Thoughts that arose after seeing "Wagner's Dream"

Ok, so I have now seen "Wagner's dream" - the documentary to pull more money for the Met. Sorry, raise the profile of The Met's Ring cycle. That was a bit cynical wasn't it? It's actually worth seeing if you went to the Ring operas from this new production, either at the opera, or at The Met itself. And yes, I am glad I saw it.

But, for me, what was most telling is what was not covered. Yes, I get that the machine, and the staging was the big deal about this new production. And, to be sure, this is probably what most people were interested in, but, really, that is only one part of what goes into making a production like this.

Where was the sections of the orchestra rehearsing with James Levine, before he had to leave for health reasons? Or him working with some of the singers? Or, how about some stuff of Debbie Voigt working on learning the words and music of what is a humungous role, which she had never learnt before? I mean, even the preparation of some individual scenes, which were shown, in every case focused on the interaction of the characters and the machine, not even once did I hear a performer talk about motivations or "how do you want me to play this scene?"

Of course, I do know why none of this featured.

This was a production by a director, who while known for innovation, is not exactly known for depth. This is not a production to make people discuss what was meant, or why someone did what, it was opera as spectacle, as a literal reading, utilising technology to bring things to life that have always been essentially unstageable.

My spies, who include people who sang in the show, inform me that they did not have much in the way of interaction with Robert LePage. Most of the blocking, that is, the building up of how the characters move around and interact was worked out with assistants. LePage was more focussed (dare I say, obsessed?) with his monster of a set, and all its technical challenges.

Yet ultimately, what matters with any opera, in the end, is the music, the characters and the performances. Do we believe in them as individuals enough to care what happens? Are the musical values strong enough to make us care? And, is the music working to strengthen the performances, or do those actually work against the music being sung?

And to be honest, having seen this production in cinema, and now having seen the documentary, I am truly convinced that what worked owed most to Richard Wagner, then to James Levine and his musical staff, then the performers and finally to Robert LePage's organisation. This, for all its marketing as an innovative production, was really at its heart a very traditional telling of the story. Yes, the set was unusual, and used in interesting ways, but that does not detract from the fact, this is a very traditional Ring.

And I say that, not meaning it in a bad way. This is a Ring cycle to show to people who do not "get" Wagner. It presents the operas in a way that is clear, does not clutter the stories with unnecessary details and is performed by people who mostly are at the top of their careers. There are a couple of smaller performers who, in the performances screened in cinemas, seemed outclassed, but they were minor roles, compared to most.

But, Wagner is expected to offer more. As a writer, he was concerned much more with the meaning of the tale, than just the tale itself. Normally, in modern productions, you come away with a sense of what the director thought the operas were about. You gain a sense of what his or her pet theories are, or his choice of things to fetishise. With this production, you only get opera as spectacle and storytelling. Which, while enjoyable, does leave you wondering, "is that it?" I think for the length of time we commit, we (and Wagner) should expect more.

A Rant

Extreme frustration…

That is all I can say about what has just happened. Apart from the fact that I am distraught beyond words. Upset. Needing to cry and rant for days.

And it is all happening, because an invoice that should have been paid months ago sat on someone's too hard pile. Meanwhile, we sat and wondered why it was taking so long to pay. When The Gorgeous One was able to break free of regular day job induced deadline hell and family stress to find out, butts were kicked and numerous apologies issued, but the damage was done. We now had to restart the approval process for payment all over again. And being a Govt organisation that is funded by multiple areas of government, that takes time. You would think two weeks would be enough, but no.

So, instead, we have to sit back, rant and rave and wait for this money to come through. In the meantime, we watch our tickets to The Met's Ring cycle go to waste. Tickets we organised back in September last year. Our plans to do a range of things, fall apart. Our chance to meet people who have been responsible for keeping me sane through some very black days, gone. You begin to see why I am upset.

So, what am I missing you ask? Well, this:




Has that whetted your appetite for more? Try here:  This is the official video for the full cycle


So, instead, we are waiting to hear when we do get this payment through, then trying to work out what we can do. Needless to say, this is not a good time to be in our household right now.


If we appear a little distracted, upset or aggro, you at least know why, and hopefully will be sympathetic. Right now though, I think I will go have another cry. You might want to turn away.

And yes, this might seem a little melodramatic to some of you. But, this was going to be our first real holiday together, that was not for family reasons. This holiday has also already cost me several jobs, because they wanted someone who could start straight away. It has been the one thing I had been looking forward to, while I was out of work. Now that has gone too. I think I am entitled to be upset.

Gotterdammerung in HD

I admit to approaching this review in 2 minds. Do I write my normal review, or do I write a love letter to Deb Voigt's immolation scene? I am not being silly. Her immolation scene IS that good. The rest of the performance that we saw in the cinema was mostly fantastic, but that huge final sing that Deb did was truly something else again. Just so that you know what I am talking about, here is one of the better sounding immolation scenes available on line:



http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2581375664047517259

This was Eva Marton singing Brunnhilde, I have no idea where, but it gives you an idea what I am talking about if you do not know the piece.

This is sung at the end of a 6 hour opera! This is what brings it to a close. Tonight, listening to Debbie Voigt sing this music, whatever hesitations, what ever doubts I had about her as a successful Brunnhilde were swept away. She took charge and sang her heart out in a way we wish we got all the time, but rarely get. This was singing (and acting) of the highest order that left me shocked. Do not get me wrong, Debbie Voigt is a very good singer, and one of the few who can successfully negotiate the demands of Brunnhilde at The Met, with its barn of a theatre. But I was not expecting to be shocked out of my seat with brilliant singing at the end of the opera. The only conclusion is she was holding back enough to really let rip at the end and stun us all insensible. It worked!!!

