Don Carlo at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City

Don Carlo by Verdi at the Metropolitan Opera, New York.

Conductor - Lorin Maazel
Title - Ramon Vargas
King Philip II - Ferruccio Furlanetto
Eboli - Anna Smirnova
Elizabeth - Barbara Frittoli
Roderigo, Marquis of Posa - Dmitry Hvorostovsky

This opera has always been one of my favourites yet until this outing I really had little idea what went on between all those beautiful and haunting arias, duets, choruses, etc.  I even once thought that the ‘Don’ of ‘Don Fatale’ was one of the menfolk (don is actually the Italian word for ‘gift’, Eboli’s beauty - and her curse).  Like all his later operas, every nuance of the story is used dramatically and vocally by the Verdi genius.  This is his longest and most complex opera if not his most ‘extravagant’ (which is probably Aida).  I attended the last two performances of the run, considering my own limited attention span, worsened by jet-lag the first time.  Even without ballet, the 5 acts finished near midnight. 

The opera raises Q&A about the Holy Roman Empire, an English connection, German, French, Italian and Spanish speakers and their rulers.  We also learn about the relation between church and state circa 1560.  An auto-da-fe scene is the centre of the work, all in a day’s activities in the Spanish Inquisition it would seem. 

So how was the singing?  Before all else opera is about big, beautiful voices in wonderful musical drama … and we had a dose-and-a-half of that in this production at the Met.  Most thrilling and novel for me was the mezzo-soprano Ms Smirnova who has a fine, penetrating velvet voice which fills the auditorium to the distant rafters.  Her act II ‘teaser’ aria and chorus was superb as was most of ‘O don fatale’.  She just seemed to run out of breath a second too soon on the final note, despite a magnificent rendition of this soul-searching and vocally taxing aria. 

Ramon Vargas sang creditably, possessing an even vocal facility into the high range needed for this long role.  This may have contributed to the downfall of Rolando Villazon and his lovely voice, pushed perhaps beyond its natural limits in this and other ‘Olympian’ vocal feats.  Strangely, Carlo has no more than one discrete aria early in the opera (Io lo vidi) … yet lots more concerted singing.  Some of Mr Vargas’ ‘r’ sounds were imperfect yet they did not affect the vocal line. 

While soprano Barbara Frittoli is also a fine singer, few of today’s singers have ‘everything’.  As Elizabetta she produces much elegant mid range vocalising, yet, despite having the facility to sing loud high notes, at times these seem to come out of nowhere and they do not always meld with the preceding vocal line, none of this made easier by Verdi’s taxing score.  There is also a beat in some of her open exposed notes. 

As the Spanish king Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto sang and acted superbly.  His nine minute aria which opens Act IV received a well deserved rapturous ovation from a packed Saturday night Manhattan opera audience.  ‘Ella giamai m’amo’ is the aria which episomises the work while Don Carlo’s early exclamation ‘Io lo perduto’ equally underscores the hopelessness of the entire plot which has to end badly as father has married the son’s betrothed. 

Dmitri Hvorostovsky sang and acted deliciously.  He is one of today’s few super stars who can tick all of the boxes [I ignore his terrible recording of Neapolitan songs!].  Initially I thought he sounded slightly under-powered but by his last scene, finishing in the famous ‘double aria’ culminating in his death, the Russian rose to phenomenal artistic and vocal heights.  This may reflect advice from Maria Callas who said that the audience only ever remembers the last act.  His breath control is phenomenal and enables him to sing entire phrases seamlessly and with unhurried elegance. Even the famous ‘duet’ with Vargas, ‘Dio, che ad alma infondere’ is actually part of a complex chorus cloister scene.  And its melody and sentiment of brotherly love returns more than once in the drama. 

The supporting roles were superbly sung: Eric Halfvarson as Grand Inquisitor; ‘celestial voice’ of Jennifer Check (from the rafters); Flemish deputies; the friar and voice of Carlos V. 

As is traditional there was a major ovation for the conductor Lorin Maazel at the start of the third part.  However, there was also some noisy booing, ‘tisk-tisk’ and banter in opposition as some clearly did not like his tempi.  He certainly chose some atypical speeds from recordings and other performances I have heard.  But that is part of being one of the world’s best - trying new contrasts, etc.  At one point just before his death, Roderigo continued singing an optional long note and timing went awry - something which is usual blamed on the conductor.  Mr Maazel entered the pit from the left, unique in my Met experience where conductors normally enter from the ‘prompt’ (right) side. 

The production is a joint venture with London and Oslo, first seen in 2008.  Nicholas Hytner’s production has a consistent tension and is true to the libretto details, even to the burned down candles at dawn in the king’s chamber.  Some of the religious scenes in Don Carlo reminded me of the Papal voting process which was going on at that very time.  There were rectangular stage shadows in monochrome, snowy exteriors, back-lit trees, austere walls with small palace windows emitting various colours and a magnificent gilded cathedral façade, and miniature font/confessional in the King’s chambers … these can all be seen and heard on Met broadcasts and telecasts.  A marvellous artistic endeavour in every respect. 

Notes by Andrew Byrne ..

Opera blog: http://andrewsopera.blogspot.com/

Andrew's travels http://ajbtravels.blogspot.com/

La Traviata at the Met. Domingo tenor, conductor and now baritone. Violetta next?

La Traviata - Tuesday 26th April 2013. Metropolitan Opera, New York City.


Violetta - Diana Damrau
Alfredo - Saimir Pirgu
Papa Germont - Placido Domingo
Conductor - Yannick Nezet-Seguin
Production - Willy Decker (the “clock” Traviata).

Dear Colleagues,

This was a highly memorable performance in every respect. The production is novel and quite the opposite of the traditional. The formal interiors of Acts 1 and 3 are replaced by a stark stage containing nothing but a full-width semi-circular rear bench at the right side of which sits an enormous clock face with real hands and a variable pace ticking the minutes down. For the initial duet a large rectangular two-seater sofa appears, at one stage held aloft by muscular chorus members who are all wearing tuxedoes, even the women.

Five or six such sofas are used in Act 2, despite one being sufficient for two lovers. The use of floral fabric with matching projections on the ceiling … with the bright colours fading to black-and-white … brilliant concept and execution as Violetta’s hopes for happiness fade.

The scene at Flora’s house is also bare-bones with the clock recycled as a gaming table, and quite effectively, as Alfredo throws money at a humiliated Violetta and an admonishing Papa Germont sings from the mezzanine above, a deep, parabolic back-drop above the ubiquitous bench. The chorus reversed out in a unique slow-motion manoeuvre allowing act 3 to commence without a break. They returned briefly for the carnival bars which are normally heard from the street outside (again turning the usual production on its head while still being largely consistent with the libretto).

