Please, Someone, Take the Razor Blades Away from those Folks at Union Ave Opera - A review of Don Giovanni

Warning - this is not a good review - alas. Well I saw this last night and I was quite disappointed, though not surprised as I had been warned. Some of the singers were quite good (Leporello, Masetto, Zerlina, Donna Anna, Donna Elvira were all very strong), but, sorry to say, the conductor was very poor. The tempi were fast, fast, fast.  There was nothing subtle in the musical performance at all – nothing exquisite – nothing profound -  no real beauty at all in this performance.  And the orchestra just sloshed through the whole thing. It didn’t help that, I suppose for financial reasons they could not find the cash to fill out the wind section.  Mozart needs 2 oboes and 2 bassoons and it sounds weird all night without them – especially the wind octets in the last scene!  Il Mio Tesoro was so fast the singer by the end was just singing whatever he could wherever he could to get it in. It was a mess, and it wasn’t the singer’s fault, who I think was quite good and capable of a beautiful performance given better support from the pit.  The electronic harpsichord was tiresome, why not just use a piano?

And really, someone needs to take the razor blades away from those people over at Union Ave Opera. The cuts were outrageous. I lost count around 15 major and minor cuts in the score. Not including all the cuts in the recits these included part of the opening Vendetta duet, Dalle sue pace, a horribly awkward cut in in the act I finale, a section of the act 2 sextet, Leporello's aria, a very odd and awkward cut in the recit before the Commendatore's entrance in the in the graveyard scene and then – (the coup de grace) - the entire final ensemble. Some of these (Dalle sue pace, Leporello's aria) can be excused because of the argument regarding various versions - Prague vs. Vienna - but I do not buy the argument that the cut of the final ensemble was a "draft" of an early version.  I have done some research on this after my experience with the Royal Opera Covet Garden production (ROH) and this is what I learned.  It is not an early draft from Mozart.  It may have been a part of a draft from Da Ponte, but Mozart personally insisted on it and actually created 2 versions of it - one for Prague and one for Vienna. In the 19th century it was cut for time - but in the 20th century it has mostly been restored. Here lately I have had to endure 2 productions without the final ensemble - this one and the ROH. Now, the ROH production I believe cut the final ensemble because it did not fit in with the director's concept of the work. No such excuse here. (I'm not sure I could ever identify a director's concept.) It was cut for time and it ruined the performance for me. It put a cap on a rather frustrating evening musically. The opera needs this final ensemble. We need to close our relationship with the characters and it is quite typical of Mozart to conclude his operas with n Enlightenment moral. Besides, I challenge anyone to name for me an opera by Mozart where the final curtain is dropped to music in a minor key!

So the conductor was terrible and should be kept away from Mozart - the Leporello was terrific and overall I thought the cast was strong. I have seen Gina Gallanti, the Donna Elvira in other operas and she was particularly excellent in this role.  Had all of them had good leadership in the pit this cast could have given us a very beautiful performance. I will say that I did not much like the Don Giovanni but even he might have been better if he had had better support and coaching from the music staff.  A word about the production – I never quite got the point of the living statues who were a part of every scene in the opera.  Now they were terrific.  How hard it must be to stand without moving much for 2 and a half hours.  But, here’s the question – why?  What was the point?  I could see them in a couple scenes and the in the graveyard and the final scene, but at the party?  Did they represent the inevitability of death and retribution?  And why was did the guests at the wedding of Z and M change their costumes to fancier outfits for the act 1 final?  Did the director not notice that DG orders Leporello to take the folks to his home for a party, right then and there?  They didn’t have time to change!  And the uniforms?  Nothing in the libretto suggests any military connection for any of the cast.  I really wonder if this director and conductor bothered to study this opera much.  They seemed to miss so much!  I really feel sorry for the fine cast to have had to endure such poor direction across the board.

So onwards - I expect Rigoletto to be a lot better - and Gotterdammerung will be frustrating because of all the cuts - but I know that going in (but the cast list in the program lists a Waltraute and an Alberich and so I assume at least some of their scenes will be included - alas, no Norns, but that is understandable).

