Wagneriana

Summer 2013 Volume 10, Number 2

Die Frist ist um, und abermals vers strichen Sind sieben Jahr!

—— Der fliegende Holländer From the President

We had a very exciting spring season. On May 6 Jay Hunter Morris traveled to Boston especially to talk to members of the Boston Wagner Society and the larger public. In his Q&A with Ron Della Chiesa, he was In This Issue most candid, generous, and warmhearted, winning the audience’s love and ■■ From the admiration. He spoke of the challenges of performing arduous Wagnerian President 1 roles, as well as its great rewards. His four-year-old son, Cooper Jack, drew numbers from a hat (kindly donated for the occasion by Web ■■ Daniele Gatti and Master Thomas Kwei) for a lottery. The lottery items consisted of signed the BSO Triumph in an All-Wagner photographs and posters, which Morris had generously brought with him. Concert 2 His wife, Meg Morris, was also present at the event, which took place at the beautiful College Club. ■■ Musical Values On May 11 we presented a fabulous concert, followed by a question- Triumph in the BLO’s Flying and-answer session moderated by Ron Della Chiesa. Titled “Highlights Dutchman 4 from Wagner’s Ring Cycle” (later redubbed “Around the Ring in 80 Minutes” by our ever creative Music Advisor Jeffrey Brody), the concert ■■ The Nibelungen included excerpts from each of the four Ring operas. Soprano Joanna Ring 6 Porackova, Heldentenor Alan Schneider, Contralto Marion Dry, Bass- ■■ Spring 2013 Baritone Greer Grimsley, French Hornist Kevin Owen, and Pianist Jeffrey Events 14 Brody were the performers. Old South Church rang out with beautiful music making. Grimsley, who sang for the Boston Wagner Society for the first time, was a wonder to behold. His is a voice for the ages. He performed Wotan’s Farewell with great power, beauty, and drama, as well as flawless diction. Porackova and Schneider sang the second half of Act 1 of Die Walküre with drive and drama. Porackova’s Brünnhilde was moving and expressive. Schneider, who is at the beginning of his Wagnerian career, sang this role from memory for the first time, and we commend him for his heroic effort. Dry’s musicianship was impeccable (Erda and Continued on back page REVIEW between Gatti and his players. Gatti prefers to seat first and second violins as one large group on his left, Daniele Gatti and the BSO rather than having firsts on his left and seconds on Triumph in an All-Wagner his right. In much of this music, particularly in the Concert more complex textures of the mature works, this lack of antiphonal violin sound, which is built into the March 21, 22, 23, and 26, 2013; Boston composition, proved to be somewhat frustrating. By Symphony Orchestra; cond. Daniele Gatti; contrast, Levine’s antiphonal seating really brought excerpts from Götterdämmerung, Tannhäuser, home delightful sonorities, with the violins spread out widely across the stage. Not all conductors prefer Parsifal, Lohengrin, and , with this seating, alas. (Incidentally, only in the Bayreuth Mezzo-Soprano Michelle De Young Festival pit does one find first violins seated on the After luxuriating in three SiriusXM broadcasts conductor’s right and the seconds on his left, the of the ’s recent Parsifal led by reverse of what is done all over the world. This is as Daniele Gatti, and after seeing this astonishing prescribed by Wagner himself.) Instead of using the production in-house and twice in the movie theater, standard Felix Mottl concert ending, Maestro Gatti I expected great things from the BSO’s contribu- performed all of the Rhine journey up to the very tion to the Wagner bicentennial under the direc- final bar of the Prologue. One ardently wished that tion of Maestro Gatti. I am delighted to report that he had continued into the first act ofGötterdämmer - all expectations were handsomely met by Maestro ung. Instead, Gatti found an ingenious, if somewhat Gatti and the superb collection of players collectively startling, link to the “Death of ” and the known as the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Wag- subsequent funeral processional music. The orches- nerians both near and far had been looking forward tra, even though at the time it was without a per- to this concert with the keenest interest since it was manent music director, remained in a class by itself. announced last year, all the more so after Gatti’s The BSO plays operatic music fairly infrequently, recent triumph with Parsifal at the Met. My observa- and yet one would never suspect that this is not some tions here are based not only on the Saturday eve- high-class opera house pit band; such was the perfec- ning performance (March 23), but also on the Inter- tion of ensemble and sheer clarity and balance, not to net-streamed recording I made of that performance speak of intensity of expression. On Saturday eve- and the Tuesday evening (March 26) performance. ning Gatti built up a shattering climax, and on Tues- Maestro Gatti opened his program with “Dawn day evening this was even more in evidence. Not and Siegfried’s Rhine Journey,” followed without a surprisingly, with the winds and brass in full cry, break by the “Death of Siegfried” and “Siegfried’s the strings were eclipsed, as they always are in works Funeral Music.” From the softest notes of the almost with heavy scoring. (Strauss, Mahler, and Bruckner imperceptible opening to the first triumphant E-flat- are also excellent at demolishing at times an entire major statement of the Siegfried motive in the brass string section.) On Saturday evening Gatti and the it was immediately apparent that the local band is orchestra received a thunderous ovation following a in every way on a par with the estimable Levine- profoundly respectful and moving silence. It was as created ensemble at Lincoln Center. Throughout if nobody in the audience wanted to break the spell. the concert it was clear that the BSO were enjoying As is often the case, the BSO’s first-desk winds and the sounds they were producing, a fact not terri- brass were particularly eloquent in all the exposed bly obvious when they offer an American or world solo work. James Sommerville played the offstage premiere. Moreover, there was much good chemistry Siegfried “Ruf” to perfection, although Gatti and

