Rosenkavalier and La Damnation de Faust

Der Rosenkavalier October 22, 2009 and La Damnation de Faust October 23, 2009

Thursday evening was one of those glorious early Fall evenings in New York.  The weather was so beautiful it seemed a shame to go inside.   One wanted to sit out on the Plaza at Lincoln Center.  I am glad I dragged myself inside as Der Rosenkavalier was wonderful.  Renee Fleming and Susan Graham were magnificent.  Renee was quite touching as the Marschallin.  She looked magnificent and her acting was excellent.  Her voice is perfect for that role.  Susan Graham WAS Octavian.   She and Fleming blended so beautifully.  I worried about the poor Sophie having to go up against those two.  I needn’t have worried.  Miah Persson held her own well.  She has a bigger voice than I associate with Sophie and perhaps not as free in the upper reaches as many I have heard.  She looked wonderful and she blended well with the other two culminating in that rapturous trio at the end.  (I consider that trio the absolute Zenith of Western Civilization.  Unless it is Strauss’ song Befreit.)  Kristinn Sigmundsson was a great Ochs.  He portrayed a vulgar lout and a cad but he was not so boorish as to have been thrown out of the Marschallin’s chambers.  A slimmed down Ramon Vargas handled the cruel tessitura of the Italian Singer well.  This production is so beautiful and charming that I am sure it is on the Met’s list for replacement.  After all there are no Regie- elements.  I am sure next time I see it here it will be set in a whorehouse or a cistern.

Before the opera on Friday we had a delightful dinner with Chip and Ann Cole and Jason Hardy at P. J. Clarkes.  It started raining a bit just as we left the restaurant to cross the plaza to the Met.  The Damnation of Faust was well played and well sung.  James Conlon led a moving performance.  Ramon Vargas sang extremely well as Faust.  He looked great.  I have previously mentioned that he has lost weight.  As Mephistopheles Ildar Abdrazakov looked and sounded wonderful.  Olga Borodina’s voice sounded a bit blowzy and she thinned out in the higher notes.  But generally she sang well.  At the end she gamely climbed very high on the ladder (and she is no athlete).  As it is not really an opera one faces the question of what to do when one stages this.  Actually the staging was spectacular and often beautiful.  I liked the birds swarming against the gray sky at the beginning.  This morphed into a blue Spring sky.  There were several elements which made little or no sense.  When the chorus was singing about the Resurrection we saw no fewer than five Jesuses dying on the cross.  Obviously Mr. LePage has no concept of what the Resurrection was.  Also every mention of soldiers was shown as an anti-war commentary.  The scene where the soldiers are carousing and boasting and competing with the students was portrayed by soldiers walking up the wall (!) and then being lowered dead into their loved one’s arms.  The students were not seen at all.  Even later when Marguerite is (vainly) awaiting Faust’s return and she hears the soldiers the soldiers are portrayed as badly injured and maimed.  But most of the elements were pleasing to see.  I loved the water ballet.  The Dance of the Will-o-the-Wisps was spectacular with the male dancers dancing on the ceiling with the female dancers on the floor.  The ride to the abyss was well done and the depiction of the flaming pit was amazing.  I worried about the chorus burning  up.  Since Robert LePage is staging the next Ring Cycle I foresee some wonderful Rheinmaidens and a spectacular Immolation Scene.  When discussing this production the chorus must be singled out for special acclaim.  They sang beautifully.  Incidentally I found it amusing that, as Marguerite and Faust were going off to do whatever they were going to do, Olga Borodina’s husband (Abdrazakov) is the one who stopped them.

Gotterdammerung

Gotterdammerung
August 30, 2009

Gotterdammerung started out with the Norns, all of whom we have heard before. Luretta Bybee, Stephanie Blythe and Margaret Jane Wray. As expected they were an imposing set of Norns and they sang extremely well. Luxury casting. Janice Baird sang well and except for a badly placed high C in the duet with Siegfried handled the grueling role well. However in the Immolation Scene she really dragged and actually seemed to get lost. The conductor was giving cues I could see from the First Tier but she didn’t seem to notice. But the voice held up well and she managed to jump into the fire. She looked wonderful all evening and her acting was rxcellent. Stig Andersen repeated his beautifully sung lyrical Siegfried. Gordon Hawkins portrayed Gunter’s dilemma well. Marie Plette was a touching Gutrune. Daniel Sumegi, now graduated from dragon to half dwarf half Gibichung was a strong Hagen. We had the privilege of hearing Richard Paul Fink’s Alberich in Act 2. Stephanie Blythe’s Waltraute aptly captured the terror under which she was now living.

Stephanie Blythe actually did triple duty as she also appeared in the Immolation Scene as Fricka as Wotan and the Gods rapturously faced their demise. Again the sets were beautiful. We actually got to see Grane in the Prologue. Of course the audience had to drown out the music by clapping as though they had never seen a horse before. In the Immolation Scene the horse was led on again after Brunnhilde called for him. However he is nowhere near Brunnhilde and she doesn’t even appear to notice him. (But, as I mentioned she didn’t notice the conductor either.) I liked having the Rheinmaidens swim back in and having Brunnhilde actually throw to Ring to them as one of them “took care of” Hagen.

Robert Spano captured the grand sweep of the piece and the orchestra responded beautifully to him. He deservedly got the largest ovation at the end.

