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The Ring cycle has only been performed once before in Asia when it was staged in Japan and no Wagner operas have been produced in Beijing . The magazine, Beijing This Month (1 October 2005), gives some background to this historic Ring Cycle ( www.btmbeijing.com/contents/en/btm/2005-10/music/musicfeast ). Unlike Thailand 's effort, this Cycle was imported from the Nuremberg Opera. The report quotes the artistic director of the Beijing Music Festival (BMF) (in its eighth year): “This is a historic moment for Asia ”. “Chinese people only know about Germany through its high-end products such as Mercedes Benz, Lufthansa and Siemens, but they don't know about the country's cultural background and history.” “The Chinese intelligentsia, not just musicians, know about Wagner, but have never seen his operas live on stage. Apart from planning details such as the 240-strong performing and production personnel, one of the most challenging steps is coordinating staging technicalities with the Poly Theatre, a multi-purpose 1,230-seat theatre that is the hub of the BMF.”
Andrew Byrne, from Sydney , wrote lengthy email reports to friends about the Beijing performances, however, we do not have space to reproduce the complete reports that are full of interesting comments and observations. I have taken points that I think will be of interest to our readers and I hope that they do not misrepresent Dr Byrne's opinions or responses.
Philippe Auguin: Conductor Staatstheater Nürnberg. Main singers in multiple operas: Woglinde - Siphiwe McKenzie, Wellgunde - Frances Pappas, Flosshilde Tara Venditti, Wotan - Jürgen Linn, Alberich - Johann Werner Prein, Fricka/Waltraute/Erda - Andrea Baker, Mime - Richard Kindley, Fafner - Bernd Hofmann, Brünnhilde - Iréne Theorin, Siegfried - Gerhard Siegel. Other singers : Das Rheingold : Donner - Jouni Kokora, Froh - Jon Runar, Loge - Arnold Bezuyen, Fasolt - Heinz-Klaus Ecker. Die Walkure : Sieglinde - Cheryl Studer, Siegmund - Gerhard Siegel, Hunding - Heinz-Klaus Ecker, Helmwige - Anne Lünenbürger, Gerhilde - Carole FitzPatrick, Ortlinde - Siphiwe McKenzie, Siegrune - Gabriele May, Rossweisse - Teresa Erbe, Grimgerde - Angelika Straube, Schwertleite - Tara Venditti. Siegfried : Woodbird - Evgenia Grekova. Gotterdammerung : Norns - Gabriele May, Andrea Baker, Carole FitzPatrick, Gunther - voice: Jürgen Linn; acting/mime: Johann Wener Prein, Hagen - Heinz-Klaus Ecker, Gutrune - Carole FitzPatrick.
Beijing Rheingold - honor satisfied. Weird but wonderful. Sunday, 23 October 2005
The opera opened with a dark bluish scrim imitating the depths of the Rhine . The three Rhine maidens appeared from the rear of the stage with unfussed unison choreography evoking the water….The gold was represented by a large, gilded letter “A” front stage centre, next to 4 large folio books (presumed to represent the four operas). Before the action moved to ‘dry land' the curtain was lowered and clouds projected as the glorious linking music unfolds. Next we are confronted with an empty stage left side while on the right, the bow of an ocean liner, perforated by a door at sea level and a porthole sustaining some sea-birds. It was as if a ship was beached onto the Rhine shoreline.
The final scene had a ‘rainbow bridge' as a strip of wide, coloured fabric stretched loosely and diagonally across the stage….There were a number of things in the production which seemed incomprehensible - one being umbrellas raised and then wrecked as if in hurricane Rita.
Andrea Baker was excellent as Fricka. She then played Fricka AND Waltraute in Walkure as well as the Erda in Siegfried and a Norn in the last opera. Does this deserve the Ludwig prize? Jürgen Linn's Wotan was also strong and sonorous - yet was made out to be a flawed character from the start…. Loge, played by Arnold Bezuyen, was fine vocally being presented in ‘la cage aux folles' costume. One commentator said that he represented the ‘story teller' of the piece which seemed to make sense. Other supporting roles were also well cast.
