Opera North announce Spring 2013 season - and Siegfried. 2013-2014

Continuing their Ring Cycle and a new production of Albert Herring. Full details below.

Three productions close a full year of new productions in the 2012/13 Season, from Don Giovanni, Faust and The Makropulos Case to Otello, La clemenza di Tito and a double-bill of Poulenc’s La voix humaine and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in the new year.

The new productions announced for Spring 2013 begin in April with Handel’s mighty oratorio, Joshua, at Leeds Grand Theatre. Depicting the Old Testament story of Joshua, as he leads the Israelites in conquest of Canaan, this dramatic oratorio demonstrates Handel’s skill as an opera composer in its highly theatrical and strongly characterised score. Daniel Norman (Joshua) and Fflur Wyn (Achsah) lead a cast directed by Charles Edwards.

A new production of Benjamin Britten’s chamber comedy, Albert Herring, will be staged in the intimate space of the Howard Assembly Room in May. Albert Herring is directed by Giles Havergal (The Merry Widow, 2010), with set and costume design by Leslie Travers (Giulio Cesare, 2012). Casting includes the return to Opera North of Dame Josephine Barstow as Lady Billows, Alexander Sprague as Albert, and Joseph Shovelton as Mr Upfold.

Conducted by Music Director Richard Farnes, the next thrilling instalment of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Siegfried, will première at Leeds Town Hall in June before travelling to The Sage Gateshead, Symphony Hall, Birmingham and The Lowry, Salford Quays. Annalena Persson (Die Walküre, 2012) returns as Brünnhilde, while Estonian tenor Mati Turi sings the heroic title role.

The upcoming 2013/14 Season will now open with a ‘Festival of Britten’ in September 2013 and will close with the final part of Opera North’s four-year Ring Cycle, Götterdämmerung, in June 2014. Full details of the 2013/14 season will be announced in February 2013.

General booking for Joshua, Albert Herring and Siegfried will go on sale on 17 December.

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Video lecture: "Wagner and Buddhism"

Recorded last year as part of the SF Ring Cycle. Includes former Buddhist monk and author of Redeemer Reborn: Parsifal as the Fifth Opera of Wagner's Ring Paul Schofield and Wagner lecturer Peter Bassett. Presented as a youtube playlist below. Total running time around 80 minutes.

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BBC to broadcast ROH Ring Cycle live - details below:

Should you not have managed to get tickets, you can catch the entire cycle for free on Radio 3 over 8 days. Details below (All times are in British Summer Time).


16 OCT LIVE AT 7.10PM DAS RHEINGOLD –WAGNER
Bryn Terfel, Stig Anderson and Wolfgang Koch with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Antonio Pappano conducts

18 OCT LIVE AT 4.45PM DIE WALKURE – WAGNER
Simon O’Neill, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Susan Bullock and Bryn Terfel with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Antonio Pappano conducts

21 OCT LIVE AT 2.45PM SIEGFRIED – WAGNER
Stefan Vinke, Bryn Terfel, Susan Bullock and Wolfgang Koch with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Antonio Pappano conducts

24 OCT LIVE AT 3.45PM GOTTERDAMMERUNG – WAGNER
Susan Bullock, John Tomlinson and Stefan Vinke with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Antonio Pappano conducts
 

To listen on the day - and perhaps for six days after on demand - click here

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Watch Now: René Pape & Manfred Honeck - Wagner & Bruckner

We believe available till October 30th. You may, as always with Medici alas, have to register free. After the 30th this will be available to rent form them.

The programme opens with excerpts from famous Wagner operas: Tannhäuser of which they perform the long and sublime overture, Das Rheingold and Die Walküre of which they chose arias for bass, performed by René Pape

The concert closes with Bruckner's gigantic Symphony No. 7 

Date: : Aug. 2, 2012, 6 p.m. 

Verbier Festival Orchestra

Manfred Honeck conductor

René Pape bass 

Movie director : Anaïs Spiro 

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Brünnhilde must rush to Siegmunds rescue once more, as Simon O'Neill falls ill

The Wagner Society of London's  "An Evening with Simon O'Neill" becomes "An Evening with Rachel Nicholls", on October 17, as Simon O'Neill withdraws due to "health concerns" Whether he will still be able to make his performance in Walküre the following day at  the ROH , is as yet unconfirmed

Not only will Rachel save the day on the 17th but on the 21 October she also sings Brünnhilde in Die Walküre Act 3 with James Rutherford as Wotan, conducted by David Syrus at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama - also for the Wagner Society London.

If you haven't heard Rachel in Wagner previously you can do so by clicking play below. You can also read The Wagnerian's interview with her early this year by clicking here. We would suggest that this might be a night you should not now miss.

Of Rachel, who steps in at the last minute, Paul Dawson-Bowling, of the Wagner Society recently said:

"Rachel Nicholls is an incredible find as Brünnhilde, possessed of a beautiful voice and a musical intelligence of a very high order, perhaps a legacy of her background of JS Bach. She is radiantly secure above the stave; her high C at the end of the prologue was ecstatic, and she absolutely the stamina for the panegyric of her Immolation." Wagner News. Review, Götterdämmerung. LFO 2012

As for next season, she not only returns to Longborough next Summer to sing three complete cycles as Brünnhilde, but her engagements also include,   Euridice in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice on tour with the Israel Camerata, Senta in Der fliegende Holländer with Scottish Opera and Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

For further details - and tickets - for the two Wagner Society events please  visit:  An Evening With Rachel Nicholls

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Video: Excerpts Meistersinger in Bayreuth, 1963

These have been on the net for some time but it seemed likely that not everyone has seen them.

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Welsh National Opera announces 5 firsts for Britain - including Wagner

Wagner Dream by Jonathan Harvey.

Welsh National Opera (WNO) will present a new series of contemporary operas over the next five years, all of them being performed in the UK for the first time. The British Firsts series of operas, which has been made possible by a $2 million dollar gift from members of the Getty family, will begin next summer with the UK staged premiere of Wagner Dream by Jonathan Harvey.

Other works planned over the next five years include Robert Orledge’s completed version of Claude Debussy’s unfinished one-act opera The Fall of the House of Usher, which will be staged alongside Gordon Getty’s Usher House, both inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s classic novel The Fall of the House of Usher.

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Now available: Watch on-demand - Tristan und Isolde - Wide Open Opera. Till 12/11/12

Only available till Monday the 12 November  You should catch this while you can. A quick registration is required but seems to be of little issue.

As we type, Wide Open Opera's first Tristan und Isolde is part way through its last performance. Before going into any more details we would like to note a number of achievements and firsts being made here:

1 - Ireland's first Tristan in nearly 50 years

2 - The first Tristan to feature an Irish Isolde

3 - Ireland's first Tristan with a full orchestra and uncut score.