Siegfried

Siegfried
August 28, 2009
Tonight we met Siegfried. I had liked Stig Andersen at the Met in 2000 and I was glad to hear and see that he is doing well. He is one of the few Siegfrieds who does not shout at us. He sings the lines lyrically. It is a large enough voice to be heard over the orchestra most of the time. It is gratifying to hear this role sung so well. He looks young and he is quite playful onstage. His Mime, Dennis Petersen, was appropriately oily and well vocalized. Greer Grimsley was a magnificent Wanderer. He sang extremely well and projected a heroic/tragic figure. Richard Paul Fink again showed us why he owns the role of Alberich. I like the Seattle staging of the dragon and Daniel Sumegi sang it with appropriate menace. Maria Streijffert was strong as Erda. This staging has her actually come out of the ground (here a rock face wall) and interact with Wotan. Her pain on learning of Brunnhilde’s fate was evident. Janice Baird again took a little time to warm up. But she was always on pitch which is rare among Brunnhildes. She produced some gleaming high C’s for us. She looks great onstage which is also a major asset. The true star was Robert Spano who has captured the lyrical sweep of Wagner’s work. I wasn’t sure he could top his Walkure but he certainly did so tonight. He is not afraid to have moments of silence which were very effective in this opera.

The staging is mostly traditional with some wonderful nuances. In the first scene we could see Sieglinde’s flower covered grave over which Wotan could grieve. The second act is the same set as act 2 of Walkure so we had the site where Siegmund was killed. Wotan’s reaction to the blood-stained cliff wall was touching.

Apology

In my earlier comments on Walkure I mentioned a Brunnhilde sung by Margeret Jane Wray.  Ms. Wray has never sung Brunnhilde so she was not the singer to whom I was referring.  Indeed I have never heard her singing less than magnificently.  At this time I do not remember who the Brunnhilde to whom I was referrring was.  My apologies to Ms. Wray and to anyone who read this error.

Die Walkure

Die Walkure
August 26, 2009

This was a searing emotionally draining performance of Die Walkure. Robert Spano was at his best and the orchestra responded beautifully. He kept the tension high and the heartbreaking conclusion was well realized.
Stuart Skelton was an amazing Siegmund. A big well placed voice fully capable of singing Siegmund’s heroic moments but also able to capture the more lyrical moments. He looked great onstage. Margaret Jane Wray was a good Sieglinde who started out well and improved as the evening progressed.  Her “O  Hehrstes Wunder” and “Du bist der Lenz” were glorious.Andrea Silvestrelli was a good menacing Hunding. Tonight we got to hear Janice Baird as Brunnhilde. I wasn’t crazy about her opening Ho-jo-to-ho. There seemed to be an incipient wobble and a large register break. But these flaws lessened as she warmed up. She was excellent in the Todesverkundigung Scene and in the Third Act. Greer Grimsley was magnificent. His Wotan was well sung. The change from proud majestic god to the tragic grieving father was heartbreaking. Stephanie Blythe was excellent as Fricka. We had a great set of Valkyries anchored by the Helmwige of Sally Wolf.
Again the sets were beautiful. And for the most part I liked the staging. One huge miscalculation was to have Fricka enter during the battle scene. She walked downstage center taking focus away from the unspeakable tragedy of Siegmund dying in his father’s arms (and by his hand). Wotan’s farewell was one of the most heartbreaking I have experienced.

Afterward I asked Stephen Wadsworth about what Fricka was doing at the end of Rheingold. He explained that she and Loge were both always trying to get Wotan to pay attention to them and they were always unsuccessful. Therefore he thought they had a bond. I don’t think this was very clearly demonstrated and, while he is right about them trying to get Wotan to pay attention, they did not have a bond—indeed they detested each other.

Seattle Das Rheingold

Das Rheingold
August 25, 2009

Das Rheingold started off like it does at the Met. There is no grand entrance with applause for the conductor. The house is darkened and the low e flat seems to emerge from the earth. The rising arpeggios immediately immerse the listener into the Rhine  and the world of the Ring. Unfortunately the mood was broken as soon as the curtain went up as the audience interrupted the music by applauding for the scenery. Robert Spano has certainly grown in this assay of the Ring. He is much more lyrical and he conducted with a heightened understanding of the work. The orchestra played extremely well for him.
The Rheinmaidens were good as ever. The flying abilities are astonishing. They sang well. Greer Grimsley was god before but he is even better now. Stephanie Blythe sang Fricka beautifully as she sings everything. The biggest standout was Richard Paul Fink as Alberich. He owns that role. Every time I see him he is better. Marie Plette was a touching Frieia. Maria Streijffert as Erda was okay but she did not have the imposing voice of Ewa Podles who last sang this role in Seattle. (Or for that matter Melissa Kelley who sang it so beautifully at a concert in Atlanta 2 weeks ago). Gordon Hawkins was wonderful as Donner. Kobie van Rensburg was good in the first non-Handel role in which I have heard him. I loved Jason Collins in the beautifully lyric part of Froh
The production evoking the Pacific Northwest is still beautiful. For the most part I liked the staging. I like the physicality between Wotan and Fricka but I thought it was a bit much. The men all had long hair (Greer used his own) which was fine but they kept putting on and taking off capes and coats requiring them to flip their hair around which seemed very effeminate and also distracting. Erda held Wotan to her breast as she sang which pre-saged their relationship (and how Brunnhilde came to be). At the end, as the gods started out over the rainbow bridge, Fricka tarried behind looking sadly at the body of Fasolt (who had terrorized her sister) and caressing the ground. Then she had some sort of interplay with Loge (whom she hated) as if they were making some plan. I am not quite sure what that was all about but it did keep me from paying attention to the gods entering Valhalla.

Hello world!

Getting ready to leave for Paris tomorrow.  My friend Keith Jeffords is going with me.  I’ll see Wagner’s Die Feen and Rameau’s Zoroastre.  I also have reservations at the Moulin Rouge.  Then I fly to NYC for La Sonnambula and L’Elisir d’Amore.  My friend John Young is singing in Cavalli’s La Didone at St. Anne’s Warehouse in Brooklyn so I’ll go to that too.