DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN
Scottish Opera, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, August 2003
This production of Wagner's RING by Tim Albery represents the culmination of this year's Edinburgh Festival, and everything that Scottish Opera has been working for for the last four years.
DAS RHEINGOLD, 25th. August
CAST
WOGLINDE Inka Rinn
WELLGUNDE Marianne Andersen
FLOSSHILDE Leah Marian Jones
ALBERICH Peter Sidhom
MIME Alasdair Elliot
WOTAN Matthew Best
FRICKA Anne Mason
FREIA Rachel Hymes
FASOLT Carsten Stabell
FAFNER Markus Hollop
FROH Matthew Elton Thomas
DONNER Michael Druiett
LOGE Peter Bronder
ERDA Mary Phillips
conducted by Richard Armstrong
The E flat major chords which signal the quiet beginning of this Prologue to the RING cycle were played so subtly by the horns of the orchestra of Scottish Opera, conducted by Richard Armstrong - this was an inspiring beginning to what proved to be a splendid evening.
When the Rhinemaidens appeared, they were pretty girls dressed in skimpy costumes, including stockings and suspenders, and had masses of blonde hair - their voices blended so well together, and they really were UTTERLY HEARTLESS to Alberich, mocking him and giggling.
Peter Sidholm as Alberich gave a performance of power and intensity - actually there were a few wrong notes at one point, but it seemed almost to fit in to the characterisation. He conveys extreme visciousness when he curses the Ring, and this Alberich is also not without a cynical sense of humour. Alasdair Elliot as Mime had just the right amount of "cringe-factor" in his voice and bearing.
I absolutely LOVED the clown-like Loge of Peter Bronder - Loge is my favourite character in the RING anyway. (In discussions before and after the performance, it transpired that this is the majority view). I think, though, that possibly the honours of the evening should go to Matthew Best's Wotan - his voice is perhaps not as sonorous as some, but this is not necessarily a fault, a certain dryness of tone seems suited to the RHEINGOLD Wotan. Wotan's problem is that he sees himself (or wants to see himself) as more noble and virtuous than either Alberich or the Giants, but this does not alter the fact that he is prepared to cheat the giants right from the beginning - in fact it soon becomes clear that he and Alberich are each other's alter ego.
The goddesses were good, if not spectacular, although I was less enthusiastic about the Erda of Mary Phillips - somehow, although she sang beautifully, the effect was to make Erda seem forceful rather than mysterious, which I find a rather mistaken characterisation.
Carsten Stabell as Fasolt was sympathetic - the Fafner, Markus Hollop, was sometimes a bit low-key, but most of the time managed to convey the brutality of the character.
The actually production is visually appealing, if somewhat miminalist. (I will try to put some graphics on this page later).
There were some touches of directorial genius - for instance, when Freia is finally "redeemed", if we can call it than, Fasolt tries to kiss her goodbye, but Fafner stops him. Later, when Fasolt is killed, it is Freia who goes to kneel by his body - so obviously she is in the end not totally indifferent to his genuine affection for her. Furthermore, Freia is dressed in a apple-green gown and - yes - actually has apples!! She distributes them to all the gods (except Loge of course) at the end of the opera.
The giants enter behind a large wooden structure, vaguely mask-like or face-like in shape, with two "eyes" from which they look out. When they emerge from behind the structure, they turn out to be working men in blue overalls and peaked caps - at one point they produce lunch-boxes; the point is that they really do look like builders who have completed a job of work and want to be paid.
When Wotan and Loge descend into Nibelheim, the scene is - I suppose a bit like an alchemist's workshop, pre-industrial at any rate, not like a factory. There is a huge pyramid of gold dust on a huge pair of scales; and at one point Alberich scatters some of the gold dust in a "magic circle" round Wotan, so that for a while he is trapped in the circle.
As the gods prepare for their ascent into Valhalla, it looks as though windows are opening in the backdrop - but it transpires that these are plinths, onto which the gods climb, as if they are being transformed into statues.