– 2 – the orchestra tended to cover up the final ascending few pitch problems high notes. Gatti’s music making was so compelling were more evident on Tuesday evening that he made me think that, yes, on Tuesday.) Again, there is Wagner and then there is everybody else, the audience did not with only Gustav Mahler coming close. Alas, some burst into applause truly boorish patron in the first balcony was so car- as soon as the music ried away that he started to applaud wildly as soon as stopped. the sound stopped, thereby breaking the spell. Had After De Young’s the maestro thought of this possibility, he might have beautiful account given the final cutoff with his hands still held high of Kundry, Gatti in the air, motionless, followed by an extremely slow offered a superb descent; this is standard procedure—to avoid break- Lohengrin Prelude, Michelle De Young ing the spell prematurely in works that end quietly Act 1. This work (the endings of Mahler’s sixth and ninth come to should not be heard in performance by some com- mind immediately, and also the end of Das Lied von munity orchestra. How spoiled we are these days to der Erde. These works are classic illustrations of the have so many recordings by great orchestras! How music still going on for quite some time in the mind many people realize that this prelude makes a fre- of sensitive performers and audiences, even though quent appearance in standard audition excerpt books the sound has ceased). for string players? The quality of a string section is Following the intermission, Gatti offered a splen- immediately apparent. Woe to those players who lack did Tannhäuser Overture. A razor-sharp ensemble, a secure grasp of harmonics! And more woe to the impeccable tuning, and ravishing solo winds made conductor who cannot achieve balance and clarity for a most gripping account of this well-known con- here. Gatti and his highly skilled players dispatched cert piece. The playing was every bit as astonishing this without the slightest difficulty; indeed, they as the touchstone 1986 Symphony Hall performance made music. The pacing inexorably led to the one by the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of true climax. And again we enjoyed a respectful, the then current BSO music director [Seiji Ozawa], almost meditative, silence before the applause. who subbed for an ailing Herbert von Karajan, his To close the evening, Gatti and De Young per- mentor. The novelty of the evening was provided by formed the Tristan Prelude and Liebestod. What a the lovely performance of Mezzo-Soprano Michelle pleasure it was to see Gatti take seriously the rests that De Young, who sang an eloquent “Ich sah das Kind” separate the opening few phrases of the Prelude, all of (Parsifal), preceded by a few pages of music before which are of unequal duration; most conductors sim- this monologue. De Young offered a most finished, ply leave the precise duration of these pauses to the polished, and beautiful sound throughout and great whim of the moment. (One of the rare exceptions to intensity of expression. Surprisingly, Gatti’s tempi this free-spirited technique was the account by Bern- here were not at all as somnolent as in his Met per- stein in his one and only complete Wagner recording.) formance only a few weeks earlier. Perhaps he was I was struck by the lovely and unforced sound of De doing his best to accommodate De Young, which Young’s instrument. But here, as in the brief Parsifal is de rigeur for any decent conductor, who must do excerpt, her German diction was not exactly a model what will enhance the performance of any soloist of clarity and easy perception; when the orchestral instead of creating obstacles such as too fast or too going got into high gear (the climax of the Liebestod), slow tempi. What a pity that, despite this assistance, it was hard to hear her at all, let alone figure out what De Young flew wildly sharp in a few places. (These language she was singing. I would like to think that

– 3 – Gatti and the orchestra’s overpowering of her sing- REVIEW ing was due to my seat, right above the orchestra on the second balcony on the right. But I am not so sure. Musical Values Triumph in Perhaps like some other mezzos (Christa Ludwig and the BLO’s Flying Dutchman Jessye Norman immediately come to mind), the role of Kundry is a better fit for De Young than Isolde. At The Flying Dutchman, Boston Lyric Opera, any rate, she was swallowed up in the closing pages of April/May 2013; Gregory Frank: Donald the Liebestod. Nevertheless, she made a fine impres- (Daland); Alan Schneider: Steersman; Alfred sion. (One no longer expects to find a singer who can Walker: Dutchman; Ann McMahon Quintero: match Kirsten Flagstad’s final F-sharp on “Lust”). Mary; Allison Oakes: Senta; Chad Shelton: And yet again, that evanescent and miraculously George (Erik); Georgia Harper: Senta at age scored final B-major chord (according to Richard 7; Olivia Dundon-Duvall: Senta at age 14; Strauss, the best-scored B-major chord in all of music) worked its magic, thanks to the way Gatti superbly David Angus: conductor; John Conklin: set shaped the arc of crescendo and diminuendo, very designer; Michelle Alexander: chorus master much like Furtwängler. Is there any more satisfying The Boston Lyric Opera’s singers, chorus, and chord in all of Wagner? The other equally satisfying orchestra members gave an outstanding performance final chord is that of Mahler’s Eighth. (According to of The Flying Dutchman in the final offering of the Igor Stravinsky, “All that effort to prove that 2 + 2 = 2012–2013 season, which took place at the Shubert 4,” but I digress.) There was a considerable silence Theatre. This Scottish version was the U.S. premiere before the spell was broken. (Why does this not hap- of the 1841 critical edition of the opera by Isolde pen at the Met?) One could easily make a special Vetter. This version used Wagner’s earlier scoring, as study comparing umpteen versions of this final chord well as his original keys, with a lighter orchestration. alone to note the particular skills and ear of a conduc- Alfred Walker offered a strong portrayal as tor. (How fast or slow does one produce the written the Dutchman. His sonorous voice, easily heard crescendo and diminuendo, and how much and how long does one hold this final chord?) While Gatti (and virtually everyone else) does not “own” the score of Parsifal the way Hans Knappertsbusch did, he came very close to that other great Tristan Dirigent, Wil- helm Furtwängler, whose final B-major chord in his complete recording with Flagstad is still the greatest B-major chord ever captured on disc. (Gatti may have triumphed in the all-Wagner concert, but the BSO management, to no one’s great surprise, announced in May 2013 that the 34-year-old Andris Nelsons would become the next music director.)

