Seattle Opera - Wagner’s Das Rheingold, August 9, 2009.

McCaw Hall, Second Tier, Aisle S (Seat N3, $118.50)

Anne and I are on our own “quest” for the Ring. Not that we love Wagner so much, but we are rather curious about the stamina required (both of the artists and the audience) and would like to experience it for ourselves. The four operas in the series total about 14 hours (17 hours with intermissions). We initially booked tickets to the series at the Washington DC Opera for later this summer, but that got canceled because of financial problems at that organization. Turns out the Met announced its own Ring series right about we bought tickets to the DC series, and all the moderately priced seats were gone by the time we looked. That left Seattle, which still had reasonably priced tickets left. We also bought tickets to the pre-concert talks for $8 a session.

When we bought the tickets, we thought it would be nice to spend a week during the summer in Seattle anyway. Despite it notorious always-overcast reputation, our prior visits to Seattle have been enjoyable. As things turn out, Ellie is now in San Francisco on her fellowship, and Joe and Jessica will be there on August 11. So we decided to fly down on the day “off” to SFO to meet up with them for dinner. (I am on UA133 SEA-SFO as I type this.) It was rainy as we drove to the airport this morning, and it was overcast yesterday, so perhaps we are not missing much on the touring end.

I unfortunately caught a cold just before I left New Jersey, the coughing hasn't been so bad (and manageable with OTC drugs), but the sinus problem is causing my right ear to feel really clogged up. While bearable, it does make me a bit grumpy.

All said and done, this trip is going to cost quite a bit of money. Much more than just biting the bullet and buying the better seats at the Met. I wonder how I would feel when it is all said and done.

On with the review ...

Story. Alberich the Nibelung steals the Rheingold from the Rhine, and forges a ring from it that gives him a lot of power. He also has a Tranhelm (helmet) made that can turn him into any form he chooses. Wotan asks the giants Fafner and Fasolt to complete Valhalla for him in exchange for Friea. Wotan's wife Fricka gets Wotan to try to “renegotiate” the deal. Wotan and Loge manage to trick Alberich to turn himself into a toad, capture him, and wrest the gold and ring away from him. Alberich curses anyone who would subsequently possess the ring. The giants agree to take the gold and the ring, and immediately Fafner kills Fasolt. Wotan then retreats to Valhalla.

Conductor – Robert Spano; Woglinde – Julianne Gearhart, Wellgunde – Michele Losier, Flosshilde – Jennifer Hines, Alberich – Richard Paul Fink, Fricka – Stephanie Blythe, Wotan – Greer Grimsley, Freia – Marie Plette, Fasolt – Andrea Silvestrelli, Fafner – Daniel Sumegi, Froh – Jason Collins, Donner – Gordon Hawkins, Loge – Kobie van Rensburg, Mime – Dennis Petersen, Erda – Maria Streijffert.

The lecture was given by Jonathan Dean, who provided the translation for the subtitles. His talk was a bit long at an hour or so, leaving no time to do anything between the talk and the concert (e.g., to get some decent food.) Since we are not here to gorge ourselves on food, the sandwich we shared afterwards was okay (we bought some cup of noodles after the concert.)

One would expect from these pre-concert talks some historical background, why the music is significant, and in the case of the Ring, a description of the leitmotifs. We get that. However, the speaker felt the need to add a considerable amount of post-modern and green-crazy editorial remarks to his speech that I find unnecessary and contrived. The set for the Seattle Ring is called “green” I think mainly due to the heavy use of trees and woods. Ecology conscious, perhaps, but certainly not ecological.

He did have a few interesting observations. One was how Wagner weaved together old Germanic myths, Greek tragedies, heavy romantic music, and philosophical questions into the operas. The other was how the characters can be grouped into water, earth, air, and fire (today's analogy would be liquid, solid, gas, and plasma, according to him). Whether he is merely quoting others, or he arrived at the insight himself, I do not know. But I find his remark that there are no/few pure good and bad characters to be very true. (I have seen two operas as I type this.)

Onto the performance. Overall the two I have seen so far are just so-so. I will make the Walkurie-specific comments in the blog on that opera.

The Hall was plunged into darkness (except for the Exit signs) for quite a while when the concert started. Then a soft sound emanated from the orchestra. A very interesting way to begin, and I have no idea how the members communicated with one another.

The beginning scene with the Rhine maidens was technically interesting. The three maidens are on harnesses that make them “swim” in the river quite effortlessly. They have to sing while being moved about in three dimensions, and move their tail fins (feet) all the time. Somehow they can keep their postures straight, spin around, and do some rather difficult passages.

As McCaw Hall was opened in 2003 or so, the poor acoustics was a surprise to me. The sound was generally muffled. This is particularly true of the orchestra which just sounded chaotic. I am sure the orchestra's playing contributed some, but the acoustics must bear some of the blame. The horns were quite unsteady, especially at the beginning. The overall playing improved as the concert went on, though. This was opening night, after all.

Most of the singing was just so-so. Wotan figures prominently in the advertising, but his voice didn't project well at all. The one notable exception is Fricka, sung by Blythe. Her voice was great and carried very well. Anne had particular problems with the giants, although I found their style quite appropriate for the roles.

Dean pointed out in this opera there are no human beings. Other than broad brushes, I don't find it very important to distinguish one type of being from another (gods, demi-gods, giants, Nibelungs, humans, etc.) Books have been written about the Ring on issues that Wagner probably wouldn't have imagined,

This opera is the shortest of the four at 2 hours 30 minutes, no intermission. It was generally okay. I wonder how we would feel about the series after our last concert Friday.