Das Rheingold was enjoyable from start to finish despite a lack of English subtitles - the Chinese translations, however, were a boon to locals….It was evident that much of the audience was not keen on Wagner as some slept and some went home….The Poly Theatre is rather narrow with three decks and just under 1500 seats in all. The all-German orchestra under Mr Auguin was excellent, despite one ghastly extended flat note from the brass section.
Stephen Lawless seems to have tried to ‘internationalize' the Ring, taking characters from all corners of the world. Wotan was dressed as a Japanese noble. Some were in European formal attire, grass skirts, etc. A group discussion and a Google search after the show turned up some interesting theories. One was the Nuremberg World Chronicle, an early account of human history from 1493. Another was the Bosch painting ‘Ship of fools' which may explain the opening terrestrial scene in which Fricka and Wotan disembark from a ship. My own feeling was that Noah's ark was another contender. And who's to say what shape an ark might be? Lawless has drawn attention to his own ideas but I am not sure if his production helps or hinders Wagner's Ring. It is certainly something different and worthy of discussion.
Die Walkure Wednesday, 26 Oct 2005
This performance was little short of exemplary. We were presented with a balanced group of fine singers in a consistent and coherent production accompanied by a high quality orchestra led by a man who knew what he was doing.
The performance also contained one of the great stage (near) disasters when Wotan's spear burst into flames 5 minutes early, unbeknownst to him as he carried it horizontally! It appears that he was simply handed the wrong spear, only realising half way across the stage as his rump was centimetres from the flames. It occurred well before the Loge-calling spear ignition thumps used to ignite the Valkyries' rock towards the end of the opera.
The production continued in the same manner as Rhinegold with the 'thread of life', a thick red rope, continued to connect, adorn and even detain characters. It reached its height, criss-crossing the entire stage from a central origin point in the second act of Walkure . Wotan is becoming mired in his own web, changing his mind on protection of Siegmund after representations from Fricka. While she sings, a mute Siegmund walks slowly across the front of the stage. This was a recurring 'theme', starting out with him struggling across the stage in the introduction 'storm' scene and repeated finally after his death (to no particular purpose in my book). One wonders whether Wagner would approve of such 'in your face' demonstrations of what is going on, rather than his own specific instructions on performance, so that you have to work it out for yourself.
Hunding's lair was a bright split level one-bedroom house with a tree out the back and which is also visible above. Sieglinde was tethered by a rope until the very end of the act when she flees with Siegmund and the 'bond' with Hunding is finally broken.
Strangely, when our hero asks for 'ein quelle' (water) he is given a saucer which he bends down to lap up! This canine-like imbibing is repeated on several occasions through the opera for no reason I could see. There is also a lot of singing lying on the floor (or bed). Winterstürme and 'Du bis der Lenz ..' were moving indeed ... with the bare tree suddenly coming into leaf by means of some remarkable stagecraft. The act ended ecstatically in the light, with our incestuous lovers fleeing together.
Act II looked to be an impression of modern building façades intersecting with a central ramp sporting several telescopes (presumably to seek out wayward Valkyries skyward). Engraved on the proscenium arches were the German words for future and past with the letters "A" and "U" accentuated (presumably to remind those of us who studied chemistry of Au from the periodic table of elements or 'aurium', the Latin for gold).
The Walkure rock was a three level pyramid constructed of rough alabaster palisade, the same material as the curved walls of the initial set for Rhinegold. It looked rather like the inside of a spent quarry. The ride of the Valkyries was brilliantly executed with eight fine female voices….The final sleeping scene was most moving with Wotan farewelling his daughter for the last time on a white/cream bed on centre stage with red flickering cyclorama behind the curved full width alabaster palisade between.
Cheryl Studer was an imposing singer as Sieglinde. She has a magnificent voice and a keen dramatic sense. Ms Theorin as Brünnhilde was also excellent and one gleaned a degree of competition ... which never goes astray in eliciting Olympic records for the theatre. Theorin has a large, accurate and 'authentic' Wagnerian voice with staying power. One hopes that she is around for a long time. Jürgen Linn as Wotan also has a fine voice….Andrea Baker is a major asset to this company, singing numerous roles throughout this Ring. She has a wide range and excellent presence on stage.
