Deutsche Oper Berlin. Wagner's Gotterdammerung. May 31, 2026.

Deutsche Oper Berlin.  1.RANG Links (Seat 5-2, 120 euros).

Final installment of Der Ring des Nibelungen.

Story.  See previous post.

Conductor - Sir Donald Runnicles.  Siegfried - Clay Hilley; Gunther - Thomas Lehman; Alberich - Michael Sumuel; Hagen - Albert Pesendorfer; Brunnhilde - Catherine Foster; Gutrune - Felicia Moore; Waltraute - Annika Schlicht; Norns - Lauren Decker, Karis Tucker, Felicia Moore; Rheinmaiden - Nina Solodovnikova, Karis Tucker, Stephanie Wake-Edwards.

It costs 1/2 euro to buy a cast list.  I bought one for each of the four operas in this Ring cycle.  In today's cast list there is a remark (in both German and English) that says "Due to sudden staff shortages and in order to ensure the safety of everyone on stage, certain parts of the technical operations of today's performance have been modified."

That could easily be understatement of the year.  The piano remains on stage all (or at least most) of the time, its movement is no longer remotely controlled, but done with the help of many stage hands.  There are no suitcases piled in front of the piano as it is no longer a portal. The large white sheet never makes an appearance.  There are still piles of suitcases, but they don't seem to move.  We still have costumes and lighting, and the entire stage can be raised.  Better than an opera in concert setting-wise, but nonetheless a less than spectacular production.  Despite my earlier grumblings about the set, I was looking forward to seeing how the Ring would conclude.  Would I be able to understand the arc the producer Herheim is try to achieve, that the creation of art ends in its destruction; more importantly, would I have cared if I had understood it?

Back to the opera.  A technique of Wagner's to fill in the narration gaps in his story is to provide the narration.  For Gotterdammerung we have three norns on for about 20 minutes (felt a lot longer) to sing about the past and the future.  Again, an editor would have come in handy.

    

When Brunnhilde appeared on the scene, she looked very different.  It turns out three different singers were deployed for each of the three operas as Brunnhilde.  This is a deliberate casting decision rather than last-minute substitutions, as far as I know.  Rings are planned several years in advance, so availability of singers should not be a problem.  Yes, the role is demanding, but one qualification should be the ability to sing in the entire cycle.  Indeed Wagner was sensible enough to space out the singing over the three operas, and Brunnhilde appears for only 30 or so minutes in Siegfried.  The conductor stays for the entire 15 hours, as do the audience members - although some do nod off every now and then.  Anyway, she aged 15 years (Foster is 60, Teige is 45) in two days.

End of Act 1: Waltraute, Siegfried, Brunnhilde, Gunther, and Gutrune.

Without the sets to dazzle, the weaknesses in the performance became more pronounced.  The actual opera casting calls for Gibichung villagers, so now we sometimes have two different groups on stage.  Don't worry about not being able to tell them apart: the refugees are the ones with the proclivity to strip down to their underwear.

One scene I look forward to in Act 2 is where both Brunnhilde and Siegfried swear on Hagen's spear.  Today's wasn't as compelling as I would like.  On the other hand, I didn't expect Hagen to cut off Siegfried's head when he approach the body either; I thought he was going for the ring and was looking forward to Siegfried raising his arm.  A completely unnecessary hard-edge addition, in my opinion.

End of Act 2: Alberich, Siegfried, Brunnhilde, Gunther, Gutrune, and Hagen.

The immolation scene should be both spectacular and sad.  Tonight's was neither.  No, we can't attribute it to the technical difficulties.  And where is the loyal horse Grune?  He is referred to multiple times, but never makes an appearance.  What we have are the stripped down refugees surrounding the piano with Siegfried's body (without its head, presumably).  A red light is shone on the refugees as they wave their arms and dance.  The entire stage is then lowered.  When it comes up again, only the grand piano is there.

The orchestra pit.  The musicians put in the work.