The Fantasy and Reality of War – William Tell at the ROH

   Like most boys growing up in the US during the 60’s I played “army” growing up.  This is a nice way of saying that I and my friends played "war."  We had our toy soldiers, our toy guns and our fake uniforms.  As little boys it was pretty harmless playing around the house, but as we got older we would link up with other boys and turn our neighborhood into a battleground.  It was fun – mostly.  Nobody got hurt – usually.  It was fantasy.  That was a long time ago.  In the intervening 50 years or so I have learned that fantasy and reality are not the same.  The reality of war is much uglier than the fantasy and lots of people get hurt – not just the combatants, but innocent people get hurt in a huge variety of ways.  Specifically innocent people who happen to live in the way of advancing troops are often caught in the crossfire; and women who encounter enemy troops accidently have been raped, beaten and killed for centuries.  This is part of the reality that we like to pretend doesn’t exist.  But it does exist. Sexual violence is a part of warfare now and it has been going back as far back as we have records in history.  The reality of warfare is violent and horrible.  But the fantasy persists, and we often do not like to have our fantasies ruined by the inconvenience of reality.

   I finally had the opportunity to watch the very controversial production of the opera “William Tell” by Rossini that recently had its premiere and was subsequently broadcast to cinemas.  This production aroused such ire and upset at the premiere that the performance was interrupted with boos.  Specifically a scene of sexual violence was depicted with stark reality (read nudity) to the extent that many were upset.  In the performance I watched however the scene had been modified (the nudity removed), but the sexual violence was depicted with just as much starkness as I have ever seen on stage.  The social media reaction has been predictable.  Many seem to believe that opera (and art in general I suppose) should not enter the realm of realism but confine itself to fantasy.  The libretto is (supposedly) set in a long ago time so we should keep it there and let the story play out as a fantasy.  That is what the composer intended after all, isn’t it?

    Maybe - maybe not!  It should not be a surprise that I have a problem with this attitude.  First, let me address the contention that to change the setting somehow dishonors the composer and librettist: This of course assumes that folks making this claim have actually either seen the opera or read the libretto.  This usually turns out not to be the case. Often those who are the most offended by “updated” productions have neither seen the production in question nor read the libretto.  2^nd, why do we naturally assume that the composer or librettist would not want their work to be interpreted in a way that brings the work to life in new and unique ways that find ways of speaking to new generations?  Is it better to keep these works as museum pieces to be trotted out to provide an escape? That to me is not art, nor is it what opera is about.  And I do not believe that most composers would want their works to be relegated to being museum pieces.  I think this is especially true with Rossini and this particular opera.  “William Tell” was a complete change of direction for this composer and he seems to have been quite intent upon depicting the reality of warfare violence, including sexual violence. 

   In its 4 acts this opera is really quite a violent work. The opera begins under the cloud of oppression and threatened violence.  The Austrian occupation of Switzerland has taken a toll on the people.  They try to continue with their lives, but it is not easy.  Then a character named Leucholt arrives (in this production covered in blood). He has caught a soldier raping his daughter.  He murdered the soldier with an axe he confesses and is now trying to escape the soldiers who are after him.  Tell agrees to help him escape.  But the consequences for Tell's action are grave.  The Austrian soldiers swoop in and treat the residents with brutality, eventually murdering an old man (Mechthal) who dares to oppose them.  This offstage rape and the murders are then the catalyst of the remainder of the plot.  Rape and violence are a part of this opera from act 1.  And then in act 4 (according to the libretto), the soldiers force a group of local girls to dance for them.  This is described in the English libretto as “violence.”  In this production however the scene has been refocused and has only one woman who is gang raped by the soldiers.  There is nothing remotely appealing about this scene.  It is harsh and unpleasant.  I found it hard to watch.  But I felt that it was completely consistent with the opera, and not only the director’s vision but with libretto itself.  Perhaps the nudity in the scene pushed it over a line.  I don’t know, since there was no nudity in the production I saw.  But sexual violence is a reality of war and it is in the libretto.  Those who are so offended by this scene might consider turning their outrage against the current perpetrators of this kind of horrendous abuse of innocents who are caught up in war.  Sexual violence continues to be a horrible reality even today in the 21st century. 