—— Jeffrey Brody

Jeffrey Brody, a composer, conductor, and pianist, is the Music Advisor of the Boston Wagner Society. His most recent opera, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was Alfred Walker as the Dutchman performed by Longwood Opera two years ago. (photo by Eric Antoniou)

– 4 – Ann McMahon Quintero and Chad Shelton sang with feeling in the thankless roles of Mary and George (the Erik of this version). The choral singing was outstanding. The women’s “Spinning Chorus” was well balanced, and the men’s double chorus in Act 3 came across clearly. The orchestra played wonderfully well. The use of natural horns placed around the theater added to the musical excitement. The physical production was not as cohesive as the musical one. There was some awkwardness in the principals’ movements on stage, no doubt due to the Olivia Dundon-Duvall as the 14-year-old Senta limited space. (photo by Eric Antoniou) The BLO presented the opening night as Wagner originally intended, in one act. throughout the theater, expressed the anguish at the For the rest of the run, they set themselves an core of this character. impossible task: to present the interludes between Senta (Allison Oakes) was portrayed as an abused the acts uninterrupted and to have one intermission. child who fears her father. The audience saw her at Their solution was an egregious error: lowering the ages 7 and 14, after which Oakes characterized the curtain immediately after Senta sees the Dutch- adult woman with her acting and singing. Her “Bal- man, thereby ruining this most important dramatic lad” was sung with manic intensity. moment. In this version, Senta’s father’s name is Donald. Gregory Frank used his strong bass voice to give —— David J. Collins credence to this gruff man. David J. Collins, a board member of the Boston Wagner The Steersman, Alan Schneider, opened the Society, was the resident lecturer for Opera Boston and opera with beautiful lyrical singing, in keeping with teaches opera appreciation in the Greater Boston area. the kind of bel canto that Wagner always espoused. In Act 3 Schneider’s tenor soared over the chorus, focusing our attention on the melee.

– 5 – The Nibelungen Ring Her Majesty’s Theatre is a very large place. It is subsidized by the government, I believe. The An Opera Requiring Four Whole Evenings Boston Theatre and most of the Grant family could How It affected a Yankee Philistine be set inside it without crowding. It is not a pretty A Very Queer Libretto and “Lot’s [sic] of place. The interior is as ungraceful as a Butler campaign. If you were to cut off the small end of noise” an egg, and lay the balance of the shell on its side, The following hilarious review of a London Ring Cycle you would have an illustration of the lines of this was written in 1882 by a Bostonian named Richardson. auditorium. There isn’t a pretty curve anywhere It has several factual errors. The review was sent to us about the place. A tier of boxes completely encircles by Music Advisor Jeffrey Brody, who found it taped into the lower floor, and there are three more tiers above a full score of Siegfried in the Allen Brown Collection at this one, which run nearly to the back of the house, the Boston Public Library. leaving small, cramped spaces for galleries. All the London, May 30, 1882: Fill your pockets with boxes have satin curtains of a hideous yellow hue, insect powder before you visit Her Majesty’s The- and scanty lambrequins of the same material line atre in London. It won’t discourage, or even annoy, the various tiers. The curtain is made of red figured the enterprising vermin of that populous resort. stuff and is not impressive. Have you ever seen an They like it. I think it makes them fat. But it enter- old-fashioned “gathered” petticoat of thin silk worn tains them, and keeps a part of their attention off over a “tilter” hoopskirt? If you have, you know the audience. I went to Her Majesty’s four nights what this curtain looks like. The interiors of the last week. Now in my normal condition, I am no boxes are not ornamentally gotten up. The boards, alabaster beauty. Neither am I as smooth as a terra which are not very well joined, are merely painted cotta statue. But my skin is not ordinarily as lumpy over, and the chairs were not constructed with a as a potato patch, or as red as an auctioneer’s flag. It view to comfort. The orchestra stalls should hold resembles both at present. I attended Her Majesty’s 600 or 700 people I should say. They didn’t do it, for the purpose of hearing Wagner’s four-night— though, during the Wagner performances, for the count ’em—opera, . Like sufficient reason that the people weren’t there to be Bunthorne’s poem, it is a wild and weird thing. But held. unlike the works of that Bard, it is published. The The first section of the Nibelungen Ring is opera is divided into four sections, and it reminds called the “Rhinegold.” It is begun by the execu- me somewhat of a tariff bill set to music. There are tion on the part of the orchestra of a movement disadvantages about an opera which is interpreted which, under the different circumstances in which in a tongue you do not understand. If you watch the I have met it at various times in my life, has been stage, you don’t know what it is about. If you read intended to mean the entrance of the heavy villain, the libretto you can’t watch the stage. The best way an earthquake, a rain-storm, and a shipwreck. It is to compromise by keeping your eye on the actors would serve also as a description of chills and fever. and copying the behavior of those in the audience Upon this occasion it meant the flowing of waters. who are posted. In this way, you display no igno- It was performed by the orchestra from the Richard rance, and when you get home, you can read up your Wagner Theatre at Bayreuth, a body of musicians libretto. This plan has an additional advantage of distinguished chiefly for hair and energy. They had showing you the subtlety of the actor’s art. You will enough of both for ten orchestras. They were led by learn how to guess one’s meaning by his gestures and a young man named Anton Seidl, unquestionably facial expressions—how to guess it all wrong. the best conductor I have ever seen.

