Sunday, October 24, 2010

Met Rheingold review...

Thoughts on Rheingold from the Met in HD.



Well, first things first, I am something of a Wagner tragic. To me, the man was a vile toad, but he wrote some of the most extraordinary operas the world has ever seen. Yes, they are over the top, but they do have the power to move one, make one think, and generally do all the things an art work is supposed to do.


Secondly, I have never seen any of the Ring live. I have only seen one Wagner opera live (Meistersinger at OperaAustralia) and I loved every second of that.


Also, of the Ring, despite it being the shortest, I probably know 2 others better than Rheingold.


Now, caveats aside, let's get to the meat and potatoes! Let me start by saying I think Robert LaPage's staging is a genuine triumph. Yes, there are niggles, but on the whole, the machine is a brilliant success. Trying to create a new ring cycle is always fraught with disaster, and despite a few problems with the machine on opening night, his decision to create a set that is both abstract, constantly rearranging and, more to the point, a way of creating things on stage not seen before (to my knowledge) has paid off brilliantly.


The machine, as everyone refers to it, is a series of metal planks that form the staging.. These can be raised vertically (they face the audience like that), be flat, suspended in the air, or any combination in between. Much of the time there are performers on them, or hanging from them. Some of this must be truly scary for the singers, but creates some truly awesome effects. For once, the Rhinemaidens really do swim thru the Rhine. And the rainbow bridge is something else! You can see why mere mortals would fear to cross it and enter Valhalla with this version..


On the planks of the machine, computer controlled imagery is projected to create amazing effects, ranging from water and bubbles for the Rhinemaiden scene, Loge's fire, through to Donner's lightning, and the rainbow bridge itself. On the whole, these are used very effectively, but a couple of times I began to think, the machine was used, simply because they could, rather than because it was the right effect for the scene. Sometimes when you have a great idea, half the trick is knowing when not to use it, and I found it getting a little like that at times when Loge kept walking backwards up it, not because it was appropriate, but because the director wanted to use his toys...


Now, having said that, the direction as a whole was great. The characterisation was believable, the relationships worked. You could see Fricka cared for Wotan, despite his womanising ways, and genuinely wanted him to stop. They all loved Freia, and no one trusted Loge, even as they found themselves depending on him. But for many (myself included) the real star of this show was Alberich.


This is probably not a good thing. Having an evil dwarf who sings the rest of the (starry) cast off the stage in some ways unbalanced the performance. Granted him making and using the ring gives him godlike powers, but the gods (Wotan especially) should still dominate proceedings, they are gods after all, even if flawed. The Alberich of Eric Owens out sang everyone in the cast. Friends who heard it live in the theatre said it was even more apparent in the house. Not that the rest of the cast were lacking, just that Alberich was on a higher level altogether. You could almost think of it, as if he had the voice for his role at that barn that is the Met, while the others belonged in a much smaller theatre, that held say 1000. Seriously, it was that pronounced, he sang with a beautiful, clear, unforced sound that resonated through the theatre, making many wish he was singing Wotan. Perhaps that was his intention. Perhaps he is hoping he will get to be Wotan next time round.


Speaking of Wotan, the role that should hold the opera, indeed the whole cycle, together. I think Bryn Terfel will never make the great Wotan we were expecting him to. To me, his voice sounds like he is in need of some serious technical rethinking. It may be partly choices he made for characterisation, but frequently I found myself wishing he would just sing out with those beautiful tones he used to be capable of. Sadly, I suspect his best singing may well be behind him.


Fricka was sung beautifully by Stephanie Blythe. I have not heard her much before, but I could not help thinking how alike she is to Delora Zaijick vocally. Both have big clear mezzo voices that project out with ease and fill the house. Both also have something odd that happens with head voice, not unpleasant, just odd, that I can't quite work out what it is. She also, as I said, was a very human Fricka, totally believable as the long suffering wife, still in love with her husband.


Loge sang beautifully too, possibly too much so. I have never heard such a lyrical Loge before. My spies in the theatre said often he was inaudible, which does not surprise me, as I was surprised to see Dwayne Croft singing anything in Wagner, and I think he should not choose to do it again, unless it is a much smaller house. Having said that, he came over just fine in the cinema, with the beautiful tones of a good bel canto voice, which I would imagine is his forte.


Also impressive were the Rhinemaidens. You can tell you are at the Met when the quality of the singing is so high for the smaller roles like the Rhinemaidens. Their scene at the start, and their interaction with Alberich was a model of ensemble singing and beauty of tone that you wish you always hear at the opera but often don't. Their swimming was great too!


Erda's appearance was another demonstration of the great effects possible with the machine, though I have to admit wishing she was (cue Anna Russell fans) a green faced torso. Having a beautiful elegant singer with long blonde hair, while helping to explain Wotan's fascination with her and her pronouncements, detracted from the idea of her as the embodiment of Mother Earth...


I also have to comment on the scenes with the giants. The giants clearly owed more than a little to Hagrid of Harry Potter films, not that I have a problem with that, though others may. The staging though, was a demonstration of the power of Robert LaPage's staging smarts. Even though the giants were normal sized men, their costumes were oversize, and their positioning on the machine made them appear much bigger. Of course, that effect was lost when they took Freia captive, but by then, you already had them accepted as bigger, so it did not matter...


Now, to the final scene and my one real gripe with this production. Throughout the opera, the characters refer to Valhalla, the home built for the gods by the giants that results in much of the action in this opera. There is even a dedication sung to it by one of the gods in the final scene. So, why, not once do we see it? Not even when they cross the rainbow bridge to enter Valhalla? Constantly referring to something that is not there makes it a bit elephant in the room like. Valhalla is so crucial to what happens in this part of the ring, and the next, that not showing it leaves us wondering why not? Surely it was not a lack of imagination? It smells of an oversight at the set design stage, that no one had time to fix, and it spoilt an otherwise magical ending to an opera that is ultimately about magic and the power it gives and the misuse of that power.