Ring 2000
Opera Review (From the February 2001 newsletter)
The Ring Cycle is still bubbling away in my subconscious
as I try and identify what the director, Jurgen Flimm, and the set
designer, Erich Wonder, were trying to convey. I think it has something
to do with reflecting on the last century as a period of overlaps
and continuities and discontinuities between our age and previous
ages. One of the structural elements appears to be film allusions.
Das Rheingold seemed to be referring to, among other
things, early black and white comic film since Loge is distinctly
a Chaplinesque lawyer. The Rhinedaughters are literally "aquatic
Andrews Sisters" as they vamp in bathing suits. The Giants were
simply the most convincing and awe inspiring ones I have seen so far.
With only a little pedalistic augmentation, they achieved their power
to intimidate by looking so completely different from the gods. In
fact, they looked a lot like north American indians in face and hair,
and were dressed in stylish long coats which could have been made
from skins. In fact, stylish describes much of the costuming.
Act I of Die Walküre was somewhat Checkhovian
in look and feel, but the world falls apart with Acts II & III
seeming more like an Ingmar Bergmann film, with Brünnhilde wandering
into Siegmund's life like Death in the Seventh Seal. Unfortunately,
Siegfried and Wolfgang Schmidt made a good pairing in this production.
For whatever, reason, Flimm seems to have taken the view that Siegfried
is a total klutz:brash, thoughtless, and aggressive (although he never
actually hits Mime); and Schmidt's voice was a lot like that as well
(although he again managed to sing at least twice). Gabriele
Schnaut acted very well, bringing a nice degree of subtlety, for example,
to her announcement of Siegmund's death, but the vibrato in her voice
has grown and makes her voice very harsh most of the time. Fortunately,
she managed to get it under control for most of Götterdämmerung.
Alan Titus as Wotan will be a worthy replacement for John Tomlinson.
He already has an imposing, rich voice and his acting is pretty good
too (he threw a wonderful"wobbly" in Walküre after
Fricka beat him at his own strategy. This battle between the two CEOs
of Göttergesellschaft reinforced what I took to be Flimm's ideas of
the corporatisation of even godly values. Schnaut's Brünnhilde then
reacted with increasing amazement to the godly collapse to the point
where she almost had to slap Wotan's face to bring him to his senses..
However, the clearest thing about this whole production
was its emphasis on ACTING - what an achievement. Flimm clearly has
vast experience in straight theatre and it shows in a hundred little
points in his Ring production as characters do things or come and
go in ways which are utterly logical but rarely given any attention
in "normal" operatic performances. For example, while Loge
as a lawyer is a nice idea and very apt, Flimm takes the idea that
bit further by having Loge hand Wotan a contract to sign before he
starts giving his advice. In a nice comic addition, Flimm has Wotan
pass it on to the non too bright Froh, looking like a ivy league freshman,
to look over before he signed it. In Götterdämmerung, Flimm
underscored his complementary concept of Gibichunggesellschaft with
the Vassals performing a range of office jobs while the principals
implemented their strategic plans. John Tomlinson, for his part, was
clearly relishing playing the out & out villain, Hagen. In a chilling
touch, Flimm had Gutrune already carrying the magic potion in a phial
in her pocket, as if the doping of corporate customers - or enemies
- was a routine business practice.
The high point of the acting was Act I of Walküre
with Placido Domingo and Waltraut Meier at white heat. The level of
engagement was an object lesson, which Schnaut did her best to draw
out of Schmidt, but with only momentary success. Although Domingo
and Meier are unlikely ever to return to Bayreuth, I would be willing
to reassess this production in 2004.
Terence Watson
30 August 2000
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