– 6 – When the curtains were drawn aside on the sported in the blue gauze waves, a male singer with first night they displayed some of the scenery from a fine baritone voice came on at the left, walking and Wagner’s Bayreuth theatre. It consisted of a big not swimming. He had long hair and a black fur vest. blue gauze which covered the theatre proscenium There was a bracelet on one of his arms, which was opening. It had a few streaks of tin-foil glued on its much too large for him that he had to keep all five back, and was hauled from side to side with a gentle fingers distended to their widest extent, in order to shifting motion, which in combination with the prevent the ornament from falling off. He began by ague music, led me to think the scene was intended singing “He, He! Ihr Nicker!” which the translator to picture a wall of water. It required a heavy effort has put into the English libretto as “Ho, Ho! Ye Nix- of my imagination, but I fetched it. The cambric ies!” This is plainly an intelligent translator. Every- screen slowly ascended, and revealed a stage cov- body who can read at all knows what a “Nixie” is, ered with high rocks, which, through the veil of blue of course. And then, too, it is worth the price of the gauze did very well for the bed of the river. A wall book to learn that “Ho, Ho!” in English means “He, of rocks, eight to ten feet high, He!” in German. Anybody who passed clear across the stage, so would kick about paying $2 for a that when three substantial water . . . But there were book with this important infor- nymphs came on upon three none of these things to mation in it would complain if he pedestals, singing and appar- were to be drowned. Well, hav- ently swimming, the effect was interfere with the sports ing made this observation to the heightened by the hiding of the of the Saxon maidens, “Nixies,” the gentleman in fur lower portions of their bodies. and hair proceeds to climb up one One of the best mechanical con- who seemed to dive and of the rocks and seats himself on trivances employed in the whole plunge about with the its apex. The maidens dive and opera was used here. The water sing and he sits still and sings. nymphs were moved about with utmost freedom. Apparently, they are discussing great rapidity and smoothness, something. You wonder if it is the and without any of the hitches Irish question, and you turn to and bother that all of us have seen in the opera- the libretto to see. Then you learn that he is mak- tion of such arrangements. I have sometimes seen a ing love to the girls, who, girl-like, are poking fun at stuffed bird start to navigate a stage on a wire, and him. It is one of the curious things about a girl that come to a standstill with a jerk, several times, before the minute a chap makes love to her, she pokes fun at finally getting across. I have likewise seen a train of him. I have noticed that. Turning again to the stage, cars halt suddenly in the middle of the stage while I see the hairy party shinning down one rock and the legs of the agonizing carpenter, who was try- up another, while the girls continue to dive around. ing vainly to shove it along, were plainly obvious. Naturally I wonder what he is trying to do. It seems And I presume everybody has observed the painful to be hard work and he doesn’t take much interest attempts of actors to look easy and pleasant in a boat in it. So I look in the libretto again, and I find some hauled on with the movement of an omnibus run- rather unique stage directions: “He chases them with ning over a rough pavement. But there were none of desperate exertions; with frightful activity he clam- these things to interfere with the sports of the Saxon bers from rock to rock, springing from one to anoth- maidens, who seemed to dive and plunge about with er; they always avoid him with mocking laughter. He the utmost freedom. The air they sang was smooth staggers and falls below, then clambers aloft again, and flowing, and fell pleasantly upon the ear. As they till at last his patience is exhausted. Foaming with

