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.

LA Opera's 2012-13 season: Bunt!

Marina Poplavskaya

If you ever played Little League baseball, surely you remember some parental troll in the bleachers yelling "A bunt's as good as a hit!" But everyone on the field knew that wasn't the truth- nothing feels better than a solid hit. LA Opera announced their next season today, and it's definitely a mixed bag, the programming equivalent of a bunt- good enough to keep the game going, maybe even score a run or two, but it seems like the safe way out- and disappointing in the long run. With the exception of the Verdi rarity I Due Foscari, the season is wall-to-wall warhorses. Well-cast warhorses for the most part, but there's something dispiriting about a season in which the most intriguing thing on it is an opera by Verdi. Don't get me wrong- the notion of Domingo, Marina Poplavskaya and Franceso Meli in a Verdi opera no one around these parts has seen in forever is tantalizing to be sure, but after that? Lots to see, but little to be truly excited about except for Sondra Radvanovsky as Tosca, which is somewhat undermined by having Domingo conduct.

On the plus side, none of these productions have previously been seen in LA, though I've seen a couple of them here in San Francisco, so let's begin with those.

Raimund Bauer's set design for Die Fliegende Hollander was one of those productions people either loved or loathed, and I loved every minute of it and would happily see it again. So this is a plus, though I also really liked the Julie Taymoor Dutchman I saw in LA a few years back and would have been pleased to see the original version make a return. As for the cast, Jay Hunter Morris as Erik is obviously a good thing, though Elisabete Matos as Senta is an unknown quantity, as is Tomas Tomasson, whom I saw in SFO's production of The Queen of Spades, but frankly I don't remember much about his performance.

The other SFO production is Butterfly- not the most recent, which was imported from Chicago I think, and a total disaster, but the Michael Yeargan production which was seen so many times in SF that it needed to be retired from sheer exhaustion. But it's a good one if you've never seen it. The cast is an embarrassment of riches and can I just say right now that it's something of a travesty to see a singer as fine as Eric Owens cast in the role of Sharpless? Mr. Owens, fire your management team- you should be headlining operas world-wide- not taking secondary roles in warhorses. The magnificent Brandon Jovanovich is Pinkerton (he's great in this role) and Oksana Dyka should make for an interesting Butterfly.

LAO's production of Don Giovanni in 2003 with Erwin Schrott (conducted by Nagano) was as good as it gets, so we'll have to see if Ildebrando D'Arecengelo in this production from Chicago can eclipse that. Having Soile Isokowski as Donna Elvira will certainly go a long way toward making that happen and it's nice to see the phenomenally talented Joshua Bloom return to the West Coast. Go on a night when Conlon is conducting.

I know nothing about the cast or production for La Ceneretola, but LAO has a good track record with Rossini these past few years and though it's too bad Nino Machaidze isn't on the schedule this season (what's up with that, by the way?), I'd say based on the recent past this is a safe bet since Conlon's on the podium. If any company can make a claim to doing right by Rossini in recent years, it's LAO.

So that brings us to Tosca. On the one hand it has Radvanovsky in it, along with the excellent Marco Berti as Cavaradossi. This alone is reason to be excited, but I sure wish Conlon was at the helm of this one. Still, Sondra is Sondra, and how can you miss this?

Overall, it's the cautious programming being seen almost everywhere, but at least in this case what's on the stage promises to be good. A step back for what has been an adventurous company in recent years, but not a mis-step. 

San Francisco Opera: the 2012-13 season

Interior of the War Memorial Opera House. Photo by David Wakely

San Francisco Opera's General Director David Gockley has done the improbable and created an upcoming season I'm actually excited about for the first time during his tenure. Eight operas are scheduled for 2012-13 (I'm not including the world premiere co-production with Cal Performances of The Secret Garden since that's being staged at Zellerbach), and though the season largely follows Gockley's established pattern of presenting a stable of recently staged warhorses, he's also included two premieres of contemporary, English-language operas, with another on the way the following year (based on Stephen King's Dolores Claibourne). That's a bold move in the current climate and the riskiest thing he's done in San Francisco so far. After the two premieres, the appeal of 2012-13 is in the well-cast standard rep not seen locally for a long time. It's the best schedule SFO has announced since Rosenberg's era and hopefully it works as well onstage as it looks on paper.

