On the Gelb debacle and in defense of the Met's Ring

For the record, while I found elements of the entire cycle lacking, with Die Walkure in particular to be woefully misunderstood by director Robert Lepage, on the whole I seem to be one of the few people bloggers who found much to enjoy in the Met's Ring, as it was presented in the HD broadcasts over the last year and a half. Was it perfect? Of course not. What Ring cycle has been? Even the Chereau centennial has its flat spots, though from the productions I've seen in the house and on DVD, his and the Freyer Ring come closest to being as good as it gets (so far). The Met's new cycle is certainly far superior than that crap Gergiev and the Maarinsky took on tour around the world.

Below are links to my original posts on the screenings.

Das Rheingold
Die Walkure
Siegfried
Gotterdammerung

Two things come to mind in revisiting them. The first being that when properly executed, a Ring Cycle should create excitement with each successive opera.  While the Met wasn't wholly successful in this regard because of Die Walkure, on the whole they pulled it off,  delivering the best Siegfried I've ever seen (yes, in no small part due to the rags to riches tale of Jay Hunter Morris in the lead role), which really set the stage for Gotterdammerung. When Gott ended, I felt that overall, the cycle did get better, and more cohesive, with each opera.

The second thing, which oddly nobody seems to care about, at least amid all the other noise being shouted about Gelb, Lepage, and the Machine, is that this Ring Cycle delivered some amazing vocal performances, including two that will no doubt be regarded as legendary in the annals of Wagner performances from the Met: Eric Owens' Alberich and Jay Hunter Morris' Siegfried. The performances of these two singers were game-changers for their individual careers and set a new standard for future interpretations. If that weren't enough (though it is) there was also Gerhard Siegel's Mime, Stephanie Blythe's Fricka, Hans-Peter Konig's Hagen and Hunding, Jonas Kaufmann's drooling Siegmund, Deborah Voigt's Brunnhilde, Bryn Terfel's Wanderer and a slew of exceptionally well-sung performances in smaller roles including those of Heidi Melton and Franz-Josef Selig. That's a lot of great singing.

And one more thing- Lepage's Ring, for all it flaws (and there are many) is better than Schenk's tired museum piece. It's biggest failure is that it took too few risks. In fact, take the Machine out of it, and it took none. The big question is, does that failure rest at Peter Gelb's feet? That's a fair question, but not an easy one.

Now, as far Gelb's behavior and the whole Opera News/WXQR/whining-about-the-press and-bloggers debacle goes, Gelb's response was a bizarre case of shooting one's own foot in public. It made him look thin-skinned,  and more importantly, like a weak, insecure manager, as did his earlier op-ed in the NY Times defending the Ring. A man in Gelb's position should remain as above the fray as possible, and if he couldn't resist the urge to strike back he should have handed the job to one of his minions. But he really should have just shut up and let the show speak for itself. Now he has people doubting his sanity and clamoring for his head. His decision to have Lepage direct the company's premiere of Messiaen's St. Francis, which should have been embraced by anyone familiar with the opera and has seen Lepage's brilliant production of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust, has been met with scorn.  The Met's Board is now  faced with making a decision to now consider if he is fit to lead, which when everything else is taken into consideration, is a ridiculous situation because Gelb's tenure has so far been a success. As to why he decided to undermine himself in this potentially fatal way, who knows- maybe he can ask John Edwards for a referral to a good therapist who specializes in hubris and self-sabotage.

But who cares if Opera News reviews the performances at the Met? Opera News is the People magazine of the opera world- its lightweight, often banal coverage is part of the very reason bloggers exist in the first place. Who takes it seriously? Certainly not most of the people writing about what just happened. But this is America, and two things we do take seriously are censoring the press and abuses of power- and that's why this is a big deal. The whole episode now seems like its own opera, does it not?

If you're coming late to this story, NPR's Deceptive Cadence blog has a concise summary of the whole she-bang here. Also check out Anne Midgette, Brian and Lisa's blogs.

The Met/Lepage Gotterdammerung

Although it drew an almost universal chorus of disapproval from the first note of Das Rheingold which never let up until the world burned across its planks almost a year and a half and 15 hours later in Gotterdammerung, in the end the "Machine" proved its worth to the Met's new Ring cycle. This may not have been true for those seated in the house, who complained about creaks, squeaks and malfunctions, but if you saw it from the seat of a movie theater like I did during the HD broadcasts, what started out as an extravagantly expensive contraption became an icon by the time it was all over. I say that because alongside some gripping performances, it's the imagery of this Ring that rests firmly in the mind and was elemental to its most appealing moments. That's not to take anything away from the singers or the orchestra (whether conducted by Fabio Luisi or James Levine), but there are three things from this cycle that people will be talking about years from now: Eric Owens' amazing Alberich in Rheingold; Jay Hunter Morris' Siegfried; and the Machine, which was used to greatest effect in Gotterdammerung. At least that's how it came across in the theater (and I can't stress this enough), where the camera angles were dazzling and the sound was perfectly mixed, creating an experience wholly unlike that of those who heard and saw it in the house.

The Prologue featuring the Norns (Heidi Melton, Elizabeth Bishop, Maria Radner) weaving their rope of destiny was the only part of the production visually lacking. True, three women weaving a rope doesn't obviously lend itself as inspiration for a scene rife with dramatic tension, but many have found a way to do it. Luisi didn't pull the tension and dread from the score, and though each of the singers were fine (Melton especially), the scene was little more than perfunctory explication of the back story.

The first scene of Act 1 began with the only serious miscue as far as blocking- something which has plagued the other operas but seemed much better in Gotterdammerung- by having Brunnhilde and Siegfried make their entrances approaching one another from opposite ends of the stage. This is their "morning after" moment, so it doesn't make sense- where did Siegfried wander off to that he is now returning from? This underlines the one serious flaw in Lepage's production; he really doesn't have much insight into these characters and what to do with them. Luckily, this time around he's saved by the cast, who are fully invested in giving dramatic portrayals. However, one has to wonder what subsequent casting in future cycles will yield.

But for now, the issue remains in the background since there's so much visual splendor going on- and well, there's the music of course.

Deborah Voigt seemed to struggle with Brunnhilde more than in the earlier segments- perhaps because she was ill earlier in the week, but weak vocal moments aside I remain impressed by how fully she inhabits the role. Jay Hunter Morris' Siegfried was as visually and vocally exciting as he was the last time out. The lightness of his voice, probably more evident in the house, isn't an issue in the broadcasts and if there was ever an opera singer born to be on the big screen he's the one. When he waved to the Rheinmaidens the entire audience I was with guffawed in delight. Overall however, his impression was less powerful than in Siegfried and again I'll assign this to Lepage not knowing what to do with the character nor with a singer who seems like the most perfect fit for the role currently living. There was way too much silliness with striking poses with Notung. Waltraud Meier was excellent in the one superfluous scene of the opera, as were the all three Rheinmeaidens- Erin Morely, Jennifer Cano and especially Tamara Mumford, whose bewitching gaze seemed to reveal a palpable desire to have Morris all to herself, which was pretty amusing.

As the sibling pawns Gunther and Gutrune, Wendy Bryn Harmer and Iain Paterson faced the one of thee bigger challenge in making two almost faceless characters come to life without any direction and to their credit both succeeded, with Paterson especially making the most of it.

Although onstage for roughly only eight minutes, Eric Owens' Alberich was once again a perfect interpretation of the role vocally and dramatically.

Hans-Peter Konig's Hagen was a different story. His voice is fantastic- that's obvious, but his portrayal struck me as all wrong. Hagen should ooze menace visually and vocally from the moment we first see him and Konig has none. Add to this his towering physical presence over the other performers, and the heart of what makes Gotterdammerung so dramatically involving goes wholly missing. He's a huge bear of a man who is absolutely non-threatening. Strange, since he managed to give the opposite effect so easily as Hunding in Die Walkure. The moment when he summons the Gibichungs, which should be one of the most musically thrilling in the entire cycle, went flat, though the Met chorus sounded sensational.

Luisi led the orchestra in a rushed manner through the first two acts, and though he slowed it down a bit in the third, overall he didn't make the most of the score's lushness.

All of this hardly mattered in the end though, as the Machine created one gorgeous mise en scène after another. The Lepage Ring isn't insightful and it's certainly not bold (see Freyer for that) in its obstinately traditional approach, but it is quite beautiful to watch.