– 7 – rage, he pauses breathless and shakes his clenched and “with terrible strength” wrests the gold from the fist at the nymphs. He remains in speechless rage top of the rock and goes down through a trap. This is gazing upward, when suddenly he is riveted to the the scene we have just been through and, just as I spot by the following sight: through the water above digested it, the black gauze floats off into the flies, and breaks an ever-increasing glow, which in the summit a somewhat singular scene is presented. We have in of the central rock kindles gradually to a blinding the foreground a wood, and in the background what yellow gleam: a magical golden light then streams looks like a big chalk cliff. Midway between the from thence through the water.” footlights and the cliff is what has the appearance of a I didn’t see anything frightful about his activity but collection of sandstone gravestones, with white targets I suppose that is poetic license. The “ever-increasing painted upon them. A big rock is in the middle of the glow” which broke through the water was a lime-light, stage and several smaller ones are on various parts of and it fell upon a chunk of property gold, which was the scene. Reference to the program shows one that lying on top of one of the rocks. The hirsute gentle- the scene is intended to represent a wooded vale, with man fixed his eye on this shining lump, and the a castle on a cliff in the distance, and a deep valley maidens sang and dived some more. Then the man between the cliff and the vale. The Rhine is supposed sang with a great deal of vigor, climbed up the rock, to flow through the deep valley—which shows how seized the property gold, and climbed down. The much Mr. Wagner counts upon the sagacity of his stage was darkened, there was a crash form the audiences. It would take a good guesser to find all this orchestra, and a black gauze with clouds painted on it out but for the program. Down in the left hand corner spread over the stage, and as the musicians performed of the stage a fat man is reclining upon a rock, asleep, a symphony intended to kill time while the next scene in one of those attitudes no human being, drunk or was getting ready, I had a chance to learn what all this sober, ever went to sleep in this wide, wide world. At was about. It seems that the three singing and swim- his side, with her head resting upon him, is a female in ming maidens have been left by their father to guard a red wig and a superabundance of adipose tissue. She the Rhine Gold, out of which, should it be taken by awakes and quite naturally begins to sing. Then he any person other than the Rhine inhabitants, a most does likewise. Then they both get up and sing. She potential ring may be formed. Its wearer may do looks like a Dutch Statue of Liberty, and he looks for anything he likes and all the world will fall to his all the world like the figure of Gambrinus on one of power. The gentleman in hair and fur, it seems, is a Doelger’s lager beer lithographs. Gambrinus has a gnome. Having discovered which, I gnome [sic] more spear which he holds it in one hand with its butt on about the story, of course—though what this breed of the ground. When he wants to express emotion he animal really is, I’m blessed if I understand. Well, Mr. puts it in his other hand with the butt on the ground. Gnome drops into the Rhine for the purpose of Then when the time comes along for him to give vent dallying with the maidens. But they are averse to to another burst of feeling, he puts it back in its dallying and elude him. Thereupon he grows angry original hand and sets his foot forward. He has a face and goes through the various antics I have described, that is a blank and nearly as big as the boundless until the lime-light shows him the hunk of property ocean. His wig is pulled down in a little mashlock over gold. When that becomes visible he hears the maidens one eye. You know a mashlock when you see it? It is telling each other of the great power of the Rhine gold one of those greasy little scallops which a barber and he also learns that in order to grasp it successfully delights in making, down over one side of your he must forswear love forever. He has been having forehead. It is supposed to make its wearer look hard luck with love affairs so he determines to take the charming. It really makes him look like an idiot. contract of ruling the world. He therefore climbs up There is one thing about Gambrinus, however. He is

– 8 – reliable. He has a glorious bass voice and he is a sung at each other. But at this juncture there is a wonderful singer. What is more, you can always tell movement by the orchestra not dissimilar to the when he is going to sing some ten seconds before it “essence of Ole Virginny,” very slowly played, and actually occurs. He invariably begins to square two big men in furs, with saplings in their hands for himself for the effort about that length of time ahead. clubs, come stalking on. They are a malevolent This has its advantages. You always know what to looking pair, gotten up like John McCullough as expect—which is not by any means the case with Ingomar [a character in Othello]. Then there is more some singers I have heard. But it does grow monoto- discussion in a recitative key, and once in awhile you nous in time, and that is not so pleasant. Well, Gamb- think there is going to be a melody. But there isn’t. rinus and the Liberty Woman stand and emit “achss” Every time the composer has been tempted to do and ichs” and “schwatzens” and “lieblichs” at each something rhythmic he has gone two or three bars in other for a considerable length of time without settling to it and then resolutely torn himself away and the question, when another female comes upon the plunged back into recitative. The scenes are spun out stage and joins in the discussion. to a most fearful and tiresome Both women keep their arms going length. Long after the “business” all the time in the regular prima Long after the of a scene is done the singing goes donna series of gestures. First, one aimlessly on, and the thing hand is extended, then the bosom “business” of a scene becomes interesting only to the is clutched with both hands, while is done the singing wildest musical enthusiasts. When the singer breathes very rapidly; the two Ingomars have twice then both arms are thrown back at goes aimlessly on, crossed the stage and dragged the full length à la calisthenic exercise, and the thing becomes fattest of the two damsels back and the prima lets out a shriek at interesting only to with them to where they originally the top of her voice, just as she stood, a being still more eccentric would if there was a man under the the wildest musical in appearance enters upon the bed; after that the hands are enthusiasts. scene. He is short and fat, like clapped violently together in the nearly all the others who have front, and the fingers closed appeared thus far. He has on a red between each other; one hand extended to the audi- wig that stands up all over his head, Circassian ence, while the other grabs the waist of the dress a few fashion, and a short red beard. His face is a blueish inches above the belt; both arms extended at full white, like the wall of a room that has just been length from the sides, like the horizontal part of a calcimined, and he wears a red flannel mantle which cross; then a slight wiggle of the body, a big breath, a is so long that he has to carry the end of it in his hand protrusion of the chest, an elevation of the chin, and to keep it from dragging when he walks. He has a the final scream, away up somewhere in the attic of beautiful voice of robust tenor quality, and a swagger the score. So it goes on through the same routine of like a victorious rooster. He comes down the stage gestures and facial expressions, until one begins to from behind the big rock in the centre, and sings all extract satisfaction from the reflection that he prob- by himself for about five solid minutes. Then two ably couldn’t understand them any better if they were other chaps come on. One of them is a little bit of a singing in English. I have never yet been able to fellow, with a big paper-mache sledgehammer in his discover why prima donnas won’t make gestures that hand, and the other is tall and spindly-legged, but mean something. Perhaps it is a part of their art. Up abominably rotund. They all sing awhile at each other, to now, all the characters have simply stood still and and, finally, the two MM. Ingomar take the fattest

