WAGNER'S MAMMOTH OPERA ABOUT LOVE
TRIUMPHANT
By Paul Hertelendy
artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music
and dance
Week of June 20-27, 2010
Vol. 12, No. 117
I never thought that “Die Walküre” could be
improved on
after seeing the Zambello production in Washington
in 2007, with Placido Domingo, 64, doing a surprisingly dynamic
Siegmund in an
unaccustomed German role.
Now that the same co-production is at San Francisco
Opera, Domingo
is gone, but Producer Francesca Zambello has made subtle improvements,
bringing
out various touches of human vulnerability, along with eliminating the
risibility of act three, where the valkyries had looked like phlegmatic
Amelia
Earharts improbably parachuting onto the stage with their 1930s
open-cockpit goggles.
The net result is intensifying love and tenderness in the face of grave
adversity. Too often this opera comes out like yet another saga of
power, greed
and killings, whereas it happens to be the most love-oriented
of all of Richard Wagner’s
massive stage dramas, carried out on several different levels.
Is the secret
of creating a sensitive, touching “Die
Walküre” that
of finally getting a woman director, after the SFO’s having mounted the
opera
now for the 19th season?
In addition,
from the view of acting, this may be the most
effective “Die Walküre” ever mounted here. Stand-&-bellow, I
hope, is now
gone for good. Instead we have actors with huge Wagnerian voices in
convincing
interpretations and mobility. If the Wotan of Mark Delevan showed
immense vocal
fatigue by the last act, it was
compensated for by the voluptuous Sieglinde of Eva-Maria Westbroek, the
attractive Siegmund of tenor Christopher Ventris, and certainly the
Brünnhilde
of Nina Stemme. Stemme, a mobile figure who dashed all over the stage,
was particularly
compelling in convincing the father Wotan to mitigate the punishment he
was
meting out against her. She was frisky, youthful, and playful in her
role.
Stemme proved
triumphal despite a viral infection prompting
an announcement pleading for indulgence before the first curtain on
June 19.
In the
Zambello version, done with set designer Michael
Yeargan, the opera has been updated to 1930s America:
an opening-scene farm house in the
Midwest, a corporate board room high above Manhattan
for the big Wotan-Fricka confrontations in Valhalla,
and the parachuting Valkyries. The latter scene is now more convincing
than in
2007 back east, with the parachuters dropping diagonally, not straight
down,
and then emoting in an athletic manner, dashing about the stage
vigorously and
exhibiting great emotional distress when the vengeful Wotan nears.
Well, don’t
blame Wotan. Being the most powerful of all the
gods is no easy job---especially when hen-pecked. He has to put up with
spousal
nagging from Fricka (now a wealthy dowager), finally yielding to her in
a
cowardly, uncharacteristic way. The
Fricka of Janina Baechle and the ferocious spouse-abuser Hunding of
Raymond Aceto
made for a strong supporting cast. Given Delevan yielding a more
effective
Wotan, this “Die Walküre” seemed recording-ready, especially with
the prime (enlarged)
pit orchestra under Donald Runnicles, the former music director brought
back
for Wagner performances leading to the SFO June 2011 “Ring” cycle. The
sound
was rich, emotion-charged and opulent.
This
wide-ranging narrative is particularly effective, with
scenes both with earthlings and gods in the heavens. And even the gods
have
great vulnerability as well as human emotions to the core. Apart from
the
spurned, and possibly doomed, daughter Brünnhilde, it’s hard to
identify any
heroic figure. All have their Achilles heel---which is precisely what
makes
this even more interesting!
OPERA
NOTES---The Sieglinde of the extraordinary Leonie Rysanek,
who did the role over several seasons in the ‘70s and ‘80s, featured an
ecstatic show-stopping scream not in the score, but approved by various
opera
companies. The scream ended with Rysanek’s retirement---now the score
is the
king…. Those daunted by the four and a half hour performance length
should stay
for the last act by all means. It offers the Ride of the Valkyries,
Wotan’s
Farewell, the Magic Fire music, and perhaps the most affecting
father-daughter
scrap-and-loving-reconciliation in all German opera....The German
enunciation was well done, except in the case of Wotan. That might
account for various misunderstandings with his wife and daughter.
Next summer's
"Ring" cycle is already raising howls over the expense. Ticket orders
will also require a (specified) "free will" contribution. Omit that on
your order, and you will probably encounter a SOLD OUT sign.
“Die Walküre” by Wagner,
S.F. Opera, in German, with supertitles. Two intermissions.
Through June 30. For info: (415) 864-3330, or go online.
©Paul Hertelendy 2010
#
Paul Hertelendy has been
covering
the dance and modern-music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area with
relish
-- and a certain amount of salsa -- for years.
These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never
weakly)
will focus on dance and new musical creativity in performance, with
forays
into books (by authors of the region), theater and recordings by local
artists as well.
#
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