A Hero is born: The Met's Siegfried

On the Intro page of Jay Hunter Morris' website he writes:

"... I don't have one of those voices, ya know, where I can just open up and be glorious. But I am stubborn and persistent and one of these days just maybe I will ... for me, there probably won't be some big break, some new production or role... that just brings it all together and I'll be a great tenor and in great demand and will possess a flawless technique and I will behave properly and have panache and be clever and artsy and thin and everyone will love me."

JMo, you may want to consider rewriting that page because I think all that's just changed for you, thanks to yesterday's Met Opera Broadcast of Siegfried. 

I was in the house (front row) for Morris's debut in the role at San Francisco Opera back in May. I liked the performance, especially his presence, but felt his voice lacked the necessary heft to truly own it. Furthermore, he was overshadowed by David Cangelosi's strong turn as Mime and undermined by Francesca Zambello's scatter shot direction. Still, Morris gave a memorable performance and I heard he got stronger as the run progressed.

Now, six months later he's living "a star is born" moment as the last-minute replacement for Gary Lehman (a replacement for Ben Heppner), who fell ill during late rehearsals. Morris was his understudy and just like in the movies, got his big break. And he killed it.

From the house my friend Brian tweeted to me that Morris still sounds "a tad underpowered," but in theaters across the world where the performance was shown to tens of thousands of people, he was simply fantastic on every level, giving new life to a Ring Cycle which had seemed somewhat adrift until now. Morris' presence, coupled with conductor Fabio Luisi's magnificent, transparent account of the music, seemed to ignite the entire cast to a heightened level of execution, easily making this the best part of director Robert LePage's Ring so far.

At least that's how it came across in the theater, where the perfect sound mix and well-executed camera angles greatly influence one's perception of what's actually taking place live in Lincoln Center, not to mention all of the backstage action shown to the audience- which also influences our perception- especially when you have someone as likable offstage as they are on it, such as Morris, who came across as one of the nicest guys in the world during the intermission segments. Yes, it's manipulative and designed to sell the Met and its performers to the audience, and yesterday it all worked exceedingly well. The only thing I'd like to quibble about is the camera lens they used for Renee Fleming's introduction, which wasn't very flattering to her.

As for the show itself, LePage's vision for the cycle has a confidence in Siegfried I found lacking in Walkure and Rheingold. The monolithic "Machine" doesn't distract from what's taking place onstage (the noise it makes was only noticeable in the first act and wasn't a serious intrusion), but finally works to serve the entire work and not just create set pieces. The use of it in the third act when Siegfried goes through the fire was a superb use of it, though I'm not sure Morris' stumble was choreographed. The opening video work by Pedro Pies was gorgeous, creating a vivid tableaux both mysterious and alluring.

Gerhard Siegel's Mime was well-acted, but more importantly, beautifully sung. He doesn't fall into the common habit of accompanying Mime's unattractive physical and personal qualities with a whining tone, as is often the case. Siegel sang Mime as if he himself were Siegfried, making the character more complex. While his interpretation doesn't make Mime sympathetic (which even if it was desired would likely be impossible), Siegel makes him interesting and for once, a pleasure to hear.

Morris was born to be on a movie screen- his good looks only added to his superb vocal and physical performance. There's nothing really likable about the character of Siegfried- he's a violent, insolent, self-absorbed teenager- an unpleasant hero if there ever was one. While few can sing the role, fewer still can make him truly a sympathetic hero onstage. Morris can do both- and does, giving Wagner's brat truly heroic dimensions and depth- especially in the second act. Amazingly, he seemed to gather strength as the afternoon progressed and it was only toward the very end, when he had to go up against the freshly awoken Brunnhilde, that anything resembling fatigue became evident in his voice. Still, it didn't effect his sound, which remained clear and bright- but his volume seemed to diminish slightly against Voigt's formidable strength. It's going to be difficult for anyone who saw this to think of someone better for the role. It's your now, JMo- run with it.

For the first time in the cycle I really enjoyed Bryn Terfel's Wotan/Wander. Looking like Rick Wakeman, Terfel's presence in Siegfried is infused with resigned authority. He possesses a confidence with the character at this junction I couldn't see in Rheingold or Walkure, which diminished the impact of his vocals in the earlier segments. The voice, as could be expected, was marvelous, but it was his characterization which left the biggest impact. His best moments came in the third act, where he gave powerful depth to Wotan's moment of doubt. For just a moment, Wotan seemed like he was about to refuse to yield to the future he himself created. His costume also served him to much greater effect here than it did in the earlier opera.

Speaking of costumes, Deborah Voigt looked radiant and visually the pairing of her with Morris turned out to be serendipitous to the production- they truly looked like they belong together. In fact they should have been placed closer together onstage- at points they seemed too far away from one another. Vocally, she impressed again and her greeting of the sun upon awakening was one of the most beautiful moments I've heard from her.

The rest of the cast were also strong- in fact everyone was "on" for this particular performance. Though Eric Owens' Alberich didn't have the ferocity he displayed in Rheingold, that only reflects the story arc, as Alberich is now a diminished presence, even if there's nothing diminished about the strength and power of Owens' formidable voice. Mojca Erdmann's Forest Bird was pleasing but with the character's presence represented by an animated bird (which didn't look great on the screen), it didn't create much of an impact. Neither did Hans-Peter Konigs turn as Fafner, at least until we got to watch him die, because the dragon was the only misfire of the entire production- essentially an inflatable snake, it looked wholly out of place and from an entirely different show- as if its creation was an afterthought. Patrica Bardon's Erda was well sung, but the interpretation of Erda in this Ring continues to confuse me- what exactly is she supposed to be? Her scene with Wotan makes no sense as staged here.

Finally, James Levine's absence from the podium isn't going to hurt this Ring in the least if yesterday was a hint of what's to come. Though Luisi's conducting felt restrained at times, he clearly was leading the orchestra in service to the singers and the score. The result was a transparency which revealed leitmotifs I've never noticed before and taken as a whole, the orchestra's performance was a major contribution to the success of yesterday's performance.

Encore dates for the screening have not been announced as of today.

The San Francisco Opera Ring posts

Though I didn't manage to see a complete cycle, I did get to see the whole thing.   For the most part it was interesting, often intriguing, and some moments were thrilling. If it wasn't a total success, well- what Ring Cycle is? If for no other reason (though there are plenty), the impact of Nina Stemme's first complete cycles as Brunnhilde established this Ring as an important one which also featured memorable turns by Heidi Melton, Brandon Jovanovich, Stefan Margita, Gordon Hawkins, Jay Hunter Morris,  Renée Tatum, David Cangelosi, Andrea Silvestrelli, Mark Delevan and Ronnita Miller. Kudos to Gockley, Runnicles and Zambello, along with the hundreds of other people involved in this gargantuan undertaking for making it a success.

Below are the San Francisco Opera Ring posts.

Das Rheingold 06/28/11

Die Walküre  06/10/10

Die Walküre  06/23/11

Die Walküre  06/29/11

Siegfried  05/29/11

Götterdämmerung  06/05/11

In the back, with the loons and the fourth Rheinmaiden for the last Walküre

We arrived too late to get on the rail, so Isabella and I headed up to the biergarten and waited until it was time to take our place with the other lunatics in the back of the orchestra (at this point "lunatic" meaning people insane enough to do standing room for an almost five-hour long opera- the definition changes quickly). Well, she waited and I tried to eat something that was billed as a sausage but had the texture of a personal gratification tool commonly bought at Good Vibrations. As I was practicing, a man standing near us let loose a fart which sounded like one the trumpets in Hunding’s hunting party.


“Really?” I asked- query met with complete silence. It wasn’t the last of its kind I heard last night.

Why do all of the crazy people always end up in my orbit, like I possess some cosmic gravitational pull, which silently emits a signal stating “lunatics- he’s over here!” Around three months ago- eleven weeks now that I think about it, a man started following me as I walked toward the Hilton on O’Farrell on my way home after work. It didn’t take me long to realize this and soon he was coming up right behind.

“I know who you are, motherfucker,” he hissed at me.

I kept walking- to a certain extent I'm used to this kind of stuff.