– 9 – maiden away with them, leaving Gambrinus leaning gnome and steal his treasure. Wotan, who considering on his spear and gazing meditatively into the foot- that he is a god, doesn’t appear to have any superflu- lights, while white gauze “drops” come down upon ous morality lying around loose, finally consents, and the stage. This is described by the imaginative Mr. away they go. The gauze mist lifts, and Wotan and Wagner and his co conspirator, the chap who made Loki find themselves in a big cavern, where they meet this libretto [of course, Wagner is the librettist.–Ed.], the man in fur, whose subjects are having an anvil as a “pale mist, increasing in density; in it the gods chorus out in the wings. I give up trying to follow all seem to take an aged and haggard appearance.” this by guesswork, and stick to the libretto. So I learn Pshaw! So these fat, material-looking people are gods, that the anvil chorus is made by the other gnomes are they? Gambrinus’ right name is Wotan, and one of digging treasure out of the rocks. Presently they come the two fat damsels—the fattest one—is his daughter. on with treasures which are different from the trea- Whether the Liberty one is also his daughter, or only sures that grow in American mines, since they are dug his wife, you will never find out out already made up into shields, from Mr. Wagner. Once he calls kettles and other articles of her his wife, and several times she The gauze mist lifts, ornament. Wotan and Loki speaks of his daughter as her sister. question the boss gnome as to the It is rather confusing the first time and Wotan and Loki power of the Rhinegold ring, and you notice it, but after some of the find themselves in he tells them that, by its power he subsequent proceedings are over, can assume any shape he likes. A you conclude that it doesn’t make a big cavern, where cloud of steam comes up through make much difference which they meet the man in the stage, and he goes out behind position she ostensibly occupies. fur, whose subjects are it. You can see him go through a According to Mr. Wagner’s idea, it door in the rock. But you are not seems to be all one with the gods. having an anvil chorus supposed to. This is more of Mr. It transpires that Wotan has hired out in the wings. Wagner’s imagination business. the Ingomar family to build him a As soon as he is gone, a property castle in the cliff, yonder, and has dragon, resembling a stuffed promised them his fattest daughter alligator, crawls across the stage. [sic] in payment. They have built This is supposed to be the gnome the castle, and have come to collect their bill. All this in his assumed form. He comes back in his proper sixty minutes of singing has been merely a discussion person as soon as the dragon crawls out, and then the as to whether he should keep his bargain or not. After cunning visitors suggest that he shall change himself it is over, the Ingomars make off with her upon a into a toad. Just to oblige them, he does so, and then newly-formed agreement. Old Wotan has obviously they capture him and skip out, followed by all the been acquainted with Mr. Mahone of Virginia. other gnomes bearing the treasure. The scene then Because he only gives up his girl as a hostage, until he changes back to the wooded vale, and Wotan comes can get treasure enough to pay the debt in cash. He is on with Loki and the gentleman in fur, who has a Readjuster. The gentleman in red flannel (whose regained his shape, but not his power. He sits on a name in the German libretto is Loge, and in the rock while the other gnomes bring in the treasure and English translation is Loki, though why, I can’t for the put it on the ground. Then there are forty minutes of life of me find out), thereupon, in half an hour more singing without anything being done, and then Loki of tedious recitative, urges Gambrinus—I mean and Wotan wrest from the head gnome his gold ring. Wotan—to travel down into the precincts of the He kindly holds out his hand while they “wrest” it.