I counted over 90 players in the orchestra - their names were omitted from the program I was given. They created a marvellous sound in this moderately sized hall with favourable acoustics. We felt privileged to be in attendance at this exclusive Ring presentation.
Siegfried – Saturday, 29 October 2005
This performance was a powerful and worthy successor to a dramatic and high quality Walkure . Stephen Lawless continues his thought provoking interpretation with various twists and turns in what was basically still undeniably Wagner's epic.
Rather than being set in the woods, Lawless placed Mime's dwelling in the hold of a large ocean-going ship (?the ‘ship of fools' of Hieronymus Bosch), which we viewed through a colourful leafy-green scrim, evoking a jungle. The broken Nothung was kept in the ship's safe which also doubled as a forge and anvil. After all the insults, pestering, threats and demands from Siegfried, Mime finally opens it to reveal the ancient metal fragments.
Fafner's lair was superimposed onto the first scene with a large inverted and gilded letter ‘U' at centre stage from which the dragon appears and dies. The red rope theme continued with looped portions visible across the stage. Also, Siegfried carried a small length as talisman found deposited with the sword.
Alberich is guarding the path to Fafner's lair by occupying a pair of garbage tins from which he emerges in his interactions with Wotan, Mime and then Siegfried. Alberich even throws bits of miscellaneous rubbish at Wotan from his trash-can domicile following his ‘helpful' advice. Alberich is given a horribly hairy torso and thus looks grotesque.
Thanks to his Tarnhelm, our builder/dragon has now become a flame-throwing body attached to a large, gilt, walking ‘A-frame' below the inverted arched letter ‘U'. This Woodbird was lowered from a swing made of the ubiquitous red rope, and was a little heavier of voice than we are used to. She had the necessary high notes but some vibrato and lacking the ‘ping' of Battle and others, seen or unseen.
Wotan continued his downward degeneration in this act … even his spear seemed to have shrunk. His confrontation with our hero took place with the participants alternately before and behind the leafy scrim. The spear was sundered in dramatic fashion with a flash and a puff of smoke. Linn's voice remained firm and solid.
By this stage our other stayer, Siegfried was showing slight signs of the distance … but only singing occasional less-than-perfect notes … and in no way distracting from the unfolding drama leading us inevitably back to the Valkyries' rock, as per the high pitched ornithological instructions.
The final confrontation between Wotan and his conscience (aka Erda, played this time by Ms Baker) showed the lows plumbed by the gods to this point. There were parabolas of red rope hanging all over the place (none formed a noose). Erda was tethered to her earth by red rope. I was told that her costume with exaggerated breasts and pendulous pregnant abdomen was confronting for some of the conservative Chinese audience.
Brünnhilde had been left on a large white ‘bed' with matching marbled bedhead. She remained beneath a bundle of white sheets, only to be awoken by a kiss from Siegfried. This love scene was spectacular. Ms Theorin has a magnificent voice, commanding stage presence and the staying power necessary for the role. Her final ecstatic declarations with the tenor were triumphant, ending on a high C natural. Another marvelous performance to write home about!
The Ring in Peking . Twilight of the gods. Wotan sings in all Ring operas (!)
Gotterdammerung Tuesday, 1 November 2005
This final ring opera was a fitting finale to a magnificent operatic journey down the Rhine in the unlikely setting of Beijing . By now the audience feels locked into the inevitable and essentially ludicrous epic tale...yet all are ready to be transported musically and dramatically to the end of the world by means of the unfolding of unlikely events...but this is opera! As Bugs Bunny says in the famous Ring cartoon of 1957: [chomps on carrot] “What ' s opera, Doc? Did you really expect a happy ending?”