   For me what made this production outstanding and remarkable was the way the fantasy of war was juxtaposed with the reality of war.  Tell’s son Jemmy plays with toy soldiers and reads comic books about war, specifically about the legend of William Tell, while he is living the harsh reality.  The opening scene was absolutely outstanding in setting the atmosphere.  The chorus in particularly was magnificent.  They certainly had lots to do and sang incredibly well.  I think my favorite scene was the finale of act 2 where the Swiss men all come together and pledge to each other their commitment to rid their land of the oppressor.  Musically and dramatically this was a very powerful scene.  The famous scene of shooting the apple off the boy’s head was done very effectively as well. 

   The cast was terrific.  Gerald Finley was an outstanding Tell.  He brought his beautiful voice to this role and the result was a complex interpretation of this character.  This was not a one dimensional Tell.  John Osborn was equally outstanding as Arnold, the son of old Mechthal who is caught between his duty to his country and his love of the Austrian princess Mathilde, sung by Malim Bystrom. The remainder of the cast was equally outstanding.  There was not a weak link among them. I particularly liked the young soprano who played the boy Jemmy (I don’t have her name unfortunately).  She perfectly captured the struggle between fantasy and reality that is focused on this character.

   In short, I thought this was a profound, moving and powerful production and and an outstanding performance.  This should probably be rated R, but there is here in this production a message we all need to hear and take to heart.  Within the last 15 years we in the west have been way too cavalier about committing ourselves to war.  Politicians in this country still promote the idea that the solution for global problems is to go to war!  This is crap!  We need to begin to move away from the idea that violence is the way we conduct diplomacy.  Every military engagement that we have entered into since the invasion of Iraq has simply made things worse, especially for the innocents who are caught up in this – for the women, the children, the elderly and the sick.  Maybe this production will call into question the degree to which we are all still caught up in the fantasy of war and prompt us to begin to ask more questions of our leaders.

   Last comment – I made a comment on social media to the effect that this opera – William Tell - is not the Rossini of the Barber of Seville, Cenerentola or L’Italiani.  Someone took offense at this comment, but it is true.  This is not the Rossini most of us are familiar with.  This opera is not even “Donna del Lago.”  Musically this work seems to me to represent a completely new direction for this composer.  Not only the choice of the subject matter, to which judging from the music, he was totally committed.  But the music itself is powerful and moving. There is no harpsichord.  There are still recitatives but there is a move towards blending the recits into the fabric of the opera – this of course is one of the Verdi’s great accomplishments.  But here is a step in that direction before Verdi.  Also Rossini’s use of the chorus has no parallel in any of his other works as far as I can tell.  In fact, I cannot think of another Bel Canto opera that uses the chorus in this manner.  It is tragic that Rossini did not continue to compose after this opera and chose to abandon composing operas after he wrote Tell.  I would like to see this opera performed more often and I would vote for bringing this production to the Met. I hope that many will take the time (3 hours and 45 minutes) to watch this production.  It is worth every minute.

Wienerstaats Oper - Das Ring des Niebelungen

Wienerstaats Oper – Das Rheingold

Rheingold Trailer     

     The Vienna State Opera produces the Ring Cycle on a fairly regular basis, I am told and this year they included the Ring as part of their internet live streaming fare and I had the opportunity to watch all of the operas.  As an extra treat a new streaming site has recently come online called Opera Platform and the 4^th opera of the cycle – Die Götterdämmerung – was stream on that site.  What makes that especially wonderful is that it is now available for free for the next 6 months.  You can find it here: Opera Platform