– 10 – More imagination. When they get it, he becomes very Sieglinde is a married woman, and Siegmund is her angry and puts a curse on whoever shall hold the ring. brother. I conclude that such things are interesting, Bloodshed shall follow it everywhere, and so forth and because there is a much larger audience than there so on. Then he departs and the Ingomar party comes was last night, and they all study their librettos with back with the girl. They agree to give up their hostage great earnestness. Well, Siegmund gets Sieglinde to if the gods will pile up treasure enough to hide her elope with him. He becomes possessed of a sword from view. As she is a big one it will take a good deal which is all powerful, and through a whole act prays of treasure, which shows that they want a pretty fair his sister to fly with him. At the end of the act she price. Indeed, it strikes me that they must imagine consents, perhaps because she is tired out. Wagner they have been building a custom house or a post doesn’t say so, but I should have thought that might office for the United States government by the amount be the reason. The only thing about the act which they claim. But Wotan agrees to the demand, and made it interesting to the bulk of the audience was seats his fat daughter [sic] on a stone. Two sticks are its indecency. Here are the last speeches and the set up in front of her, and the pots and kettles and stage directions upon which the long and vile scene things from gnomeland are hung on the sticks till she ends: (Sieglinde): (in wild intoxication) “Art thou is fenced in. Then one of the Ingomars brothers goes Siegmund, standing beside me? Sieglinde am I. For and examines the structure. He finds a chink just big thee I’ve sighed. Thou’st won thy sister, I tell thee, as enough to see through, and refuses to accept the pile well as the sword.” (Siegmund): “Bride and sister be unless that chink is filled up. The Nibelung ring is to thy brother—so blest may the Volsungs abound.” precisely the right size for this aperture, and Wotan, (He draws her toward him with a frenzy of passion; with great reluctance, throws it in so as to get his she sinks on his breast with a cry. The curtain falls daughter [sic] back. As soon as Ingomar No. 1 gets the quickly.) ring, the gnome’s curse comes true. He punches his After this cheerful episode we are introduced to brother with one of the saplings, and Ingomar No. 2 Wotan and a new daughter named Brunhilde, out immediately dies, while his brother lugs off the in the mountains. Wotan, who is a polygamous old treasure. Then there is a thunderstorm, and when it rascal himself, objects to the Siegmund-Sieglinde clears up, a rainbow is seen, stretching over to the cliff affair. He must draw the line somewhere, you know. where the castle lies. The gods all proceed to walk So he tells his daughter not to have anything to do over on the rainbow, and the first section of the opera with Sieglinde. But his daughter disobeys him, and comes to an end. when Siegmund has been killed by Wotan and the Of all the silly, inconsequential stuff in the world, husband together, Brunhilde takes her off through this story seems to me about the most trivial. One the mountains to the rock where the Walkyries can scarcely help laughing outright at it as the vari- gather. The Walkyries are 18 or 20 [sic] girls with ous points unfold themselves. It becomes doubly fine voices, who ride about in the clouds on property ridiculous when chained to a heavy, noisy score. horses. The scene with them is unquestionably the Somehow you cannot help wondering at this stage best and most impressive thing in the opera. The of the game if Wagner is not a huge satirist of the music arises to grandeur and it is sung with great Gilbertean type, guying all creation. But when you force by the chorus of Walkyries. While Brunhilde is get into the next section of the opera you conclude he beseeching them to protect Sieglinde Wotan comes isn’t. on in great rage and curses her. It takes two hours The second volume, which has nothing to do and a half of solid singing, most of it at the top of with the first, excepting that Wotan is in it, begins her voice, for Brunhilde to get her father to leave off with a love affair between Siegmund and Sieglinde. his curse. Even then he merely adopts Mr. Mahone’s

– 11 – tactics once more, and readjusts it. Instead of anni- dragon, which slowly sings itself to death, after hav- hilating her altogether, he puts her to sleep upon a ing nearly accomplished the same fate for the audi- rock, surrounds her with a wall of fire, and decries ence. Siegfried’s first act after getting the ring is to that the man who finds her shall “become her mas- kill the blacksmith who has reared him. The people ter.” That’s the way Wagner neatly puts it, and it is in the theatre are likely to reflect at this point that a very delicate and modest phrase—for Wagner. She there is some good in the ring after all, because the consents to this because she has a premonition that blacksmith from the first has been an unmitigated the one who will accomplish this task will be Sieg- nuisance. After this, guided by a stuffed crow which fried, the still unborn son of the alliance between is propelled across the stage on a couple of strings, brother and sister already spoken of. The second Siegfried goes and finds the sleeping Brunhilde. section of the opera ends with Brunhilde asleep, There is another excessively dirty scene and the act and red fire and flash-pans doing their prettiest to ends, presumably because it is ashamed to go any make the thing impressive. This piece, gentle reader, further. There is one feature to the two sections just just as I have described it, was finished. Herr Vogl, the Siegfried, played in the city of London to and Frau Vogl, the Brunhild, the biggest house of the series. He wounds the dragon, are wonderful artists in every What makes it remarkable is the sense, and the man who plays fact that Lord Chamberlain of which slowly sings itself Wotan upon these two occasions this same metropolis wouldn’t to death, after having is a majestic and powerful lyric let “Camille” be performed here nearly accomplished actor. I have never seen anything at all for a number of years, and to equal the work done by these the only condition upon which the same fate for the three people. Nearly the whole he agrees to let “Divorcons” be audience. weight of the opera fell upon their brought out here this summer, in shoulders—and lungs—but they French, and without any libretto carried it off with no appreciable to translate its gentle depravity, effort. Frau Vogl is unquestion- is that the piece shall be very largely rewritten. After ably one of the greatest dramatic prima donnas of all, you see, there is quite a considerable difference the age. She is loaned with her husband, “for this between Tweedledum and Tweedledee. occasion only,” by the King of Bavaria, and they In the third section, Siegfried has been safely born must go back to him at the close of the present week. and has grown to manhood. He has been raised in In the final quarter of the “Ring des Nibelungs,” a blacksmith’s shop, and the blacksmith has become Siegfried has been drugged, and has forgotten all possessed of his father’s broken sword. Wotan comes about Brunhilde. He is smitten by another girl—the in and explains that the man who shall be able to one who has dosed him. But he is considerate of weld that weapon together must be absolutely with- Brunhilde, and offers to supply her with another out a knowledge of fear, and will become all-power- husband. This is liberal of him, and, seeing that ful by use of the weapon he has mended. After beat- there is a good deal more of the substitute than ing it and beating it a while, Siegfried really mends there was of himself, it looks queer when Brunhilde the sword, and shows its power by chopping the anvil declines the offer. The conduct of Siegfried makes in two. Then he goes forth to do deeds of valor. He Wotan [sic] angry, and he puts up a job with the sub- begins by practicing upon a singing dragon, as big stitute husband to murder Siegfried. He is enticed as a hippopotamus, which guards a cavern in which away, and, after his memory has been restored by the Nibelung ring has been hidden. He wounds the another kind of drink (not a temperance drink, I