4 - The first "homegrown" Wagner drama in Ireland that was streamed free on the internet.

5 - A full run of Tristan with an international cast by a company that did not exist 12 months ago

To now add to this list, Wide Open Opera will be the first such company (in association with Platform Ireland) , and perhaps one of the few in the world (along with Glyndebourne and small number of others) , that will make the recorded live stream freely available - internationally "on-demand" from Monday 8th October. One supposes if one is going to make a number of firsts that's one way to do it.

To watch now click the link below (a quick but painless registration is required) - and might we suggest you keep a close eye on this company. Especially so, as their art director has promised a Ring Cycle in the relatively near future?

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EMI & DG to release "bargain priced" Complete Wagner boxsets

We would find it difficult to ever suggest one boxset of Wagner's dramas - and would always recommend buying sets individually but for those new to Wagner , or simply those who do not own these individually, these sets are definitely worth a look. This is especially so when the EMI set is priced at £56 and the DG at £58.00. Clearly the DG is the only "complete" set and perhaps is the most "compelling" of the two. The EMI will be released on the 29 October and the DG on the 5 November 2012. On these dates you should be able to listen to samples at the usual places.

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Listen to: The Dutchman - Teatro Regio di Torino 12/10/12

Broadcast live on 12/10/12 at 18:00 GMT. To listen click the link below.

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James Levine returns to the MET, but not to Wagner - yet

Alas, no Wagner but he will conduct Verdi, Berg and Mozart

James Levine plans to return to the podium at the Metropolitan Opera in May following a two-year absence, conducting from a wheelchair following a fall last year that left him partially paralyzed.

The Met announced Thursday that its music director intends to conduct a concert at Carnegie Hall on May 19 and will lead three productions in the 2013-14 season: a new staging of Verdi's "Falstaff" and revivals of Mozart's "Così fan tutte" and Berg's "Wozzeck." He also is scheduled for all three of the Met orchestra's Carnegie Hall concerts that season.

Levine, 69, has not conducted since a televised performance of Wagner's "Die Walkuere" on May 14, 2011. He canceled his entire schedule for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons following surgery to address spinal stenosis on May 31 and July 20, 2011, and another operation that Sept. 1 after he fell and damaged his dorsal spine No. 4 vertebrae, an injury Dr. Patrick O'Leary said caused "major paralysis."

O'Leary said Levine currently is free of back pain.

Levine made his Met debut in June 1971 and has led the most performances of any conductor in the company's history (2,442). He has been the leading force at the Met for four decades as chief conductor (1973-76), music director (1976-86 and 2004-present) and artistic director (1986-2004).

In Levine's absence, the Met promoted Fabio Luisi to principal conductor in September 2011, and Luisi took over from Levine to complete a new production of Wagner's Ring Cycle.

"I'm feeling better with each passing day," Levine said in a statement. "It has been a long healing process, but with a team of excellent doctors and the unwavering support of my friends and colleagues, I'm looking forward more than I can say to getting back to work."

O'Leary, a neurosurgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery who operated on Levine, said in a statement that "he is no longer in need of additional surgery, his upper body strength is remarkable, and his prognosis is good."

Levine used a cane before last year's injury; he currently is unable to walk. The Met said he will conduct from the motorized wheelchair he uses. The Met is designing podiums that elevate, which will be used at the opera house and at Carnegie Hall.

The Met said Levine's back injuries, which include broken and herniated disks, aggravated Parkinsonism — a relatively benign form of Parkinson's disease — that had afflicted him since 1994. The Met said the medication L-dopa had contributed to the shaking in his legs and left hand that was noticeable from the audience. Associated Press

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Siegfried: Royal Opera House - Review Roundup

We continue our review round up of the ROH's Ring Cycle today with alas one of our regular reviewers conspicuous by his absence - Barry Millington. Now, we must admit we have not been to London much last week and may thus have simply missed the relevant Evening Standard. Although, if that is the case then they have decided not to include said review in their on-line edition. But, as one noted Wagner scholar leaves the battlefield another joins us, as Mark Berry has finally manged to get some tickets to see the performance. Better late than never perhaps?

Production:

Erica Jeal at the Guardian (EJ - G) seems to have grown weary commenting on the production itself only noting. "More mundane glitches, such as a gliding stag with its antler caught on the set, offered brief distractions, too." A  fact also noted by Michael Church at the Independent (MC-I) "...  technical hitches which should have been sorted out in dress rehearsal - notably the stuffed stag with its antlers caught on the overhanging 'sky', However, he also notes that over all Warner's production has ".. much to enjoy, if also some disappointments." He goes on, "Warner’s direction is very hit-and-miss. He skilfully heads off longueurs in the expository sections, but at other times his touch can desert him totally. In Siegfried’s awakening of Brünnhilde, what should be a climactic blaze of ecstasy is scuppered by the way Stefan Vinke and Susan Bullock are placed miles apart and required to ignore each other;"

Rupert Christiansen summarizes his feelings on the production with four words, "I dislike it intensely.".

As we have not so heard form him so far we will allow Mark Berry a little more space:

"Keith Warner’s production underwent a degree of de-cluttering before the first complete cycles in 2007. My memory is too hazy to be able to say with any degree of certainty how different, if at all, the staging is this time around. What I can say is that I liked it better". And that aeroplane Mark, that hangs in the middle of the stage? "Last time, I wondered about the aeroplane; this time, I ceased to do so and simply thought it an arresting image" He also noted the "de-cluttering" of the stage but gave another possible reason (at least in act 3) rather than Warner's response to critics, "If I cannot help suspecting that the contrasting minimalism of the third act might suggest budget restrictions rather than an æsthetic decision, it is only really the final scene that seems a cop out: no fire, too much happening behind a screen, and, perhaps most surprisingly, less than convincing Personenregie or at least execution thereof."


Conductor and Orchestra

Ericda Jeal noted that while, "Pappano continues to draw out some astonishing instrumental detail, coordination came unstuck as Siegfried strode up to the Valkyries' Rock, taking the magic and fire out of one of the opera's climaxes."

Michael Church notes no such issues simply saying "Antonio Pappano and the Royal Opera House orchestra brilliantly demonstrate the scale of his still-underrated symphonic achievement"

Rupert Christiansen also remains enamored  "Highest praise for these latter two episodes of Wagner’s Ring must go to the conductor Antonio Pappano and the orchestra. Both of them seemed to gather momentum as the cycle progressed, the strings producing playing of spine-tingling beauty in the woodland scenes of Siegfried".