After the (single) break following the first act I found myself sitting with Placido Domingo junior, in the front stalls to support his father. “Aren’t you Maestro’s son, Mr Domingo?” He confessed and bubbled about his father’s continued international success, as one would. He had only nice things to say about Australia. This is just a New York story, something which if it happened anywhere else would be fantasy but here it can and does happen all the time because of the ‘gravity’ of the place. [I also found that Harry Belafonte was at the next table at a midtown restaurant the following week!]

Ms Damrau was better matched both vocally and dramatically than Natalie Dessay last year. It is neither fair nor is it necessary to compare Domingo with Dmitry Hvorostovsky, the consummate baritone of the age. Both are magnificent in their own individual ways. When Dmitry has done a few tenor roles we might be able to make a fair comparison.

The young Albanian tenor Samir Pirgu looked and sounded excellent, despite omitting the optional high C in Act 2 and cracking briefly in the final scene (Parigi, o cara). He is the best looking tenor I have seen in a long time, so many others being gawky tall or short and fat, one of the truths of opera. But he was not chosen for his looks alone, possessing a pleasing, smooth and accurate line but with just a hint of singing above the note at times.

Another ‘truth’ of opera is that people sound different on the radio and on recordings. In the Saturday broadcast later that week Mr Pirgu sounded less smooth, almost to vocal roughness with an odd timbre to the voice. Nerves play some part perhaps yet as a season progresses the ‘chemistry’ between singers usually improves. Whatever, the adrenalin was flowing and in this performance he chose to hit the high note ending ‘O mio rimoso’ cabaletta. It was not all that long, but quite respectable and had the crowds responding enthusiastically. I do hope he does not burn himself out like Mr Villazon did (I note that he is slated for yet another return in a few months and one can only wish him well). In the radio broadcast there were no swallowed or gargled notes from the tenor in the sections I heard (although there was an audible cough before his high C).

For the Saturday broadcast performance Mr Gelb came to the stage at the start of Act 2 to announce that Mr Domingo was suffering from ‘allergies’ but would continue to sing ‘for the public’. He sounded to be in reasonable voice yet early in Act 2 he appeared to be clipping some notes yet nothing serious went awry. From his big aria Di Provenza he settled into his role more comfortably. I am pleased I was not sitting next to Sig Domingo junior for THAT performance.

The conductor Mr Yannick Nezet-Seguin continues a long tradition of Canadians at the Met. Two of their general managers and some of the most important singers of each generation have come from north of the border. And the new Ring’s genius is Robert LePage, also Canadian.

Notes by Andrew Byrne ..

Clinic web page: http://methadone-research.blogspot.com/
Andrew's travels http://ajbtravels.blogspot.com/

Late news: Despite seeing the first Met Ring opera yesterday (Rheingold) I still have the strains of Caesar going around my brain. Is there a cure for all those repeats? A friend wrote to say the cure was to sing the national anthem and that it always works for him!

"Veni, vidi, vici". Dramatic Julius Caesar at the Met.

Handel - Julius Caesar. Metropolitan Opera Gala Thurs 4th April 7.30pm - 12.15am

Dear Colleagues,

This opera production by David McVicar is a right romp from the Old Country. I sat next to two Englishmen who said it was essentially the same at its Glyndebourne progenitor. It seemed to arise from a fantasy realm using a recipe of ‘when in doubt, add more’ … and they did. There were acrobatics, aeronautics, on-stage musicians, historic ships, maps and even zeppelins aloft. Conductor Harry Bicket entered the pit from the left - is this becoming a habit started by Lorin Maazel? He certainly knew what he was doing with Handel’s melodies and most important, his pregnant pauses therein.

Set as a stage within a stage in fact there were four discrete proscenium arches, each with its own side-pull curtain, the front and main one being pale cream then emerald, papal purple and ochre. Behind were four huge silvery-grey horizontal rollers which mimicked the ocean and which ground on for the entire performance apart from a couple of palace scenes when other flats obscured their rolling motion.

It must be said that Giulio Cesare in Egitto, to give it its full title, is operatic archaeology - reflecting both the stage of the art form and the long hours idle rich Londoners had in 1724. Apart from two choruses and two or three duets the rest of the near 5 hour work is a long string of discrete ‘da capo’ arias. Yet the four or five immortal melodies and much other beautiful music has kept this opera alive despite the many other styles which have developed meantime.

The evening went without a hitch despite the myriad of things which can and do go wrong in opera - Das Rheingold opening two days later had an entire scene scotched by a seized 50 ton ‘machine’.

The brass section of the orchestra appeared to tire toward the end of the long evening, yet the energy on stage continued to the end with a magnificent ‘Piangero’ from Natalie Dessay. She took an unusual but glorious “V’adoro … (pause), pupillae” in act 2 as she emerged from a body bag or ‘wrap’). She was better cast in this role than as Violetta last year.

All the deceased members of the cast, Pompey excepted, were restored to life to sing the big final chorus with champagne served by the Bollywood dancers and their assistants.

David Daniels is still one of the few counter-tenors whose voice I can warm to … and we had two others in this casting. The on-stage violin duel with Caesar is a classic and David Chan as concertmaster is a showman as well as a musician. Amongst a fine cast for my taste the stars were Alison Coote as Sesto and Patricia Bardon as Cornelia, Sesto’s mother (and the wife of Pompey whose severed head is shockingly presented to Caesar in the first minutes of the action). Coote and Bardon each had all it takes to do Handel justice - and they also had two of the charming duets.

Guido Loconsolo has a rich baritone voice and as Achillas did some very elegant singing with convincing drama. We also heard alto Rachid Ben Abdeslam sing and dance a hilarious “Chi perde un momento” (‘Don’t waste a moment’). He must be one of a very few serious singers from North Africa (Morocco). Christophe Dumaux made himself a very unlovable and effete Ptolemy XIII who was initially belittled by his sister, Cleopatra VII, then to go from gaff to gaff in his unprepossessing descent to disaster.

Somehow I come down on the side of traditional voices, especially mezzo-sopranos and baritones as being the backbone of any opera. We will never know what a castrato really sounded like (despite some imperfect recordings of the last Vatican victim) thus we cannot glean the true voice balance that Handel expected. We can be sure that some of these emasculated men had phenomenal voices, for power and beauty, as many adjectives were used by contemporary critics. Likewise, the actual sound of Nellie Melba and others of her era may never be known for sure, especially when most of the imperfect ‘golden age’ recordings were made after their prime. It is a shame that Joan Sutherland did not make some 78rpm recordings using historical equipment for that reason. Or has this been tried?