The costumes are vaguely contemporary, BUT the men are in skirts - er, kilts? Because it is in Scotland - Clan McWotan, or something? Oh well, at least they are not tartan, and do not re-appear in the rest of the RING.
DIE WALKUERE, 26th. August
CAST
WOTAN Matthew Best
BRUENNHILDE Elizabeth Byrne
FRICKA Anne Mason
SIEGMUND Jan Kyhle
SIEGLINDE Marie Plette
HUNDING Carsten Stabell
VALKYRIES
GERHILDE Sarah Rhodes
HELMWIGE Rachel Hynes
WALTRAUTE Jane Irwin
SCHWERTLEITE Kathleen Wilkinson
ORTLINDE Mary Callan Clarke
SIEGRUNE Clare Shearer
GRIMGERDE Yvonne Lee
ROSSWEISE Leah Marian Jones
It must be admitted that at the very beginning of this performance the orchestra did sound a bit unfocussed - this was also a slight problem at the beginning of the second Act, but not enough to spoil a fine performance. This time the curtain (which is decorated with a repeating motif of swords) rises to show a run-down living-room in what is obviously not the best part of town. The costumes throughout are more or less 1950s, and the kilts, if that is what they were, are no longer in evidence. Sieglinde's green cardigan, however, becomes a visual leitmotif; Siegfried inherits it, and I understand (not having yet seen GOETTERDAEMMERUNG) that it gets passed on to Bruennhilde.
Scottish Opera have found a Siegmund to equal Jon Vickers! Jan Kyhle alternates effortlessly between heroic tone and lyricism; in his narration at the beginning of Act I, it was possible to discern Siegmund's bravery beneath the weariness; the "Waelse! Waelse!" had a true heroic ring without any vibrato, and then he sang "Winterstuerme" with incredibly tender lyricism.
He was well matched by the Sieglinde, Marie Plette, who is equally versatile, tender and full of hope in Act I, despairing and hysterical in Act II, and finally her "Oh hehrstes Wunder!" was sung in superb, ringing tones. The broken pieces of the sword get wrapped up in the green cardigan - I said it was a visual Leitmotif!
Hundung was sung with convincing gloominess and hostility by Carsten Sabell (who was Fasolt in DAS RHEINGOLD) - another touch of directorial inspiration was the way in which, on entering, he kisses Sieglinde roughly, thus emphasising the point that "Dies Haus und dies Weib sind Hundings eigen". (I have never before seen a production in which this happened, and yet, now it's been done by Scottish Opera, one wonders why no-one ever thought of it before.)
Matthew Best continued to develop his portrayal of Wotan, he is one of the most interesting Wotans I have ever seen. He is tender with Bruennhilde at the beginning of Act II, exasperated, frustrated and finally despairing after his confrontation with Fricka - very well sung by Anne Mason, she puts Fricka's case very eloquently - and of course the point is that Fricka is right, however unsympathetically she may choose to present herself. (And it must be admitted that an eternity of being married to Wotan is enough to sour anyone's temperament.....) The heart of Act II is of course Wotan's Narration, and the way Best performs it really emphasises his point that "Mit mir nur rat' ich, red' ich zu dir" - he is thinking aloud, trying to clarify in his own mind how things developed to put him in this impossible position - all sung with consummate understanding of the text, due attention to every word and every nuance, so that the audience was rapt with attention (even those of us who know it by heart----or think we do!)
Elizabeth Byrne repeated her triumph as Bruennhilde - it was a pity that she literally lost her voice in the last few bars of her part (so that we didn't hear "es leck' ihre Zung', es fresse ihr Zahn/den Zagen, der frech sich wagte, dem freislichen Felsen zu nahn!" - but this was a minor fault after she had given such a splendid, moving performance - at first joking with Wotan, then during the Todesverkuendigung solemn, serious, gradually realising what human love can mean, as she takes the momentous decision which will change her life - and the world - for ever.