     On social media there is quite a lot of discussion of opera productions.  Some claim that any production mounted since the turn of the century is terrible and we need to go back to the golden days when opera was produced the way it should be.  Others love the creativity.  Many others enjoy the new interpretations while decrying the excesses of European “Regie” or director-driven productions.  And it seems like Wagner productions suffer most from this.  So one never knows what to expect.  Nevertheless I tuned in and found that I really enjoyed the first installment of the Vienna Ring. I feel that it leans more towards being a traditional production - no alligators, no nazis, no setting in facist Italy or Spain. It does have some odd little quirks, of course - but on the whole I thought it was very well done and enjoyed it very much. The cast was overall great - Richard Paul Fink as Alberich was the strongest in my view, I also loved the Erda (Janina Baechle) her singing was gorgeous. She sang her monologue like she was singing a Schubert song. The Wotan of Tomasz Konieczny was good vocally, he has a tendency to over-act a bit, though I have to say I was not bothered by his youthful appearance. I liked Peter Rose as Fasolt but Mikhail Petrenko was not enough of a bass for Fafner IMHO. Someone wrote that they looked like the Pillsbury doe boys and I agree, their costumes were odd to say the least. Then there is all the weirdness in the production - what exactly was Froh carrying around, it looked like one of the glass balls you shake and it snows inside. And why were the Niebelungs forging the gold into body parts - heads, legs, arms - I just never got that. The disposal of the giants was sloppy, Fafner just hung around for a while doing nothing and then pushed the statue of Venus (yes Venus, they put the gold in the shape of Venus - mixing myths I think) off stage leaving his staff to be in the way of the final tableau and poor Peter Rose was left laying over the rock for the rest of the opera. By curtain call he was limping and I have a feeling that is the reason. There were a number of little inconsistencies and silly bits that might have seemed brilliant to the director, but I had no idea what the point was. And what is with the snake - Alberich turns into a dragon - so they sent a member of the stage crew down to the Vienna Zoo to take a few minutes of snake video on their cell phone and that is what we had to endure. Thumbs down - I hope they do better in Siegfried! (BTW – they don’t)!

     The orchestra was good, but not great. The Vienna State Opera Orchestra is a mixed bag. Sometimes they sound spectacular and sometimes they sound like a group of amateurs. And sometimes both occur in the same performance. That was the case here. There were too many “kacks” in the brass for an orchestra of that caliber, also there were too many occasions of missed entrances and rhythmic uncertainty. And Rattle just could never get the orchestra to play under the singers when they started to play loud. The soft stuff was magical, but they consistently drowned out the singers when they rose above a forte. And then there were the curtain calls - geesh - you'd think this was an elementary school Valentine's Day play - talk about disorganized. There was not enough room, the giants couldn't really move in their costumes, they were in each other's way - it was a mess. Why can't they rehearse this? One thing about the Met, the curtain calls are always organized and professional! Not so in Vienna and it wasn't just this opera - this is a trait! But overall I liked it and enjoyed the singers and the music is glorious. The production was very suggestive and almost impressionistic and I liked that. I'm glad I saw it and I commend it to you. They will be re-broadcasting the Ring again next winter.

Wienerstaats Oper – Die Walküre

Die Walkure Trailer

     On to Die Walkure from the Vienna State Opera and I loved it.  I felt it was much stronger than Rheingold, in every way.  The settings were more definitive, not so impressionistic and they all worked well.  The weirdness was reduced substantially – I’ll explain that in a bit.  First the singing was really terrific.  The Wotan - Tomasz Konieczny was much stronger in Walkure.  He was really tremendous actually.  His Act 3 farewell was beautifully done. The other stand out for me was Martina Serafin as Sieglinde.  She sang beautifully and when she finally lets loose on the Redemption motif in act 3 – wow! The Siegmund, Christopher Ventris was good, but he suffered from what seems to be a perennial problem with Simon Rattle, which is he can’t seem to get the Vienna State Opera Orchestra to play under the singers – especially the brass.  Konieczny was able to hold his own, but near the end of act 1 it seemed like Ventris was pushing to try to be heard about the noise from the pit and it was obvious and taking a toll on him.  I was afraid he might crash a couple times.  But when he relaxed he sang beautifully.  I really think this is a problem in the pit.  Fricka, Michaela Schuster (why no bio?), was also tremendous.  Her scene with Wotan was one of the most effective performances of that scene I have experienced.  And Mikhail Petrenko was a much better Hunding than he was a Fafner.  As Fafner he just didn’t have the fullness and depth to his voice, but vocally he seemed more comfortable as Hunding.  It was a solid performance.  The (creepy) Valkures were all very effective.  Vocally it was a strong performance. I should say something about Brunnhilde, Evelyn Herlitzius, she got better as the opera progressed.  She was strongest in act 3.  Her first entrance in act 2 though was weak.  I realize it is really, really hard – but it was up from there.  I felt she was the weakest singer in the cast.