“Come on- let’s settle this. Right now. I’m going to fucking kill you so let’s just do it right now. Step into the alley motherfucker.Turn left and let's go.”

Now I was becoming unnerved- this was no longer the usual kind of stuff. I looked over my shoulder to see where his hands were and I looked ahead to see if there were any cops around. There were no cruisers in the street, but I saw one standing in front of the Hilton- if I could just make it there before this guy lost it completely.

“You don’t fool me- I know who you are!” he said, his voice starting to rise.

Realizing at this point I was running out of time and still had too much sidewalk left between me and the cop, I turned to face him and said “I have no idea who you think I am, but I don’t know you.”

He called me by a name which isn’t mine and then accused me of turning his wife into a whore and junkie. She was now dead and he was going to kill me since I was responsible for it all.

I said, “That’s not my name.”

“Bullshit! I know you, you fucking piece of shit!”

“Look, I’m not the man you’re looking for. I can prove it to you.” I told him my name, and walking again, now as fast as I could, I suggested we take a walk straight up to that cop and there, I’d present my ID to the cop and we could verify that I was indeed not the man he wanted to kill. If I failed the test, he could follow me and then stick his knife in my neck.

I kept yammering for time and finally reached the cop. My hands shaking, I handed the surprised cop my driver’s license, turned to the dead woman’s husband and said, “Okay- what’s my name?”

He said it.

I turned to the cop and asked,“Is that right?”

The cop looked at me, then at my license, at me again, turned to my would-be assassin and said, “That’s not his name. What’s going on with you two?”

“Nothing,” I said, though the cop could see I was shaking, “This guy just thinks I’m someone else.”

“It is you- I know it is”

“No man, I’m not him. And now I’m leaving- and you’re going to walk away in the opposite direction. Are we clear? Because otherwise I have more to say to this guy,” nodding toward the cop as we stepped away from him.

The man said, “You have no idea how much you look like him. I’m gonna find him and I’m gonna fucking kill him.”

“Good luck with that," I replied, and with that, he turned and walked in the direction from which we came. I waited until he was a block away and watched him disappear into the crowd before I continued on my way home.

What the hell has this got to do with opera?

Sorry- the crazy people standing next to us last night in the back of standing room on the orchestra level reminded me of this story and I meant to write about it at the time but shortly after it actually happened, all hell broke loose in my life and I had forgotten about it until now. So there you have it.

As I was saying, Isabella and I went to catch the last performance of Die Walküre in San Francisco Opera’s Ring cycle. Though I had just seen this production last week, I did want to hear Heidi Melton take over from Anja Kampe as Sieglinde and Isabella is enthusiastically discovering that though Italian opera runs through her veins, there are pleasures of a different sort to be found in German. For the first two acts we stood next to these lunatics who kept arguing- and belching- and breaking wind- and breathing like they’d left their respirators at home. Thankfully, Isabella submitted to me to turning her out as an opera whore and she procured some Dress Circle seats from an elderly couple who were leaving early.

Runnicles had the orchestra under control from the start and though the pacing of the first two acts still felt slow to me, the orchestra was in tight focus all night long and the third act was nothing else but beautifully performed from start to finish. The cast, the same from last week except for Melton, was stronger, giving off a sense that they were happy to be crossing the finish line with this final Walküre. Brandon Jovanovich and Elizabeth Bishop were even stronger than they were last week. For me though, this was really about seeing Melton justly take a turn in a major role in a house that’s been formative in her career.

During the first act she sang well, though I was expecting more. She and Jovanovich didn’t seem to have a lot of chemistry, but who knows who much rehearsal time they had to get the blocking down. What they lacked in chemistry however, was definitely made up for in vocal power.

During the second act she found her comfort zone and simply put, Melton then soared as Sieglinde. The huge, clear voice locals have now appreciated for years filled the house and Melton laid claim to the role with conviction. "Du hehrstes Wunder, herrliche Maid!"- for me the signifier distinguishing those who can and should sing it and those who shouldn’t- was glorious coming from her.

Nina Stemme started off slightly weaker than on previous nights, but by the time the third act came, she was back to her usual, now-setting-the-standard-for-contemporary-Brunnhildes excellence, matched note for note in what may have been his strongest performance yet by Mark Delevan as Wotan.

What I had earlier found problematic or annoying about the production didn’t really bother me too much this time around, in no small part due to the fact that last night it was really all about hearing the voices- and not the ones in my head.

It’s the sign of a good cycle when each night makes you want to go back for more, and though I wasn’t originally planning on it because this has been a very busy week filled with ridiculously long nights followed by work the next morning, at this point I can’t see myself skipping Siegfried this Friday unless I collapse from exhaustion. The momentum builds, as does the anticipation for more.

Hopefully the lunatics will have other plans.

At the rail with the fourth Rheinmaiden

Das Rheingold is my favorite opera. That's not to say I would claim it to be the best- that would be foolish, but it is my personal favorite. I just thought you ought to know.

Standing at the rail in the balcony, I leaned into it and could feel the low hum coming up through the house. It started louder than it should have, as if the orchestra skipped a couple of bars of the beginning, the low E flat lost somewhere beneath the surface. The elements didn't all come together until well into the second scene, when Elizabeth Bishop's Fricka helped kick it into gear and what was threatening to be a mediocre Das Rheingold turned into something extraordinary and remained so until the conclusion. I wasn't the only one to notice this odd change- Isabella noticed it too, called it even better than I did, despite this being her first Rheingold.

The first scene lacked cohesion in the pit and on the stage- Renée Tatum was the only Rheinmaiden who seemed fully present and Gordon Hawkins' Alberich lacked the focus he would later bring with devastating effect during the third and fourth scenes. The brass, problematic in every other evening I've attended in this cycle, were again off- cutting notes short, making late entrances. The only upside so far was the improved video projection which brought us into the river- this time it made a lot more sense than it did three years ago- thank you Jan Hartley for getting rid of the ridiculous Star Trek intro.

Transitioning into the second scene brought lots of noise from the stagehands, though not as bad as I've read in earlier reports. When the scrim rose, there remained the lack of energy onstage and emanating from the pit that had made the first scene somewhat flat and then about ten minutes in, I can't recall exactly what lines Bishop was singing at the moment (for it certainly happened while she was singing), or if the change actually started with her or from the pit, but there was a distinct shift- something I've never witnessed before- and suddenly the orchestra transformed into what it used to be under Runnicles- the magnificence which has been almost wholly absent during the performances I've seen in these cycles had suddenly and without warning returned in full bloom and for the rest of the performance the orchestra sounded as good as it did on the opening night of Die Walküre last June.

But the resurrected orchestra was only half the story of what made this Rheingold so good. The other was the high quality of singing throughout the cast. Odd as it may seem since this is the one Stemme-less opera in the cycle, it's the best of the four as far as the singers are cast- there isn't a weak link. Bishop was fantastic- fully inhabiting the role, she brought not only the vocal chops but she gave Fricka a real presence onstage- a vulnerability not usually associated with the character.

Stefan Margita injected Loge with a lyricism and warmth I have never heard in any performance of a Wagner opera before- he was superb. Sadly, director Zambello misses a huge opportunity to create some real dramatic interest by not creating more interaction and conflict between Loge and Mark Delevan's Wotan- they seem to be performing in different operas. Yes, they exist in different spheres of influence as characters, but some better blocking and direction could have created something really special that unfortunately isn't realized. Delevan's not doing interesting things dramatically in this role, but he sounds most comfortable with the Wotan of Rheingold and he had a strong night.

Brandon Jovanovich was great as Froh, as was to be be expected- a case of luxury casting, he looked like he was enjoying himself. Gerd Grochowski's Donner had the same impact on me as his Gunther did in Gotterdammerung- serviceable, nothing to complain about, but not setting anything on fire either. Poor guy- he's stuck in two of the most thankless roles in the whole cycle which need extraordinary turns to make memorable. David Canglelosi seemed to rely heavily on the prompter last night, giving little hint of his excellent Mime in Siegfried. Melissa Citro's Stockholm syndrome-struck Freia jiggles and minces a bit much for my liking, but I like her as Freia more than as Gutrune and her interactions with Andrea Silvestrelli's Fasolt were always fun to watch. Silvestrelli's Italianate tone and booming voice are a perfect fit for the lovestruck giant. Daniel Sumegi's Fafner left little impression one way or the other and the murder of his brother was another dramatic moment that Zambello left on a table somewhere else. Ronnita Miller's Erda was impressive- she has a presence that's undeniable and it will be interesting to see her in other roles. Thankfully her character's costume has been toned from the previous staging- in fact almost all of the "American" touches in this cycle have been toned down to the point they really no longer exist- which makes it a stronger production overall than when it first debuted.

