The Ring - in Weimar.
This was a bit of a punt – a small provincial opera house and mostly unknown cast - but it turned out to be a great experience. A modern anti-heroic production of course which distressed some of the audience who seemed to be upset we were not at Bayreuth in the 1930s (English, accent you could engrave steel-plate with: “But Siegfried is supposed to be tall…and blonde”). The story was clearly told, a fairly straight reading compared with some, no great Konzept, and I really liked the way the director and ensemble took great care to match the action with the music. They looked like a well-rehearsed team. There was occasionally a little too much heavy-handed and gratuitous symbolism bolted-on for my taste but this is a Meisterwerk, directed by a German in a German theatre, so nothing unexpected there. I thought many of the touches – Valkyries in a school dorm.– were witty and effective. The only real clunker was the first act of Siegfried, which suffered from an off-form (I hope) title tenor and a messy, confused staging.
Siegfried aside, the singing was good to excellent. Vocal highlights were Hidekazu Tsumaya (Fafner, and a thoroughly evil Hunding), Christian Elsner (a magnificent Sigmund) and Catherine Foster (Brunhilde) who, whilst she does not produce the most beautiful of sounds, was secure and tireless and gave a thrilling performance. It’s probably unfair to compare someone singing in an 800-seat theatre with people trying to fill Covent Garden or the Albert Hall, but I preferred her to either Christine Brewer or Lisa Gasteen, the two others I’ve seen in this role. She’s Brunhilde in Oslo next year and I’m sure some big houses have her in their sights. Who is slated for the ROH in 2012?
The Weimar Staatskapel played very well throughout under Martin Hoff, with some particularly fine horn-playing.
Almost the best bit: great stalls seats could be had for €40 or €50. There is another cycle in April ‘09.
clip of Die Walkure
Not Siegfried
