The New York Metropolitan Ring Cycle - A week
and a day in New York
As Jan Bates said so eloquently in the June Newsletter,
the New York Metropolitan and its production was superb. We had had
a mix-up in ordering the Metropolitan tickets (apparently not unusual),
but thanks to many international phone calls by Terence Watson, we
finally received our tickets. As you can imagine, we feared the trip
may be a disaster.
In Los Angeles, my least favourite city, and after an
almost five hour wait for my New York connection, I was tired and
bored until I spoke to my travelling companion who informed me that
he was one of forty New Zealand Wagnerians who were travelling to
New York. I couldn't believe my luck. Liz Lee, the wife of Professor
Heath Lee, the President of the New Zealand Wagner Society, was introduced
to me soon after. Thus started a wonderful week. Later, the Lees helped
Ruth Bridges and me to attend the pre-opera lectures which we thought
were booked out. These talks and discussions so illuminated these
wonderful operas.
The New Zealand mob also arranged for us to be invited
to the pre-performance drinks hosted by the New York Wagner Society.
We were welcomed by Jan Wagner, their President, and by the members
- how friendly and welcoming they were. It's a lovely feeling to walk
into the Metropolitan and have people say hello and chat like old
friends.
Apart from the performances, especially by Placido Domingo
and Deborah Voigt, who were superb, the highlight of the week was
a "Rhine Journey on the Hudson" organised by the New York
Wagner Society on the night between Siegfried and Götterdämmerung.
On board the "Mystique", we were served a superb meal, accompanied
by good entertainment, shared the great company of many Wagnerians
from all over the USA and overseas, and enjoyed one of the most amazing
sights: Manhattan and the Hudson at night.
After the Ring Cycle, After I returned to New York from
a week's tour to the Niagara Falls, Lancaster County, Cornish and
Washington, I dumped my bags at the 63rd Street YMCA, and hurried
to the Box Office, hoping to buy a seat for the final performance
of Götterdämmerung. To my amazement, after waiting in line
for 3½ hours, tickets became available 10 minutes before the 6:30pm
start. No time to change, but straight into my seat - Family Circle,
dead centre! I admit to Götterdämmerung being my all time favourite
opera. In this performance, Stig Anderson, the Danish tenor, a far
better singer, in my opinion, replaced Wolfgang Neumann as Siegfried.
I hope to hear much more of him. It was worth all the queuing. As
Jan Bates said, Neumann showed signs of strain, but not Anderson whose
voice rose to the occasion every time without any sign of strain,
greatly overshadowing Jane Eaglin.
After my last trip to the Metropolitan, I thought that
if I never saw another performance, at least I've seen the best; now
I've seen it twice, together with a bonus Götterdämmerung.
I now wonder if this can be bettered!
Margaret Budge
July 2000
This Page was last updated on:
10-Mar-2004
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