     Instrumentally, the brass were better, but in this performance it was the turn of the woodwinds to have trouble with entrances.  Chords that were supposed to be played together were ragged and messy.  The brass consistently overplayed the louds, especially the 1^st trombone (come on, this is not a piece for solo trombone with a few singers and orchestra!).  I know there are a lot of them, but this is not a regional company, this is the Vienna State Opera for heaven’s sake.  This orchestra should be as good as the Met, and they just aren’t.  I never hear the kind of sloppy playing that comes out of the Vienna pit at the Met.  One wonders if some of them actually bother listening to the singers.  And they do not follow the rubatos.  The orchestra is never with the singers for those, while the Met is always absolutely perfectly in sync.  It is not all the fault of Simon Rattle (though some of it was).  I have noticed these problems in other productions and performances.  They need a Levine to come in a shake up that orchestra.  Finally – note to the 2^nd oboe player: once the music starts you need to stop talking and making jokes.  The celli and bassi and busy setting the mood of the raging storm, the camera is showing them intently playing and in the corner of the screen there is the 2^nd oboe having a good laugh.  Terribly unprofessional and distracting!

     The production, as I said above, works much better for this opera.  The settings all made sense.  The fire at the end was really pretty cool.  It is amazing how effective good projections can be.  So we get a raging fire and the cast is not endangered! There were two things (maybe 3) that I thought were odd.  In act 2 were had two left over golden heads from the Niebelheim scene in Rheingold.  Apparently when Fasolt sees Freia’s gaze it never occurred to anyone to give up these two remaining heads.  Too bad, Wotan might have been able to keep the Ring and that would have changed the plot substantially.  I didn’t get them in Rheingold and I certainly didn’t get them here in Walkure. (What, souvenirs from the past?)  And then they disappear, they do not appear in either Siegfried or Götterdämmerung.  Then, in act 3 there were the horses!  The stage was filled with horses.  Not real ones of course, but beautiful statues.  Ok, I didn’t think much of it in the first 3^rd of the act.  But once Wotan chases away the girls it seems odd that their horses remain, and they were there to the end!  Just odd.  The Valkures were truly creepy.  And for those girls, creepy is good!  I did think it odd that Brunnhilde was not costumed like the rest of the Valkures and there was no armour, shields or swords for them.  Instead Wotan covers her with a wedding dress (that is the 3^rd oddity).  I don’t suppose there is anything wrong with that - just different.  Back to the Valkures, they all brought with them their collected heros (dancers from the company) who really seemed frantic to get away from these crazy blood-stained girls.  Can’t say as I blame them.  It was effective.  I liked that.  The hero corps in Valhalla is not such a happy community after all!

     Last comment – I really focused on the text for act 2 especially and found it all really quite profound and moving.  Not just the scene between Fricka and Wotan, and Wotan’s monologue, but in particular the scene between Brunnhilde and Siegmund.  Don’t you want to escape all of this and enter into heavenly bliss with your dad, and Wotan and a band of brother heroes and innumerable lovely maidens?  No, comes the response, my responsibility is here and if I can’t fulfill my responsibility then I want nothing to do with the shallow bliss of heaven!  Not only responsibility, but here is love – human love – and this surpasses everything else. No escapism here!  This piece is a masterpiece.  I love it!  On to Siegfried!

Wienerstaats Oper – Siegfried

Siegfried Trailer

     Siegfried this morning – and from a musical perspective this was the strongest one of the lot so far.  The American heldentenor Stephen Gould (who studied at my alma mater New England Conservatory) was simply terrific!  What a great voice and his acting was good.  Tomasz Koneiczy was wonderful as Wotan, and Evelyn Herlitzius was great as Brunnhilde.  She was much stronger in Siegfried than in Walkure, of course it is a very different role.  The test is coming for her though in Götterdämmerung!  Helwig Pecoraro was a strong Mime and Janina Baechele was wonderful as Erda.  I did not like Mikhail Petrenko as Fafner any better than I did in Rheingold.  I still feel that his voice is not right for the role.  The Forest Bird was very good – don’t know her name the website chose not to list the entire cast!  The orchestra played the best of the 3 so far.  The ensemble was better (the “Heil dir” chords weren’t perfectly together, but close enough I guess).  There were still the perennial balance problems, the singers were consistently covered as they have been for the entire cycle.  But this is the strongest performance so far from a musical standpoint.  Hats off to the principal horn – his playing was stunning!