The end.  In the front: Gunther, Hagen, Brunnhilde, Runnicles, Siegfried, Gutrune, and the Rheinmaidens.  In the back are the Gibichung villagers, and the refugees.

That the technical sets were not working is very telling.  Without the sets' distraction, we have only a regular opera.  Which is quite good, by the way.  The women are particularly strong.  I do want to know if I will have gotten the metaphysical message Herheim is trying to convey; in that regard I wish the set had worked as planned.

This is the last performance of Runnicles as the music director.  One might wish it had ended on a more spectacular note.  The applause was enthusiastic nonetheless. 

Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. Simone Young, conductor; Christian Tetzlaff, violin. May 30, 2026.

Konzerthaus Berlin.  Grosser Saal (Seat 11-17, 63 euros).

Tetzlaff performed the Dvorak violin concerto with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, conducted by Simone Young.

Program

Konzert fur Violine und Orchester a-Moll Op. 53 by Dvorak.

Sinfonie Fis-Dur Op. 40 by Korngold.

This concert certainly has the name recognition of its headliners: Young and Tetzlaff.  And the Dvorak violin concerto.

If you ask me what are the most favorite violin concertos on the concert stage, I would name Beethoven, Brahms, Sibelius, Mendelssohn, Bruch (even), Lalo (maybe), and Saint-Saens before I come to Dvorak.  (I generated this list without consulting "the literature.")

Today's performance actually helped explain why.  No doubt the violin concerto contains a lot of brilliant passages, nice melodies, and technical challenges, but it is also a lot of hard work for the perceived return.  Just the opening passage, with it's high notes and double stops, would present a huge challenge for the soloist, and it gets more difficult as the piece proceeds.  It's no doubt a thrilling concerto to listen to, but one gets an equal amount of thrill without the soloist having to work so hard at the piece.  I looked at some random listing of popular concertos (actually two lists) on the web, Dvorak isn't even listed.  Somewhat proves my point.

Dvorak is Dvorak.  Folksy, melodic, and hummable.  In this blog I have three instances of listening to it, twice by Joshua Bell.  Tetzlaff came through brilliantly.  Our seat in Row 11 gave us a good view of what was going on, and it was impressive.

My first reaction, however, was "wow, the acoustics are not good."  A large orchestra was used, but I didn't expect the soloist to be so overwhelmed.  But often he was.  Which brings me to Tetzlaff's violin.  He famously stopped using a Stradivarius and now goes with a modern violin made by Greiner.  On previous occasions I heard him the violin was more than adequate, but today its sound failed him, at least for those sitting in my area.

We were seated in Row 11 of the main floor.  The acoustics were surprisingly muddled in that area.

For encore he played first an adaptation of a piece originally written by Bach, followed by the way Bach actually wrote it.  I wish he would explain that at the outset so I could be mentally prepared to make the comparison.  Of course he would have done it in German, which wouldn't help.

Later I found out from Gemini AI that the part of the concert hall I was in indeed has bad acoustics, and from Wikipedia that Tetzlaff has a condition that makes it painful to play the instrument.  Respect.  He looks considerably younger than his 60 years, though.

I have heard a Korngold piece here or there, but can't really pin down his composition style.  This symphony, at close to an hour in length, still didn't teach me much on the subject.  A few noticeable traits, if they can be called such.  First, it's form is very classical, we indeed have a four movement work marked fast, scherzo, slow, and fast.  (The actual movement markings are Moderato, ma energico; Scherzo: Allegro molto; Adagio: Lento; and Finale: Allegro.)  Indeed the individual movements also hew close to the classics.  For instance, the first movement is clearly in sonata form, and the scherzo also follow an ABA form.  Most - if not all - movements end with a well-marked coda.  On the other hand, I can't say I find any of the melodies - if there are any - to be singable.  

The slow movement was a tribute to Teddy Roosevelt.  It contains a three-note theme that I am quite sure got quoted in the last movement.