Visually this production was as attractive as DAS RHEINGOLD. I loved the Ride of the Valkyries - they are portrayed as bike-riding, beer-swilling laddettes - there is a fridge at the back of the stage from which they take bottles of beer as they arrive. The whole thing is hilarious - this time, though, it didn't get the spontaneous round of applause that greeting it when this production was first unveiled two years ago.
SIEGFRIED, 28th. August
CAST
MIME Alasdair Elliot
SIEGFRIED Graham Sanders
THE WANDERER Matthew Best
ALBERICH Peter Sidhom
FAFNER Markus Hollop
THE WOODBIRD Gillian Keith
ERDA Mary Phillips
BRUENNHILDE Elizabeth Byrne
The dark, brooding atmosphere of Act I of SIEGFRIED was spendidly conveyed in the orchestral prelude. The curtain rises on Mime's workshop/smithy, which of course doubles as his and Siegfried's home - a gloomy dwelling, to say the least. Mime (Alasdair Elliot) is a weedy nerd in glasses; later he appears to be a rather seedy scoutmaster, complete with shorts and cloth cap. He is very funny, but of course also menacing. The point is, though, that Mime lacks the tragic grandeur that makes Alberich a distant cousin of Milton's Satan - he's just a mean, cringing figure, Alasdair Elliot conveys this so well.
The Siegfried, Graham Sanders, was something of a disappointment, especially compared with some of the other members of the cast - he made a valiant effort, but one could see/hear that it was exhausting him. However, he contrived to look the part, to some extent, portraying Siegfried as a sulky teenager in an anorak and jeans. He did manage the Forging Scene creditably. As I indicated, the sword is wrapped up in the green cardigan (remember the green cardigan??!!) which Siegfried takes with him into the forest.
Matthew Best as the Wanderer continued his masterly portrayal of Wotan's journey of self-discovery - because this is what the Riddle Scene really is. |It isn't really about the history of the world, the Nibelungs, Giants and Gods - Mime knows that, and we know that. It is about the inner landscape of Wotan's mind - he realises at last that he and Alberich are each other's alter ego; they are joined together irrevocably. Wotan even refers to himself as "Licht-Alberich". What is also important is that he claims that "everyone always obeys the Lord of the Spear" (ewig gehorchen sie alle des Speeres starkem Herrn), but he knows this isn't true - it MATTERED that Bruennhilde obeyed him, and she didn't - it doesn't matter so much whether anyone else obeys him or not. Matthew Best does manage to convey this with emphasis and gesture, this is what makes him such an outstanding Wotan.
That Wotan and Alberich cannot escape from each other was conveyed very effectively in the scene between them at the beginning of Act II - they really look like two old men on a park bench, who have hated each other for years but cannot get away from each other. The staging is actually fairly minimalist, and very effective. The Dragon's cave is represented by an enormous screen, that slides apart to reveal a curtain with huge teeth and a gaping mouth - when Faner is killed, he reverts to human (er, well, I suppose Giant - form). The screens also serve as the forest, whith green lighting making them look like huge moss-covered tree-trunks.
The Woodbird is sung by a young woman dressed in white, who brings a stylised tree onto the stage with her - I was expecting this, as I saw it last year. It works very well, as it means that she is present on stage all the time, watching the fight with Fafner from a safe distance!
The orchestral representation of the mountaintop where Siegfried finds Bruennhilde asleep was some of the most exquisite orchestral playing I have ever heard, so beautiful I really just wanted to cry! It was almost af if one didn't want Siegfried to start singing again and break the spell. Elizabeth Byrne gave a very sensitive portrayal of Bruennhilde's waking - making it clear that it isn't just a physical awakening but a psychological awakening as well.
