I spent yesterday afternoon and evening watching the third part of Phyllida Lloyd’s new production of the Ring for ENO. (See also my reactions to The Rhinegold and The Valkyrie ). Siegfried has to be my least favourite of the Ring operas, but that didn’t stop me from having a thoroughly good time. The reason it’s my least favourite is that this part of the Ring is a very unsatisfactory piece of work. For one thing, the eponymous “hero” (sung by Richard Berkeley-Steele) is an unattractive oaf, and for another, the villain of the first two acts is an anti-semitic caricature. Finally, the music undergoes a massive shift in quality and tone between Act 2 and Act 3, as a result of Wagner having developed a new musical language during the twelve years he put the work aside. But, but …
I have to say I think this production worked, despite being pasted by the critics as “reductive”. In Act 1 (set in a composite kitchen/teenager’s bedroom) Mime was played (by the excellent John Graham-Hall) as a put-upon single parent having to endure the snarkiness of an idiot adolescent and — as someone who finds himself in that position from time to time — I have to say I sympathised. Admittedly, I don’t try to get my offspring to kill dragons so I can steal the gold (whilst plotting to poison them thereafter), but, if they were as obnoxious as Siegfried, I just might. Act 2 moved from the kitchen-diner to a sort of waiting-room outside Fafner’s lair (with forest-wallpaper being the concession to traditionalism). The confrontation between the Wanderer (Robert Hayward) and Alberich (IMHO one of Wagner’s more sympathetic characters, sung here by the Alexi Sayle-like Andrew Shore) was well handled, and the wood-bird — played by a punky girl on a scooter (Sarah Tynan) — was quite brilliant. Quite why Fafner was in his bath when killed by Siegfried wasn’t explained, but baths featured prominently in Lloyd’s Rhinegold so I guess there was some symbolism I failed to latch onto.
Finally, we got to Act 3 where the Norns were watching TV in an old-people’s home. Boy discovered girl surrounded by ring of fire and off they went … All of which is rather mysterious since Brunnhilde (played by Kathleen Broderick but ideally by a singing Uma Thurman) would surely never fancy a macho lump like Siegfried (In my head I now hear Joe Jackson singing Is she really going out with him? rather than the appropriate leitmotive.)
And the music? The music was great and was well-played. Some of the reviewers thought the Robert Hayward’s Wanderer was underpowered, but he seemed OK to me. The best of the music is at the end when there’s much less going on dramatically. The wonderful textures and interweaving harmonies of Act 3 are great to listen to on CD at home whereas the first two acts can seem a bit tedious in an armchair but aren’t at all in a theatre. I’ve still got Siegfried’s hunting call and the woodbird’s song going through my head together with the gushing strings …. on to the Twilight of the Gods.
This reminds me: Why hasn’t PBS repeated the wonderful Metropolitan Opera version of the Ring that they telecast way back about 20 years ago? That was a totally unforgettable experience that I have been wanting to repeat ever since. And, frankly, I prefer the traditional staging, too.
“A singing Uma Thurman”? Dream on. What human of those dimensions would have the pipes to carry it off, even for just the last half of Act III?
In San Francisco I’ve seen Roberta Knie, Birgit Nilsson, Eva Marton, Gwyneth Jones, and Jane Eaglen in the role (the first two in Valkyrie only). Of these five, only Knie and Jones could offer a first approximation to the appearance of a young warrior maiden. Jones was even light enough for James Morris (Wotan) to pick her up and carry her to her resting place after putting her to sleep. He sure didn’t try that trick with Eaglen, whom he sleep-walked over to the Valkyrie rock for her long nap. Even at her age in 1981 (she was 63), Nilsson could blow the house away and gave a performance to cherish. Jones, of course, has an occasionally squalling and wobbling voice that can thoroughly sabotage an evening (as the usher said, “Honey, Dame Gwyneth hasn’t been in good voice in years.”); she’s a real trouper, though, and often delivers. Marton did fine when I heard her, apparently before her voice went south. Eaglen has a deservedly famous soprano, although the creaking of the floorboards does distract a bit when she tries to move about the stage.