The piece certainly looked very difficult, and I also got the feeling that the result was modest compare to the hard work involved.  We were close enough to the stage to notice the principal cello had a lot of solo lines, but I frankly couldn't pick out the notes.  Surprisingly the violas often came across clearly.

A rather large orchestra was used for the Korngold symphony.

I had seen Simone Young conduct several times before.  At Bayreuth the conductor isn't seen, so maybe not that many times.  In any case, I was surprised how energetic she was, with her feet off the platform on many occasions.  She often had her left arm down, so I wonder if she could be seen by musicians in the back.

Last time we attended a Konzerthaus event we could get seats only behind the stage.  Today there were quite a few vacant seats on the main floor (what Europeans call the Parkett level), which was a bit surprising.

The concert ended at about 10:15 pm.

Deutsche Oper Berlin. Wagner's Siegfried. May 29, 2026.

Deutsche Oper Berlin.  1.RANG Links (Seat 5-2, 120 euros).

Story.  See previous post.

Conductor - Sir Donald Runnicles.  Siegfried - Clay Hilley, Mime - Ya-Chung Huang, Der Wanderer - Iain Paterson, Alberich - Michael Sumuel, Fafner - Tobias Kehrer, Erda - Lauren Decker, Brunnhilde - Elisabeth Teige, Ein Waldvogel - Cornelius Park.

Both Wotan and Brunnhilde are sung by different artists.

Of the four operas in the Ring cycle, the one that's usually the most challenging to sit through is Siegfried.  The Heldentenor is asked to carry most of the show.  The singing in each of the three acts is substantial, and he has to portray Siegfried correctly.  There are various ways to do the latter, but how the character of Siegfried evolves from a petulant or lost young man in the initial scene to someone lost in regret at death (in Gotterdammerung) is a major arc in the plot.

The first act is basically carried by Siegfried and Mime.  Wotan, as the Wanderer, did make an appearance.  The dialog between Wotan and Mime is used to provide more background to the story.  For instance, the different realms of beings (gods, giants, and Nibelungs), and it is nice to hear the leitmotifs associated with them.  If Wagner had an editor (I assume he didn't, or was his own editor), the editor should have encouraged him to excise this segment as by now there is already considerable clarity.  And the clarity is not really necessary anyway, the audience still has many other aspects of the story to muddle through.  One example is how Wotan manages to father so many children with different women; somehow Fricka is okay with that, but breaking up a marriage (Siegmund) is a capital offence.

The "forging song" sung by Siegfried is the highlight of Act 1.  While it was generally done well by Hilley, the volume was not uniform.  And up to that point I still wasn't sure whether I was looking at a petulant, strong-willed, or naive character.  Overall, I thought I had seen better Act 1s.

My reaction to the set design has been "silly, but works" up to this point.  One notable exception until now was the effigies of Fafner and Fasolt in Das Rheingold.  I give the nod again to how the dragon (Fafner) is portrayed.  Mostly, anyway.  For lack of a better description, the way the dragon was slain was by its shining teeth pulled out by Siegfried.

The way the Waldvogel is portrayed is unusual, and original, but not necessarily clever or effective.  When I saw the name "Cornelius" as the bird, I naturally assumed it would be a counter-tenor singing in the background.  What happens is a boy soprano (again dressed in white underwear) singing it on stage.  The idea should work, and worked to a certain extent.  The voice was a bit on the harsh side, not quite the elegant tone of the flute which announced the melody.  The boy has a loud voice, though.

End of Act 2.  Siegfried, Alberich, Waldvogel, Fafner, Mime and Wotan.  Wotan is sung by same artist who was in Das Rheingold.  Don't understand why the Waldvogel is covered in blood.

For the third act, the awakening of Brunnhilde remains a dramatic event.  Some (as CS did) may wish for a more singable tune, but the words "hail sunshine, hail light" were good enough for me.  The role for today was sung by Elisabeth Teige.  Brunnhilde becomes a mortal when she is awakened, and that is realized by her taken her wig off, revealing white short hair.  From our seats she aged considerably with that.  Great dramatic effect, no doubt; but not so flattering for the actress involved.  (People .sitting closer to the stage may not have seen such a dramatic transformation.)

