Second night, second instalment of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, second night in a row officially mind blown.
If Das Rheingold demands the utmost in scenic effects, then Die Walküre places far more severe tests upon the singers. Lengthy phrases and musical periods, scenes built over a long time span with a great deal of narration but little or no dramatic action, inward thought replacing outward activity -- all of these things call for a heightened degree of concentration from the artists.
Not only that, but the role of Wotan is both lengthy and intense, while Brünnhilde's part calls for a great deal of singing in an uncomfortably low part of the vocal range.
And make no mistake, Die Walküre does present several interesting challenges to the scenic designer as well -- particularly in Act III which begins with flying horses and ends with fire spreading all around the central point of the stage.
And yet, Die Walküre remains the most popular and most often staged of all the Ring operas. As well, the first act is often performed alone in concert -- an easy task since it requires only three singers. In large measure, this popularity is due to the focus of this drama on human love. The passion of Siegmund and Sieglinde is the obvious example, but not the only one. Even the disobedience of Brünnhilde and the horrible dilemma of Wotan are fueled in large measure by the conflict between duty or necessity on the one hand and love on the other. So Die Walküre presents us with situations and emotions to which we all can relate.
If the performance of Das Rheingold was impressive and involving, this Metropolitan Opera production of Die Walküre soared to a point as near perfection as I could ever hope or expect to see. And I say that as one who has experienced five previous performances, two live and three on video. Unlike any of those previous experiences, this performance held my attention for every minute of the evening, and I never once "disconnected" from either music or performance.
The Wotan of Michael Volle was outstanding at every point. Some viewers might carp at this or that interpretive nuance, but the power and unity of his conception was undeniable. Volle is an outstanding actor and singer alike and it definitely showed in this performance. I've never seen anyone deliver the lengthy monologue in Act 2 with such a strong sense of direction and line, every twist and turn of the music presented like a signpost on a voyage whose destination is clearly known in advance. At the end of the battle scene, the emotion racking him was palpable and heart-rending. In the Act 3 confrontation with Brünnhilde, Volle gave us towering rage without obscuring or losing a single note of the music. And in the final moments, Volle summoned all the joys and sorrows of the world in his farewell to Brünnhilde. A performance of awe-inspiring quality.
The Brünnhilde of Christine Goerke was fully a match for this Wotan. Can any composer have ever laid a bigger challenge on a singer than Wagner, by forcing Brünnhilde to start off -- cold -- with the infamous "Ho-jo-to-ho" battle cry? Goerke nailed the high note with little apparent effort and a few minutes later, at the end of the scene, negotiated the octave leaps up and down without any hint of a slide whatsoever. In between, her pert, sassy manner told us in no uncertain terms who she was. It matters, because Brünnhilde has to take the most momentous journey of any of the characters in the Ring -- and her journey is diminished if she at first appears as if working hard to nail the notes.
But Goerke kept going, from strength to strength -- from attentive, involved listening during the monologue to her transformation from cold warrior maiden to exalted ally in her scene with Siegmund. In the third act, she took us through another memorable stage of her life, from the terrified yet defiant opening scene of the act to the heart-tugging joy as Wotan takes leave of her. Throughout the evening, she sang with power and finesse beautifully allied to clear tone even in the lowest parts of the range and with magnificent diction.
Stuart Skelton created an imposing, heroic, yet also vulnerable Siegmund. More than of the other Siegmunds in my experience, he welded the entire first act into a single, spellbinding arc tracing the discovery of love. The famous solo, Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond, so often a highlight of the role, here became just one more element in a coherent whole. The vulnerability showed clearly in Act 2 when he resolved to kill himself and Sieglinde, rather than be parted from her.
The power of Skelton's voice totally met its match in the Sieglinde of Eva-Maria Westbroek. In comparison with her performance on the 2011 DVD, Westbroek has developed both more power and more subtlety in the voice, allied with a more natural, believable, indeed gripping dramatic interpretation. Although her love rapture soared in the closing minutes of Act 1, I felt her finest moment came with her utter dejection in the opening of Act 3. Here the formerly brilliant vocal tone developed a leaden, grey hue so heavy as to sound like a completely different singer.
As her husband, Hunding, Günther Groissböck exemplified brutality masquerading as masculinity, and threats disguised as good manners. If a singer's voice can be said to sound like 20 degrees below freezing, then Groissböck definitely achieved that temperature from his first entry. The various moments of crisp diction in the role were not so much cut off as bitten off. It's just unfortunate that his death scene looked like a wooden soldier knocked over.
Jamie Barton dominated the stage and Wotan in her scene as Fricka. Unlike her Fricka the previous evening, her voice came searing through even the heaviest orchestral writing. I'm sure that her powerful singing raised blisters on Wotan's skin. It's quite the outburst of bad temper, or -- as Maureen Forrester called it after performing the role -- "a torrent of bitchiness." Yet, Barton contrived to keep her flare-ups entirely musical while still maintaining dramatic believability.
