Ring Cycle #2: Die Walkure
First, a bunch of Ring-related links:
Scheduled Wotan withdraws from the entire cycle. His replacement had been planning to retire from the role for good, but no such luck.
Trailer for hollywood “Ring of the Nibelungs”
(via YouTube - this was released in 2004. Seems to have been trying to piggyback on the success of Lord of the Rings.)
YouTube again - Finale of Das Rheingold - from a Bayreuth production, 1976.
Die Walkure did not disappoint. In fact, even though I’ve listened to Du Bist der Lenz so many times on CD, I still found it heart-stopping last night. And it was all so much more emotionally moving (rather than just intellectually edifying) than I expected.
I had worried that I’d be stuck listening to Frances Ginzer as Brunnhilde last night. I saw her a few years in Turandot as well as last year in Siegfried, and hated her singing both times. Every note sounded like a struggle, like it was a supreme feat of vocal strength to extract it from her voice box. Of course the music is difficult, but I want to hear musical sensitivity, not straining and struggle. So I was delighted to find that Brunnhilde would be sung instead by Susan Bullock, who had everything - a good sense of phrasing, engaging acting, a sense of youthful energy - that Ginzer lacked.
I also had fun examining the audience members and trying to pick out the true Wagner devotees from the casual operagoers. I developed the following completely unverifiable set of guidelines:
Anyone who:
- Is carrying a libretto or musical score
- Is speaking German
- Is attending all four operas by him/herself
- Is wearing a tuxedo despite sitting in the cheapest of the cheap seats
- Is wearing a costume (I saw more than one horned helmet)
- Is a man sitting in a corner doing needlepoint between acts
…is likely to be a True Believer.
Also, I was thisclose to Margaret Atwood in the throng of people exiting the theatre afterward. She seemed to be in high spirits.
Tomorrow: Siegfried. There will be fewer surprises with this installment, since I saw the test run last year (and was impressed). Even so, I’m looking forward to it. The dragon is really cool.
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