Elisabeth Teige appeared as Brunnhilde in this opera.  She sang the role of Sieglinde in Die Walkure, so resting her voice was probably not a consideration here.  By taking her wig off, Brunnhilde aged considerably (compare with photo from Die Walkure, although Brunnhilde was sung by Trine Moller).

Erda, Wotan, Brunnhilde, Runnicles, Siegfried and Alberich at curtain call. The refugees/spectators have a proclivity to strip down to their underwear, conveying a message that's lost to me.  Don't know what the two people dressed in black are.  Notice also the music score held by a woman on the left.

Speaking of slowly unfolding plots, I went to listen to this aria "heil dir sonne, heil dir licht" on YouTube again, it took two minutes of orchestra music before the words came on.  So Wagner needed more than just a libretto editor.  If extras (or refugees in this instance) were ever necessary, this opera could use the distraction they provide.

My earlier opinion that Siegfried is the most difficult one to sit through is again confirmed.  Siegfried has a lot of singing to do - he has 90 to 100 minutes of singing, while all the other characters combined do 75 to 85 minutes.  A heroic and admirable attempt by Hilley, but the quality slipped every now and then.  What you don't want is pity creeping into the equation, but there were moments I felt that way.

One last note.  Deutsche Oper Berlin seems to always provide English surtitles, which is greatly appreciated.  Now if they can just make the font a little bigger (well, a lot bigger), that would be much appreciated.  Many couldn't read from where we sat, and those who could had to concentrate, thus missing some of the actions on stage.  (One can see how small the surtitles are by looking at the first photo in this series.)

A lot of complaints, I know.  But there is also a lot of appreciation on how well the performances have been put together.

Berlin Philharmoniker. Semyon Bychkov, conductor; Vikingur Olafsson, piano. May 27, 2026.

Berlin Philharmonie. Section D Links (Row-4, Seat-1, 51 euros).

Olafsson and Bychkov after performing Beethoven's Op. 73 piano concerto.  Usually known as either the fifth concerto or the Emperor concerto.

Program

Coriolan Overture in C minor, Op. 62 by Beethoven.

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in E-flat major, Op. 73 by Beethoven.

Symphony No. 5 D minor, Op. 47 by Shostakovich.

We bought tickets for Berlin Philharmonic and Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin for the off days during the Ring cycle.  Of course both organizations are well-known in their own right.

We heard a concert in this hall back in 2019, and Blomstedt was conducting.  At that time he was still doing his conducting standing up; in the last couple of weeks he was in the news for needing a lot of help getting on and off the podium.  Time comes for us all.

Looking back over that blog entry, I also remarked how the acoustics didn't live up to the venue's reputation.  Our seats were in Section B, quite a bit more expensive than ours today in Section D.  However, my first reaction was how great the sound was.  Clear, "true," and rich.  (I don't have the vocabulary of a sound technician.)

Per my blog, this was the third time I heard the Coriolan Overture.  My reaction is the same as on prior occasions: not familiar, yet definitely Beethoven.  But the clear sound of the orchestra came through.

After the Coriolan overture by Beethoven.  The piano (a Steinway) is already set up on stage.

That the acoustics was great was confirmed by the piano concerto.  For a real performance, the balance between the soloist and the orchestra is always a challenge.  Perhaps it's our seat location, but that wasn't an issue at all today.  Neither "side" overwhelmed the other, a close to perfect balance.

It may not have been the best Emperor concerto I have heard, and I have heard many, but the performance by Tsujii with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, back in 2014, always stand out.  That was a great performance, but I was also moved by how difficult it must have been for a blind person to get the piece right.  Olafsson delivered the piece without any fuss, clearly enjoying himself while doing so.  I often joke that Beethoven's violin concerto shows how a genius can string together a series of scales, arpeggios, and other standard violin techniques to form beautiful music; I sometimes wonder if a pianist would say similar things about the Emperor concerto.