It should be noted that Mark Berry has never appeared a "fan" of Pappano's Wagner but in this instance even his steely heart seems to have softened like Rheingold in  Alberich's furnace, "Sir Antonio Pappano has grown as a Wagner conductor." But wait, as quickly as gold melts it hardens. "The dreadful stopping and starting that had so disfigured Pappano’s initial efforts  seems to have been properly sorted out. If the orchestra in this particular drama seemed less a dramatic participant – Wagner’s Greek Chorus – than it had in 2007, at least the first two acts flowed nicely enough. Pappano seemingly remains content, however, to assume the role of ‘accompanist’. Sadly the first scene of the third act – the peripeteia of the Ring as a whole – was underwhelming, with little sense of anything, let alone something truly world-shattering, at stake. Much of the rest of that act dragged too." But overall Dr Berry? "Pappano’s performance was not bad..."

Cast:

Bryn Terfel'

Erica Jeal found that,  "Bryn Terfel's Wanderer – Wotan in disguise – provides another of the production's iconic moments. His performance throughout has been hugely involving, detailed and direct. However she did note, "(H)is baritone is higher and brighter than the classic Wotan voice, and just occasionally the orchestra has seemed as much Wotan's enemy as have the Nibelungs. Michael Church noted, " Bryn Terfel’s psychologically-acute portrayal of Wotan’s conversion" while Rupaert Christensen went further remarking that, "Bryn Terfel peaked for 'Siegfried’: his characterisation of The Wanderer – the lineaments of lost nobility still perceptible beneath his desperate low cunning – was as riveting as his authoritative singing." Mark Berry however, had a very different view, "Alas Bryn Terfel’s Wanderer was disappointing. His intonation was dubious, to say the least, upon his first act entrance, and though that problem cleared itself up after a while, Terfel signally failed to impart due gravitas to the role"


Stefan Vinke

Siegfried is a difficult role to cast, as Erica Jeal notes  and thus, "In the absence of an actual superhero, Stefan Vinke, energetic and bullish, will do, but his tenor doesn't ping off the walls of the dress circle."

Rupert Christensen  alas has decide to examine both Vinke and Bullock in the same sentence  "Alas, I feel less enthusiastic about the Brünnhilde or Siegfried, although both acquitted themselves honourably. Mark Berry on the other-hand was far more impressed. "Vinke was better than merely preferable; his was probably the most impressive Siegfried I have heard in the flesh as opposed to on record. There was no sign of flagging, despite the cruel demands Wagner places upon his tenor. "

Susan Bullock

"Susan Bullock's Brünnhilde, however, has hit her stride, her soprano piercing through the orchestra". EJ-G)

"Susan Bullock is a highly intelligent, musical and determined singer, but that is not enough to make her a Wagnerian dramatic soprano. Here she blatantly lacked the steely top notes of Birgit Nilsson, the organ-stopped middle register of Kirsten Flagstad or the sheer physical presence of Gwyneth Jones" RC-T)

"Susan Bullock gave the impression that her voice was simply not ample enough for Brünnhilde and that she was therefore having to try too hard. The result was too often a mixture of the timid and the tremulant, and the acting was not much better". (MB)

To read the full reviews - and this is greatly suggested - please click the links below.

EJ-G
MC-I
RC-T
MB

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Read online: The Richard Wagner/Mathilde Wesendonck Letters

"Since yesterday I have been occupied with the Tristan again. I'm in the second act still, but—what music it's becoming! I could work my whole life long at this music alone. O, it grows deep and fair, and the sublimest marvels fit so supply to the sense; I have never made a thing like this! But I also am melting away in this music ; I'll hear of no more, when it's finished. In it will I live for aye, and with me—" RW to MW

Tannhauser, Lohengrin, Nibelungs, Wodan—all existed earlier in my head than my experience. But the marvelous relation in which I stand to the Tristan now, you will easily perceive yourself: I say it openly, since it is an observation due to the initiated mind, though not to the world, that never has an idea so definitely passed into experience.  RW to MW

We are attempting to produce a readable epub/kindle version of this book - the one made available by Google as part of this project is filled with scanning errors. It is taking longer then we would have hoped. On compilation we shall attempt to make it available. 

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Nationale Reisopera's "last ever" Götterdämmerung.

 Dutch National Touring Opera  presents what may very well be its final Gotterdammerung this month (premiered Sept 27 2012) - a trailer follows. Following the announcement of a staggering 60 percent reduction in funding earlier this year. From 2013 the company will not be able to exist in its present form and a "new" Nationale Reisopera will form. This will produce "smaller" scale productions. Although those who enjoy Wagner will be pleased to know that they will be presenting a new production of Tristan in 2013. We also have it on good authority that their Ring Cycle will see light not only on on both DVD and Blu-ray but also cinemas in 2013.

While we remain firm supporters of "fixed" location companies with dedicated theatres - finding theatres that can stage the Ring for example can prove more than difficult - we are greatly saddened by the news that the Nationale Reisopera have lost their battle for funding  - and for more than the obvious reasons. Touring opera - in its many forms - is often the only manner that a large number of people will ever get to see "large scale"  opera  "live". With so many national companies located in major capitals - and with the stubborn reluctance of these companies to tour - there is a real need for those organisations that will tour.

There has been much talk in the UK, as to how companies can get "young" people to the opera house. Solutions proposed so far have included video advertising campaigns that include no opera but resemble more a trailer for the latest series of Dr Who and silly campaigns about "dressing down" (as if anyone "dressed up" to go to ROH or ENO, for example). Perhaps offering touring productions to reach those either less likely, or more likely unable to commit the expenditure to traveling and staying in a capital city would be a more constructive method?

A few tickets maybe still available for Götterdämmerung.: Full details here

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A Review of the first Bayreuth Rheingold - NYT, 13/8/1876

Even by our standards this is "dense" text. - but intriguing nevertheless.  By the way, no mention of the "seats" - it seems it was the lack of "air-con" that was the problem

"The first performance of Das Rheingold, the prologue to the trilogy entitled Der Ring der Nibelungen, terminated two hours since. It was witnessed by an audience more, representative and critical, perhaps, than will ever be brought together again"

The heat, however, was intense, for the doors being closed and even overhung with tapestry, and there being no windows or ventilating apparatus of any sort, the air was never renewed. 

"The Emperor William, who had reached Bayreuth on the afternoon previous, stepped into his box at 7:05 o'clock, and was greeted with general applause, and, it seemed to me, with really heartfelt hochs. "

” The curtain rises upon a submarine picture, showing the depths of the Rhine, a rock upon which lies the charmed gold being in the cen­tre, and the river surrounding and covering it and reaching to the top of the stage."