The gala Met audience for the Handel was appreciative although a small number did not last the distance. And it was not quite a full house. I had seen the dress rehearsal two days before thanks to a generous Met donor … yet at no point on opening night did I consider it a chore, nor did I nod off.

This action-packed production has so many elements of fantasy, gore, sex, homo-erotica and simple beauty that it would be worth a visit if you were deaf. There were images of cowboys, gangsters, rifle shooters, archers and even machine-gunning. Ships were from ancient felucca to modern naval, ocean liners and even a series resembling the Mayflower era. An enlarged period map of Alexandria was used as one of the backdrops, enumerating depths in fathoms, reefs, rocks, shallows, famous lighthouse, library and catacombs. The cinema HD broadcast should be a sell-out.

Notes by Andrew Byrne ..

More elsewhere on the Met Traviata, Otello, Don Carlo, Faust and Das Rheingold in due course. On my return to Sydney Carmen on the Harbour was a splendid spectacle on a perfect but cool autumn evening on Thursday 11th April. With two prominent casts and other nights with less than ideal weather, it is not possible to pass judgment on this risky venture by a troubled national ‘opera’ company. I was sorry to miss Milijana Nikolic and Adam Diegel, but happy to hear Israeli mezzo-soprano Rinat Shaham in the title role. Yet amplified opera ain’t opera in my book – but it is a marvellous side-show, when it works.

Single Caesar clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCzzGWge9kI

Long Caesar clip from UK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwXT4pvGtK8

Opera blog: http://andrewsopera.blogspot.com/

Bumptious, fun Falstaff in Sydney

Falstaff - Verdi. Sydney Opera House Friday 15^th Feb 2013

Warwick Fyfe - Falstaff

Mrs Ford - Amelia Farrugia

Ford - Andrew Jones

Fenton - John Longmuir

Nanetta - Lorina Gore

Ms Quickly - Domenica Matthews

Meg - Jacqueline Dark

MacFarlane/Breen/Arthur comic relief.

Conductor: Antony Walker

Dear Colleagues,

This was a marvellous outing of Verdi’s final work, a boisterous, bumptious traditional Tudor production with good voices and excellent comic acting.  The chorus and orchestra were in good form and obviously well rehearsed. 

However the same cannot be said for the electrical trades as the subtitles and other front of house circuits failed in Act II.  I have often wondered if an orchestra could play in the dark and now I know that at least for a minute or so they can, quite a feat in my book.  One member brandished a little torch while the conductor’s lectern remained aglow, giving close strings an advantage for once.  After about 90 seconds (at a guess) the pit was happily re-illuminated yet subtitles took what seemed like another ten minutes to be restored.  This left the ignorant audience, including myself, guessing at the rather complex section in which Ford (alias Sig. Fontana) is explaining to Falstaff his marital difficulties (which nowadays would probably be resolved using Viagara or steroids). 

The Shakespeare shone through despite double translations to Italian and back to English.  One of my favourites, the 'sherry' monologue is beautifully presented here in a two line version rather than twenty: both brain and brawn are useless reserves without the addition of alcohol to set them moving (paraphrasing). 

Mr Fyfe has an enormous voice, although he is not a real bass baritone.  Yet his efforts in this role paid off well for a company which once had Bryn Terfel as lead (and Simone Young in the pit).  In my view, as with Rigoletto a year or so ago, Fyfe might better have been a very fine second cast and for three hundred dollars for top seats, we should have again been treated to a ‘great’ import in the title role.  That is, should any such international artist agree to sing with this remote and in many ways dilapidated opera company.  But nobody could complain about Fyfe’s claim to fame … and Falstaff on the night.  All of the other principle roles were well sung and acted. 

People may think I’m crazy but I often judge a performance on what I imagine Shakespeare, Verdi or my own grandfather would think of it should they return from the dead.  I feel sure that honour and dramatic honesty would be satisfied with this outing by the national opera company.  Indeed, here is an ensemble opera put on using local Australian artists and the result is simply excellent, showing the genius of Verdi, good casting and a company versed in the art.  Falstaff is an acquired taste, like Mefistopheles, Fidelio or Capriccio.  But it is worth the effort in the acquisition. 

Another problem is Sydney’s Friday evening traffic which was diabolical.  I ended up alighting from my stationary taxi at 7pm near William and Riley Street and walking the length of Macquarie Street past a jam of cars.  It might help my fitness I suppose. 

Notes written by Andrew Byrne ..

Sydney Masked Ball: Vocal delights - clunky, ugly, irrelevant production.

Wednesday, 16 January 2013 7.30pm Ballo in Maschera, Verdi 1858

Gustavus - Diego Torre
Amelia - Tamar Iveri
Ankarstrom - José Carbó
Ulrica - Mariana Pentcheva
Oscar - Taryn Feibig
Conductor - Andrea Molino
　
This was possibly the worst production of any opera I have seen anywhere. The stage set consisted of several large suspended gantries which served little purpose in the action. Ulrica’s entrance involved one of the platforms but it did not quite reach the floor so a folding set of airline-type steps were needed to get the fortune teller to her clamouring supporters. There was a digital TV screen at the rear of the stage. This showed images which constantly drew attention away from the stage drama and towards third world poverty, warfare, global warming, flesh, sex and depravity. In the same way, during the introduction music we saw projections of everything from Hiroshima to crashing surf all framed within human flesh, young and nubile. None of this seemed to have anything to do with the story of Ballo which is a masterpiece libretto based on historical figures.

The chorus and most principal singers were dressed in unisex numbered blue suits. They also wore tight plastic head-masks partially obscuring their ears, something of a disadvantage in opera some might think, and especially uncomfortable in summer. For unknown reasons Gustavus wore a mask from the beginning of Act I. The production had elements of The Jetsons and the Munsters set in the Tardis of Doctor Who. There was smoke and gas masks to the fore in the finale ... quite tasteless in my view. Several members of chorus were coughing uncontrollably as Gustavus Rex perished from abdominal blood loss mid-stage with only one last gasping aria to go.

I found it hard to find anything beautiful in the production to match the beauty of Verdi’s music. Despite this, there were some audience members who loved it ! I suppose you cant please everybody all the time. The singing was first rate with three singers new to me. Mr Torre has a ringing high tenor voice and commanding stage presence. Well matched was his Amelia, Ms Iveri who had shades of Tebaldi in a fine dramatic soprano with elegant pitch-accurate pianissimo. Ms Fiebig had all that it takes to carry off the demanding if contradictory role of Oscar. Showing his usual star qualities was Jose Carbo as Secretary of State, Ankestrom (or ‘Renato’ as the company’s libretto seemed unsure which version of the story they were using). Ms Pentcheva as the fortune teller had an excellent low register but sounded tinny on high notes, reminding us of what a loss Bernadette Cullen is in this part to the opera world.

