimed. But, there is no denying that this work contains some fascinating musical constructs.

The difficulty lies in the staging of the work, which is almost static as Schumann wanted to give far more prominence to the music than to staging and action. And, he had some difficulty creating a coherent drama because he wanted a play that displays the inner life of the characters, thereby robbing the work of vitality.

Genoveva was a well known legend in the 19^th century, having arrived in Germany from France sometime in the 17^th century. It is set in the 8^th century, when the Count Palatine Siegfried of Brabant has been called up by the Church to go to war against Saracens trying to invade France. It is all about a wife wrongly accused of infidelity and condemned to death, but saved by those who were ordered to kill her. Instead, they banned her to live in a forest where she gave birth to her husband's son. He eventually finds out the truth and they meet again for a happy ending.

Schumann did not stick to the original version of the legend, but borrowed from two sources for his libretto, that of a play by Friedrich Hebbel and a drama by Ludwig Tieck. He oscillated between the two and while he wanted to avoid the sentimentality that permeates the legend, he ended up with exactly that despite leaving out the forest scene and the melodramatic birth of a child. Instead, Genoveva is incarcerated in a tower. He also wanted to create an exclusively German opera, which worked against him, and forced sentimentality on him without him realizing it.

Which brings me back to the Opernhaus Zurich production. I don't know what effect it would have had on the audience, but in the DVD the production seems to emphasize all of the opera's faults rather than its pluses. Stage director Martin Kušej is hung up on concept, and with set designer Rolf Glittenberg created a vision in black and white with shades in-between. In itself, that is dramatic, but otherwise it is empty of meaning. The only color added is following the murder of the servant Drago (baritone Alfred Muff) when red blood is splattered all over the wall. All very arty, but . . . ? Somehow I can't get past the the idea of 'self-indulgence' in which I include not just stage director and set designer, but also Harnoncourt. He must take the final responsibility for this production.

The whole action takes place in a coldly lit white room with the required magic mirror set over a modern sink (yes) which eventually fills with blood, and the only piece of furniture, an armchair.

The curtain rises to reveal the four main characters, The Count Palatine Siegfried (baritone Martin Gantner), his wife Genoveva (soprano Juliane Banse), Siegfried's young friend, Golo (Shawn Mathey), in whose care he leaves his wife when he leaves to fight the Moores, and finally Margaretha (mezzo-soprano Cornelia Kallisch), Golo's foster mother, who is also a witch. It's the perfect mix for a disaster.

Because Kušej is hung up on concept, the characters seldom leave the stage, seemingly trapped there in the white nothingness framed by a black exterior. While Siegfried is supposed to be away, he is a visible, expressionless cipher, which poses the question, "Why?" Equally, Margaretha, zombie-like, hovers in the background when she is not required.

Even stranger is a moment in the fourth act, when Genoveva keeps climbing back and forth over the sink, while attached to a rope held by one of her guards. While this might give us a sense of Genoveva moving about like a caged animal, what is this sink all about?

Once again, here is an opera with well composed and well presented musical elements, but the interpretation of the story fails, made even worse by a modern compunction to disconnect the story from its roots. Having already been weakened by Schumann's libretto and lack of purposeful direction, this disconnect makes the whole action almost laughable. It would have been better to stage the whole thing in concert and be done with it. Surely, Schumann's only opera deserves more than it got here.