Gordon Hawkin's Alberich was the most fascinating performance of the night. As I said, the first scene was a bit of an unfocused hash, but in the 3rd and 4th scenes Hawkins gave a tremendously nuanced performance rivaling that of Eric Owens' in the current Met Ring for giving the character a depth not typically seen, Hawkins' Alberich is conflicted and riddled with uncertainty- you can see it playing over his face as he calculates the cost of everything he does, of every choice he has to make- and his sagging shoulders telegraph that he knows he's going to be beaten in this game. There's a weariness in his performance, as if to illustrate an unwritten law of dashed expectations- the oppressed and marginalized who know any gains are temporary and will eventually be usurped, pried from their fingers, by those more powerful then they, leaving them in the same place they started, or worse, and more bruised than the last time.

Later Isabella asked why I had turned my face from the stage during the transition to Scene 3. It was because I wanted to hear it as clearly as I could without the distracting visuals of the video projections and I wasn't disappointed- the trip down into the Nibelung mine is one of the most thrilling parts of the entire Ring for me and it certainly was beautifully played last night. The anvils- what can one say about the anvils? Genius.

When I turned to face the stage again, the scrim came up revealing the best work of set designer Michael Yeargan- the mine is almost a work of art and the lighting by Michael McCullough is superb. Casting children to be Alberich's minions was a great choice on Zambello's part, not only for the underlying political message it sends, but it also creates a powerful visual statement and their screams were terrifying (and loud). This scene, the tightest among the entire cycle in my opinion, was fantastic, even though it includes the one part of the opera I typically loathe- Alberich's losing game Loge and Wotan. If only everything about this cycle were of the same quality and level of execution! Still, having now seen it all in its current state, the San Francisco Opera's Ring cycle is undeniably a success for the company.

We'll be back tonight to see the last Walkure.

Who's yer Daddy? SFO's Die Walküre revisited

When San Francisco Opera unveiled Die Walküre a year ago I had a lot of complaints about the production but like everyone else who attended the opening night, I was captivated by the musical performance of the orchestra under Runnicles and by the quality of the singing, both of which were fantastic. A year later I'm still not a huge fan of the production, but it annoys me less now and the strong sense of disappointment I had upon leaving the opera house Wednesday night after the Walkure for Cycle 2 came from the most unlikely of sources. Director Francesca Zambello has made some small adjustments to the tighten drama and the supporting is cast different, which add up to pluses as far as what's happening onstage, but what was happening in the pit last night under Runnicles was another thing altogether- and it wasn't good.

Last year Runnicles tore into the score from the first note and never let up, conducting an illuminating, completely thrilling performance. Last night the first and second acts were performed so slowly it felt like we were hearing an entirely different conductor and orchestra. At times the music seemed to disappear altogether and in the first act there were moments when the brass caused more than one head to turn in response to some serious flubs, as if the gathered Wagnerites in the house collectively went "what the ....?"

The music only came together in the third act after the "Ride of the Valkyries" and while I know the City is currently engulfed in Runnicles-mania, after hearing Siegfried and Gotterdammerung earlier this month I can only conclude he doesn't have the grip on this orchestra he used to when he was music director of the company. It's over.

Who's yer Daddy? Photo by Cory Weaver

The other talk of the town is Nina Stemme's Brunnhilde and understandably so, though I think it's a tad over-heated. Once again she gave a gleaming performance and if her low notes were inaudible at times, the verve of her performance and the clarity and volume of her top notes makes everyone a believer. Mark Delevan's Wotan possesses an extraordinarily warm voice, best at the top as well, though when placed at the rear of the stage it loses its power. Still, Delevan was vocally convincing and if his interpretation of Wotan isn't exactly compelling I'd say that's more Zambello's fault than his. Together, Delevan and Stemme are the only pair in the cycle who match up well together vocally - a problem when so much of the fifteen hours of music is a series of one-on-one confrontations.

Brandon Jovanovich's Siegmund was definitely a highlight of the evening. His tone is beautiful and he projected easily to the back of the house with clarity and emotional intensity. It's hard to believe this is his debut in the role- he already appears to completely own it. It's also a fortuitous bit of casting that Jovanovich bears a similar physical appearance and vocal tone with Jay Hunter Morris' Siegfried, so when we see Siegmund's offspring in the next part there's a definite family resemblance being seen and heard onstage, which is continued in Gotterdammerung with Ian Storey in the same role, looking and sounding like an older version of what we've seen before.

Anja Kampe's Sieglinde was better in this production than when I heard her sing the role in LA a couple of years ago, but she looks too dowdy to be convincing as Siegmund's twin and destined lover. In the early part of the first act, when there is little competition for her against the orchestra she sounded fine, but as things progressed a shrillness found its way into her voice. In the third act she seemed spent.

Elizabeth Bishop's Fricka unfortunately has to compete against Stephanie Blythe's recent turn in the role in the Met production- a game-changer as far as interpretation goes that probably no singer would want to face and while Bishop was fine, coming on the heels of Blythe's tremendous performance seen around the world, Bishop's fine day glows a little paler. Zambello's direction again plays a large part in this, and I'll get to that in just a moment.

Last year's Hunding was a disappointment and this year's model is disappointing in a different way. Daniel Sumegi's great physical presence onstage is ideal for the part, but his voice lacks the necessary menace and malice to sell it. Groping your wife doesn't make you threatening to anyone but your wife, though it does make you look like a first-class ass when you do it front of the guests. In this production the future cuckold seems destined for it, and not a ferociously mean man whose angry claim for revenge forms one of the main plot points of the entire story.

As Valkyries, Sara Gartland, Daveda Karanas and Maya Lahyani stood out among the eight talented sisters of Brunnhilde.

However, the fact (well, my opinion actually) that Runnicles and Co. had a seriously off night wasn't my only problem with this particular night at the opera. Thankfully, Zambello has toned down the weirdness between Wotan and Brunnhilde so that it doesn't hint at yet another incestuous relationship in a story that already has two others (don't forget- Brunnhilde's daddy is also Siegfried's grandaddy)- still, the piggyback ride has got to go- seriously, ditch it. But at least the first act ended right in this reboot, with the lovers rolling on the floor in heat instead skipping off into the moonlight, but the positive changes, while appreciated, are small compared to the negatives which become magnified upon a second viewing.

What grates about this production is twofold.

First, no one in this Walküre is angry- they just come across as conflicted at best and more often simply weak or confused. That the gods have the same weaknesses as humans, often in much greater degree, is already obvious so it doesn't need any further explication in the direction. Everyone in Walküre has good reason to be seriously pissed off during at least one moment and real drama comes from confrontation and conflict, verbalized or shown, and there is very little to be seen in this production, though the story rests on a series of escalating confrontations- in fact, one could make the case the entire cycle is built on those escalations, resulting in a point where there is simply nowhere left to go but straight into the pyre. Delevan's performance could be easily acknowledged to have been brilliant if only he were allowed to be an angry Wotan turned weak instead of a weak one with nowhere to turn. On a side note- Die Walküre is. not. a. comedy. It has no funny moments. Cheap chuckles during Act 2 takes the audience out of the story and adds nothing illuminating to it.

The other thing about this which grates on me is related to the lack of anger. As Zambello's ring progresses a feminist undercurrent emerges and while she's not the first to take this route, it's still an interesting approach which can be explored in numerous ways. But in re-watching Walküre and knowing what's to come in the next two operas, I think she's overplaying the concept by making the male characters too buffoonish, thus reducing the impact of what she's trying to convey. There is no nuance here. The men in her Ring have vast reserves of mistrust, justified by the text, but with the exception of David Cangelosi's Mime in Siegfried (I have yet to see Stefan Margita's Loge), none of the male characters have been seen in a new light, say in the way that Eric Owens' Alberich in the recent Met Rheingold gave the character a devastating new interpretation. While I love the Stockholm syndrome idea Zambello attached to Freia in Rheingold,  the ferocious anger of Brunnhilde in Gotterdammerung, and Gutrune's metamorphosis from bimbo to supplicant in the same, can't we have these interesting takes spread between the genders just a little bit? Just a little? I'm not saying the guys deserve a fair shake, but it would make it all that much more interesting if they weren't a hair shy of being representative caricatures of the worst qualities of the typical American male. After all, that guy probably isn't a large percentage of the audience in the house.