There was a talk before the opera explaining the production for those who like that sort of thing. I always like to see operas ‘cold’. If the production is not self explanatory from the text of the opera, classical period costume and behaviour then no ‘explanation’ is going to convince me. And here we have a production with bits and pieces, major and minor themes, yet much of it taking focus away from the raw emotions of the opera’s plot.

The tenor/soprano duet was magnificent and received a tumultuous applause, like a hat trick or a major tennis win and it was all of these, or their operatic equivalent. The chorus was split between loyal subjects and the basso conspirators, all doing justice to the glorious score. The orchestra was also a star on the night under Maestro Molino.

The national Australian opera company seems to have a jinx with this opera. Ballo was subject of some union action some years ago as I recall while the present opening happened on the very same week as the Metropolitan broadcast of a newly updated version from New York, beamed into cinemas around the world with some of the best singers of the era competing for our opera dollar. But there is nothing like ‘being there’, as the Met broadcasts always state in their promotion.
　

Notes by Andrew Byrne ..
　

New Year wishes for 2013

Andrew Byrne’s greeting: busy with family matters; less time for opera and medical journal summaries; disappointed in ‘big pharma’ tactics; also by inept opera company decisions; occupied with mosque and synagogue events; look forward with gusto to 2013. 

Dear Colleagues,

The year 2012 was one I did not expect to get to, being my eighth whole year after treatment for advanced lymphoma.  This year my partner Allan and I have relocated to the charming Southern Highlands town of Bowral.  We still have a flat in Sydney where I continue to work three days at the Redfern surgery (Wed-Sat).  My father John died in May aged 85 following an operation.  He was a crazy opera fan too and he finally made it to The Met in his 80s and saw three great works and went back-stage to meet some of the stars (and spoke Italian to maestro Marco Armiliato).  As his executor I have been busy dealing with a lot of material and emotional things.  With my four wonderful sibs (one in New York presently) we have still enjoyed another festive season relatively intact.

There have been few notable opera performances in Sydney yet we are probably lucky to still have an opera company at all.  The company lurches from pathetic populism to inept casting and poor marketing.  Their administration personnel have made statements about elitism amongst the audience, quite an astounding (and irrelevant) assertion.  One senior member even publicly likened public support for opera as somehow comparable with the situation in the Middle East and before the French Revolution.  What is he thinking?  And the quality has dropped year by year with a number of significant and laudable exceptions of late (Salome, Lucia for example) for which credit is due.  Much of the company’s output is not actually opera but musical comedy, something for which they have no mandate under their own charter, nor is it consistent with their funding from the Australia Council.  It is the unique talent and training of opera singers to vocalise without the use of amplification.  The company repeats Aida, Boheme, Butterfly and Carmen, wonderful operas, of course, but ones which are so over-exposed in Sydney that subscriber audiences groan to know of their reappearance while there are literally dozens of other very popular operas and hundreds of other master-works to choose from.  We may be lucky to hear better things in 2013. 

Some of you will know that I have been despondent at the widespread acceptance of drug company advertising convincing many doctors to prescribe in a way which is not evidence based but which maximises profits.  It is indeed depressing but these marketing tactics do not just affect the addiction field but are found across the medical spectrum where less effective but far more costly products are pushed against traditional (and cheap, tried and true) medications as long as they remain mega-profitable (usually about 5 years).  

My continuing involvement in comparative religions of the book has almost become a recreation after several years.  The vocalism in mosque and synagogue is indeed worthwhile and is usually cheaper than opera seats (YouTube links on request).  In my quest for knowledge, whenever I think I have cracked some ‘secret Semitic code’ I invariably find that I am up another blind alley and need to start over.  Arabic and Hebrew are quite difficult languages, making Cantonese seem easy in my book (clue: the latter is musical).  

Some of my greatest joys during 2012 were re-reading The Merchant of Venice and listening to Gotterdamerung.  While I have still not encompassed the details of either, I adore delving at random into the beauty the works, marvelling at the genius involved in their geneses.  Apart from their complex character interactions and racial overtones, there is also a court-room drama, concealed identities, double crossing and a murder on stage.  Interestingly, each plot revolves around the default of a sub-prime mortgage of sorts (over Valhalla and Antonio’s merchant ships respectively).  

Wishing you all a happy and prosperous 2013 from Andrew Byrne ..

A sample of our blogs:

Shylock and Anti-Semitism http://cantorialcrossoverculture.blogspot.com/2011/04/shylock-shakespeare-and-jews-anti.html

Dr. Andrew's Opinions http://methadone-research.blogspot.com/

A month in New York     http://andrewbyrneinnewyork.blogspot.com/

Grandfather Harry Gracie’s trip to America 1924 http://bpresent.com/harry/

Lord Howe Island Naturalist’s Story http://www.redfernclinic.com/c/2007/10/lord-howe-island-naturalists_4153.php4

Rodelinda in Sydney under Bonynge

Rodelinda - Handel (1725) J. Sutherland & R. Bonynge Foundation
City Recital Hall Angel Place, Sydney Sat 20^th Oct 2012 7pm
Conducted by: Maestro Richard Bonynge AC CBE

Rodelinda: Valda Wilson
Bertarido: Fiona Janes
Grimoaldo: John Longmuir
Eduige: Liane Keegan
Unulfo: Lorina Gore
Garibaldo: Michael Lewis

Dear Colleagues in opera,

Sydney was treated to two stunning opera performances in the same week. It was more like New York! Richard Bonynge conducted the Australian premiere of Rodelinda (and possibly his last opera in the country). Lucia is the other (see my notes elsewhere).

Rodelinda was performed by Joan Sutherland on three separate occasions during her long career. The opera has been brought to a mass audience after centuries of neglect with Renee Fleming and the Metropolitan opera as well as live cinema sessions. Rodelinda lacks the extremely well-known melodies which crop up in so many other Handel operas. The story is complex and less than credible, starting with Queen Rodelinda mourning her deceased husband, Bertarido. Later in Act I the king, sung by Fiona Janes, miraculously returns from the dead to continue the complicated narrative. With only one duet and a quintet finale, the opera largely consists of marvellous individual ‘Handelian’ ‘stand-and-deliver’ recitatives and arias from two sopranos, a mezzo, contralto, tenor and a baritone. There is no chorus.
In this first Australian performance, all the performers sang with consummate skill, navigating Handel’s fiendishly difficult coloratura, high notes, extreme low notes and ornamented da capo endings. Unlike when Joan Sutherland sang it, in this performance it would be hard to choose one star.