Bayreuth: 13 August 1876

The first performance of Das Rheingold, the prologue to the trilogy entitled Der Ring der Nibelungen, terminated two hours since. It was witnessed by an audience more, representative and critical, perhaps, than will ever be brought together again; the Emperor of Germany and a brilliant suite occupied the Fursten Gailerie; the Emperor of Brazil was present; a number of German grandees were scattered about the auditorium; France, England, Italy, and America had deputized musicians and litterateurs to enjoy, and, in some instances, to dissect, the work and its rendering; the assemblage, in a word, was one which in political, artistic, and social distinction was; as brilliant as even Herr Wagner could have anticipated. “ Das Rheingold” commenced at 7:15 o'clock, and the curtain fell at 9:30, the performance progressing without interruption. Upon an event of equal magnitude it would be more grateful to dwell after a period of repose afforded opportunity for reflection. This satisfaction cannot, however, be afforded me at present. No one in Bayreuth can tell with absolute certainty when a letter ought to be mailed to reach London in season for the steamer, and it is therefore necessary tonight, as it will be on the three succeeding evenings, to promptly take pen in hand and render such an account of the opera and its interpretation as the circumstances will permit. In this communication as well as in the three which are to follow, I shall confine myself wholly to describing the works - brought out and their execution, and I shall only make such critical references as ought to accompany the current record I desire fit to supply. It may be well to mention, here, that, a record of this sort can now for the first time be prepared. The perusal of the scores of Herr Wagner’s operas, a summary of their plots, and even regular attendance at the rehearsals which have been in progress, this year, since June, are wholly insufficient to warrant the formation of a judgment upon the music and the dramas to the production of which Herr Wagner has been looking forward almost for a quarter of a century. Now only, the dramas and their musical illustration having been made known under circumstances such as none but the most ambitious of mortals could have dreamed of, can statements be offered and opinions ventured. At the close of the series I shall be in a position to set forth definitely the impression of “ Der Ring der Nibelungen” and to express views as to the probable or possible influence of the Fest which has been so long awaited. In this letter, then, I shall merely endeavor to convey an accurate idea of the representation and its incidents observing, by the way, that I shall not allude except casually to the stories of “Das Rheingold" or of the other operas of the cycles, these having appeared in The Times some days ago.

The performance of “Das Rehingold as I have said above, began at 7:15 o'clock. Half an hour before the audience was assembled and in its seats. I have described to you again and again the Bayreuth Opera-house, and I think that the reader is now thoroughly au fait of its characteristics. Access to its seats is easy, save to those in the center of each row, the want of a central aisle from the rear of the auditorium to the stage making approach to these rather tedious; the seats themselves, though light cane fabrics, are wide and comfortable; as I have written and telegraphed to The Times, in respect of seeing and hearing, not one spectator out of the sixteen or seventeen hundred could yesterday find anything to complain of. The heat, however, was intense, for the doors being closed and even overhung with tapestry, and there being no windows or ventilating apparatus of any sort, the air was never renewed. The suffering of the spectators must be accordingly in direct proportion with the greater or less length of each act of an opera. The eighty or ninety large gas burners in the auditorium shed a soft light upon the audience, until the representation commenced. Then the gas was turned down until it burned blue, darkness reigned, and attention had to be concentrated upon the stage, and maintained upon it until the first entr'acte. The Emperor William, who had reached Bayreuth on the afternoon previous, stepped into his box at 7:05 o'clock, and was greeted with general applause, and, it seemed to me, with really heartfelt hochs. Then the fanfare announcing that the act was about to begin was sounded outside the theatre, a subdued hush went around the house, the lights were turned down, and from what appeared to be an aperture two or three feet wide separating the auditorium from the boards, but in fact from a chasm thirty feet wide, in the depths' of which were one hundred and twelve musicians rose the first soft strains of Der Ring of der Nibelungen

There is no overture, in the common sense of the term, to “Das Rheingold,” nor to any of the operas of the trilogy, but merely a brief prelude, imitative in “Das Rheingold" of rippling waters, and suggesting the accompaniment to the “bathers' chorus' as it is called, in tho French score of “ Les Huguenots.” The curtain rises upon a submarine picture, showing the depths of the Rhine, a rock upon which lies the charmed gold being in the cen­tre, and the river surrounding and covering it and reaching to the top of the stage. The effect of the imitative music, added to that of tho scene, was excellent, and the weird but tuneful strains allotted to the three Rhinedaughters, as they swim about the rock and keep guard over tho treasure, are exceedingly sweet and pretty. Tho scene with Alberich is only worth notice because of the measure of the Rhinetochter, such as one seldom finds in Herr Wagner's writings, and the more welcome in that the voices aro now and then allowed to mingle in dainty harmony. Alberich's music is characteristic enough, but it is not especially impressive, although certain bars accompanying and imitating tho sliding of Alberich down the rocks as he pursues the fleeting maidens may be considered by Herr Wagner’s admirers as very significant and dramatic. Later on is a fresh and bright fanfare, illustrative of the gold of the Rhine glistening in the first beams of the morning sun, and the greeting of the treasure by the water-maidens is also pleasant in its freshness and tunefulness. Alberich's curse of love is as vigorous as needs be, but, although its theme recurs a hundred times during the progress of the Opera, it can only be said,to have the conventional meaning assigned to it. Alberich's flight with the treasure closes the scene.


Continue reading at the New York Times (link will open a PDF with a facsimile of the original article).

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Kupfer/Bayreuth Ring Cycle released and re-mastered on Blu-ray

Only 12 months after its remastering and re-release on DVD, Kultur once again release one of our  favourite Ring Cycles on video - but this time on Blu-ray. Officially available only in the USA and Canada - not that that ever stopped anyone outside those regions using Amazon. Press release follows.

Bayreuth Festival Production of Harry Kupfer’s "Of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen" Conducted by Daniel Barenboim Re-Mastered Blu-ray Box Set Available October 30th

New York, NY, October 04, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Bayreuth Festival Production of Harry Kupfer’s The Complete Cycle of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen

Conducted by Daniel Barenboim

Newly Re-mastered 4-disc Blu-ray Box Set available on October 30th

Kultur is pleased to announce the Blu-ray release of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, filmed at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. This historic Ring Cycle, under the musical direction of Daniel Barenboim, will be available on October 30.

In going back to the original high definition video master tapes and using cutting-edge HD encoding technology, Kultur was able to maximize the video quality of this new presentation of this historic Ring. This allowed Kultur to exploit the Blu-ray standard to its fullest and include three audio streams, LPCM, Dolby 5.1 and DTS 5.1.

The production of Wagner's Ring at the Bayreuth Festival is an event that takes place every six years. Bayreuth recordings of the complete cycle are rare; this is the second filmed version. The Kupfer/Barenboim Ring was performed over a five-year period and recorded at the conclusion in June & July 1991 and 1992 when the "Bayreuth Workshop" had raised "the quality of the performance to an almost unsurpassable level," (Der Tagesspiegel).

