Terrence Watson
Das Rheingold
(April) Monday was the beginning of the Ring Cycle - Das Rheingold
- in a very unexciting presentation. Maybe it was me, but it seemed
very stodgy; the tempi for the music were very slow and it seemed
as if the conductor, James Levine, wasn't concentrating or demanding
the highest performance standards. Certainly there were a number of
nasty breaks in notes by the first french horn and trumpet at which
I winced. But more importantly, the whole of the brass section seemed
unfocussed and were not playing together. James Morris (Wotan) was
definitely showing the signs of many years of singing Wagner - very
ragged around the edges, although he generally still had the volume.
Philip Langridge was a pleasant surprise as Loge - he was one of the
few who actually seemed to be enjoying being on the stage!!
Die Walkure
Tuesday with Die Walkure was another kettle of fish. Lisa Gasteen
and Placido Domingo as Sieglinde and Siegmund took off and gave us
some wonderful vocal fireworks - especially Lisa. Judging by the applause
and cheers, the Met audience loves our Australian soprano and will
probably have a great career here. Matti Salminen was suitably menacing
as Hagen and even James Morris seems to have picked up some enthusiasm
from the lovers. He and Fricka got quite worked up in their argument.
Andrew Byrne (Extracts from Andrew's regular E-mail reviews -
reprinted with permission)
Siegfried
The first 4 hours of the Ring's 3rd opera were just fine.
Gerhard Siegel sang a wicked and 'love-to-hate-him' Mime. James Morris
was wonderful, close to his substantial limits. Tenor Jon Fredric
West played the title role with power and masculine style. Richard
Paul Fink was an excellent Alberich. Joyce Guyer sang a high and accurate
woodbird (she appeared to be singing from high in the right side lighting
housing). Elena Zaremba was an excellent Erda (‘this is your
conscience speaking').
Ms Schnaut unfortunately lacked the necessary ‘heft'
for Brünnhilde in the large Met auditorium. She was disappointing
in this brief but demanding part. The lower voice just disappeared
or was not projected, even for those in front orchestra seats. Neither
were her high notes pure nor accurate.
This performance was full of wonderful moments and it just a shame
that the high points at the end were not realised.
Gotterdammerung
Once again, this performance was marred slightly by deficiencies
in our leading lady who was not quite up to the call of Brunnhilde.
After the shambles of Siegfried, expectations were high as an announcement
was made before the curtain. Not Schnaut, but Christine Goerke was
indisposed. Her Norn was sung by Margaret Jane Wray who also played
Gutrune later in the opera. .
The opera is long and the story is complex, albeit well known to
fans. I will just mention a couple of things as it would take pages
to do a fair description of what happened on this venerated stage
between 6pm and midnight.
Though without the intense beauty of the woodland Siegfried set,
Gotterdammerung contained two the most interesting sets, being the
massive 2 level stone Gibichung hall looking out upon the Rhine and
secondly, on the banks of the Rhine looking back up at the same hall,
slightly smaller and on an angle. Both clever and beautiful, Gunter
Schneider-Siemssen showed his genius yet again in melding theatrical
utility with the needs of Wagner's epic. The Walkure rock scene
was re-used while the ‘forest clearing' scene was in keeping,
being applauded as the curtain rose (applause was highly ‘irresponsible'
this year, not one act finishing in silence). Few other opera houses
could have managed such major set changes in such short intervals
(major changes often took as little as 4 minutes while the ‘band
played on'. The Met's final Ring opera scene might take
the prize for most inventive, most destructive and most dramatic of
all opera endings. If you have not seen the DVD or video you have
missed something. But there are 15 hours of opera before all that!
Great performances were given by this outstanding cast. Just the
Norns and Rhinemaidens comprised 6 sopranos/mezzos of the highest
calibre. Matti Salminen had been an excellent Hunding and became a
very wicked and foreboding Hagen. He is a very large person with a
voice to match. On the small side was the hero, Siegfried, played
by American tenor Jon Fredric West. He demonstrated fine vocal stamina,
he acted well and has pleasing appearance, despite being slightly
rotund. Tall tenors are rare and tall, good looking Wagnerian tenors
are about as rare as hen's teeth.
Alan Held, who had played Donner, was a fine king Gunther. Richard
Paul Fink was an excellent if brief Alberich in this final Ring opera.
The orchestra under Levine was extraordinary. The feat of just playing
it through is a phenomenon. But doing so with such poise, accuracy
and feeling is a feat worthy of the enormous acclaim they received
(a standing ovation occurred for the orchestra before the start of
Act III).
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