The much lauded diva Joan Carden was present in the audience to hear fine soprano performances from Ms Wilson and Ms Gore, each with pleasing vocalism and the necessary fioritura.

Ms Janes, well known to Sydney opera fans, gave an exemplary performance – the accuracy and beauty of her fine voice is much missed by many Australian Opera goers.

Ms Keegan possesses a unique voice, a glorious true contralto. In the audience was one of Australia’s greatest contralto singers, Lauris Elms.

The young tenor John Longmuir sang with confidence and distinction and shows much promise. I had only heard him sing individual arias previously but here he seemed more relaxed and in perfect control in a full length opera.

It was good to hear veteran Michael Lewis using his fine baritone voice to advantage. While he sang some excellent showpieces, he alone was omitted from the marvellous finale ensemble ‘Dopo la notte oscura’ (he had been killed by the king).

Maestro Bonynge with his small but accomplished orchestra accompanied with the formal conventions and limited metronomic freedoms expected of the baroque period. Sharolyn Kimmorley played harpsichord while her husband Brett Berthold played double bass. Jane Rutter was on flute with the Lyric Orchestra. Concertmaster was Adrian Keating from the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. I hope that there was a representative of Opera Australia present to hear the excellent talents on offer.

The audience was almost as interesting as the show as many Sydney opera fans came out of the woodwork - and some had travelled far distances to hear this work with these artists. It is hard to go anywhere cultural and not run into Senator Bronwyn Bishop. Guests of honour included the Premier, Governor and Governor General.

The ovation was remarkable and respectful. Richard Bonynge received a spontaneous standing ovation when arriving on the podium before a note had been sounded. There was almost no clapping during the three acts - more like a concerto than an opera - which was convenient as ABC Radio was recording proceedings for future broadcast. We were witnessing the end of a glorious era of opera which began with the Sutherland Williamson Grand Opera Tour of 1965. It was most moving and there were red roses for the cast and tears all round.

I also had the good fortune to revisit Lucia di Lammermoor at the Sydney Opera House on Wednesday 24^th October. It was sensational and is highly recommended with one or two remaining performances. My more detailed notes on the web site.

Comments by Andrew Byrne ..

Opera blog: http://andrewsopera.blogspot.com/

Ravenswood revamped. Lucia at the Sydney Opera House Wed 24th October 2012

Ravenswood “re-visited”. Lucia at the Sydney Opera House Wed 24^th October 2012

Dear Colleagues,

I found myself back at my old Wednesday night subscription series, yet how things have changed!  There were empty seats in all reserves.  I noted that only one seat in the whole of Loge Y was sold, both a tragedy and a travesty in my view.  Why do such good value seats not go on sale until the day of the performance?  If tin-pot airlines can fill seats, why can’t an opera company which is putting on half-decent opera?  I bought a $65 seat in Loge A, well forward of the front row of the dress circle, albeit on the side. 

This was operatic vocalism at its best despite a lacklustre production shared with Houston Grand Opera.  Chorus and principal singing were exemplary and there were goose-bumps aplenty for those subject to such responses (like me!). 

I have never heard Lucia’s Act I cadenza (Quando rapito in estasi) in its entirety until this production.  Even Joan Sutherland did not sing it all in the second half of her career. 

I ran into a few other long-time subscribers (‘survivors’).  One said that he and his wife were enjoying the performance but they had not really appreciated just how good Joan Sutherland was in this role all those years ago.  This was in the second interval and while Emma Matthews is NO Joan Sutherland, like a true trooper, she was saving herself up for Act III in which she “let fly”.  Emma Matthews gave us the full mad scene, blood, guts, sex and all.  It was as if the vocal governors were removed and throttle enhanced as we had almost fifteen minutes of unparalleled vocal dynamism. 

The production, however, put her in several ludicrous positions including hand washing in a champagne cooler filled with blood, lying under the banquet table, holding a mock-baby and another quasi-obstetric pose which was beyond good taste and some would say grossly offensive.  The chorus ‘reactions’ were robotic and non-responsive and thus lacked any sense of alarm at the unfolding homicidal lunacy.  Yet they sang to perfection. 

The production’s grey-cloud simplicity was overshadowed by frequent ‘disconnects’ with the story line.  Furthermore, the ubiquitous representation of grey storm clouds were neither realistic nor beautiful, looking more like a lunar landscape than swirling storm portents.  Projections would have looked more atmospheric but the static grey templates were just boring to this viewer, especially as matching flats were raised and lowered ad nauseam to no particular purpose - except to end each act (which did not time correctly, three out of three). 

American tenor James Valenti sang beautifully but there were a couple of exposed high notes towards the end as he appeared to tire … just on his highest legato register as he briefly sounded slightly reedy and lost the innate beauty of his marvellous voice.  Italian baritone Giorgio Caoduro sounded fully in control, just as he did on opening night … hitting some phenomenal terminal high notes, G natural or even A flat nailed to perfection (and more goose bumps).  Almost as exciting as Robert Allman who did this part so often in the ‘Sutherland days’. 

The opera company management has now largely moved on or passed away but a sorry decade has seen opera standards fall precipitously (present production happily excepted - may there be more!).  There have been statements from the company which were derogatory to subscribers.  Plus a continued emphasis on the importance of performing Wagner’s Ring, something obviously well beyond the capabilities of this emasculated company.  Other ‘side shows’ such as harbourside opera have been associated with a lack of concentration on the standard repertoire so it is no surprise that seat sales are still dropping.  I was told by a company insider that subscriptions had dropped by 15% each year for a number of years and this could not be sustained (obviously). 

Despite all this, or perchance as a portent of improvements, it was a privilege to be attending such high quality opera in our small and distant backwater.  Love Sydney! 

Comments by Andrew Byrne ..

Opera blog: http://andrewsopera.blogspot.com/ 

My sympathies to those affected by the terrible storm in North America. 

Glorious soaring opera with Lucia revisited at the Sydney Opera House.

Lucia di Lammermoor (or most of it), G. Donizetti. Sydney Opera House Friday 28^th Sept 2012. 7.30pm

Dear Colleagues in opera,
It was like old times again! The opera company has got together a very auspicious cast for Lucia di Lammermoor at the Sydney Opera House.

It seems remarkable that Emma Matthews can successfully step into the roles of Joan Sutherland despite having a completely different voice type. Yet ‘canary’ type singers used to sing most of these roles before Maria Callas opened the way for changed possibilities. And Ms Matthews sang Lucia a treat, a role she has now made her own. But more than this, we had a great baritone, bass and tenor, plus two comprimarios, making for a fabulous sextet, one of the half dozen or so ‘immortal moments’ of this very great work.