Olafsson played an encore based on Bach's Air on G String written for the violin.  He joked that he would be using many strings.

Per Google.

After the intermission we heard Shostakovich's Fifth.  I remain baffled by the piece, but I am also glad to report that it begins to make some sense.  What's most noticeable, though, was how clear the parts sounded.

I had written about this piece several times before.  Some of the blog entries actually made sense, I am glad to report.  In any case, the four movements are simply marked Moderato, Allegretto, Largo and Allegro no troppo.  It's about 45 minutes long.

We have operas and concerts every day for six days, so I am falling behind in these entries, and thus must keep them brief.  And if I didn't write any remark down right afterwards, then I can remember only the vaguest details.

The ticket, at 51 euros, was a great bargain.  The concert began close to 8 pm, and didn't end until 10:15 pm.  I wonder if Berlin Phil would move to a 7:30 pm start time soon.

The acoustics at our seats in the D-section was excellent.

The Philharmonie is a short walk from our hotel, so we didn't have any of the transportation issues we experienced last time.

Deutsche Oper Berlin. Wagner's Die Walkure. May 27, 2026.

Deutsche Oper Berlin.  1.RANG Links (Seat 5-2, 120 euros).

This time we caught both banners.

Story.  See previous post.

Conductor - Sir Donald Runnicles.  Siegmund - Matthew Newlin; Hunding - Tobias Kehrer; Wotan - Jordan Shanahan; Sieglinde - Elisabeth Teige; Fricka - Annika Schlicht; Brunnhilde - Trine Moller; Walkures - Martina Weischenbach, Felicia Moore, Maria Motolygina, Aleksandra Meteleva, Arianna Manganello, Karis Tucker, Nicole Piccolomini, Lauren Decker; Hundingling - Eric Naumann.

I guess the producer achieves something if people who attend their productions talk more about the sets than the music itself.  But is that a good thing?  Today I found myself debating a bit more about whether the sets helped or hindered the audience's appreciation of Wagner.

The opening scene consists of three characters: Siegmund, Sieglinde, and Hunding.  I think we can suspend our traditions and consider it a good thing that Siegmund and Sieglinde, twins, fall in love, and Sieglinde - trapped in forced marriage - decides to leave her husband.  But why bring in Hundingling (didn't know the name until I read the Program), a child of Hunding and Sieglinde.  Actually that the child was the couple's son didn't occur to me at first, I thought the fourth character's task is to act out the emotions in the drama; he showed fear, love, disinterest, and disdain at different times.  However, one would appreciate the Act even without this Hundingling; one could even make a case that his presence distracts.  In all the productions I have seen, it takes a while before the twins fall in love.  Herheim decides no time should be wasted, Sieglinde embraced and kissed Siegmund soon after they met.

The challenge of many Wagner operas - Walkure included - is that the drama is delivered by a few singers; it takes superb singing to capture the audience's attention for long periods of time.  The extras provide some level of visual distraction; but one can also say it's a vote of no confidence by the director that the singers are good enough by themselves.

Hunding had a shotgun, and Siegmund didn't succeed in retrieving Nothung - cleverly left behind by Wotan at the end of Das Rheingold - until the third try, are some of the unnecessary deviations from the original script.  The piano became a more versatile prop when it was raised and rotated with Siegmund standing on it while describing his past.  Also, more and more suitcases (or facades thereof) are used to provide the backdrop for the sets.  The role of the "book" (I noticed more clearly the title) became clearer today: it stressed that the audience is seeing a rehearsal.  Indeed the singers refer to it every now and then.  Also, the piano "playing" that happens every now and then also stressed the rehearsal aspect of what unfolds on stage.

When Brunnhilde first appeared, she had this joyous look on her face.  The other Valkyries also presented as a happy bunch of warriors.  That joy, unfortunately, was short-lived, as the tetralogy continues to unfold.