But as for the rest? Well, really, there were no weak links. The Norns at the start all sang beautifully, even if their costuming and makeup was quite unflattering (occupational hazard in Wagner unfortunately)

Jay Hunter Morris continues to grow in his Siegfried performances. Give him another ten years, and he will either be truly fabulous, or his voice will be shot. I am not sure which but I am hoping for fabulous. As it is, he is really bringing the character to life beautifully. If his voice is a bit small for the role, well, that is something we have to live with. Siegfried Jerusalem was a freak of nature, and those tend to be few and far between.

Also stunning was Hans-Peter Konig as Hagen. Seriously, his is a voice born to play villains, big dark and beautifully expressive. Eric Owens in the cameo as his father was also his usual great self, continuing his outstanding success in the role.

And of course, the chorus were their normal amazing self. Seriously, that number of singers all working brilliantly together is amazing, and they did it well..

Which brings me to the production…

The Machine continues to be its mix of wonderful and infuriating. Wonderful in that so much of it works so well. Infuriating for those times when they seem to be doing things, just for the sake of doing it. Yes, it is great to have so much flexibility. But, that does not mean you have to use it all the time!!! Going through about three different stages each time the scene changes begins to get a bit old very quickly. And yes, I get that water features prominently in this opera. But do you have to constantly have it featured in the projections on the machine? It probably explains why regular toilet breaks are a must in this opera!!!

Something I have not mentioned much in my previous comments is the costumes. Part of that reason is that most of the previous operas are full of supernatural characters, gods and demigods and the like, so you do expect them to have out there costumes, rather than something normal. But most of this opera the characters are fully human, normal people in a medieval world. Their costumes worked in with that well, and it was the first time I noticed how well.

Oh, the other thing that Gotterdammitslong (as I call it) stands and falls on, is how well the staging of the ending is. Does it tie up the loose ends, does the burning work convincingly, is it believable? Well, to be honest, yes and no. It was not believable for the cataclysmic ending of the world with hope for renewal that we are led to expect. Yes, the important bits (Siegfried, Brunnhilde and Grane) burnt up, the subtitles indicated that Valhalla was going to be burnt (not that we saw it ever in any of the operas) and then the Rhine came up at the end and everything was brought to a calm serene ending. Yes, cathartic. Cataclysmic? No, and with everything at their disposal, I frankly expected more. But, considering the performance I had just sat through, I was happy with that. Not a perfect ending to a perfect Ring Cycle (is that even possible?), but one that got the important bits right, and left you knowing you had just witnessed something extraordinary. Really, should you ask for more?

The year ahead

Right… So… New year, new thrills, new experiences…

This year is going to be the year of much opera for me…

As well as the usual Live from The Met in HD opera at the cinema experiences, I am going to be seeing more opera live than ever before. 7 operas at the Sydney Opera House. A full ring cycle at The Met (!), in the theatre, rather than via cinema, as well as probably a couple of others while I am there…

Its going to be quite a year for me!!!

So, what am I looking forward to you ask? Well, apart from THE RING (more later), this year's operas at the Sydney Opera House for me are: Turandot, Marriage of Figaro, Die tote Stadt, Aida, Madama Butterfly, Lucia di Lammermoor and Salome. Of these, three I have sung in as chorus in the past, so I know them REALLY well. (Lucia, Butterfly & Aida) But, Die tote Stadt I have loved ever since I first saw it on SBS one afternoon, in one of their world opera series. It did not make a lot of sense, but since then, I have heard more of it, and am totally looking forward to drowning myself in Korngold's glorious music.

Turandot. What more can I say? It is Graeme Murphy's glorious production, with Rosario La Spina as Calaf and Susan Foster as the big T. I have seen this production on TV in the past, and it is visually gorgeous, but never in the theatre. And never with this cast either.

Lucia with the glorious Emma Matthews as Lucia. Quite frankly, I am not a big Lucia fan, but with Emma, it is very hard to go past. Truly there are very few singers who are as consistently as amazing as Emma. I have watched her from her early days in Perth (doing Yum Yum and various other smaller roles) through to her current stature as arguably our greatest currently working soprano. Tough call, yes, but she really is that good. While personally I prefer a larger voiced Lucia, her interpretation promises to be stunning and worth making the time to see…

And of course, Salome? Well, that is one of those operas that works much better on stage, than recorded. I do have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Richard Strauss. Most of the time he comes across to me as a less talented Wagner, then he floors you with a truly drop dead gorgeous couple of minutes, and you forgive him all the dross you sat through to get there. Yes, I know, it is sort of heresy, but that is exactly how I feel about him. I also recognise that seeing his works rather than just hearing them is also changing that for me…

And of course, Aida? Who can ignore Verdi at his bombastic best, demonstrating the challenges of the personal caught up in events affecting a country's future?

But of course, what I expect to be the real highlight of the year opera wise? Going to New York to The Met, to see Wagner's Ring Cycle, in their new production. If you have not seen any of the video of this production, do a search on youtube, or go to The Met's website to look. It is a visually shocking (in a good way) production, providing an effective way of staging the unstageable. And with Deb Voigt (who is possibly the best Brunnhilde around at the moment) and Bryn Terfel, along with the usual cast of hundreds, it promises to be an amazing experience. We will probably also get to see a couple of other things at the same time (Makropolous case and Billy Budd are on at The Met while we are there as well), as well as a Broadway show or 2…

So, roll on the 4th of February when we start this opera odyssey!!!