Conductor - Simone Young. Siegfried - Klaus Florian Vogt, Gunther - Michael Kupfer-Radecky, Alberich - Olafur Sigurdarson, Hagen - Mika Kares, Brunnhilde - Catherine Foster, Gutrune - Gabriela Scherer, Waltraute - Christa Mayer; Norns - Noa Beinart, Alexandra Ionis, Christina Nilsson; Woglinde - Evelin Novak, Wellgunde - Natalia Skyrcka, Flosshilde - Marie Henriette Reinhold, Grane - Igor Schwab.
Inside the theater for Gotterdammerung. Many people took their jackets off.
The "shrine" to Wagner has his statue looking over displays of victims of anti-semitism.
For people who know the old story, and have sit through the last three operas, the primary question is how the new story will end, instead of how the music will come across. That's one effect (probably unintended) the new production has on people's expectations. The simple-minded (or old-fashioned) person thinks of a love potion, a blood oath, a hunt, a murder, a raised arm, a pile of wood by the Rhine, and an immolation scene. What did we get?
Up till today we hadn't seen much of the German edginess. (One could argue the possible sexual assault by Wotan on Sieglinde qualifies.) Today made up for it somewhat. First, the blood oath between Siegfried and Gunther: the blood isn't drawn from the two men, but from the killing of Grane (Brunnhilde's aide), and we see a full glass of it. Grane's bloodied body is brought onto the stage. The Ring started with a swimming pool, and ends with a water puddle, where Siegfried and his son go fishing instead of a hunting party. Siegfried is killed by Hagen hitting him multiple times in the back with this brass knuckles with glitter. Since there is no ring to get from the dead Siegfried, there is no raised arm. Siegfried's body isn't cremated, it just lies there (for quite a long time, poor guy). Brunnhilde does pour gasoline (water, more likely) on herself, grabs Grane's severed head (when did that happen?), and the often-present pyramid catches fire. In the final scene where Valhalla is supposedly destroyed, we have Wotan hanging from the rafters, water dripping down his body. Since the preceding three operas have been relatively tame, one wonders why all this is necessary.
Siegfried is given a potion so he would forget Brunnhilde and instead fall in love with Gutrune. In this telling he simply dumps the potion (a green liquid) on Grane's head. The couple had drifted apart, so he doesn't need any magic potion to fall in love with Gutrune. That also makes his reminiscing about his life history pretty meaningless.
Here are the titles of the Acts as provided in Program Book. Prelude: the last night - "A painful farewell;" Act I: a new set of circumstances - "Malevolence;" Act II: the following morning - "Warfare and wedding;" Act III: the final day - "Double bars and fading tones."
In the Program Book there are two articles, evidently written by respected Wagner scholars. I will comment briefly on the one on leitmotifs.
The author basically posits that the leitmotifs should have a fixed meaning, and since they don't, one can completely ignore them. A strawman argument used to excuse why some leitmotifs no longer carry any meaning or association. I mentioned in a prior blog that there is no Notung to associate with that leitmotif. As Valhalla is now simply a house extension Wotan had built, those themes no longer hold any elevated images. And should the Ride of the Valkyries now evoke plastic surgery? I will let others decide if this article is submitted for a high school assignment, or a treatise worthy of the Wagnerian Society.
After Act I. Grane, the three Norns, Hagen, Waltraute, Brunnhilde, her daughter (?), Siegfried, Gutrune, and Gunther.
Announcing the start of the next act.
The chorus and the choral director. This is the largest ensemble I have seen for this opera. The choral director resigned, and the chorus members are to re-audition next year. Power play at work.
After Act II. Choral director, Alberich, Gutrune, Siegfried, Hagen, Brunnhilde, and Gunther.
The orchestra members came out at the end of the opera. Note the lack of dress code. In front are Siegfried, Brunnhilde, their daughter, Simone Young, Hagen, Gutrune, Gunther, and the three Rheinmaidens.
Simone Young will be back next year. Who is Philip Jordan?
For someone who is encountering the cycle the first time, I can't imagine how it makes sense. Many of the scenes appear important (examples are forging of the sword; Siegfried and Brunnhilde swearing on Hagen's staff), but the story line has no place for them. Worse if the listener can understand German. For one steeped in knowledge of the operas, they only make sense if the new story is ignored. Here I cite the example of the dialog between Brunnhilde and Siegmund. So the new production is effective to the extent people can ignore it.
One of the more pronounced story modifications to an opera I have encountered, was an Opera Australia production of The Pearl Fishers many years ago. There it is implied the two male principals were homosexual lovers. In a later production (which I also saw) that element was eliminated - that was made clear in the pre-performance talk, and a good decision in my view.
I just don't know if one is watching the same opera in the current production. Music? That has remained the same, and done splendidly. Although by now I was quite exhausted, and perhaps some of the artists were also. The sound was not as good as it appeared to be in earlier days. It was uniformly clear earlier on, now it was a bit muddled at times.
There is no doubt that this was a triumphal Bayreuth debut for Simone Young. While her reputation was already well-established before this, I am sure she can hang her hat on these two Ring cycles. I have remarked before, the toughest part is that of the conductor who has to remain alert all the time.
If people familiar with and interested in Wagner ask me if they should come see the Ring at Bayreuth, a proposition that's time consuming, logistically challenging, and expensive, I would say by all means do it. Coming to the festival is a ritual worth observing, at least once, to a Wagner fan. And where can you go nowadays where formal attire is the norm? That enthusiasm obtains even with this specific Ring, despite the production that detracts from an experience as Wagner intended it.
Reviews of prior seasons (with same production) mentioned loud boos from the audience. I am sure there were scattered complaints at all four performances, I heard it only clearly after Die Walkure - and most probably directed at the non-event of Brunnhilde walking off the set.
Summer in Bayreuth can be warm. When we visited a couple of years ago it was very warm - that was in late May. For this week we were blessed with good weather, only one day got to the high 80s, and we were drizzled on once. But being in a closed theater with 2000 other people can be stifling. Most of the people were dressed formally - so men wore suits. Even if they took them off during the performance, long sleeve and buttoned up shirts had to be uncomfortable. I did bring a couple of shirts on this trip, so only felt a little out of place.
The program for 2025 came out soon after this festival concluded. We are entertaining the idea of going again - if we can get the tickets; well, at least I am. This time perhaps coupled with a visit to BBC Proms. It won't be to see the Ring, though. Simone Young will be back conducting those four operas. In comparing what we saw with how performances in prior years were described, there were some minor tweaks in the production this year, so one can expect something similar for next year; not enough to make any difference in how bad the story is, though.
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