For me Act 2 contains the saddest episode in the Ring.  I find the dialog between Brunnhilde and Siegmund about his impending death particularly moving.  Today was no exception, despite the fact that I was watching a rehearsal.

At the end of Act 2.  Siegmund, Sieglinde, Brunnhilde, Wotan, Fricka, and Hunding.  Yes, Wotan is sung by another artist, he may be a last-minute substitute.

End of performance.  Next to Runnicles are Brunnhilde, Wotan, and Sieglinde.  The others are the Valkyries.  Also note the suitcase-theme set.

I mentioned in the Das Rheingold writeup we didn't see Alberich turning into a dragon and a toad, here the missing element is Grane.  The steed is mentioned several times, but never shows up (not even as a butler as in Bayreuth).  How will they do the scene in Gotterdammerung where Brunnhilde leads Grane into the fire?

Speaking of the fire, it was represented by projections of images onto "the sheet."  The sheet has raised corners that are meant to represent the flame.  The cleverness is beginning to get old, as the setup reminds me of these Halloween costumes that are basically a sheet with a hole in it.

Wagner has this tendency to drag out some conversations to such an extent that one wonders what more can be said.  The one between Wotan and Brunnhilde in Act 3 is a good example of that.  Sometimes additional listenings can add to the appreciation of the story, not today though.

At the very end, Sieglinde came up from the piano and Mime delivered a baby from her.  That helps to set the scene for the next opera.

Overall, this was an enjoyable performance.

Deutsche Oper Berlin. Wagner's Das Rheingold. May 26, 2026.

Deutsche Oper Berlin.  1.RANG Links.  Row 7, Seat 1 (120 euros).

That's how the entire Ring cycle started.

Story.  See previous post.

Conductor - Sir Donald Runnicles.  Wotan - Iain Paterson; Donner - Thomas Lehman; Froh - Kieran Carrel; Loge - Thomas Blondelle; Alberich - Michael Sumuel; Mime - Ya-Chung Huang; Fasolt - Albert Pesendorfer; Fafner - Tobias Kehner; Fricka - Annika Schlict; Freia - Martina Weischenbach; Erda - Lauren Decker; Rheinmaidens - Lea-ann Dunbar, Arianne Manganello, Karis Tucker.

The banner announces the opera that is being performed.  We didn't notice the second banner which would have the title of the opera on it.  (Das Rheingold for today.)

I started this series with considerable trepidation, predominantly due to the pre-reading of this production (what little I did of it), and due to a dialog I had with Microsoft CoPilot.

What I read about this production gave me an impression that it was similar to that of the Bayreuth Ring, but at a different (more difficult) level.  A different story was being played on stage than the one Wagner intended, and the audience is left to fend for itself when it comes to understanding what is going on.  CoPilot introduced to me the term Regietheater and all its implications, and suggested a completely different mindset would be needed if the operas are to be appreciated fully.  To make things worse, CoPilot says the director Stefan Herheim is of the third-wave Regietheater generation, and uses terms like Postdramatic, Meta-Theatrical, and Ontology-Changing to describe their products.  None of these terms is familiar to me.

Let me first say my reaction after seeing this first of the operas was that all the worries are overblown.  It was perfectly fine to treat this as a modern rendition of the old warhorse, although the director may have chosen to skip some elements in the original plot.  Or rather chosen not to emphasize them, or represent them some other way.  And he added a few elements to it.

A grand piano forms the center-piece (and supposed anchor) of the production.  It sat there, by itself, as the audience filed into their seats.  Then a group of travelers came on stage with suitcases, and the leader hits a key on the piano.  No sound came from the piano, as it's just a prop (a rather versatile one, it turns out).  Instead the orchestra started with a soft E-flat, exactly as Wagner intended.  A few observations.  The Director (Herheim) meant these to be refugees, although so far (I finished Walkure last night) they could just be travelers who happen to be spectators.  The other is the music performed is exactly what Wagner wrote (not that I know all the details).  Also, suitcases are used a lot in this production.  They are placed in front of the piano so the entrances and exits of people are blocked from the audience, they are basic building blocks for the different sets (e.g., walls).