The Cast Includes:

Das Rheingold
John Tomlinson Wotan · BodoBrinkmann Donner
Kurt SchreibmayerFroh · Graham Clark Loge
Günter von KannenAlberich · Helmut Pampuch Mime
Matthias HölleFasolt · Philip Kang Fafner
Linda Finnie Fricka · Eva Johansson Freia
BirgittaSvendénErda · Hilde LeidlandWoglinde
Annette KüttenbaumWellgunde · Jane Turner Flosshilde

Die Walküre
PoulElmingSiegmund · Nadine SecundeSieglinde
Matthias HölleHunding · John Tomlinson Wotan
Anne Evans Brünnhilde · Linda Finnie Fricka/Siegrune
Eva Johansson Gerhilde · Ruth FloerenOrtlinde
Shirley Close Waltraute · HitomiKatagiriSchwertleite
Eva-Maria BundschuhHelmwige
BirgittaSvendénGrimgerde · Hebe DijkstraRoßweiße

Siegfried
Siegfried Jerusalem Siegfried
John Tomlinson Der Wanderer
Günter von KannenAlberich · Philip Kang Fafner
Graham Clark Mime · Anne Evans Brünnhilde
BirgittaSvendénErda · Hilde LeidlandWaldvogel

Götterdämmerung
Siegfried Jerusalem Siegfried
BodoBrinkmann Gunther · Philip Kang Hagen
Günter von KannenAlberich · Anne Evans Brünnhilde
Eva-Maria BundschuhGutrune
Waltraud Meier Waltraute · BirgittaSvendén 1. Norn
Linda Finnie 2. Norn · UtaPriew 3. Norn
Hilde LeidlandWoglinde
Annette KüttenbaumWellgunde
Jane Turner Flosshilde

Bonus Feature
Daniel Barenboim and John Tomlinson talk about the Harry Kupfer production of the "Ring" at Bayreuth in 1991 and 1992

Credits
Daniel Barenboim, Music Director
Chor und Orchester der BayreutherFestspiele
Staged and directed by Harry Kupfer
Stage design Hans Schavernoch
Costume design Reinhard Heinrich
Video director Horant H. Hohlfeld
Artistic supervision Wolfgang Wagner
A production of Unitel GmbH & Co., KG, Munich

Der Ring des Nibelungen
Street Date: October 30, 2011
SRP: $99.99
SKU: BD4755
Run Time: 917 minutes
UPC: 032031475571
ISBN: 978-0-7697-9238-5
Territory: U.S. and Canada--Region A, B, C

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Bayerische Staatsoper to broadcast entire season free online - to include the Dutchman

You might want to add this to your diaries.

In 2012/13, the Bavarian State Opera will be the first international opera house to present, with STAATSOPER.TV, a season with live streams online free of charge.

Opera and ballet lovers from all over the world will be able to enjoy a total of seven opera performances and two ballet evenings in full and live online from Munich. The first of these will be the audiovisual transmission on 3 November 2012 of Jörg Widmann's new opera Babylon (musical director: K. Nagano, stage production: Carlus Padrissa - La Fura dels Baus; with C. McFadden, A. Prohaska, W. White, G. Schnaut).

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LFO Ring Cycle 2013 - Dates and cast

GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG: LFO 2012

Longborough Festival Opera will be presenting what is possibly the most ambitious Ring Cycle of the bicentenary in 2013 - not one or two but three complete Cycles.

Presented in a theatre especially designed for Wagner - that lies in the middle of Cotswold -  it remains something of an unique accomplishment. Previous performances (begun in 2007) of the individual parts of the Cycle have been greeted with much enthusiasm.  Full details below and what cast information is presently available. Consistent through-out remains the Brünnhilde  of Rachel Nicholls (who will also be making her debut as Senta in Scottish opera's new production of the Dutchman in 2013) who received much praise for the part last year. The Wagnerian's interview with her can be read here,  where we have now added her performance of the Liebestod
.

Dates (2013):

Cycle 1: 16, 18, 20, 22 June;

Cycle 2: 26, 28, 30 June 2 July

Cycle 3: 6, 8, 10, 12 July

Cast:

DAS RHEINGOLD

Alberich – Andrew Greenan

Wellgunde – Sara Wallander Ross

Wotan – Jason Howard

Fricka – Alison Kettlewell

Froh – Stephen Rooke

Loge – Mark Le Brocq

Fasolt – Geoffrey Moses

Fafner – Julian Close

Mime – Richard Roberts

DIE WALKÜRE

Sieglinde – Lee Bisset

Wotan – Jason Howard

Brünnhilde – Rachel Nicholls

Fricka – Alison Kettlewell

SIEGFRIED

Mime – Adrian Thompson

Wotan – Phillip Joll

Alberich – Malcolm Rivers

Fafner – Julian Close

Brünnhilde – Rachel Nicholls

GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG

Brünnhilde – Rachel Nicholls

Siegfried – Jonathan Stoughton

Gunther – Eddie Wade

Hagen – Stuart Pendred

Gutrune – Lee Bisset

Waltraute – Alison Kettlewell

Alberich – Malcolm Rivers

Wellgunde – Sara Wallander-Ross

For full details go to: LFO

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Glyndebourne 2013 begins with free stream of Tristan und Isolde in 2012

Not only will Glyndebourne and the Guardian be streaming all six of Glyndebourne's productions in 2013 as a special treat they will begin by providing us with a free stream of the much praised 2007  Tristan und Isolde  between the 26 December 2012 and 6 January 2013 - see here for more on this

2012 has been an exceptional year for Glyndebourne, with the Festival Box Office achieving sales of 96.2%. At the close of the priority booking period for Members (including 6% attributable to Corporate Members), 20% of tickets were available to the general public. The Under 30’s scheme increased in popularity with over 2,000 subsidised seats being made available across the 2012 Festival.

The Festival comprised three new productions: Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen directed by Melly Still, Le nozze di Figaro directed by Michael Grandage, and the Ravel Double Bill of L’heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilèges, directed by Laurent Pelly. All six Festival productions were fully sponsored.

2012 also marked the first Festival to be powered by renewable energy. Details of our broader environmental policy can be viewed at glyndebourne.com. This includes monthly statistics relating to power generated by our wind turbine.

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Wagner through a Phenomenological looking-glass

For anyone unfamiliar with Husserl or phenomenology we include a brief introduction - with kind permission of The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

What is Phenomenology?

Phenomenology is the study of structures of consciousness as experienced from the first-person point of view. The central structure of an experience is its intentionality, its being directed toward something, as it is an experience of or about some object. An experience is directed toward an object by virtue of its content or meaning (which represents the object) together with appropriate enabling conditions.

Phenomenology is commonly understood in either of two ways: as a disciplinary field in philosophy, or as a movement in the history of philosophy.

