Seattle Opera - Wagner’s Gotterdammerung, August 14, 2009.

Story. Hagen, son of Alberich, gets Gunther and Gutrune to give Siegfried a magic potion that erases his memory of Brunnhilde. For Siegfried to marry Gutrune, he has to get Brunnhilde for Gunther. Brunnhilde is warned by Waltraute, one of the Valkyries, to give up the ring. She will not do it as it is an emblem of love Siegfried has given her. Siegfried uses the Tarnhelm to disguise himself as Gunther, goes to the fiery rock, and takes Brunnhilde and the ring. Brunnhilde sees the ring and calls Siegfried on his deception. Enraged by Siegried's betrayal, she plots with Hagen and Gunther the murder of Siegfried and points out that the backside of Siegfried is unprotected. Siegfried is asked by the Rhine maidens to return the ring but refuses. Distracted by two ravens, Siegfried is killed by Hagen during the hunt. Everyone eventually catches on that it is the poison that started the chain of events, Gunther is killed, Guthrune commits suicide, and Brunnhilde immolates herself by walking into the funeral pyre of Siegfried. The Rhine maidens reclaim the ring and the story ends with an image of Wotan with his family.

Conductor – Robert Spano; Norns – Luretta Bybee, Stephanie Blythe, Margaret Jane Wray, Brunnhilde, Siegfried, Guther – Gordon Hawkins, Gutrune – Marie Plette, Alberich, Hagen – Daniel Sumegi, Waltraute – Stephanie Blythe, Flosshilde – Jennifer Hines, Wellgunde – Michele Losier, Woglinde – Julianne Gearhart.

All good things have to come to an end. Actually, all things have to come to an end. The ring cycle concludes with tonight's performance that lasted 5 ½ hours. The three acts are of durations 117, 64, and 77 minutes per the board by the entrance, and there are two 30-minute intermissions.

Technical problems prevented the curtains to be raised at the right time (twice) and the orchestra had to do a re-start. The explanation given by Speight Jenkins was a computer glitch, true or convenient, I don't know. At least he had the courage and decency to take responsibility, which is good.

This is the most interesting of the 4 operas. The story goes along at a good pace, and the singing was generally good. Stephanie Bythe, who played Fricka in earlier episodes, came back as a Norn and Walttraute (one of the Valkyries) and did an excellent job. She would be a most famous diva if she were a bit lighter and has another 3 notes or so in her range. I recall enjoying her singing as a witch in Rusalka.

I was expecting a lot of fire for the last scene and looked forward to it with anticipation. Alas, it was images of fires offstage and projected onto the curtain. The overall effect was interesting but at the end disappointing. The singing during this last scene was powerful, but failed to move the audience that a scene of such emotion generally would.

However, they did save the best for last.

Indeed the Ring is a challenge for everyone involved. I found myself drifting off every now and then (no doubt in part due to our doing other things during the week), but the artists couldn't do so. The conductor, who had to be “on” during the whole time, probably had the hardest mental job. Everyone else gets to relax here and there, but the conductor had no rest. The orchestra generally did okay, but there were some serious lapses. Tonight there were many passages that sounded very confused.

Countless books have been written and lectures have been given on the Ring. And I imagine there is a lot to study and learn about the topic. Wagner, after all, spent over 30 years (including the 12-year hiatus) composing the work. However, I suspect the story isn't really completely nailed down, and no amount of scholarly study would fix that problem. Another inevitability is comparison with Lord of the Rings. The Tolkien epic hangs together much better in terms of character development. The reader knows whom he should be rooting for.

Wagner may have decided to write his characters in such a way that they all have their strong points and character flaws. Instead of good triumphing over evil, everything gets destroyed at the end. (That doesn't explain why we see Wotan and family at the end, though.) The lecturer said the title could be translated “Gods' Gloaming”, thus not distinguishing between dawn or twilight. I don't see how Valhalla's destruction can be read as anything but “Twilight of the Gods.” In the end, there is not much moral to this story.

So, my feelings are mixed. I admire the effort in putting the Ring together, and am glad I sat through it (even though I dozed off a few times.) Beyond that I don't have much to say. Perhaps my appreciation will increase with time, or with additional attendance in other Ring cycles. Not sure how likely that would be, though.

Note added 9/20/2009. I couldn't find a review of the performances after I returned to NJ. However, today I saw a New York Times Article that talks about the Ring in general and the Seattle performances in particular. Rather interesting take on the subject, not a review though.