One clever ploy is that these travelers become the Nibelungs.  But the production designers didn't bother to "change" Alberich at all when he used the helmet to turn into a big dragon and a small mouse.  I thought they could at least project these images onto this jack-of-all-trades sheet.

Generally speaking, the leitmotifs can be appreciated just as Wagner intended them.  Valhalla, Staff, Notung, Rhine, and others all evoke images of their intended objects.  Again, this opera can be appreciated exactly as Wagner intended it, other than some of the "new" elements Herheim introduced.  In my opinion, most of them are superfluous anyway, luckily they are not significant enough to detract from the drama.

In fact, one can even complain some staging is a bit clumsy.  A prime example is the way they used gold as payment to the giants for completion of Valhalla.  They simply took objects (golden ones, I suppose) from suitcases and piled them onto Freia who was lying in the piano; no subtlety, no finesse.  And the gold ring is the same gaudy lighted orb used in many other productions.

The other prop that is constantly present is the sheet.  Herheim talks about how it started small and grew in size.  I didn't catch the progression.  But I had to admire how they could control a rather large sheet, and how they could project different backgrounds onto it to accommodate different scenes.  And it is a lot cheaper than the 24-plank setup the Met used for its now-retired set.  While the sheet worked admirably in this opera, it got a little comical during Die Walkure (again, I am typing this entry after having seen Walkure).

The way they used effigies for Fasolt and Fafner was also clever.  I was disappointed when their heads (made from suitcases, of course) dropped to the floor even though the two were still singing.

In other productions I have seen, Das Rheingold ends with Wotan leading the family towards Valhalla.  Here Wotan goes down the prompter's box and follows Erda to the center of the earth (?), that would explain how the two conceived Sigmund and Sieglinde.  Indeed the opera ended with a projection of twin fetuses.  I thought they copied the Bayreuth production, but Anne remarked that the Bayreuth twins were Wotan and Alberich (a fact that production made up).  Incidentally, Erda is located at the prompter's box as she supposedly knows how the story unfolds.  Interesting idea, but I am quite sure Erda isn't the prompter.

The prompter's box must be quite sturdy as we often have people standing on it.

One more new element in this production is that the spectators are watching a rehearsal, thus the action we see is one additional level removed from the story.  If that is indeed the case, is the actual audience (yet one more level removed) supposed to feel any emotion from the story?  As I said, the audience can ignore all these distractions; does that make the production a success, or a failure?

There is this "book" whose significant was lost on me during Das Rheingold.  In Die Walkure the title "Die Walkure by Richard Wagner" appears clearly on the cover.  I suppose it is to emphasize we are seeing a rehearsal here, and people still need their scores at this stage.

What made today's performance great was that Wagner came through, by and large.  Despite all the added elements, we get the story as Wagner intended it.  Credit must be given to the musicians - both the singers and the orchestra.  The singers came across strongly (a few weak spots here and there, but I don't remember the specifics), and the orchestra sounded superb.  Incidentally, Runnicles is the first left-handed conductor I have seen.

From left: Rheinmaidens, Mime, Freia, ?, Loge, Runnicles, Alberich, Wotan, Fricka, ?, Erda, ?, ?.  The first two ?s are Donner and Froh, the second are Fasolt and Fafner.

I have remarked before how hard-edged German opera productions tend to be.  Today's was somewhat tamer, although there really is no need for simulated sexual scenes.  And this great tendency to strip down to underwear and slips.  One unexpected aspect is how the Nibelungs move strikingly like Nazis, with the goosesteps and the outstretched arms.

In addition to the four operas in the Ring, we are also going to a concert at Berlin Philharmonie and Konzerthaus.  Six altogether.  My entries thus would have to be quite brief.