The discipline of phenomenology may be defined initially as the study of structures of experience, or consciousness. Literally, phenomenology is the study of “phenomena”: appearances of things, or things as they appear in our experience, or the ways we experience things, thus the meanings things have in our experience. Phenomenology studies conscious experience as experienced from the subjective or first person point of view. This field of philosophy is then to be distinguished from, and related to, the other main fields of philosophy: ontology (the study of being or what is), epistemology (the study of knowledge), logic (the study of valid reasoning), ethics (the study of right and wrong action), etc.

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Tristan und Isolde: A picture feature. Wide Open Opera.

As very regular readers will be aware we like to produce very old fashioned pictures features -  so popular long ago (and we are reliable informed becoming popular once again in certain "celebrity" magazines). So, for those that missed the performance in Dublin on Sunday - either in the theater or at home - or who are getting ready to go tonight or Sunday, or simply would like to see parts of the production again - in high resolution - then we present the following (If you click on any of the images it will bring up a full screen, sideways scrolling gallery.  We have also included an audio documentary from 2007 about the "extreme" effects that Tristan seems to have on some people.  

All Images: Wide Open Opera/Anthony Woods

Act 1

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Wagner and Cinema - a review (with an extensive preview)

While published two years ago, we found little of the usual media covered or reviewed this book - but since when is that anything new with anything outside of the "ordinary"? So in attempt to rectify this, we reprint a review below from the online film journal : Screening The Past (follow the link below to visit or read the journal). We have also embedded a Google preview of the book below - so that you might make some conclusions of your own.

Wagner and Cinema

Edited by Jeongwon Joe and Sander L. Gilman
Foreword by Tony Palmer
Interview with Bill Viola
Indiana University Press, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0-253-22163-6504pp
(Review copy supplied by Indiana University Press)

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A Wagnerian Interview: Fergus Sheil, the first Irish Tristan in 50 years and a new Ring Cycle!

Fergus Sheil

Sunday the 30th of September 2012, saw more than one piece of Wagnerian history being made: the first Tristan un Isolde to be performed in Ireland in nearly 50 years; the first Isolde to be sung by an Irish soprano; possibly the first Irish Tristan with full orchestra and not heavily cut; the first Isolde from Ireland to be broadcast live on the internet and it goes on. All of this was thanks to two things: a recent decision by the Arts Council of Ireland to change they way it funds opera – a move from funding individual companies to individual projects – and the shear willpower and, what might be considered shear audacity, of Wide Open Opera and its founder, Artistic Director and Tristan conductor: Fergus Sheil.

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What does it take to be Isolde?

One of the wonders of the internet age is the manner in which one can find articles from the print media that once would have appeared and then vanished - consigned to never be read again. Oh, of course  it was possible - and still is - for the highly motivated researcher to spend hours trawling through years of micro- filch in a dusty room, but this was both tedious and the results difficult to reproduce. With this in mind we present the following article from the Guardian originally published in 2009. Here Martin Kettle discuses the role of Isolde and talks to many of those who have sung it, including, Nina Stemme and Anne Evens .


Isolde – the mother of all soprano roles

Many fear her, a few turn her down and some of those who play Wagner's famous heroine in Tristan und Isolde never quite recover. We talk to singers who have been brave enough to take her on
If Wagner's works are the Himalayas of the operatic repertoire – peaks only to be attempted by those with the experience, equipment and stamina to conquer them, then the role of Isolde is a soprano's Mount Everest.

"Singing Isolde requires a sort of state of being," says Nina Stemme, the Swedish soprano who first sang the role of the Irish princess at Glyndebourne in 2003 and who now sings it in the Royal Opera House's production opposite Ben Heppner's Tristan. "You have to enter the Tristan und Isolde world completely. You have to give it 100% all the time. It's a big journey. It's a marathon."

Anne Evans, who sang the role in Berlin and Dresden, as well as for Scottish and Welsh National Operas in the 1990s, says: "You have to work yourself up into a lather at the start. But other times it's like flying. It's my favourite Wagner role, but you have to know what you're doing. You can blast yourself into bits in the first act and have nothing left for the third. It's very varied. It's like owning a huge chest of drawers and opening the one you need at each different stage."

And what a role it is. Isolde is there when the curtain goes up after the prelude, fury incarnate as she screams defiance at one of the sailors who is taking her across the sea, against her will, to marry King Mark of Cornwall. And, around five hours later, when the curtain begins to fall, she is still there, expiring over the dead Tristan in "Höchste Lust" – a very Wagnerian notion that variously translates into English as "highest love", "supreme bliss" or "utmost rapture".

"It's not one of those roles where you can just come on stage and turn on like a tap," says Susan Bullock, (Isoldes for Opera North, English National Opera and Frankfurt). "You have to be revved up well before it starts. She goes off like a firecracker. But you still have to be focused at the end, when you have to produce your best singing of the evening."

In between, in one of the longest roles in the repertoire, Isolde must summon up an extraordinary range of emotions and colours with her voice: fury towards Tristan at the start, contempt towards his servant Kurwenal, vulnerability and determination in her dark musings with her maid Brangäne, explosive passion as her true feelings towards Tristan are revealed, and uncontrolled excitement as her lover's visit nears. Then, with all of this already under her belt – we have still only reached a quarter of the way through the second of the three acts – she and Tristan must sing some of the lengthiest and most difficult love music ever written. Finally, after a long rest off stage while Tristan raves towards his death in the third act, she must return and sing the crowning pages of the opera, the Liebestod or Love-Death scene by which many in the audience will judge her entire performance.

"Isolde is a severe test for the voice," the Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad – Isolde on the famous recording under Wilhelm Furtwängler – once observed. "Either it can be completely destroyed, or it can grow, as mine did." But Isolde is a great acting part, too. "It isn't all loud and screamy like the stereotypes," says Bullock. "It's a Shakespearean role, really."

Not surprisingly, many sopranos are nervous when the idea of Isolde is first mooted. In the 90s, the late Sir Georg Solti asked American soprano Renée Fleming if she would sing the role for a production he was planning. Fleming looked at the score, decided that her voice would never be the same, and refused. A generation earlier, Dame Margaret Price was persuaded to sing Isolde for a recording under German conductor Carlos Kleiber. The result, made up from several takes, is one of the most outstanding recorded Isoldes. Efforts to tempt Price to do Isolde on the stage, however, never came to anything. "I'm not a long-distance runner," she insisted. "I'll sing it to my dogs."

Price's performance has had lasting effects on today's Isoldes. Before her, the role belonged to sopranos such as Flagstad and the late Birgit Nilsson, massive of voice, with a laser-like precision of tone. Price came from another, more Italianate vocal tradition. Bullock says: "Isolde wasn't something I was thinking of until I was asked. But listening to Price made me realise it could be done. I think if I had started by listening to Nilsson I would have committed suicide."

