Skip to main content

Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Royal Opera



Once every few years, the Royal Opera stages Wagner's Ring Cycle. Nowadays, only the big houses have the budget to mount such mammoth undertakings. So I count myself a lucky one to be able to sit through these four operas at one go.

Das Rheingold. I never liked the messy set, or even the clever vertical stage movement. John Lundgren was a reasonable Wotan, though a little on the tame side. Sarah Connolly's Fricka had depth.

Die Walküre. Hunding (Ain Anger) was pretty angry and good - especially when he first met Siegmund (Stuart Skelton). Nina Stemme - is she the Brünnhilder of the moment? Definitely. The last act was pretty magical as Wotan put her to bed.

Siegfried. Stefan Vinke appears to be the only heldentenor who can sing the part of Siegfried right now (he is to appear at The Met's Ring Cycle in 2019). His voice takes a lot of getting used to - it sounded like he was wearing a orthodontic retainer in his mouth. His diction, for a German, had room for improvement. Yes he sang all the notes without getting the audience distressed, but I'd rather we got more meaning in the singing.

Götterdämmerung. The only part of the ring with chorus - and the chorus did marvelously - with punch and masculinity. Stephen Milling's Hagen had bite, a little evilness and oomph. Nina Stemme's Brünnhilde and Hagen delivered that tense end to Act 2 with vermin. Nina Stemme's immolation scene was pretty good - though I wish she didn't have to sing from the back of the stage as it sounded distant.

The Royal Opera orchestra played wonderfully throughout the ring (journey to Vahalla and opening of Act 3 Siegfried were highlights). Of course, there were the occasional brass mishaps, but given the quantity of notes that they had to play and the concentration required, I thought they did really well. Pappano was superb at delivering the drama spanning such a long time. How does he get the energy to do this FOUR times?


This is likely to be the last outing of this Keith Warner production of Der Ring des Nibelungen. My wish list for the new production in 2025 (or there about):
- A shallower set so the singers can be placed  towards the front for better sound delivery.
- Greater and more imaginative use of digital scenery to create wow effects.
- Easier to understand symbolism (still don't get the crashed airplane)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Joyce DiDonato sings Berlioz at BBC Proms

Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique started this BBC Proms concert with Le corsaire - it was tightly played and a sonorous sound. I wonder whether this was due to the whole orchestra standing up while playing had anything to do with it. It sounded good.

Joyce DiDonato first sang La mort de Cléopâtre - her performance was mesmerising due to her dramatic delivery of text and the wonderful lines. Sir John was ever sensitive to the flow of the music. Dido’s death scene was short, yet no less powerful with DiDonata's breadth of emotions. Some may moan about her over dramatic delivery at the expense of pitch accuracy - but that's just nitpicking.

The second half of the concert was Harold in Italy - a whimsical and eclectic piece that's interesting to listen to - but I wonder whether this should have been played in the 1st half of the concert.
Post a Comment
Read more

Lohengrin at the Royal Opera

There is a lot to like about Lohengrin - big choruses, brassy sound, bit soprano roles, big tenor roles. So it is always a challenge to take this much-loved Wagner opera to the next level.

Jennifer Davis as Else von Brabant was excellent - her strong acting skills were matched by her vocal abilities and clear delivery of text (always important for Wagner). Christine Goerke gave us a gutsy and verminous Ortrud in sharp contrast to Davis. Thomas Mayer's Telramund started out bombastically in act one, but reduced to a suitably weak and introspective voice by the end of act two - which I think what the role demanded. Klaus Florian Vogt, the horn player turned tenor, gave us an otherworldly Lohengrin. The timbre of his voice sat "apart" from the rest of the cast - ethereal for quiet contemplative moments, heroic where needed. It's not a voice that you need to "like", but a voice that suited the role.

David Alden's direction took advantage of the three dime…
Post a Comment
Read more

Porgy and Bess, English National Opera

I quite forgot the first number in Porgy and Bess is Summertime! Beautifully sung by Nicole Cabell as Bess. On a whole, the chorus number was better sung than the solo numbers - where the diction was generally inadequate. The set (Michael Yeargan) was three-dimensional and worked really well with the many scenes in this work. John Wilson was in his elements in the pit and the orchestra responded with a rhythmic boisterous sound - the best part of the evening.
Post a Comment
Read more