Spring Concert. Students of William Hobbs. May 15, 2026.

Barsky Art Gallery, Hoboken.  General Seating.

What could they possibly be doing?

Our three grandchildren all take piano lessons from the same teacher.  Their mother (Ellie) and another mother encouraged their teacher to have a recital for his students.  Tonight was the first ever recital; there may be more to come.

The students range in age from 5 (Everly) to Grade 12 (17 or 18?).  One is going on to be a music major in college, while others may just be beginners.

All three seemed to enjoy the chance to play in front of others.  Indeed Everly raised her hand when the teacher asked who wanted to go again.  She didn't get picked, but did it again during refreshment time.

New Jersey Symphony. Joshua Bell, violinist and conductor. May 14, 2026.

NJPAC, Newark, NJ.  First Tier (Seat F01, $62).

Bell performed Saint-Saens' Third Violin Concerto.

Program

Egmont Overture, Op. 84 by Beethoven.

Violin Concerto No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 61 by Camille Saint-Saens.

Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90, "Italian" by Mendelssohn.

This is a concert of pieces that please the listener.  It showcases the ability of the orchestra, of the soloist, and of the conductor.  In this case the latter two are one Joshua Bell.

Joshua Bell became the principal guest conductor of NJ Symphony this season (25/26), and, as far as I can tell, does one program with the orchestra every season.  To put that in context, the NJ Symphony runs through about 12 programs (not counting special events and movie soundtracks).

For the Egmont Overture, Bell played a concertmaster who also led the performance.  As such he replaced the regular concertmaster, and sat on a piano bench rather than a typical orchestra chair.  For the Saint-Saens concerto, he was the soloist and the conductor (when he was not player), typical of what folks leading as soloists do.  We heard the Italian symphony about two weeks ago at Carnegie Hall, so it was still somewhat fresh in my mind.

The Egmont overture was part of a suite of incidental music composed for Goethe's play portraying the life of Lamoral, Count of Egmont.  One might say it's very Beethovenian, what with the many contrasting passages.

The Egmont Overture kicked off the enjoyable concert.

The most famous violin pieces written by Saint-Saens are Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and the third violin concerto.  Both contain beautiful and somewhat singable melodies, and are technically difficult but not out of reach for the serious student.  Of course, playing them well is quite another matter altogether.  It was another day in the office for Bell.  For some reason this violin concerto has somewhat fallen out of favor, the last two times I heard it was in 2017 and 2007, per this blog's entries.  I couldn't remember the tunes before the performance, but they came back once the concerto started.

Eric Wyrick sat in the concertmaster's chair for the rest of the concert.  Here shaking hands with Bell after the Saint-Saens violin concerto.

It pleases me to say that today's Italian symphony was better than what I heard two weeks ago.  And I enjoyed that performance.  (Of course my recollection of the OSL performance is hazy by now.)

Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony brought the concert to a conclusion.

Today's concert was designated as "relaxed performances," thus accommodating those who may find some noises unpleasant or rigid concert etiquette challenging.  The general audience knows this going in, and is asked to be understanding.  Someone did make considerable noise during the concert, and the orchestra simply played on.  That doesn't mean the performance isn't affected by the noises, or the enjoyment somewhat diminished.

I was half expecting Bell to do an encore piece, but appreciate that he worked hard enough.

Stevens Cooperative School Middle School Instrumental Concert. May 12, 2026.

Stevens Campus in Hoboken, NJ.

The end of a school year is marked by various musical events.  For today it was the Middle School (Grades 5-8) Instrumental Concert.  Last year was a combined concert of both instrument and voice ensembles, for this year they decided to split into instrumental and vocal sessions.  The vocal session will be in early June.

Our grandson Reid plays the violin, and our granddaughter Maisie plays the clarinet.

The entire concert lasted a bit over an hour.

Anne with the musicians.

Maisie announcing the piece the 5th grade clarinet ensemble will be playing (Yellow Submarine).

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6th Grade Strings

Close up of Reid.