Siegfried at the Met Opera Text: John L. Digaetani

As each sang, I could imagine that we were tiated the heights of the “hojotoho’s” well, ve will result from Lepage’s exploration, so- in a new golden age. But their splendor did which perhaps reimbursed us for her breat- mething that will cast new light on the mea- put the others in the shade – in Act II Blyt- hiness in the lower parts. Her athleticism as ning of the Ring. I would be delighted if the he blew Bryn Terfel off the stage. well as Terfel’s allowed them to hop around machine came to symbolize Fate – Cocteau’s No one would claim that the Met and the the set, while their interaction had extreme- Machine infernale – with its exigencies stan- Met Orchestra is the best frame to display ly touching moments, necessary in the dra- ding for the limits placed on the characters. either Terfel’s Wotan or Deborah Voigt’s ma that centers on these two. Yet in the back of my mind is the example Brünnhilde. His Walküre Wotan had subt- Despite his pain (after the first night he of another innovative director who fell flat lety and none of the hectoring that plagued took all his bows from the pit) James Levine on his face when confronted with Wagner’s his Rheingold, yet he lacked the impact that conducted boisterous performances, drawing epic. In summer 1999, Andrei Serban came great Wotans must have. His singing seemed a rough-and-ready sound from the orchest- in practically at the last moment to restage Ni- overly careful and poised. His efforts were ra. His conducting varied from evening to kolaus Lehnhoff’s production for San Fran- focused on defining the character – not a evening: for instance, on those nights when cisco Opera. He seemed awed by the job and bad thing – and, as in Rheingold, he became Westbroek was going especially strong, he spent far more time considering how to dress securer with each performance. broadened the tempo at “O herrstes Wun- the giants than how to address Wagner’s the- What can be said about Deborah Voigt? der!” to let her soar. mes. Lepage, of course, has had much more I dislike the squeezed quality of her present I should explain my disappointment furt- time than Serban to mull over what he wants voice, the gold has tarnished, and far too of- her. I don’t consider the new Met Ring a “bad” to do, and the sets and mechanism are his ten in the early performances she was unab- Ring, just unfocused, at least up to now. I own, but I get the same feeling of aimless- le to hold a steady tone. That said, she nego- continue to hope that something substanti- ness. I hope I’m wrong. Siegfried at the Met Opera Text: John L. DiGaetani Kuva: Ken Howard / Metropolitan Opera In November of 2011 the Met’s new Sieg- fried had its premiere and by and large re- ally pleased the audience. The night I saw it “the machine” worked just fine and eve- rything went smoothly – not always the case. The machine moves enormous planks around so that the unit set changes to reflect each of the scenes and its visual requi- rements. It is fascinating to see the set mo- ving and sliding and altering to meet the demands of the various scenes. While the images onstage are governed by the dimensions of the machine, these images were consis- tently enticing. large and has real tenor ping and a beautiful though she did not have the sonorous low The machine was also able to project won- tone. He got the biggest ovation at the end tones that the role demands. derful images of nature onto the planks – for not only getting through this most diffi- Deborah Voigt sang with a fresh, youth- a birch forest, falling leaves, a blacksmith’s cult of tenor roles but singing the part beau- ful-sounding voice as Brünnhilde. The Sieg- hut, a waterfall, a mountain top, a flying tifully and with dramatic credibility. fried Brünnhilde is the highest of her three bird, etc. The forest bird was especially cap- Bryn Terfel’s Wotan is certainly now the roles in the Ring, and Voigt certainly has tivating in the second act, though the moun- greatest Wotan around – he sang the role the high notes so she sounded wonderful, taintop at the end of the opera needed more with a lovely, lyrical baritone sound, excellent and her duet with Siegfried at the end of the light to reflect Wagner’s stage directions. But German diction, and dramatic conviction. opera has sexual energy and dramatic exci- Robert Lepage’s Ring did not become Euro Here he was the defeated Wotan, the Wan- tement to end this most comic of the four trash and did try to reflect Wagner’s stage derer, trying to control events but knowing Ring operas with real flourish. directions and the visual demands implied that they were beyond his grasp. Eric Owens Fabio Luisi’s conducting won a well-de- in the orchestral music. We were never put was a lyrical-sounding Alberich, though one served ovation at the end, especially since in someone’s basement (as in the Copenha- wished he were more malevolent and more he had to take over quickly due to the illness gen Ring) and the costumes were never ridi- a foil to Wotan. Gerhard Siegel’s Mime of James Levine. Luisi conducted with brisk culous (as in the Los Angeles Ring). In fact, was comic rather than malevolent, though tempos so that this Siegfried moved along with Francois St-Aubin’s costumes and Etienne here again more malice would have genera- real energy and dramatic drive. While some Boucher’s lighting added to the drama onsta- ted more dramatic intensity. He was too li- of the lovelier passages were not as languo- ge, though I did wish the final scene of the keable and his plotting to poison Siegfried rous, one appreciated that this performan- opera were brighter since the opera moves never became a palpable reality, though Sie- ce never dragged. Luisi also remained sensi- from darkness to bright light. gel sang the part beautifully. tive to the singers’ needs and, except in the The big surprise of this Siegfried was the Hans Peter König presented a very mo- first act, which was too loud, he by and lar- Siegfried, Jay Hunter Morris, who replaced ving Fafner, who appears from beneath the ge did not drown out the singers. Gary Lehman, who replaced Ben Heppner. dragon when he is mortally wounded and The Met’s new Ring, produced and di- All these cancellations undoubtedly added to becomes very sympathetic as the dying giant. rected by Robert Lepage, has so far won the pressure on this tenor. But Morris, who Mojca Erdmann impressed as the Forest audience approval for its clever designs and sang the role in the San Francisco Ring last Bird, with all the easy high notes and fle- emphasis on the cycles of nature which cont- summer, sounded much better at the Met – xibility that this bel canto soprano role de- rol the Ring. Water, earth, fire, and air all a real Heldentenor who was not vocally ex- mands. Patricia Bardon had dramatic pre- become tangible realities in this lovely Sieg- hausted by the end of the opera. His voice is sence and a lovely contralto voice as Erda, fried. http://www.suomenwagnerseura.org/wagneriaani/ Wagneriaani 55.

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