Starting with the difficult harp solo in Act I (virtuosically performed here), we might count into immortality the fountain aria (which the harp introduces); Lucia/Edgardo duet; Lucia yielding to Enrico and Raimondo; wedding scene, culminating in the celebrated sextet; post-wedding party, interrupted by Lucia’s famous mad scene and magnificent final cemetery scene of the tenor. Few operas have so many high points.

Baritone Giorgio Caoduro was our Barber of Seville last year and he did not disappoint on this occasion in an even more challenging role. Vocally this was highly satisfying, starting with some electrifying baritone singing in the opening scene, angry at his sister’s reported romance with the young squire next door. Caoduro sang some optional high notes, using great skill, technique and good taste to deliver a glorious aria and cabaletta (no second verse to the latter in Act I).

I had heard American tenor James Valenti as Alfredo at the Metropolitan Opera two years ago. Again here, he acquitted himself with great panache and we were privileged to hear such a talented and beautiful artist. His tomb scene was very fine indeed. He too took most of the difficult and exciting options and also acted well.

Richard Anderson sang superbly as the tutor/priest although he was slightly under-powered compared with the others. Andrew Brunsdon sang a stately and formal Arturo while Teresa La Rocca played a fine Alisa, Lucia’s maid and confidente.

In this production the ‘wolf crag’ scene was omitted, an unforgivable sin in my catechism. It contains an all-time great dramatic male duet which is hard to beat. Caoduro and Valenti would have shone in this glorious showpiece of opera … and furthermore another generation of opera-goers would have experienced this classical gem of drama and vocalism. Even further pruning of the original occurred in the middle of the mad scene, all aimed, I imagine, at avoiding overtime in the orchestra. Yet this company aspires to perform Wagner’s Ring operas!

It is hard to explain why Australian maestro Richard Bonynge is not conducting this Lucia. He is in Sydney at present and has said that he would like more conducting work here. Again the company has let down its audience and overlooked the pre-eminent world specialist who in this case comes from Sydney. This is in no way disrespectful of Christian Badea who conducted superbly, even when faced with the appalling dilemma (see below) of a jammed opening curtain! And the orchestra received a rapturous and well deserved ovation at the start of Act III.

Sadly there were hundreds of empty seats in the house, something which is a sad testament to the poor management and marketing of the national opera company over almost a decade now. There were also dozens of complimentary audience members (they now have their own VIP box office window with two clerks!). The company’s administration has gone from a couple of busy souls when the opera house opened to dozens and dozens of essential functionaries, all with offices, salaries and sometimes free tickets to boot. Gilbert and Sullivan could have written a comic opera on the matter if it weren’t such a tragedy of errors, egos and ignorance.

It will be difficult for the public to find out that this particular opera production is an exception to the usual tawdry quality opera in Sydney. Last week’s Madama Butterfly was a good example of what happens when fine but second rung artists are used in the absence of international quality talent (I only saw the first half). It is pointless bringing in promising young artists from overseas when we have plenty of them in Australia needing encouragement and nurturing. The lady singing Cio-cio-san was adequate, as was the (Australian) tenor singing Pinkerton. Michael Lewis’s replacement was passable yet there was nothing to set the performance apart as more than an also-ran re-run of this Puccini classic (rather ‘over-exposed’ by the company of late). Casual glances at the CV lists showed one singer cites a minor G&S role while another was with the ‘National Opera of New York’ a company which, if it exists at all, is rather obscure. A school performance of Madama Butterfly could be just as thrilling, but would not cost up to $300 per seat. No wonder subscriptions are waning.

To my way of thinking this monochrome Lucia production was odd without any clear unifying theme apart from dark clouds galore. I hope that between the Houston Grand Opera and La Fenice not too much was spent on it. There was no furniture, no staircases, no castle themes and the like to put us in a particular century, yet the costumes were mostly and traditional and elegant. This production got just about everything wrong, starting with the full width set-back painted flat of thick, dark clouds in place of a curtain. It was evidently designed to be able to be raised, lowered, moved sideways and even ‘tilted’ in the last act …requiring enormous structural strength and careful engineering. 

Something happened on opening night whereby this ‘wall of clouds’ stayed put during and after the overture (at least the first time it was played). Following the first few aborted lines of the invisible chorus the conductor stopped the orchestra and walked off, something I have never seen in the theatre before. He did not have much choice since the enormous flat had either jammed or the flymen had failed to raise it on time - so the performance ground to a halt. After an announcement to ‘stay in your seats’ the flat was slowly winched up, perhaps by hand, and the performance re-started after about five minutes. This is live theatre, but one wonders about the benefits of a concert performance which has no distractions from poor sets, costumes and stage movements.

Due to this debacle it was hard for us to determine what was intended and what was contingency due to the fault. There was much raising and lowering of this and other painted flats, mostly to no particular purpose as cast members went below, around and behind them. Two huge inverted grey triangles were lowered during the fountain scene, again, for no obvious reason, except for Normanno to stand behind briefly. There was no fountain, needless to say, on the bare, grey stage. I heard from an insider later that the production was meant to emphasise the isolation of the characters, something that eluded this viewer.

When the opera re-started we had the spectre of Normanno, played by Jonathan Abernathy, standing stock still centre-stage glaring out at the audience. This character was used throughout the opera like Dr Grenvil in the recent ‘clock’ La Traviata. Clever or stupid, take your pick. The idea did not distract - and it does come from the libretto (a line in the middle of the mad scene - which I think may have been omitted in this production [sic]). I cannot abide the innumerable inane chorus movements which were more like a military tattoo than Scottish clans-people meeting, greeting and partying. During important vocalism there was often a distracting backdrop of goose-stepping, befrocked chorus women and stick holding men.

Some of the vocal high points were sung far on the sides of the stage with the singers hidden from some side seats. The height of the production’s inappropriateness came with the mad scene. Vocally it was a delight with Ms Matthews at the peak of her powers … even adding some tasteful coloratura ornamentation of her own (or more likely from Richard Bonynge). However, the director had her spending almost the whole scene trying to wipe away the blood, like Lady Macbeth (“Out damned spot”). Lucia’s situation is the very opposite of the Scottish play: Lucia is totally oblivious to the blood which is not even mentioned in the aria whose words are pure folly, largely the fantasy of a continuing relationship with her ‘real’ beloved. For some reason the font used on the subtitles was half sized and I found it difficult to read.

Tell your friends, despite all these draw-backs, this Lucia di Lammermoor is still worth a visit to the opera house for its short season! See the company’s web site for dates and booking details. I would recommend the end stalls seats which are around $100 each, great value even for those paying with depreciated foreign currencies like US dollars, pounds or Euros.