Still, you'll likely see me back for more next week, hoping Runnicles gets it together, and he just may because Heidi Melton takes over as Sieglinde, which is something I don't want to miss.

Götterdämmerung: having sex with Valkyries is hazardous to one's health and can turn you into a zombie

Silvestrelli and Citro: "Drink this- it will make your boobs even bigger."

Seeing Götterdämmerung performed live is really unlike any other opera experience. Yesterday was my fourth time, and as I walked away from the War Memorial I had this warm feeling seething through my entire being. There is something immensely satisfying about witnessing the end of the world, even if the world's end is done on the cheap and not all that spectacularly staged.

The prologue where the Norns catch us up on all that's happened and hint at what's to come was probably the most imaginatively staged bit of the entire Cycle. I loved the concept of the Norns as a kind of cloud repository of the history of the world manipulating the mother of all motherboards, though I thought the use of "cables" in the surtitles instead of "rope" or "thread" was annoying. It was also the most well-executed, thought-through part of the afternoon, though I imagine it was particularly challenging for the singers. All three (Heidi Melton, Daveda Karanas and Ronnita Miller) did a fine job and I was paying particular attention to how large Melton's voice is as I plan on seeing her sing Sieglinde in the 3rd Cycle- no problem on that count- she can fill the house with her voice.

As the Prologue ended and we picked up where we last left Brunnhilde and Siegfried, my initial thought on seeing Ian Storey a week after watching Jay Hunter Morris in the same role was "Wow. Banging a Valkyrie for a week will really age a man!" Morris' youthful vigor was now replaced with an older, greying, Siegfried with a beer gut who had none of the swagger which made Morris' performance so engaging despite the lack of vocal heft required to really sell it. Storey's voice is bigger, though not too much, but it's also much deeper, bordering the baritone range, and for me this was problematic. Nina Stemme seemed determined not to sing over him, so the first act was kind of a repeat of last Sunday's performance which left me wondering to where the Brunnhilde of last summer's Walkure had disappeared? It also made me ponder how much time has supposedly elapsed between the events of Siegfried and the opening of Götterdämmerung? More than I had originally thought, based on appearances.

During the first act the orchestra sounded still not quite engaged, even under-rehearsed, with some sections seeming to lag noticeably behind even though Runnicles never took anything at a tempo one could describe as unexpectedly fast- in fact, there were parts of the afternoon where the tempos seemed almost too slow, which allowed for great exposition and clarity, but worked against the drama of the score (especially during the Funeral March). Thankfully this problem largely disappeared after the first act and the rest of the afternoon was musically superb, slow tempos aside.

Ian Storey and Gerd  Grochowski: "I want to sleep with your wife, so drink this and I'll let you bang my hot sister."

The weaknesses in director Francesca Zambello's "American Ring" concept surfaced again upon entering the unhappy home of the Gibichungs. Not only was their lair uninteresting and cheap looking, but it said nothing about them and what part of this world they represent, unless the idea is to say they're just shallow, dull, fools who take all of their decorating ideas straight from the ads found in 7x7 or some other vacuous rag. That's not very interesting. Nor is it interesting to portray Gutrune (Melissa Citro, debuting with the company in this role) as an empty-headed tart whose raison d'ete appears to be little more than running around the stage shaking her tits in a low-cut orange dress. Sure she looked great in that same tawdry way certain hookers on the street do,  but is that the most you can say about her character? Actually, Gutrune undergoes an interesting evolution under Zambello's direction in the 3rd act, but since the starting point is so base, so low, it takes longer than it should to see how her character evolves and I daresay it would be easy to miss entirely. Gerd Grochowski's Gunther doesn't leave too much of an impression in the role, thankless as it is.

Andrea Silvestrelli's Hagen started out rough vocally and from the first row of the Balcony Circle he bore more than a passing resemblance to Ron Jeremy, and neither of these observations is a good thing. Vocally he found himself by the end of the act, but for me the damage was done. His Hagen didn't work for me at all- way too over the top and his voice is too Italaniate for the role- besides, every time he opened his mouth all I heard was Fasolt- who is a chump, while Hagen should be evil incarnate. Hagen, perhaps the most interesting character in the entire story, in my opinion should also be the most nuanced in performance and Silvestrelli brought none to the role. It was all flash. Maybe that's part of the "American" concept- Hagan as the playboy huckster, but really, I would have preferred him to be less Bob Guccione and more, I don't know, like Osama bin Laden- someone whose evil is disguised by their quiet, surface demeanor rather than wearing it on their sleeve.

Also during Act 1 Siegfried is a dolt once he sees Gutrune even before he drinks the potion, and while that's pretty much Siegfried and thus unavoidable, once he drinks the potion he becomes an uber-dolt and quickly becomes tiresome, not at all helped by Zambello's seeming insistence of adding an ick-factor to each opera- here it's when Siegfried pries the ring from Brunnhilde ala what she did with Wotan and Erda in Siegfried. Why does she have to go there?

The highlight of Act 1 was the scene with Brunnhilde and Waltraute, which Karanas delivered with impressive urgency and mesmerizing grace.

At intermission I had the good fortune to run into Rosine Stoltz, whom I last espied at the LA Ring and we caught up and laid plans for a future rendezvous.

"I'm the only one who apparently isn't getting laid in this story, unless my dad counts!"

Okay so so far I know this reads like I'm not really enjoying this but it is Götterdämmerung and all this aside, I actually am enjoying it, though perhaps not as much as I'd like. All this changes in Act 2, which I think is just brilliant from almost start to finish. Not quite from the start, as it begins with Hagen and Gutrune watching television on his bed, which for some reason brought to my mind "an old black ram is tupping your white ewe." More Zambello ickiness. This is even more pronounced when next thing you know Alberich (Gordon Hawkins) climbs into Hagen's bed for their one scene together and Hawkins just isn't doing it for me- his voice is no match for Silvestrelli's, even though Silvestrelli is singing into his pillow. After these little bits of nastiness, totally unnecessary for the story, Hagen gets to make his announcement, perhaps the most thrilling part of the opera, my favorite part at least, and his call summoning the Gibichungs is thrilling.  The choreography in this scene is superb visually and the male chorus sounds fantastic. This is what I wanted to see and hear. Stemme enters the scene and finally lets her voice loose and it soars gloriously. It's also during this act that Zambello illustrates the parallels between Siegfried and Hagen, both bred for the same purpose, which actually worked, and the orchestra finally got it together and everything came together fabulously. Siegfried is a total douche and Brunnhilde gets really, really pissed off.  When Stemme reveals that she left Siegfried's back vulnerable to attack she's chilling in her vengeance.Everyone onstage is doing their bit and doing it well.  That is until Brunnhilde, Hagen, and Gunther all swear an oath on Hagen's spear to bring Siegfried down and suddenly the three of them just stand and deliver. Ugh. Two steps forward, now go back, all they way back to 1965. Jane Eaglen would have moved more during this moment- everyone just turned to stone. And yes, as you may have read elsewhere, Stemme's costume during this act is a disaster of the first order- and why they hell was she still wearing boots with it?

Stemme and Storey: "You're sleeping with her?"

During the second intermission Rosine bought me a drink, claiming she owed me one from LA last spring. I didn't argue and listened attentively while she shared her thoughts with me on what we had just seen and heard, all of which I agreed with, mostly because she's brilliant.

Act 3 opens with the Rheinmaidens collecting plastic bottles from the banks of the river and visually it's pretty arresting. Sadly, that's the last great visual for the rest of the show as all of a sudden the lack of money and concept are laid bare for all to see during the final act. This is ameliorated in no small degree by the fact that the singers and orchestra are now going full-bore, so it's not as bad as it could be, but conceptually Act 3 is a total failure and small mis-steps and errors litter the path all the way to the end of the world as we know it. Also, there's more silly license with the translations as "ich geb' ihn euch, gonnt ihr mir Lust" doesn't really translate into the English equivalent of "... if I can bang the three of you."