For many audience members, the ultimate highlight of Die Walküre comes at the opening of Act 3, the famous Ride of the Valkyries. The Valkyries really do ride through the clouds in this staging -- seated on the crest of the machine, holding reins, as the individual "planks" seesaw up and down. It's a great visual complement to the rousing music -- and the playfulness of the warrior maidens is equally on show as they wave to each other and then, in ones and twos, slide down the planks to land triumphantly on the forestage.
The singing? Oh, yes, they do sing while going through all of that activity, don't they? This production has assembled a well-balanced team of eight voices and ensured that they match each other in weight throughout the scene. It's hard to get eight solo opera singers to function as a chorus, yet this is in effect what the Valkyries have to do in their numerous ensemble passages. The team more than met both the dramatic and the musical demands of one of Wagner's most complicated scenes. Kudos to them all: Kelly Cae Hogan (Gerhilde), Jessica Faselt (Helmwige), Renée Tatum (Waltraute), Daryl Freedman (Schwertleite), Wendy Bryn Harmer (Ortlinde), Eve Gigliotti (Siegrune), Maya Lahyani (Grimgerde), and Mary Phillips (Rossweise).
Under the secure direction of Philippe Jordan, the orchestra played with even more finesse than on the first night, the sound well-nigh perfectly balanced at all times. Not the least of the success of this stunning performance was Maestro Jordan's selection of tempo, sometimes a little faster than other interpreters, but neither dragging nor racing at any point. Once, just once, I'd like to hear the final beautiful notes of this opera in a live performance (or on a live-performance DVD) but once again I was frustrated as the applause and cheers erupted about six beats from the end. Sigh. Verdammte opera lovers!!!!
This remount of the production has solved and improved a number of awkward moments in the original staging, making better use of space and time to clarify the relationships. One notable change is the first entrance of Brünnhilde, a moment which brought Deborah Voigt to grief back in 2011. But the most effective improvement came in the beginning's of Wotan's farewell to Brünnhilde. Now the two can clearly be seen yearning for each other, but taking it in turns for each to look towards the other for a sign of reconciliation. And then, just as the orchestra reaches the last and greatest wave of sound, she rushes into her father's embrace -- and the heart-tugging effect is amplified because it's been so thoroughly prepared.
To witness such a coherent, strongly cast, finely executed Die Walküre was a real privilege, and I'm sure many of the assembled audience felt that as well. This performance alone would have justified the trip to New York, but there are still two more magnificent evenings to come. Frankly, though, I'm quite happy to have a night off tonight for a leisurely dinner and early-to-bed. Live Wagner performances at this level of quality and sophistication aren't only tiring for the performers!
And yet, Die Walküre remains the most popular and most often staged of all the Ring operas. As well, the first act is often performed alone in concert -- an easy task since it requires only three singers. In large measure, this popularity is due to the focus of this drama on human love. The passion of Siegmund and Sieglinde is the obvious example, but not the only one. Even the disobedience of Brünnhilde and the horrible dilemma of Wotan are fueled in large measure by the conflict between duty or necessity on the one hand and love on the other. So Die Walküre presents us with situations and emotions to which we all can relate.
If the performance of Das Rheingold was impressive and involving, this Metropolitan Opera production of Die Walküre soared to a point as near perfection as I could ever hope or expect to see. And I say that as one who has experienced five previous performances, two live and three on video. Unlike any of those previous experiences, this performance held my attention for every minute of the evening, and I never once "disconnected" from either music or performance.
The Wotan of Michael Volle was outstanding at every point. Some viewers might carp at this or that interpretive nuance, but the power and unity of his conception was undeniable. Volle is an outstanding actor and singer alike and it definitely showed in this performance. I've never seen anyone deliver the lengthy monologue in Act 2 with such a strong sense of direction and line, every twist and turn of the music presented like a signpost on a voyage whose destination is clearly known in advance. At the end of the battle scene, the emotion racking him was palpable and heart-rending. In the Act 3 confrontation with Brünnhilde, Volle gave us towering rage without obscuring or losing a single note of the music. And in the final moments, Volle summoned all the joys and sorrows of the world in his farewell to Brünnhilde. A performance of awe-inspiring quality.
The Brünnhilde of Christine Goerke was fully a match for this Wotan. Can any composer have ever laid a bigger challenge on a singer than Wagner, by forcing Brünnhilde to start off -- cold -- with the infamous "Ho-jo-to-ho" battle cry? Goerke nailed the high note with little apparent effort and a few minutes later, at the end of the scene, negotiated the octave leaps up and down without any hint of a slide whatsoever. In between, her pert, sassy manner told us in no uncertain terms who she was. It matters, because Brünnhilde has to take the most momentous journey of any of the characters in the Ring -- and her journey is diminished if she at first appears as if working hard to nail the notes.