– 12 – take it, because it is administered from a horn), he is stabbed and dies. Then his body is brought back to the shores of the Rhine, and the two women—Brun- Boston Wagner Society’s hilde and Love No. 2—have a long scene over him, after which the whole business sinks into darkness and the opera ends. 10th I cannot admit that it is a great work, unless Anniversary Celebration tediousness is greatness. The score is a wonderful With special guests combination of chords, but only at infrequent peri- ods does it arrest the attention or satisfy the appetite. Not from the first strain of opening overture to the very last crash of sound as the play ends is there a Met Opera Radio Commentator solitary melody. The story, you will see, is simply a chaotic mass of triviality and filth. Where it is not silly, it is dirty. The whole thing carries the impres- William Berger sion of unpardonable “padding.” If the worthless music and pointless dialogue were to be cut out of will present the “Ring des Nibelungs,” the whole thing could Producing Wagner on Stage: be played in one evening. It is remarkable only for it is length. This applies to score and story. You have Beyond the Traditional and the probably heard a great deal of the Bayreuth scenery. Avant-Garde That, likewise, is nonsense. There is better scen- ery painted every week at any of the three leading theatres in Boston. The solitary “effect” employed Saturday, Sept. 14 by Wagner is the squirting of steam up through the floor. His stuffed dragons and birds turn the whole 3 p.m. affair into ridicule. He might as well have introduced The College Club a heifer dance and be done with it. The “Ring des Nibelungs” might do for one night, if it could be 44 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston condensed, but to put in four evenings upon it is a Reception with snacks, wine, and cake dead waste of time unless you want to learn a lot of things to practice which would get you into the peni- Members and their guests only tentiary. Any single twenty minutes of the opera will teach you half a dozen. Any half hour of it, from first Tickets: $25 to last, would make you blush, if you had a face on you as hard as a bronze statue and a moral nature as tough as a section of New York pie-crust. For tickets, go to —— Richardson http://10th-anniversary.eventbrite.com

Richard Wagner 1813– 2013 Bicentennial

– 13 – Spring 2013 Events

Q&A with Jay Hunter Morris, May 6, 2013 at the College Club

—— Photos by Thomas Kwei

Jay Hunter Morris answers Ron Della Chiesa’s question about his meteoric rise to the Met

BWS President Dalia Geffen shares a warm moment with Jay Hunter Morris

Jay Hunter Morris, Ron Della Chiesa, and audience members

Jay Hunter Morris signs a copy of his book, Diary of a Redneck Opera Zinger

– 14 – Concert: “Highlights from Wagner’s Ring Cycle,” May 11, 2013 at Old South Church

—— Photos by Paul Geffen

Pianist Jeffrey Brody with Bass- Baritone Greer Grimsley

Greer Grimsley

Soprano Joanna Porackova

Heldentenor Alan Greer Grimsley and Ron Schneider Della Chiesa

From left to right: Jeffrey Brody, Joyce Della Chiesa, and Ron Della Chiesa

– 15 – From the President Continued from front page Waltraute). Owen performed the extremely challenging call of Siegfried with verve. Brody’s fingers fairly flew over the newly refurbished Mason and Hamlin piano. His accompaniment demonstrated great sensitivity to the singers’ rhythms. Here are two comments by members: “One of the finest concerts I’d attended in a long time”; “Greer Grimsley was magnificent!” On Wagner’s 200th birthday (May 22), we presented another concert at Old South Church, in collaboration with the St. Botolph Club and the Harvard Musical Association. Joanna Porackova, Alan Schneider, Marion Dry, Harry Huff, Jeffrey Brody, and eight Valkyries performed thrilling excerpts from Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, the Ring Cycle, and Parsifal. The concert was followed by a lovely dinner at the St. Botolph Club for the benefit of our members, organized by board member Fred Meyer. As an added bonus, one of the Valkyries, Rebecca O’Brien, sang Elisabeth at the St. Botolph Club, with Harry Huff at the piano. Our bicentennial celebrations continue into the fall as we collaborate with Boston University. In addition, our newest board member, David J. Collins, will give a presentation on The Flying Dutchman. On Saturday afternoon, September 14, we will celebrate the Boston Wagner Society’s tenth anniversary. Save the date!

—— Dalia Geffen

Wagneriana is a publication of the Boston Wagner Society, c opyright © The Boston Wagner Society, Inc. We welcome contributions to Wagneriana. Please contact us at [email protected] or 617-323-6088. Web: www.bostonwagnersociety.org. Address: Boston Wagner Society, P.O. Box 320033, Boston, MA 02132-0001, U.S.A.

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