Stemme adds: "I thought my first offer of Isolde was a joke." Stemme, at that time, was more a lyric Mozartian singer than a dramatic Wagnerian. "But a seed was planted. I went away and studied the role and realised it would be possible."

The role can certainly take its toll on a soprano's voice. As a young woman, the Scottish soprano Linda Esther Gray won great acclaim for her exceptional interpretation of the role under the renowned Wagnerian conductor Reginald Goodall for Welsh National Opera in the 70s. But Gray was rarely the same singer afterwards and her career was sadly cut short. The fine Viennese singer Helga Dernesch was another whose career struggled to recover from Herbert von Karajan's decision to cast her as Isolde in performances and on record in the 70s.

But if Isolde can be unforgiving it can also be incomparably rewarding. If there is one singer whom today's Isoldes revere more than any other, it is the Berlin-born soprano Frida Leider, who dominated the role in the interwar years. "Ah, Leider, she is the winner," says Stemme. "She's got it all." Evans agrees: "There's never just one way of doing anything. But it's the vibrancy of her sound that marks Leider out. All those colours in the voice."

Leider's recordings – sadly only of excerpts from the opera – point a path to the heart of the role. In her autobiography, Leider explains with great clarity how she approached Isolde. "I always tried to sing in the Italian bel canto style, and above all, I endeavoured to incorporate this style into my Wagner interpretations. I put my enunciation under the microscope. I accentuated very sharply but tried to do this while sustaining my vocal line."

It all sounds so simple. But it is the key to climbing the Wagnerian Everest and surviving to do it all over again a few nights later. Isoldes of this class are rare. Price came close, but only in the recording studio. The late Hildegard Behrens, who made an extraordinary recording of the opera under Leonard Bernstein, was probably the best of the rest in recent times. Now though, there is another name to add to the list. When I ask Evans to name her favourites, she replies: "First Leider, then Behrens – and now Nina Stemme," she responds. "I think she is very special."

Continue reading at the Guardian

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Video Interview: Bryn Terfel (Running time 50 mins)

Part of the Classic Talk series from New York, Recorded earlier this year

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Video Interview with Jay Hunter Morris

Renée Fleming interviews Jay Hunter Morris, who (for those not keeping up) plays Siegfried in Robert Lepage’s new Ring cycle at the Met

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The birth of Tristan und Isolde: Wagners letter to Liszt 1854

On completion of Wide Open Opera's internet relay of Tristan Und Isolde last night (for which you can still buy tickets) I was reminded of a letter that Wagner sent to Liszt from Zurich in 1854 wherein he first mentions reading Schopenhauer.  We repeat it in full below in English. Enjoy (And yes to the pedantic - he considered the idea long before this but without Schopenhauer it would surely have been a very different Tristan). But first a response from Liszt regarding Tristan and the role of Brangane.  Personally we have always been pleased that Wagner ignored him on this occasion

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Die Walkure, ROH - Review Round-up

It would be fair to say that in the past, Keith Warner's Ring Cycle has not always achieved universal recognition. It is thus interesting to see what changes he has made to Walkure in response in part, perhaps, to some of this critique. After all, such continued development has been the mainstay of Bayreuth - and if its good enough for them...

Words such as "cluttered" and "lacks clarity" have been previously used with some frequency. While we noted yesterday (in a round-up of Rheingold reviews) that he had seemed to  respond to such comments and had made some changes, his Rheingold was still not receiving anywhere near the reception one assumes he would like. It is thus interesting to see if the changes he has made to Walkure will hit a more positive note.

However, ignoring the production itself, it is clear from yesterdays look at Rheingold that there was much praise for cast, conductor and orchestra. Special note was made of the Wotan of Bryn Terfel (whose Wanderer is one of the few reasons to buy the METS new Ring Cycle "highlights" disc - Twilight Of The Gods) and the Fricka of Sarah Connolly (who should be a far more frequent visitor to ROH).

Antonio Pappano  has not been considered a "natural" Wagner conductor by everyone - although he certainly has his supporters. But then Wagner seems to be notoriously difficult to "get right" (whatever that might be). It is was thus interesting to note the praise that he received for Rheingold. Will this trend continue with Walkure?

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Watch Now: The 2012 George Solti - International Conductors Competition Finals (Includes Rienzi)

Date 23 September 2012. Full details of the annual competition please visit their website

Daye Lin from China (32) has won the 6th Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition in Frankfurt am Main 

First Prize was won by the 32 year Daye Lin. from China. Second Prize was awarded to Daniel Smith (30) from Australia and the Third Prize to Brandon Keith Brown (31) from the USA.

Prize money: €15,000 for the winner, €10,000 for the 2nd prize and €5000 for the 3rd.

Winners of the 1st and 2nd prizes also receive invitations to conduct the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester, the hr-Sinfonieorchester and other international orchestras in Germany and elsewhere.

Three finalists conducted The Frankfurt Radio Symphony this morning at the Alte Oper Frankfurt – the works, drawn by lots, were: the overture to Euryanthe“ op. 81 by Carl Maria von Weber (Daniel Smith), the overture to, Rienzi, der letzte der Tribunen“ by Richard Wagner (Brandon Keith Brown) and the overture to, Fledermaus“ by Johann Straus (Daye Lin). All three candidates then conducted the 2nd suite from Maurice Ravel’s „Daphnis and Chloë“.

Chairman of the jury Rolf-E. Breuer announced the results after consultation with the jury, members of which had also attended rehearsals for the final concert which took place on Friday and Saturday. „We want this competition to be a platform for future world class conductors“, said Breuer.

The thrilling morning was rounded off with Emil von Řezníček’s Donna Diana ouverture, conducted by the winner, Daye Lin. The score of this (surprise) work was only given to the candidates at the beginning of the competition.

The Final’s Jury, chaired by Rolf-E. Breuer, consisted of: Ingo de Haas (1st Leader of the Opern- und Museumsorchester), Bernd Loebe (Intendant & Managing Director of Oper Frankfurt), Dr. Stephan Pauly (Intendant & Managing Director of Alte Oper Frankfurt), Markus Stenz (General Music Director of the City of Cologne, GürzenichKapellmeister), Sebastian Weigle (General Music Director of the City of Frankfurt, Oper

Frankfurt and the Opern- und Museumsorchester), Andrea Zietzschmann (Manager of the Music Department and Orchestra at the Hessischen Rundfunk and Orchestral Manager of the hr-Sinfonieorchester). 405 conductors, aged between 20 and 35, from 70 countries, applied to take part in this year’s competition. 22 of them were invited to come to Frankfurt to take part in preliminary rounds (September 17th–20th) with the Opern- und Museumsorchester and The Frankfurt Radio Symphony, from which three finalists were selected.