The hunting party scene has swords and rifles, but that's been done before. Hagen plunges his spear into Siegfried's back and when we get to the Funeral March... there's nothing. The scrim comes down and there is nothing to see but clouds or something- I don't really remember because I was watching the orchestra during this part because during one of the most important, poignant parts of the opera Zambellow gives us NOTHING to watch. On top of that, Runnicles decides to play the march slowly, robbing it of a lot of its dramatic effect.

Back at the Gibiching hall, Siegfried's body is unceremoniously wheeled in on a cart and Gutrune gets to start her evolution into a real character, thankfully no longer dressed as Anna Nicole. For the remainder of the opera, Gutrune acts as Brunnhilde's attendant, which is an interesting feminist statement on Zambello's part and it works rather well, redeeming a character who has been interpreted pretty shabbily up until this point.

Siegfried's body is literally dumped over the edge, which is kind of cool, and then doused with gasoline (like he did Mime and Fafner) and lit aflame, but then every one in the balcony got to see Siegfried in his bright orange hunting outfit get up and scamper offstage. Wait- isn't he supposed to be dead? Please, please, don't let us see Siegfried become a zombie and run offstage!

At gotterdammerung, when Brunnhilde takes a torch to burn down the house (there is no horse, naturally), the torch went out before she made it across the stage (distracting), but then when everything is supposed to burn, the world erupting, dissolving into flame, the ending is just so-so, with no real sense of catharsis visually. Then a boy enters bearing an Ash sapling (how symbolic!) and plants it in a hole on the stage. The end.

Still, Stemme's final moments were stunning and when she appeared onstage alone for the first curtain call I don't think I've ever heard a more thunderous round of applause in the house. It was huge. The ovations lasted for several minutes as the production team and the entire orchestra appeared onstage for applause. Despite all of its shortcomings, and no "American" theme present at all during the final chapter, it was mostly a fantastic performance. All in all, the new San Francisco Opera Ring is a winner.

Brian- it was great to see you.

Missed it by that much- SFO's Siegfried

This Sunday past, a beautiful day by any measure, found me along with most of the other Bay Area Wagnerites seated in the War Memorial Opera House for 5 hours of Siegfried. It's a good thing I had a ticket, because weather like that would never get me to agree to doing standing room, thus exposing me as perhaps an imperfect Wagnerite. So be it.

Like many, I find Siegfried to be the least convincing of the Ring tetralogy, though I remember when I attended the 1999 Ring at SFO I was clearly impressed that each performance was better than the previous, building to a thrilling climax with Gotterdammerung, so there was a time when Siegfried didn't disappoint me. What happened since then? I'd say the third opera in the cycle is the hardest to get right, for almost myriad reasons, perhaps chiefly because of its complexity of where the main characters exist at this point in the story. So imagine my surprise that yesterday's performance proved to be the most cohesive yet of director Francesca Zambello's vision for SFO's (and WNO's) current Ring.

Is it perfect? No, not by any measure, but for the first time in this cycle what was happening onstage was truly interesting, leaving me with a sense that Zambello has something to say about Wagner and her conception of an "American Ring," isn't as empty as the first two installments left me believing. If only two of the four main leads were up to the task at hand vocally I would say it was fantastic. Alas, that wasn't the case yesterday. However, those two may come up to snuff in later performances, and I for one do plan on seeing this again because it really has the potential for greatness. Ah, but potential's an elusive quality, is it not?

So let's take it from the top. Note: there are what some would call "spoilers" below.

Again, as in the previous operas, we begin with images projected across a scrim during the creepy, Fafner-dwelling-in-cave-with-the-gold/let-us-return-to-the-pit-where-the-Nibelungs-toil intro. Clouds swirl menacingly and evolve into what looks like Detroit or Cleveland circa 1972 with pollution-spewing smokestacks. Nice touch, the first of many, as the scrim rises to reveal a fifth-wheel that looks like a bomb once went off inside of it, leaving its denizens exposed to and stuck with the menacing high-tension power lines seen in the background. Great imagery, but now here's a problem: where the fuck is this supposed to be? It looks like Wagner meets Cormac McCarthy on The Road.

This setting would have been great for the part in Gotterdammerung where Siegfried encounters the Gibichungs for the first time, and would have been a hoot as Valhalla, but as the home for Mime and our hero it ignores some key elements of what's really going on- or at least makes the characterizations harder to believe. Mime is supposed to have raised Siegfried far away from other people- he's never even seen another human being besides his adopter as the story begins and this fact fuels Siegfried's contempt for his malevolent benefactor/babysitter. Yet how does that happen in a trailer stuck under power lines and filled with canisters of potato chips? Someone had to make a trip to Safeway for those Charles Chips, right? Who took them to the check-out line?

Okay, so I'm willing to suspend disbelief and go with it because the set (by Michael Yeargan)  looks terrific. Enter Mime, played by David Cangelosi doing his best Fagin impression and until he meets his death in the second act, Cangelosi sings the hell out of the part and gives us a Mime I for one had never thought of before- cunning, interesting, robust, intelligent, even somewhat sympathetic. He owns the stage during the first act in much the same way Arnold Bezuyen's Loge did during the initial performances of Rheingold in Achim Freyer's LA Ring. In other words, it's an unexpected focus that actually works, because while traditionally we tend to view Mime as a pawn to the larger story, until he's knocked off two hours later he's actually the prime mover of the story and Zambello's production brings that to the fore.

Unfortunately, at least in his initial performance as the title character, Jay Hunter Morris hasn't a large enough voice to compete against his nemesis. That's a damn shame, because as far as looking and acting the part, Morris is perfectly convincing- in fact, take away that one major flaw and we're looking at a terrific choice. Um, except it's opera and I know I'm being bitchy, but the main character should be cast with someone whose voice can make it over the orchestra, even if the orchestra isn't being very helpful, which it certainly wasn't, but I'll get to that in a bit. On the positive side, apart from acting and looking the part, Morris's voice was beautiful and clear all afternoon- it just wasn't loud enough and he was frequently completely drowned out by the orchestra. He did, however, have on a great coat and for some people (I'm talking to you, Dr. Hank) this may have mitigated the vocal shortcomings- I'm just not one of them.

Mark Delevan's Wotan was another vocal shadow where there should have been sunlight, and his appearance in rags and greasy long hair as The Wanderer made him look like he had somehow wandered in from a 30 year-old Molly Hatchet video. Delevan, who was impressive in last summer's Die Walkure, gave a performance that bode ill for the full cycles when they start next month. If this is the state of his voice at the moment, Rheingold and Walkure are going to be very disappointing.

Almost as troublesome was his scene in the beginning of Act 3, where from where I sat at the side of the stage, it looked like he was trying to first rape Erda from behind, then strangle her (!), leaving me to think Wait a minute- what the fuck is Wotan doing raping and then strangling Erda? I know she's not giving him what he wants but really- does he have rape and kill her? Doesn't she have more to sing? Did Calixto direct this part?

Ugh. Speaking of Erda (I know, I'm in Act 3 and I haven't even discussed Act 2 yet, but I'll get there- it was a long afternoon), Ronnita Miller sang impressively but looked a little too healthy to be the Erda-in-decline that's actually supposed to be on the stage. And again, wtf with the Native American inspired costume? A missed opportunity in an otherwise fine performance on Miller's part- but blame Zambello and costume designer Catherine Zuber, not Miller, for the mis-step.

Back to Act 2- the part where the dragon/Fafner gets knocked off. That was brilliant. That big-ass, Road-Warrior/Darth Vader/District 9 dragon was cool. There is simply no other way to put it. Daniel Sumegi didn't impress me particularly as Fafner, but on the other hand I didn't find him lacking- and since it's not a huge part consider it a wash. I wouldn't, couldn't, say the same about Gordon Hawkins' Alberich, who despite having Molotov cocktails at hand, failed to ignite any menace in the role- a tough assignment in light of what Eric Owens brought to it at the Met recently, which set a new standard in how to interpret the dwarf who sets everything in motion. Depsite that, I loved every moment of the second act, including the uber-creepy spooning of Fafner and Siegfried as the giant expires, Siegfried dousing Mime and Fafner's dead bodies with gasoline (okay, who else thought of David Bowie's "Cat People" during this moment?), and best of all, the last part where Siegfried returns to the corpses before running off with the bird to find Brunhilde.

