Write up July 1st's Seigfried performance for Commuter Times. Here it is...
RING OF THE NEVEREND
by Mark Alburger
Never sing something in five minutes that could be stretched out to 15 -- that seems to have been the Richard Wagner modus operandi in his music dramas in general and Der Ring des Nibelungen in particular. The Ring of the Nibelung, Wagner's tetralogy of operas (although characterized by the composer as a trilogy with a preliminary evening), is long on leitmotivs (leading motives / theme songs), recitative, and sumptuous orchestrations... and short on brevity, clarity, and wit. But no matter: to the true believers, from Mad King Ludwig to the present, the Ring Cycle continues to astound and provide opportunities for re-assessment.
San Francisco Opera's 2011 Ring Cycle is a tour-de-force worthy of the Wagnerian over-the-top approach to life, the universe, and everything. The four operas, Wagner's own retelling of Norse sagas and The Song of the Nibelungs, have been committedly and lovingly re-interpreted here, in imaginative lighting and staging, only rivaled by the superb vocal and instrumental musicianship gathered on stage and in the pit.
July 1st's Siegfried (1871) is a case in point. This third in the series might be regarded as the scherzo/dance movement in a giant four-part symphony. Here Wagner, after a more than ten-year interval beyond the completion of Part II's Die Walkure (The Valkyrie, 1856), takes up again the story of betrayal and love with contrapuntal and melodic complexity beyond what had been experienced earlier, adding a touch of humor to the earnest titular hero.
In San Francisco's re-telling the opera has an opulent, yet down-and-out, contemporary flavor, with the evil dwarf Mime (David Cangelosi) vocally reigning over a desolate trailer-trash landscape. Jay Hunter Morris's Siegfried is an heroic and holy singing fool of agility who kept proceedings fresh throughout, serving as apt foil to the stentorian and mellow tones of Mark Delavan's Wandering Wotan. Gordon Hawkins and Daniel Sumegi were welcome in their dangerous and dexterous roles as Alberich and Fafner, respectively, the latter decked out as a monstrous machine. Just how is one supposed to portray a monster on stage? This is one convincing solution.
In the hero's world of Siegfried, the female contributors are few, but here all quite worthy, from the beautiful rich tones of Ronnita Miller's Erda, through the light fantasies of Stacey Tappan's Forest Bird, to Nina Stemme's lovely and resolute Brunnhilde. Conductor Donald Runnicles found the lush balance between the orchestral and vocal fireworks, and Director Francesca Zambello did everything possible to keep the drama visceral.
But one can only proceed as far as the material will allow. After almost four hours, (6:30-10:20 including two intermissions), there is definitely a tendency to feel like saying: "C'mon Wagner, give it up." Say what you have to say and be done with. Or rather, don't talk us the drama, show it in song. And how about a few more melodies in the foreground and less endless recitative over melodic content in the orchestra. And, while the use of leitmotif at times is subtle, and others, one feels almost the crush of the obvious. May the word be uttered without the tune being heard? And what of the Siegfried Idyll recycling? Perhaps not the greatest piece on the first time around, either.
So there are issues, at least vis a vis this reviewer.
But Wagner mania continues to the present day. Nefarious and anti-Semitic character that he was, the composer made and continues to make his impressive way in the musical-dramatic world.
Still, can't help thinking of a spin on an apocryphal W.C. Fields joke re Philadelphia:
First Prize: Two hours of Wagner
Second Prize: Four hours.
***
Write above soon after the morning class -- a break-neck speed-through of the Classic Era, looking ahead to the
Romantic, with
quiz on the aforementioned. Before returning
homeward, Doug assists with a Word update, and after,
more filmic adventures with Harriet, plus the rest of the day's musical activities:
Pdf of eleventh Embedded Invention (Op. 20),
Thirteenth movement of The Little Prince video edited,
Page 12 of Psalm 64 composed, and
Page 47 of The Countess Cathleen orchestrated.