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Das Rheingold, Royal Opera House: Review round-up

So, Britain's opera reviewers have returned from the best free seats in the house. Well, not quite, those free tickets were reserved for certain members of the present cabinet - but you know what I mean. Actually, forget that also, having sat in a number of the ROH boxes over the years (sorry, you must forgive a now admittedly embarrassing capitalist youth - personally I blame the 80's and Duran Duran videos) like most boxes (for those lucky enough to have not experienced)  they have you creaking your neck and banging your knees off of the front if you try to see anything). Anyway,  upon returning - or while on the Tube on the way home - they have extracted their Ipads and written their thoughts. Of course, as always, they often seem to have been at different performances - but such is the unreliability of human neurophysiology

Production

One assumes whether you found it stimulating depends on how you respond to some poor soul, who has has reached the apex of their career, being made to dress up like an escaped "mad scientist" from a bad B Movie - while  simulating sex with a high-street dummy (No, no! Not members of the the Cabinet - I mean Keith Warner's production.).

So, first to Rupert Christiansen at the Guardian (RC - G): does that do anything for you Christian? 

"Third time round, I am finding Keith Warner’s production of the Ring no more intellectually illuminating, dramatically impressive or visually beguiling than I did when I first saw it. "

Seems not, anything else?

"Fatally, it lacks any clarity of interpretation or purpose: what Warner presents is neither a romantic legendary saga, nor an archetypal tragedy of hubris and catastrophe nor a Shavian critique of modern civilization"

Instead the staging tries to have it all ways, stuffing the ragbag with an assortment of images and symbols, in costuming that spans several eras and idioms. The effect is not so much suggestively eclectic as downright chaotic"

Ok, anyone else? Michael Church at the Independent (MC - I)? Did it "float your boat"?

Eight years after its unveiling, Keith Warner’s ‘Ring’ is back, and though his ‘Rheingold’ has been streamlined, the balance between symbolism and naturalism remains awkward (we’re not meant to laugh when Alberich turns into a monster, but we do).

Oh dear.

"And the opening scene still doesn't work: it has no primeval suggestiveness, and there’s a crude disjunction between the gracefully undulating helix-spiral backdrop and the tiresome St Trinians-type taunting of Alberich by the naked Rhinedaughters"

We seem to be acquiring movie references as we go along here - one hope it doesn't turn into a theme. Richard Fairmen at the FT (RF - FT)?

It is probably fortunate that Keith Warner’s production for the Royal Opera preceded the financial world’s own Götterdämmerung. Assembled between 2004 and 2006, it offers a rather muddle-headed take on the big picture, though Das Rheingold starts out promisingly enough, pitting the aristocratic, 19th-century ruling class of the gods against warring clans of Victorian industrialists and evil-minded scientists."

Will you lot stop it with the B-Movie film references - I wish I hadn't started it now. Barry Millington at the London Evening Standard (BM - LES). One can always rely on you to take things seriously - can't we?

Too often revivals fail to reignite the spark of the original. Happily, Warner has returned to direct a partly new cast himself. The basic conception is the same but every line of text has been rethought. 

The Rhinemaidens’ teasing of Alberich seems crueller than ever. Alberich’s grisly eugenic experiments in Nibelheim shock anew.

This infinitely resourceful production — a truly creative collaboration between singers and director — strikes gold in more than one way

I see, no film reference but you do sneak in an 80's music reference. It seems I am being haunted by that miss-spent youth noted earlier - or is it just guilt?

Conductor and orchestra

Das Rheingold - a dry, unyielding score at the best of times - did not quite catch fire musically either, despite Antonio Pappano’s astutely judged conducting. RC - G)

"...dry, unyielding score..."? Really? The variances of human neurophysiology at play again it would seem.

Antonio Pappano and his orchestra are on top form (MC-I)

Antonio Pappano’s musical direction lives very much in the here-and-now. There is little of the mythic quality of some Wagnerians to his conducting, or their achingly expansive speeds, and he keeps the music on a keen, forward trajectory that should ensure this cycle never loses its impetus... RF-FT).

Ok, good stuff. Now what about noted Wagnerian scholar Barry M (BM - LES) Barry? Barry? Oh well, maybe he forgot?

Cast:

Bryn Terfel made a grippingly restless, devious charmer of a Wotan (one thought of Orson Welles and Citizen Kane) (Look, what did I just say about enough with the film references? TW) with a worthy adversary in Wolfgang Koch’s subtly psychopathic Alberich. Sarah Connolly sang her first Fricka with eloquent legato, and Iain Paterson’s sturdy Fasolt and Gerhard Siegel’s snivelling Mime were also outstanding (RC -G)

Wolfgang Koch’s Alberich is a resonant presence, maybe too debonair for the demands of his gnome-like character, but as a counterweight to Bryn Terfel’s Wotan.  Terfel’s singing rightly governs the pace of events. When he declares "I must have the ring", the whole world seems to pause and take account of this fateful realisation, and a similar effect occurs when he tells Alberich - whom he has stripped of all his possessions - that he must yield up that last treasure too. Erda’s prophetic emergence from the earth - is powered by Maria Radner’s compelling sound; Stig Andersen’s Loge and Gerhard Siegel’s Mime are vivid creations. (MC-I)

(The) Wotan of Bryn Terfel, who increasingly feels like the raison d’etre of the entire enterprise. Gloriously sung, imposingly played as the patrician leader of a dying breed, Terfel’s Wotan is a match for any, past or present. His ability to sing quietly and look intimately into his character’s heart provides a depth of understanding that is generally missing from what is going on around him. 

The rest of the cast put musical qualities first. There is little of the old-style Wagnerian shouting, barking or whining, though with some loss of character along the way. Wolfgang Koch’s businesslike Alberich and his sidekick, the nerdy Mime of Gerhard Siegel, sing solidly. Sarah Connolly makes a dignified Fricka and, among those who will not appear again later, Stig Andersen was a somewhat muted Loge, Ann Petersen a nicely open-hearted Freia, and Iain Paterson sang strongly as the more human of the giants, Fasolt. (RF - FT)

Bryn Terfel is back as Wotan, running the gamut of megalomania, surliness and tenderness. His consort, Fricka, is newly cast: Sarah Connolly gives notice of a fine assumption to come with her natural sense of line. Stig Andersen cannot compete with the agility of the late Philip Langridge as Loge but plays him as a portly, greasy butler. Gerhard Siegel’s gift for comic acting is once again exploited to fine effect as Mime. Freia’s loss of innocence is painfully depicted by Ann Petersen. (BM - LES

Full reviews can be read - and is recommended - by following the links below. Next up: Walkure.

ROH Rheingold - 2006

Full Reviews:

Rupert Christiansen at the Guardian

Michael Church at the Independent

Richard Fairmen at the FT

Barry Millington at the London Evening Standard

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