Speaking of the Bird (Stacey Tappan), why does the Bird have a purse? I guess for the same reason Brunnhilde had a purse in Walkure- though for the life of me I don't understand why. What exactly is in the purses, Francesca and Catherine? Why do you subject us to these annoying touches we don't need and you can't explain?

Tappan's anthropomorphic embodiment of the bird onstage was touching. I haven't seen the part done this way before and I found it beautiful and moving.  Stupid purse aside, Tappan's costume was stunning in its color and appropriate simplicity. Lovely- nicely done.

The disaster which begins Act 3 was actually preceded by the orchestra sounding better than it had all afternoon, at least in the brass section, which seemed to finally find the gear it couldn't locate for its life in Acts 1 and 2. Unfortunately it was a short-lived shift (more on this in a moment). After the bizarreness with Erda bit, Delevan's Wotan has his showdown with his grandson in a scene neither had the vocal prowess to navigate with anything near what is called for and the orchestra just pummeled both of them. It was the most disappointing moment of the afternoon. At least after that we arrived at the moment most of us had been waiting for all damn day- Siegfried and Brunnhilde meet, play pussyfoot, then hook up.

Well, that's the shorthand version of what happens during the last 45 minutes. Nina Stemme has already created a small firestorm in the opera world singing Wagner heroines and her initial appearance as Brunnhilde floored me and most other people who saw and heard it. I felt that way after hearing her as Senta in the much maligned Dutchman SFO staged during the Rosenberg era (2004), which I thought brilliant. Stemme is fantastic- no doubt she has the goods to be the pre-eminent Wagner soprano of the day and will leave a lasting legacy, but on this afternoon I though she was just okay. Her voice was clear, her Brunnhilde was no longer the daddy-longing imp from Walkure (thank god), and she had great physical energy onstage. I felt however, that she held back to accommodate the lack of power in Morris' voice and thus short-changed the audience of the the full-throttle Brunnhilde I expected based her last appearance here. That's all I'm going to say, except that since she took off her jacket this time, and I think that costume is pretty damn sexy.

Which leaves to me end with the music. Few people miss Runnicles in the pit more than I do. However Sunday's performance wasn't all it could be, mostly because of the brass section tanking it in more than a few key musical moments. The winds, especially the flutes and oboes, were magnificent, as were the strings. Runnicles kept a steady and exciting tempo all afternoon and the music never flagged (is that even possible with Siegfried?). But the brass pretty much sucked all afternoon, to the point that thanks to where I was sitting, I noticed that when Runnicles was dishing out props before he left the pit to take his bows onstage, with the exception of the first trumpet, the entire brass section received no love from the Maestro- and none was deserved.

Still, this cycle is starting to gel and if Ian Storey has the vocal chops for the role, the last part may finally deliver the goods in full. We'll know next Sunday. There you have it.

LePage's Die Walkure from the Met

The first thing one can say about the Met's broadcast of Die Walkure yesterday is that it should finally silence those idiots who've been talking smack about Deborah Voigt for the last year. Voigt's performance carried the extremely long afternoon and left no doubt that not only can she sing the role, but it re-affirms her status as one of the leading sopranos of the day. Too bad such a triumph was unfolding in what turned out to be a pretty mediocre production that left me thinking perhaps the Schenk museum piece wasn't so bad after all.

The singers, individually, were in superb voice, but Walkure is a series of conversations and conflicts between two characters and what caused this production to be such a failure from my perspective is that each pairing failed to work on a dramatic level. Everyone seemed mismatched in some way and none of the scenes, except for the showdown between Fricka and Wotan (more on this in a moment), was convincing. This was only magnified by the talent onstage and seeing it all unfurl larger than life on the big screen in HD.


Taking it from the top, James Levine led the orchestra through a musically thrilling first act- superbly paced, the details in the score coming through with a slicing precision I've seldom heard anywhere else that made the listener pay attention. Sadly, that precision disappeared during the second act ("Du hehrstes Wunder, herrliche Maid!" came and went with no impact at all) and only sporadically returned during the third, mostly in the conclusion. The orchestra wasn't bad by any means, but the heights achieved during the first act weren't heard again.


Kaufmann and Westbroek, both offering fantastic phrasing, tone and diction, looked like a great pairing of the Walse twins on paper but the reality was quite different. Kaufmann seemed tentative with Westbroek, as if he wasn't quite sure how far he should go with her, and his performance lacked a necessary passion and desire, though his voice is simply amazing. This hesitancy on his part made his Siegmund have less stature onstage than Westbroek's Sieglinde, rendering their entire pairing something of a dramatic mismatch. As Hunding, Hans-Peter Konig's entrance, delivering a devastating side-ways glance perfectly cued to the music (albeit lifted straight from Hunding's entrance in the Copenhagen Ring- the first of many "borrowed" ideas in this production), was the kind of subtle touch wholly missing from Kaufmann's performance.


In Act II Voigt and Terfel started off with a playfulness similar to what Francesca Zambello is doing with her "American" Ring about to unfold in its entirety in San Francisco later this month. This would be the first of two moments during the afternoon which made me think director Robert Lepage has been seeing every Ring Cycle he can, searching for ideas because dramatically he has none of his own (more on this later). Voigt's first "Heiaha" immediately served notice to the doubters that she was going to be on. While hers wasn't a display of endless range, she was in complete control and remained so throughout the performance. On top of that, despite the ridiculous costumes she and everyone else had to endure, she looked and acted the part.


The highlight of the second act, indeed of the entire show sadly enough, was Stephanie Blythe's Fricka. Making a fantastic entrance on a throne with prominent goat-horns as armrests (this reference to cuckoldry would be only thoughtful piece of set-design we would see all day), Blythe's eighteen minutes onstage were devastating in more ways than one. Completely emasculating Terfel's Wotan, Blythe turned this Die Walkure on its head in a way I'm not sure was intentional because it never recovered afterward. Her imperious, take-no-prisoners Fricka not only slices off Wotan's balls during their scene together, but Terfel seemed so beat-down by her that his character couldn't seem to shake his newly imposed impotence for the remainder of the opera.

And that's a problem because while we all know Wotan is weak in many ways, there has to be moments during the rest of Walkure where we see that weakness cast aside and he reclaims the anger and gravitas which make him such a compelling figure. Sadly after this scene, Terfel's Wotan has this air of "my mom just cut off my balls" about him that never goes away and makes him seem pathetic and powerless, which LePage's stage direction does nothing to ameliorate, example one being when Wotan steps in to break Siegmund's sword and the net impact was "really- is that all there is to that?" Ho-hum, check off another plot point. Some of this is also exacerbated by Terfel coming across as appearing much younger than Blythe and Voigt- another downside of casting in the current era where every nuance and detail is illustrated in HD. Compared to them, he seems to possess no maturity. On the upside, he sang beautifully, though after the marvel of the singing in Act 1, there was a noticeable difference in the diction of the native Germans versus the non evident in Act 2.


Act 2 also featured the second of LePage's pilfering of ideas from others- the eyeball, which 20 years from now might seem like a neat homage to the brilliance of Achim Freyer's LA Ring of last year, but in this context seems one-step shy of plagiarism. Furthermore, this reminder of the LA Ring brought into full relief what's missing in LePage's- a concept or vision. There simply isn't one at all. Where in the LA Ring everything onstage made the audience think about the connections and relevance to the characters and story, there isn't anything going here at all- it's just the Machine doing its tricks and the singers moving around it. Sure there are some glorious visuals- the hunting of Siegmund through the trees, and the forming of the Ash tree- both in Act 1, and the final visual of Brunnhilde on the rock was visually gorgeous and arresting, but beyond that? Nothing.


Even the "Ride of the Valkyries" felt flat and unexciting, even though this was the closest thing we'll likely ever see of them making their entrances riding their steeds through the air. This, of all moments, should have been the one where the Machine silenced its critics with the amazing theatricality LePage brought to La Damnation de Faust, which caused me to get all excited about him doing this Ring in the first place. But like everything else except the scene with Fricka, it remained unconvincing and devoid of drama.