     I would not consider this production a “Regie” production, even so this production of Siegfried came the closest and had the most disconnects from the libretto.  I really like there to be some connection between the libretto and the staging – so when they are singing about a helmet it is nice if there is in fact a helmet somewhere.  And if you can’t have that then at least let’s have some consistency within the production itself.  Alas, this was woefully lacking.  Granted the Ring makes the task more difficult as you have 4 operas that have to be coordinated.  First, note that act I – Mime’s cave – looked more like a factory floor with a huge wall with fans in it.  So then to act 3, Walkure ends with Brunnhilde on the stage covered by a white bridal dress (she is dressed in blue) surrounded by horses.  So when we get to Brunnhilde there she is on the stage covered by lacey white material (and no longer dressed in blue).  There is no way even a dolt like Siegfried could mistake that whatever it is for a male warrior. There is nary a sword (except Nothung), spear, shield, breast-plate or helmet in sight.  The revealing of Brunnhilde consisted of pulling off all the white lacy material.  And there are no horses – where did they go?  Even Gräne was not there.  And not only that but the hall from the 1^st act factory was behind her – AND it was night!  “Heil dir…” what sun, what light? 

     Act 3 began with Wotan digging what looked like a grave with a shovel out of which Erda (who was costumed in white lacy material… hmmmm) rolled. Then the confrontation with Siegfried took place in the grave and consisted of Siegfried roughing up Wotan (I really hated that – that bothered me a lot – there should be one strike and it is the sword which shatters the spear).  Oh and the spear didn’t shatter Wotan disappeared in to the grave and emerged with a broken spear – kind of lame.  Act 2 was boring.  This has got to be the most boring dragon fight ever.  Even St. Louis’ Regional company Union Ave Opera had a more exciting dragon.  This dragon consisted only of a projected eye that turned red when Siegfried struck the mortal blow.  How lame is that!  And then Fafner emerged covered in blood, but in Rheingold Fafner was blue – his skin was blue – in Siegfried his skin color has now miraculously changed to lily white.  Maybe that is what happens when you turn yourself into a dragon for several decades!  And besides the shovel, which I thought was silly, there was a HUGE egg in act 1 – what in the world was that and then while Mime is making the poison drink he pulls out a jar that has what looked like a human embryo in it.  There was just no sense to any of this in my view.  The general overall settings were ok, except the final scene of act 3 which was just ridiculous – oh and did I mention there was NO magic fire for Siegfried to penetrate at all! 

My take on the production of Siegfried is my most negative of these Ring productions of the Ring.  Luckily the music was the best of the Ring so far and I really love the music to this opera.  I should also mention Richard Paul Fink who is a tremendous Alberich.  He and Wotan were magnificent in act 2, scene 1.  It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out in Gotterdammerung.

Götterdämmerung – Wienerstaats Oper

Gotterdammerung Trailer

I want to repeat that the last installment of the Vienna Ring was and is available on the new opera streaming website – Opera Platform:

Opera Platform

If you have not yet checked this out you should. They launched the website last month with an outstanding production of  “La Traviata” from Madrid which was shortly followed by an incredible production from ROH-London of Szymanowski’s “King Roger” starring Marius Kwiecien.  Both performances were outstanding. “King Roger” is one of the most powerful opera experiences I have ever had.  I only wish I could have seen the production live.  The other Ring operas were streamed through the Vienna State Opera Live streaming site:

Staatsoper Live

I have watched over 20 performances this year and they have certainly been a mixed experience, but what a wonderful opportunity to experience one of the great opera houses here in rural Illinois.  The whole Ring experience I would say was mixed, both musically and in terms of the production.  Director Sven-Eric Bechtolf has some great ideas and certainly has a vision for this Ring, but unfortunately was not able to carry it off consistently across the board.