Notes by Andrew Byrne ..

Opera blog:
http://andrewsopera.blogspot.com/ 　

Pearlfishers at the Sydney Opera House - ‘passable’ performance but disappointing crowd

Les Pecheurs de Perles. Sydney Opera House. Wed 4^th July 2012

This opera opening was of a fine standard overall yet the theatre was far from full for one of the most popular operas for Australian audiences. 

Andrew Jones is a fine full-throttle baritone while Henry Choo's tenor voice has lightened suitably for such French roles.  Both have clearly been working very hard on their art.  Soprano Nicole Car saved herself up for the last act and put on a balanced and stylish rendition of Leila, a very taxing role.  Basso Jud Arthur sang well as the priest.  The orchestra played well, as we have come to expect, under the baton of Maestro Guillaume Tourniaire.  Our chorus is also a credit to the company. 

The production is a blue back-dropped cardboard cut-out with clever illuminated miniatures visible at times.  It seems to ‘work’ with an Englishman as the protagonist in a white British uniform.  However, the name Zurga was a little out of place as was a foreigner being voted village chief - but THIS IS OPERA!  The ‘mateship’ or even gay interpretation all depended on the French for 'love' being almost the same as 'like'.  Zurga ends with "And I loved you" (about Nadir) implying a youthful affair-de-coeur between the men. 

My immediate neighbours in the theatre were overseas visitors, from Los Angeles and Ireland.  One couple was obviously from the Indian sub-continent so I wondered if, being new to opera, they might be insulted at the story-line set in their part of the world (albeit with a strongly European slant).  Not at all!  They commented in both intermissions how much they were enjoying their first opera. 

Now, back to the empty seats, hundreds of them.  Once upon a time this company played to near full houses most of the year, even mid-week.  By coincidence (or is it?) there is an interview with the company’s retiring marketing guru Liz Nield in this month’s OA newsletter.  She is quoted: “The skills that you need to sell opera are pretty much the same skills that you need to sell dog food.”  Yet she also said of the opera-on-the-harbour “the product sold itself”.  This is true of all quality products … although the harbourside opera was a big gamble in my view - but one that paid off on this occasion and was extremely memorable for those who went along.  The whole company could have come down with collective pneumonia had the weather been inclement. 

It is sad that the opera management is still in the clouds with self-congratulatory sentiments while the company itself lurches further and further from its former greatness.  At the height of the main winter season they will only do three opera performances for the whole of August … the rest is ‘South Pacific’.  No ‘opera’ from our premier ‘opera’ company for over three weeks!?  This is in breach of their mission statement from my reading of the document.  It is also possibly contrary to the spirit at least of their funding from the Australia Council as the country’s leading ‘opera’ provider.  There is nothing wrong with South Pacific … but opera it is not. 

It may be the first time in history that Aida is being marketed with photographs of Amneris.  This was brought to my attention by a long-time generous donor to the company who also pointed out the declining standards at our national company in recent years. 

In this Pearlfishers it was a shame that yet again, there was no serious international standard opera star to challenge and enrich the local excellent talent.  The company seems unwilling or unable to import big stars unlike in previous times.  It would be like Wimbledon happening with just English players.  ‘We have perfectly good tennis players here in England!’  And indeed we have very good opera singers in Australia … but they can never be ‘international’ unless they work with world leaders in the art.  Pearlfishers at the Sydney Opera House had Eric Cutler as tenor some years ago, a young American star ‘on the way up’.  We also had Australian baritone Michael Lewis at the peak of his powers.  Not only did these artists sing well, they had that special quality that one could not take one’s eyes off them.  There is an aura about stardom that is hard to delineate but easy to recognise when it is present.  This opera has been conducted by Richard Bonynge, a recognised world expert in French opera … and sadly another reluctant Opera Australia ‘cast-off’. 

When the new management was being sought I believed that the one essential criterion for a new artistic director was knowing the mobile number for Renee Fleming and/or some of the world’s other top opera artists. 

Dog food is one thing, but spectator sports are quite another.  I doubt that the London Olympic organisers are using the same techniques as for dog food advertising!  Opera is the Olympics of the arts in my (slightly biased) view. 

Comments by Andrew Byrne ..

Opera blog: http://andrewsopera.blogspot.com/ 

New Metropolitan Ring - Aussie connection!

The Met Ring. Cycle II starting with Rheingold Thurs 26^th April 2012 (also see separate notes on Rheingold).  Die Walkure. Saturday 28^th April 2012. 11am.  Siegfried Monday 30^th April; Gotterdamerung 3^rd April (evenings)

Why bother writing about it? 

It would be a challenge to describe what happens during the fifteen hours of vocal drama in the Lapage Ring at the Met this spring - and one I am not equal to.  I tried for Rheingold and hardly began to describe what happened in the introductory two and a half hours in my summary.  Furthermore, the operas have now all been broadcast to the cinemas of the world, mostly by direct transmission - exceptions being Japan, Australia and the Far East where delayed showings are necessary due to unfriendly time zones. 

The singers.

Apart from the novel production, the vocal high points are well known … for example The Woodbird’s songs, Ride of the Walkyries, Brunnhilde’s war cry, Wotan’s monologue, Wotan’s farewell, Wintersturme, Du bist de lenz, Gibichungs’ chorus, (de rigueur!) the ‘fat lady singing’ (Siegfried love duet) and the immolation scene, to name just a few. 

Regarding the ‘large lady’, neither Brunnhilde this year is big.  A slight Katarina Dalayman sang with great confidence, ease and beauty.  Intriguingly she omitted the high note at the end of Siegfried, despite hitting lots of other high, almost icy notes in the lead-up.  Ms Westbroek did not scream as the sword (Notung) was pulled from the (‘two-plank’) tree trunk … she did, however, collapse at that moment with a great limp fall center stage.  Her Sieglinde was exemplary.  In a second Die Walkure we heard the Brunnhilde of Deborah Voigt, now again a slender and elegant singer but no better than Ms Dalayman and perhaps less balanced in her delivery. 

There were two last minute changes, one major and one minor.  Mr Gelb came out on stage before Die Walkure and related Mr Kaufmann’s illness and the serendipitous availability of Mr van Acken, husband of Ms Westbrook (Sieglinde) in real life back in Holland.  A disappointed patron near me shouted “refund!”  It was 11am Saturday morning when few people would envisage going to an opera, let alone in these disastrous circumstances. 