Rigoletto brings back Michael Yeargan's well-worn production ('06, '01, and '97) for 12 performances. The title role is shared by Zeljko Lucic and Marco Vratogna. His daughter Gilda will be performed by Aleksandra Kurzak and Albina Shagimuratova.  Lucic was good the last time the company staged Verdi's La Forza, but the presence of David Lomeli in the role of the Duke of Mantua makes my choice the cast led by Vratogna. On the other hand, Kurzak recently won great accolades in LA Opera's Cosi, so one probably can't go wrong with either cast. It's a dark and claustrophobic production which I've enjoyed the previous times I've seen it. My one question for director Harry Silverstein is will there be breasts this time- or  is the San Francisco audience too provincial? Luisotti conducts one of Verdi's very best.

Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi (The Capulets and the Montagues) has only been seen on the War Memorial stage once before in 1991. Conductor Riccardo Frizza (last year's Lucrezia) returns  to lead an excellent cast featuring Joyce DiDinato, Eric Owens, Saimir Pirgu (another singer well-reviewed in LA's Cosi) and Nicole Cabell, who seems poised for the next level. The presence of DiDonato and Owens are reason enough to attend, even if a Bel Canto version of Romeo and Juliet isn't necessarily your thing.

Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick makes its local debut after receiving a tremendous reception at its world premiere in Dallas. Ben Heppner and Jay Hunter Morris (Siegfried) share the role of the obsessed Captain Ahab. While Heppner's the more more established singer, the quickly-rising Morris is the one to see. Depending on the state of Heppner's voice, Morris may well end up performing more than the two performances for which he's scheduled. Patrick Summers conducts.

Puccini's Tosca was last staged here in 2009 and its the same Thierry Bosquet set and costumes seen previously for what seems like the last 100 years, but is in fact only the fifth time since 1997. Should still seem fresh, right? Twelve performances with two casts and a battle of the divas between Patricia Racette and Angela Gheorghiu in the title role. Racette's the local favorite, but Gheorghiu's appearances are rarer and she strikes me as the more interesting of the two in the role, which neither have sung in San Francisco before. So personally I'd go with Angela, assuming she actually shows up, but if you've never seen Tosca go with Racette- the supporting cast of Brian Jadge and Mark Delevan certainly trumps Massimo Giordano and Roberto Frontali. Luisotti conducts all performances.

Wagner's Lohengrin hasn't seen the War Memorial stage since 1996 and it returns with what may end up being the strongest cast of the season. The marvelous tenor Brandon Jovanovich sings the title role for the first time. The presence of Kristinn Sigmundsson, Petra Lang, and Brian Mulligan in the tale of the lustful knight all bode well, and though Camilla Nylund is an unknown in these parts, she'd have to muck it up pretty badly to keep this from being first-rate all the way around. The production is new to San Francisco and the only iffy thing about it is whether or not Luisotti can conduct Wagner. He did very well with Strauss two years back, so that's a good omen of what will come from the pit.

The allure that Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) holds for many has thus far eluded me, but I've never seen it performed before. This should be an excellent introduction- Natalie Dessay plays the four loves of Matthew Polenzani's title character, with Alice Coote and Christian Van Horn along for the telling. Conductor Patrick Fournillier ably led Cyrano recently and Laurent Pelly's productions are usually a delight (La Fille du Regiment).

Cosi Fan Tutte is the one opera of Mozart's I absolutely love, so who cares if this is the same production from way back in 2005. It was great then and with a young, vibrant cast featuring Ellie Dehn, Heidi Stober, Susannah Biller and Phillipe Sly, it should be quite fun. Luisotti hasn't convinced me yet that he has any facility with Mozart, but if there's one opera where he can prove himself, it's Cosi.

The world premiere of composer Mark Adamo's The Gospel of Mary Magdalene is bound to be somewhat controversial- or at least it should be if it's done well. Mary has a strong cast featuring Sasha Cooke finally appearing on the other side of Grove Street in the title role, barihunk Nathan Gunn as Jesus, and William Burden, whose singing was the only thing I found worthwhile in last year's Heart of a Soldier, as Peter. Everything else is new, including conductor Michael Christie, making his SFO debut. Everything except the story, that is.

Ranking them in order of personal anticipation, top to bottom:
Lohengrin
Moby-Dick
The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Cosi fan tutte
Rigoletto
Tosca

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.

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.