Do you think Uma would like to lip-synch The Ring with Eaglen providing the voice? There’s an idea.
re: a singing Uma Thurman
Unfortunately, there’s a reason that the saying is “the opera isn’t over ‘til the fat lady sings”…
Is it any accident that I dreamed last night that Chris Bertram and Dsquared, before giving their keynote address before the large building, were arrested in connection with the explosion which tore through it, killing some 25,328 people?
Shall I dive for the ring?
Lip-synching needs to be introduced to opera. I hear that there’s a Chicago opera company that has acrobats lip-synching the Rhinemaidens floating through the air on bungee cords while the singers stand at the edge of the stage. I’d like to see Baz Luhrmann’s production of La Boheme to see whether amplification would work also, because it’s a shame that opera actors should be limited to merely those with the requisite vocal abilities as well (or vice versa).
I also sometimes wonder if there’s a film studio willing to take the Ring and make it into a mega-production like Tolkien’s ring cycle, giving it the special effects budget and acting/lip-synching talent to make a literalist production really work well.
You know, despite these claims about Brunnhilde having to be a certain size , there’s been significant variation over the years. Looking through the photos in the various ENO guides I see Rita Hunter at one extreme and Gwyneth Jones at the other. Here are some photos of Kathleen Broderick , who sang the role in this ENO production. A plausible warrior-maiden, I think.
I will forever be gratified to learn that others also yearn for Uma.
I had a canine sister named Brunhilda, a rather undisciplined German Shepherd. Unfortunately, most of what she taught me about love transfers awkwardly to humans. It seems that optimal stroking techniques vary with the number of nipples, and so forth.
My mother and I watched the Met’s Ring a decade or so ago. After the Ride of the Valkyries, Wotan calls out, “Brunhilda: Stay!” I thought my mother was dying. She was doubled over laughing.
We loved that dog.
Apparently, the original legends included characters called Giblets and Medium Lobster. Any idea why Wagner wrote them out of his version?
Crooked Timberites who like Wagner should be sure to read George Bernard Shaw’s The Perfect Wagnerite, if only as an homage to (some of) their political-cultural-national traditions. It’s a very quick read.
I especially liked the way Shaw argued that a socialist interpretation of the ring is true to Wagner’s values by pointing out that Wagner made big-time career sacrifices for his socialist beliefs during the 1848 Revolution, giving up the directorship (if I recall correctly) of a fairly major opera house for years of starving in Paris, etc.
it’s a shame that opera actors should be limited to merely those with the requisite vocal abilities as well (or vice versa).
It’s also a shame that the piano be limited to people with fingers.
Wait - Norns on stage in Siegfried? Oy.
The Walkuere discussion is closed at this point. It’s the only one of these productions I’ve seen. I reviewed it for San Francisco Classical Voice (it’s last in the article, which covers four operas and a concert):
http://www.sfcv.org/arts_revs/letterfromeurope_7_20_04.php
Briefly, I hated it.
I was at the first Seattle Ring cycle in 2001, where Alan Woodrow, who was cast as Siegfried, got hurt in a gym accident two days before the primo. He sang from the side of the stage and Richard Berkeley-Steele, his cover, acted. It was pretty far from ideal, and I don’t there is any persuasive reason for opera to give way to the prevailing societal desire for thinness. All singers should be well directed, regardless of size. I’ve seen thin, athletic singers look awkward and unhappy on stage and big singers look comfortable and expressive. Sure, no one’s carrying Jane Eaglen across the stage, but so? There are numerous ways to stage that scene effectively.
Replying to Vaughn Hopkins - the Met Ring is available on DVD now. PBS is unlikely to rebroadcast it because the audience is considered small.
Regarding Siegfried and the problems with Mime (anti-Semitic caricature) and Siegfried (macho lump) - just who in the Ring do you find admirable? Waltraute, maybe? The characters’s behavior ranges from evil to frustrated to greedy to jealous to stupid to weak, at one time or another, including Bruennhilde.
As long as one hasn’t got hangups about incest, what’s not to admire about Siegmund?
Depends on how you feel about a lawless avenger and wife-stealer who has little respect for the codes of the society around him.
That’s separate question from whether you think he’s right to do what he does, of course. He is more likable than pretty much everyone else.
Also not really anything to dislike about Erda.
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