But Goerke kept going, from strength to strength -- from attentive, involved listening during the monologue to her transformation from cold warrior maiden to exalted ally in her scene with Siegmund. In the third act, she took us through another memorable stage of her life, from the terrified yet defiant opening scene of the act to the heart-tugging joy as Wotan takes leave of her. Throughout the evening, she sang with power and finesse beautifully allied to clear tone even in the lowest parts of the range and with magnificent diction.
Stuart Skelton created an imposing, heroic, yet also vulnerable Siegmund. More than of the other Siegmunds in my experience, he welded the entire first act into a single, spellbinding arc tracing the discovery of love. The famous solo, Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond, so often a highlight of the role, here became just one more element in a coherent whole. The vulnerability showed clearly in Act 2 when he resolved to kill himself and Sieglinde, rather than be parted from her.
The power of Skelton's voice totally met its match in the Sieglinde of Eva-Maria Westbroek. In comparison with her performance on the 2011 DVD, Westbroek has developed both more power and more subtlety in the voice, allied with a more natural, believable, indeed gripping dramatic interpretation. Although her love rapture soared in the closing minutes of Act 1, I felt her finest moment came with her utter dejection in the opening of Act 3. Here the formerly brilliant vocal tone developed a leaden, grey hue so heavy as to sound like a completely different singer.
As her husband, Hunding, Günther Groissböck exemplified brutality masquerading as masculinity, and threats disguised as good manners. If a singer's voice can be said to sound like 20 degrees below freezing, then Groissböck definitely achieved that temperature from his first entry. The various moments of crisp diction in the role were not so much cut off as bitten off. It's just unfortunate that his death scene looked like a wooden soldier knocked over.
Jamie Barton dominated the stage and Wotan in her scene as Fricka. Unlike her Fricka the previous evening, her voice came searing through even the heaviest orchestral writing. I'm sure that her powerful singing raised blisters on Wotan's skin. It's quite the outburst of bad temper, or -- as Maureen Forrester called it after performing the role -- "a torrent of bitchiness." Yet, Barton contrived to keep her flare-ups entirely musical while still maintaining dramatic believability.
For many audience members, the ultimate highlight of Die Walküre comes at the opening of Act 3, the famous Ride of the Valkyries. The Valkyries really do ride through the clouds in this staging -- seated on the crest of the machine, holding reins, as the individual "planks" seesaw up and down. It's a great visual complement to the rousing music -- and the playfulness of the warrior maidens is equally on show as they wave to each other and then, in ones and twos, slide down the planks to land triumphantly on the forestage.
The singing? Oh, yes, they do sing while going through all of that activity, don't they? This production has assembled a well-balanced team of eight voices and ensured that they match each other in weight throughout the scene. It's hard to get eight solo opera singers to function as a chorus, yet this is in effect what the Valkyries have to do in their numerous ensemble passages. The team more than met both the dramatic and the musical demands of one of Wagner's most complicated scenes. Kudos to them all: Kelly Cae Hogan (Gerhilde), Jessica Faselt (Helmwige), Renée Tatum (Waltraute), Daryl Freedman (Schwertleite), Wendy Bryn Harmer (Ortlinde), Eve Gigliotti (Siegrune), Maya Lahyani (Grimgerde), and Mary Phillips (Rossweise).
Under the secure direction of Philippe Jordan, the orchestra played with even more finesse than on the first night, the sound well-nigh perfectly balanced at all times. Not the least of the success of this stunning performance was Maestro Jordan's selection of tempo, sometimes a little faster than other interpreters, but neither dragging nor racing at any point. Once, just once, I'd like to hear the final beautiful notes of this opera in a live performance (or on a live-performance DVD) but once again I was frustrated as the applause and cheers erupted about six beats from the end. Sigh. Verdammte opera lovers!!!!
This remount of the production has solved and improved a number of awkward moments in the original staging, making better use of space and time to clarify the relationships. One notable change is the first entrance of Brünnhilde, a moment which brought Deborah Voigt to grief back in 2011. But the most effective improvement came in the beginning's of Wotan's farewell to Brünnhilde. Now the two can clearly be seen yearning for each other, but taking it in turns for each to look towards the other for a sign of reconciliation. And then, just as the orchestra reaches the last and greatest wave of sound, she rushes into her father's embrace -- and the heart-tugging effect is amplified because it's been so thoroughly prepared.
To witness such a coherent, strongly cast, finely executed Die Walküre was a real privilege, and I'm sure many of the assembled audience felt that as well. This performance alone would have justified the trip to New York, but there are still two more magnificent evenings to come. Frankly, though, I'm quite happy to have a night off tonight for a leisurely dinner and early-to-bed. Live Wagner performances at this level of quality and sophistication aren't only tiring for the performers!
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