Like the Ring’s chief god Wotan*, however—who ultimately loses all because of an ill-conceived power-grab—I fear the LA Opera may go belly-up as a result of its exorbitantly expensive attempt to prove its stature among the big boys of opera with an edgy, “modern” Ring.
although George Lucas’ estimate ended up being too priceyto swallow, ultimate producer Achim Freyer couldn’t
resist throwing light sabers into his show
photo: Monika Rittershaus [source]
Wagner’s four-opera masterpiece, Der Ring des Nibelungen, often sells out. You see, like the Dead-heads of old, Ring-heads think nothing of traveling across the country—or around the world—to see the work when the full cycle is performed.
Robin and I went with my parents to see the first of the LA Opera’s three cycles, which ended a week ago Sunday. I was astounded to see that at least a third of the house was empty, on all four nights. The word had apparently gotten out about the production.
I’d call it a failure, for two primary reasons.
First, Achim Freyer’s directing managed to completely eliminate from the work any hint of emotion. This is on par with omitting humor from the Marx Brothers, or axing love from Romeo and Juliet.
A website about the Ring that I found on line contains this description of just how fundamental human emotions are to Wagner’s work:
[Wagner’s intent in the Ring was to depict] the human perception of the physical world, the inner world of man and the relations between people. And the myriads of emotions these relations lead to. In the Nibelung’s Ring we find an enormous range of emotions, from the deepest sorrow, pain and despair to joy, wonder and elevated pride, from fear and anxiety to self-confidence and firmness, from arrogance to heroism, from hate and rage to rapture and ecstasy, from betrayal, treachery and falseness to compassion, tenderness, love and total self-sacrifice. Almost every human condition is described with textual and musical means. And most masterly of all, the composer creates a multiplicity of transitions and transformations from one expression to another.So what does director Freyer do? He has Siegmund and Sieglinde—two of opera’s most ardent lovers—stand across the stage from one another while declaring their mutual passion.
And check out the cold, unfeeling staging employed for the poignant and heartbreaking confrontation scene between Wotan and his wife Fricka, when he finally comes to grips with the fact that all his plans to save the gods are for naught:
Almost all the singers had their heads covered with some sort of mask, which only served to exacerbate the lack of emotion conveyed.
By the end of the cycle, I was frankly sick of the puppet show, the light sabers, the people in black who constantly crept slowly about the stage for some metaphorical purpose undecipherable by me or anyone else. (If you’d like to see a sampling, click here.)
The other major flaw was that the performance of Siegfried—sung by John Treleaven—was by far the worst I have ever heard in a leading role in a major opera house. His vibrato was as wide and heaving as the Rhine, and his voice consistently strained in an (often unsuccessful) attempt to hit the high notes. He was clearly was not up to the role, and I found myself grimacing whenever he sang. I sighed with relief when Hagen finally put him out of his misery with a spear to the back in the third act of Götterdämmerung.
Not only that, but Treleaven played Siegfried—supposedly one of the most heroic of all Wagner roles—as if he were a nine-year-old boy. One half expected him to be dipping Brünnhilde’s pigtails in an ink-pot.
And his costume was downright silly; in fact, it brought to mind a Smurf:
Or perhaps a troll doll:
When Robin and I got back home to Santa Cruz, she said to me, “I’m sure glad we’re going to the San Francisco Opera’s Walküre next week, to get that damn LA Ring out of my brain.”
We went to the SF production last Sunday, and it was superb: full of emotion and passion. Compare director Francesca Zambello’s vision of Siegmund and Sieglinde with Freyer’s, pictured above:
In particular, the dynamic between Brünnhilde and her father Wotan was moving and powerful:
And Nina Stemme (singing Walküre for the first time) was the best Brünnhilde I’ve ever seen. Her voice was commanding but lyrical, and her transition from youthful exuberance in Act 2 to tragic resignation in Act 3 was beautifully acted. (See here for a review. It runs through June 30, if you want to go.)
A few other Wagner odds and ends:
If you’ve ever wondered about the Wagner vs. Tolkien connection, check out this article from the New Yorker.
And here’s a photo I took at the Ring costume contest that was held before Sunday’s Die Walküre at the SF Opera:
l-r: Wotan (with the eye-patch), Brünnhilde, and the earth-goddess Erda* Robin would want me to note that—contrary to what is stated in the website linked to my reference to Wotan—he did not father all nine of the Valkyries with Erda. Rather, Wagner’s libretto makes clear that Erda is only Brünnhilde’s mother (the mother of the other eight is unnamed). That so many Wagner commentators (including the LA Opera music director James Conlon, who did so in his pre-opera talks) state that Erda is the mother of all nine really pisses Robin off, since the fact that Brünnhilde is the only daughter Wotan sired by Erda is central to the special love he has for her.
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Jeez, the 3 minute clip of the LA production was too long -- truly dreadful. Good thing you had SF as a chaser!
ReplyDeleteYep, I agree with everything that Leslie said. The SF production (shared with Washington National Opera) was conceived and directed by the very talented Francesca Zambello. Beyond creating a production that enhances the emotion in the music, she also really brings out the feminist nature of the Ring. Among other things, Die Walküre was Wagner's attack on the then-predominant ideology of marriage - woman as property of men. And, in fact, Wagner was greatly loved by feminists in the late 19th century and early 20th century because of his consistently strong women characters and feminist bent, particularly in the Ring.
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