The Dutch replacement tenor Mr van Acken sang creditably but was not quite in his wife’s class.  I don’t know how he learned the production in just a few hours!  And his German seemed fine.  The next performance of Die Walkure (cycle III) which I was also lucky enough to attend, had Australian tenor Stuart Skelton in the role of Siegmund and he was magnificent, even allowing for compatriotism.  The audience applause was rapturous for this consummate artist who, although also a stand-in, was amongst equals on the Met stage in this role which Placido Domingo had made his own for the past 15 years in this city. 

Having sung brilliantly in Rhinegold, Eric Owens’ illness saw Alberich played by Richard Paul Fink in the Gotterdamerung role.  The other cast members are mostly well known - and that is why they are singing at the Met.  Adam Diegel performed Froh with great dignity.  His rare and rounded tenor voice for his small part in Rheingold revealed a great talent which I would like to hear in other more major roles.  The confidence and elegance of Bryn Terfel as Wotan also warrants noting and he is now a true Wagnerian of the highest calibre in my view. 

Jay Hunter Morris has a pleasant, highly placed tenor voice with the staying power needed for Siegfried.  Stephanie Blythe is a marvel as Fricka.  The other singers in this year’s Met Ring were all of the highest calibre, too numerous to name in these superficial notes. 

“The machine” (all 48 tons of it!).

The set for all four operas consists of 24 rotatable ‘flattened’ isosceles triangles each set on a horizontal axis which can be raised and lowered from the floor level to about half way up the proscenium.  Hence one side of each ‘plank’ is flat while the other has an angle of about 150 degrees as part of the ‘cog’.  This convenient angle was used for the riverbank to great effect in the first opera as well as in perhaps a hundred other discrete and moving tableaux during the long saga ending back in the same place a full week later. 

One of the most realistic and effective uses for the planks was to form tree trunks.  The ‘planks’ are actually made of some sort of interactive self-illuminating material which, like a computer screen, can change colours and patterns, presumably controlled by some computerised cue system.  There was also highly focused projection onto them and sometimes it was not clear if the present effect was one or the other or both used together. 

The opening in Siegfried was brilliantly evocative with a depiction of the forest floor in close-up.  Then, as the set rose, the vista changed to the roots, worms and insects in crevices below the ground.  There was also real beauty in the representations of the tree bark, leaf shadows, roots, snakes, birds and other forest dwellers.  At other times one was transported to an open rural landscape, a waterfall, stormy waves breaking, snow storm and other dramatic and usually very beautiful scenes. 

The ‘machine’ makes some clicks and clunks at time, but no more than one often hears with standard stage machinery.  Those sitting in the front of the auditorium may have heard the pneumatic sounds of the centre of gravity of the planks rising which followed it by a few seconds each time.  Again, the nuisance value was modest and the benefits included being able to be as close as ever to Wagner’s specific instructions for his epic drama.  After the callisthenic displays, I was happy when the ‘machine’ stopped moving for extended periods and one could focus on the marvellous palette it had created for the drama we were experiencing. 

Some high-points of the production.

Both Rhinemaiden scenes were magnificent … the first with suspended singers/swimmers and riverbank settings.  The final one saw the ladies slipping and sliding on the most spectacular sloping rocks amid flowing water (which evocatively turned red when Gunter washed his hands of Siegfried’s blood). 

The Norns’ rope weaving scene was very cleverly and tastefully done.  Two dozen strands appeared as the curtain went up, each issuing from one of the plank ends.  These are about the only unfortunate and less-than-attractive points of the ‘machine’ … they look like temporary riveted letter boxed lined up.  The   24 suspended strands made three substantial ropes, one for each Norn.  These then joined into a major rigging which in turn shred and perished as the sorry story requires. 

The snow storm opening Walkure was indeed spectacular and immensely beautiful.  It is hard to describe the electric feeling that can be elicited by this unique orchestral introduction to the following 5 hours of glorious musical drama.  I have often complained about directors deciding to put stage events to overtures or preliminary music which were originally intended to be unaccompanied ‘symphonia’.  Lepage has here put two simple but beautiful video images to his audience, starting with constant breaking waves on a shoreline followed by a quite realistic snow storm across the screen.  Following all of this activity on stage, Hunding’s house with central tree was presented as ordered by the book. 

One of the most memorable stage tricks of all time MUST be Lepage’s serpent appearing in response to Alberich’s transmutation using the Tarnhelm … to the shock and/or hilarity of the packed Met audience, the front of a gnashing skeletal horror figure appeared on the right side of the stage with the corresponding tail flapping opposite, as if the beast went right around the theatre, town or perhaps the whole world!  Next Tarnhelm trick saw the frog as a small, slimy and sedant character, easily caught up in the net of Loge and Wotan.  Their plan was to pay off the castle Valhalla’s builders before the Giants took the agreed collateral being Freia, the goddess who grew the apples which kept all the gods from aging.  Anna Russell said at this point in the story: “I am not making this up, you know!” 

Fafner’s dragon cave was indeed impressive as was the blow-up out-sized nematode-headed beast.  To go further would be unfair on those intent on seeing this production which is bound to become a classic.  Not that everyone has to like it … but I do. 

Maestro Fabio Luisi, producer Robert Lepage and their musical and artistic colleagues deserve many accolades for this marvellous addition to the Wagner canon. This production might be the closest to Wagner’s detailed instructions for the operas, some of which are seemingly impossible to physically enact on a 'normal' stage (like the famous ship sinking in La Gioconda by Ponchielli). With the projections and moving-plank stage virtually anything is possible. There must be innumerable others who should be credited with getting this enormous undertaking realised.

Speaking of which: some criticisms.

By the end of the long act I of Gotterdamerung we had some gratuitous and pointless uses of the planks to no particular dramatic purpose.  It was as if the director was saying … ‘the opera is nearly over but look what I can do with the controls’.  At one point numerous planks were literally spinning, making some for some unpleasant noises as well as frantic movements on stage.  The opening of Act II of Gotterdamerung was immensely beautiful with a huge wall of small concentric circles of red and yellow with three niches for three statues of Wotan, Donner and Frika (these explode at the end).  However, rather than the curtain just rising to this, the team insisted on twisting and turning their machine in order to form it, taking one’s attention away from the glorious orchestral introduction. 

Erda’s ‘sermons’ were solid and well delivered by Patricia Bardon when she was woken.  In Siegfried she reappears with her long white hair wearing a full length dress make of pieces of black pietra dura, appropriate perhaps for an Earth Goddess.  If others can get away with a dress made of meat I suppose biotite mica is equally possible.  It reflected rather uncomfortably in the curtain calls and I don’t think that this heavy igneous style will take on more widely. 

It was an enormous privilege to join over 4000 people on this glorious Rhine journey … and for untold more in cinema-land.

Comments by Andrew Byrne ..

Opera blog: http://andrewsopera.blogspot.com/