     That being said, in my humble opinion this Götterdämmerung was the best of the entire Ring both musically and in terms of production.  I’m not sure why, but this Götterdämmerung simply didn’t have the head-scratching oddness and disappointments of the earlier operas.  It was a traditional production that never strayed and the rather impressionistic supernatural elements that were used in Rheingold worked beautifully here.  I especially loved the ending. Those of us who love the Ring and go out of our way to experience multiple productions of the Ring Cycle get used to getting the end of the marathon and being disappointed with the final apocalypse.  I am sure it is not easy to portray engulfing of the earth and the heavens in fire and then have the Rhein overflow its banks. The Met Lepage production for example was a major disappointment at the end and they are not the only one.  This Vienna Ring however used projections and what I call lighting impressionism to create the effect along with some supers or dancers, and I thought it was excellent.  That said it is a pretty dark production on the whole. Except for the flowering trees on Brunnhilde’s rock during the prologue there was no color to speak of and I wished for at least a bit of wilderness green in the 1^st and 2^nd scenes of act 3. Still this G was terrific and I found it very moving and powerful and beautiful.

     The star of the performance easily was Evelyn Hertlizius as Brunnhilde.  I felt that she improved over the cycle.  She struggled mightily with her first entrance in Walkure and then improved progressively from there.  In Götterdämmerung she was outstanding.  Her voice was full and powerful throughout.  Someone on the FB Met Opera page said they didn’t think she had a beautiful voice but it is a powerful voice and she was an excellent Brunnhilde in Götterdämmerung.  Her partner, Stephen Gould, as Siegfried was also very good.  I liked him quite a lot.  He was solid and secure.  Falk Struckmann was effective as the dark and brooding Hagen.  I don’t think his voice is particularly beautiful either but he has the dark timbre needed to be effective in the bad guy roles he tends to play.  Now Boaz Daniel as Gunter has a beautiful voice. He and Caroline Wenborne as Gutrune brought a beautiful musicality to these roles.  Richard Paul Fink was again terrific in his cameo part as Alberich in act 2, scene 1.  In Götterdämmerung Alberich is hardly on stage at all, but he was one of the shining stars of the complete Ring.  His Alberich was consistently outstanding throughout.  And the two trios – the Norns and the Rheinmaidens were excellent.  Vocally I felt that this was a terrific performance and that in this 4^th opera all of the singers were well cast and sang well.

     The orchestra I felt was also better overall.  The tendency to cover the singers was less of a problem than it was especially in Walkure and Siegfried, but there were still moments.  But in the two orchestral set pieces – the Rhein Journey and Siegfried’s Death March – the orchestra played very well.  Well, except for the poor guy who was the principal off-stage horn.  He was having a bad day.  I don’t think I have ever heard the off-stage horn calls played as badly as they are in this performance. On the whole I still feel that Simon Rattle is not yet in the same class as Daniel Baremboim or James Levine as a Wagner conductor.  And there were times when I felt he was not in control.  And the orchestra overall was inconsistent.

      It appears that I am not the only one who felt this way.  After the 2^nd intermission when Maestro Rattle entered and had the orchestra stand a noisy conflict seemed to erupt in the audience between the booers and the applauders.  Just as the applause and cheers would subside then others would start booing which would prompt more cheering and applause.  I wondered at one point whether they ever would get the 3^rd act off the ground.  This may be why the off-stage horn completely crashed on his entrance that is at the downbeat for the 3^rd act.  Rattle almost started the act several times before he actually did.  It is interesting as an American.  We don’t often see this kind of behavior from audiences.  But, as was pointed out to me, it does show that the audience is more engaged and discerning.  Americans tend to applaud and cheer for anything.

     I have enjoyed this Ring cycle very much.  It was mixed, of course, but most Rings are.  Gotterdammerung was the strongest performance overall, Walkure was next.  Siegfried had the most production oddness and then Rheingold was the weakest musically. I have some musings on Gotterdammerung that I will post separately.  This performance is supposed to be available on the Opera Platform site for 6 months, though the site itself gives mixed information.  Hopefully it will remain for a while and I strongly urge you to watch it.  It is well worth the 5 and a half hours it takes to get through it.  It actually took me longer as we had some technical difficulties in the form of local storms that knocked out the internet for about 20 minutes and then there was an odd problem of the syncing of the image and sound in act 2.  But I restarted my computer and that problem was fixed.  I’m pretty sure that problem was on my end.  But it just goes to confirm that as nice as these internet performances are, and I am very grateful to have the opportunity to watch these productions, live performance would be better!  Wagner’s Ring is one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of Western music and art.  The work is beautiful, profound, disturbing, moving, exciting, distressing…..  But what a gift that we can experience this.