One cannot simply relate the story and then expect non-Wagnerians to accept that the Ring is on a higher plane than ‘ ordinary ' romantic opera. It has a murder, a magic potion, an antidote, a ‘ beam-me-up-Scotty ' across the Rhine (cf. the magic Tarnhelm), anvil song, love duet, conspiratorial duet, fraternal love swearing, an auto-da-fe suicide, rousing chorus, etc. However, it IS longer than ‘ ordinary ' operas (like about 12 hours longer). The orchestration is almost unique. The only other example I know of comparable linking of the music and the drama are Otello and Falstaff, written at the end of Verdi ‘ s long career. Almost better than these opera sandwiches ' glorious fillings are the buttered breads of the orchestral beginnings and ends of each act or scene. And Falstaff ' s plot, while this is a seemingly distant connection, also involves the exposing of an old fool (compare with Wotan on the ‘ ship of fools ' ).
We actually heard Wotan sing in this Gotterdammerung ! Our indisposed Gunter was replaced by two people: Mr Prien (also playing Alberich) mimed to Jürgen Linn ' s voice from the side of the stage….The effect was a little odd, but their coordination was almost perfect. Again Ms Theorin shone as Brünnhilde . The voice is large and accurate. Her stage movements and gestures are carefully calculated. She has staying power and I hope to hear much more from her….The Beijing Gotterdammerung Siegfried, Alan Woodrow [singing Tristan in Perth in November 2006 with Susan Bullock – Ed] was also splendid, taking over from Gerhard Seigel who did the previous opera ' s hero. He sang long, high and loud with precision and feeling, only to be struck down by Hagen at the appointed time with Brünnhilde's name on his dying lips….There may have been up to six local recruits out of over 30 chorus members.
The prologue…sees the Norns spinning the golden rope of fate (coloured red in this production, of course) while discussing the degradations happening around them. After the rope snaps and every negative sentiment canvassed, we meet the happy couple praising each other and the world around them for their new-found joy. It is optimistic and up-lifting musically and dramatically - which invariably go together in Wagner ' s works as he wrote both vocal line and musical score. However, as this is opera, we know such moods can turn sour quickly, needing new characters, new plots and new settings.
Meantime, Hagen, Gutrune and Gunther are setting up the matches and mis-matches leading to early widowhood for the brides. An amnesic potions, lies, damn lies and an assumed identity lead to the rest of the story details of which can be read in any opera primer (or even better, Anna Russell ' s introduction).
In Act II we meet Alberich and his son Hagen in the shadows on the Rhine banks below the Gibichung ' s meeting hall. Alberich ' s haunting opening is also his exit line: “Schlafst du, Hagen mein Sohn?” He instills into Hagen the further deeds needing to be done...and the means of carrying them out. Hagen then uses a call to war/wedding to summon Gibichungs in a magnificent chorus … in almost Verdian style. There are responses, declamations and evocations (Hey-ho). Wagner took over 14 hours to get to it while many other operas of the period actually start in this way (eg. Rigoletto ; Otello ). And this Ring chorus is worth waiting for. There is not much room for interpretation in the double marriage scene, contrived and ridiculous though it is. This production sees the chorus lined up as if taking a banquet, perspex shields at the ready.
These events are all dealt with sensitively by Lawless in his Nuremberg production. None is conventional yet none is completely outlandish. Like all clever productions, I was left with the feeling that I had not taken it all in and would thus need a return visit to know. All mixed/modern settings had a colour, space and/or character symmetry, giving each a specific beauty…. Immensely beautiful music deserves equally beautiful settings.
….The end of the world (and Valhalla ) was accomplished in the most remarkable manner. The final scene saw our ocean liner (with ravens in porthole) from Rhinegold moored on the right third of the stage. Near the end, a group of would-be travellers, luggage in hand, hasten across the stage to the ship only to find the gangways up and their path barred. Only Gutrune had succeeded in getting aboard, as facilitated by Brünnhilde (is Gutrune the only ‘ innocent ' mortal in the entire opera?). While the final strains play from the orchestra, relentless strings and magnificent key modulation included, the ship slowly launches itself back out of its dock, leaving an empty seascape and inundated world. ‘ Believers ' take this as redemption, sceptics like me as total ruin. Either way it is pretty moving!
Dr Andrew Byrne
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