GOETTERDAEMMERUNG, 30th. August
CAST
FIRST NORN Leah Marian Jones
SECOND NORN Jane Irwin
THIRD NORN Rachel Hynes
BRUENHILDE Elizabeth Byrne
SIEGFRIED Graham Sanders
GUNTHER Peter Savidge
HAGEN Mats Almgren
GUTRUNE Elaine McKrill
WALTRAUTE Jane Irwin
ALBERICH Peter Sidhom RHINEMAIDENS
WOGLINDE Inka Rinn
WELLGUNDE Marianne Andersen
FLOSSHILDE Leah Marian Jones
Before the performance, it was announced that Elizabeth Byrne was ill, and craved our indulgence - but in fact her singing was so radiant and focussed that she needn't have worried!
After the Norns' bright blue, frayed rope has finally snapped, we are transported to Siegfried and Bruennhilde on their mountain-top - and it transpires that Bruennhilde has inherited the green cardigan. Graham Sanders as Siegfried was much more secure in the role than he was in SIEGFRIED, although still not a match for Elizabeth Byrne's Bruennhilde.
The Gibichungs live in a tower-block; Gutrune is discovered reading fashion magazines, while Gunther mixes drinks for her. The Gunther of Peter Savidge is a vacuous character, amiable enough perhaps, but it's obvious that the answer to his first question - "Sitz' ich herrlich am Rhein, Gunther, zu Gibichs Ruhm" is - well, NO, you're a posturing prat! The performance of Mats Almgren as Hagen was one of the many high points of this splendid performance - so dark and brooding, with incredible stage presence, very menacing, though quite credible. His performance places great emphasis on Hagen's STILLNESS - while the other two are scurrying around trying to impress Siegfried (Gunther straightens his tie, Gutrune fixes her make-up) Hagen remains immobile. This is of course especially effective in his scene with Alberich at the beginning of Act II.
Bruennhilde is concerned but finally uncomprehending on hearing Waltraute's story (sensitively sung by Jane Irwin, who was also the Second Norn). In Act II, as the deception is revealed, she gave a really frightening display of the emotions of a woman driven to fury. There were some really effective pieces of stage business - for instance Gutrune, who obviously doesn't understand what is going on, keeps giving Bruennhilde glasses of water. And a masterly stroke was that, after the Conspirators' Trio, Bruennhilde and Gunther shake hands -she goes up to him and offers him her hand, as a sign of temporary alliance, although nothing else.
The Rhinemaidens return,in rather less skimpy costumes this time - they are wearing white suits, carrying blue handbags, sitting at a cocktail bar. This is actually very effective - at the beginning of the scene they convey the epitome of boredom, in gesture and voice, and of course they brighten up when Siegfried arrives. The cocktail bar remains on view for the next scene - leading up to Siegfried's death - which may sound somewhat perverse, but actually works very well. (I should observe that this is not the sort of "modernistic" production which uses innovation for the sake of innovation - everything is very well thought out and carefully balanced with the needs of the production. Anyway, I like modernism and updating!) All the men sit round the bar drinking while Siegfried tells the story of his childhood and youth, so the scenic device actually works very well. AND there were actual ravens - I mean two men with raven masks, and this is done very subtly, because at first the audience doesn't realise they are there, as they have been concealed by the rest of the chorus, and their sudden appearance at Siegfried's death is chilling.
The curtain falls during Siegfried's Funeral March, which was taken at a slow but not ponderous tempo,elegaic and deeply moving.
Elizabeth Byrne excelled herself during Bruennhilde's Immolation Scene, although visually it was perhaps less impressive than some other moments; this didn't really detract from rhe scene, however, because her performance was so intense. And afterwards - people come on to the stage carrying miniature versions of the statues of the gods that we saw in DAS RHEINGOLD, and discard them.
So.....after that everyone had to go out into the cold, wet streets of Edinburgh (it poured with rain for about two hours!!), our minds still reeling with the impact of this RING.
However, there is a very sad sequel (Summer 2004) - click HERE to read an Article in THE SCOTSMAN about the virtual demise of Scottish Opera after such a wonderful achievement. This also contains a review of the current Stuttgart RING.