There were two priceless moments during the broadcast- the first came during the first intermission when Joyce DiDonato was interviewing the Met's stage manager about the 45 minute delay in the start due to some mechanical malfunction with the machine- as she ended the interview, she said to him "Thanks for getting it up today!" to which the guy looked completely flummoxed and any response he may have had was drowned out by the uproarious laughter from the audience in the theater. The other was the sight of Jonas Kaufmann drooling a six-inch long bit of goo off his lower lip which will probably be edited out of the DVD release so it doesn't become a YouTube sensation following him through the cyber world for the rest of his life.


I'm pleased for Voigt's triumph in this, but dismayed that this Walkure not only made me lose interest in what's to come in the following installments, but surprisingly, it made me see Zambello's production in a kinder light- I don't like most of what she's doing with her concept- but at least she has one.

The new Met/Lepage Das Rheingold

Yesterday I attended my first Met Live in HD broadcast because I just had to see what the new "Das Rheingold" looked like. It doesn't disappoint. On the other hand, while this production establishes a new level of stagecraft for the opera world, the other elements involved are pretty traditional. The Met and Lepage are trying to have it both ways- satisfy the codgers who want horned helmets and those who are aware it's 2010- and I think they've succeeded in coming up with a production that should satisfy both, though probably won't leave the latter group ecstatic.

The broadcast began with some behind the scenes footage of the Rheinmaidens being introduced to "the Machine" and learning how to perform upon it in harnesses. During this sequence, the expression on Lisette Oropesa's face is the definition of apprehension while Tamara Mumford looks really excited. The pay off is when the Rheinmaidens make their entrance and you see how much hard work went into their efforts and it paid off so handsomely. I can only imagine that these Rheinmaidens were what Wagner was envisioning. Mermaids, swimming in water, bubbles billowing behind them, it's a beautiful scene. Mumford, Oropesa and Jennifer Johnson are excellent and Lepage does some choreography here that really makes the scene work incredibly well- it just flows.

Eric Owens' Alberich- dreadlocked and sporting a codpiece that looks stolen from a Mad Max sequel, plays his initial attempts to have his way with one of the Rheinmaidens in the manner we've come to expect except for one key component in his characterization that eventually profoundly impacts the entire production. Owens' Alberich may be a dwarf, but he's not the lecherous, petty, grubby Nibelung usually found in this role. This Alberich is smart, angry and determined. He's also the most fully-realized character onstage in this production. When he steals the gold, it's with a sense of coming retribution. This is a star turn for Owens, who easily makes the largest impact in this superbly cast production with his fantastic singing and indelible stage presence. And to think David Gockley over at San Francisco Opera decided to cast Owens as Ramfis instead of Amonasro in that company's upcoming Aida. Boob-of-month award winner-Gockley wins again!

As Scene 1 ends, the Rheinmaidens forlornly lie on the bottom of the Rhine in a beautiful tableau, complete with shifting sands beneath them. It's scenes like this which make the production such a visual success. The transition scenes are where Lapage's Machine has the most impact (at least until the spectacular ending). As the planks rise they create a visual where the audience feels like it too is rising from the river, leaving the Rheinmaidens in the river below. The thing about the Machine is it takes the audience with it into every scene in an uncanny way.

There are a couple of problems with this production and they become apparent pretty quickly in Scene 2. Bryn Terfel's Wotan is sung with strong technique but his character conveys no authority at all. His Wotan is a thug, not a god and with his long greasy hair covering his missing eye and gold breastplate covering his gut he looks like a Comic-Con attendee in line to get the most recent edition of Thor autographed. Even worse, Stephanie Blythe's superbly sung Fricka comes across as Wotan's mother, not his wife. Looking at the costumes, you can't reconcile these two are appearing in the same opera, much less that they are supposed to be husband and wife.

This is a lesser problem with Donner and Froh because in the second scene they have little to do, not an issue at all with Freia, and the giants Fasolt and Fafner are positioned on the machine to create a formidable presence though their physiques are not enhanced beyond parts of a fat suit being placed on them here and there.

Richard Croft's Loge however, is serious problem. He looks like Liberace in a straitjacket. One of the most effective and rewarding choices Achim Freyer made for his Ring cycle at LA Opera was making Loge the center of Rheingold and it worked brilliantly. Of course that was Freyer's choice and it's just fine to make Wotan the center as usual, but it really only works well if Wotan is authoritative and Loge is the instrument to carry out his machinations- here, what should be the most scheming character onstage is little more that just a toady who somehow wandered into Valhalla via a Vegas psyche ward.

Franz-Josef Selig's Fasolt is superbly sung and performed. His isn't the usual dumb, love-struck giant, but a being whose obsession has the better of him. I don't think I've ever heard anyone sing or perform this role with as much intelligence as Selig brings to it. Hans-Peter Konig's Fafner is also well sung.

The transition to Scene 3's Nibelheim is another set-piece of stunningly well-executed stagecraft via the Machine as we actually watch Wotan and Loge descend down Alberich's lair. The anvils were gorgeous and what is usually handled as an awkward "hmm, how do we this moment?" became a central moment both visually and aurally.

This scene is always the most problematic in Rheingold because of the dragon/frog silliness and it wasn't done this time in a manner that's going to set a new standard for how to handle this awkward bit in a convincing way and save it from being unintended camp- which is how it always turns out. In this production that silliness if magnified because of Owens' Alberich- he simply isn't gullible enough to fall for this trap- and yet he must, because that's what Alberich does. Gerhard Siegel's Mime was superb. I certainly hope he'll be back in the role for Siegfried. His was another Nibelung who possessed an intelligence not typically portrayed in the role and his was a standout among the strong cast.

Going back to Valhalla's threshold for Scene 4, Owens delivers his best moments as he expresses his shame at being bound and shackled before his slaves. I haven't seen this discussed in anyone else's reviews or commentary, but I have to add my own thought that this scene has a heightened power and poignancy because Owens is black and Terfel looks like a redneck straight out of a horror movie. We've seen this scene in many other guises, but here, especially in the current political climate in this country, I can't get say there's no meta commentary to be found here if you want to look for it. Patrica Bardon's Erda, the most unthankful role in all of opera, was spot on from her first note through her last, though in HD the weird red/pink make-up around her eyes made me wonder why they wanted to make Erda a blonde Morticia Addams.

I found the only moment where James Levine's conducting let me down was the conclusion of Alberich's curse on whomever wears the ring- oddly, here the orchestra lacked enough power to make those terrifying bars sound as terrifying as they ought. Otherwise, I'd have to say Levine (who looked terrific) and the orchestra were fantastic from start to finish with Levine usually opting for faster tempos than he's chosen in the past which never sounded rushed, an bringing everything in Wagner's score to a shimmering glow through the entire afternoon.

Dwayne Croft's Donner was certainly a bit of luxury casting and having a mature singer of his caliber in this smaller role brought a depth to it not usually seen in Rheingold. He too, was superb, and if his hammer blow wasn't as thrilling a moment as one could have hoped from a dramatic point, he sung his part with a confidence and conviction the role never gets when filled by younger singers as is the usual.

By now everyone who cares about these things already knows that on opening night there was a glitch which prevented the Machine to work as planned, thus the gods' entry into Valhalla via the Rainbow Bridge was aborted or abandoned. It's hard to have any sympathy for the opening night crowd ,but in this case I actually do because they didn't get to experience what was in my mind the finest bit of stagecraft I've ever seen. Like the Rhine scene, I can't imagine Wagner himself thinking it could be done better than this. It was beautiful, breathtaking, and the most thrilling execution of the myriad challenges posed in adhering to the Ring's crazy stage demands. The final ten minutes alone was well worth the price of admission, but I found the entire production on the whole to be greatly satisfying, though not earth-shaking. It represents the cutting of what can be done on the opera stage, even if it doesn't have the intelligence or depth of the Freyer Ring nor the brilliant imagination on display in Lepage's own debut production for the Met, La Damnation de Faust.

One last comment. The schedule for the remaining broadcasts doesn't include a dud in the bunch. I was apprehensive about the whole idea of attending these screenings, but having now done so, the quality of the sound, the staggeringly brilliant camerawork and the immediacy of watching a live performance as it takes place make this method of presentation well worthwhile. I'll be seeing many more of these broadcasts this season.