Wagneriana, a Publication of the Boston Wagner Society
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Wagneriana Winter 2014 Volume 11, Number 1 Ich höre dich, schlimmer Albe: was hast du meinem Schlaf zu sagen? — Götterdämmerung From the President Many music lovers shun Wagner’s operas because of his fearsome reputation as an anti-Semite. They also are influenced by reports that Wagner’s music is full of shrieks and therefore unpleasant. In addition, many people have heard In This Issue rumors that he was a rotten person, a selfish megalomaniac. ■■ From the President 1 Still, some listeners who grew up with prejudices against Wagner’s music bravely enter this territory and end up enchanted by its richness, complexity, ■■ Bayreuth Diary on the Run: The Third Ring and sheer beauty. Who else can express human dilemmas and emotions with Cycle and The Flying so much musical skill and imagination and tie the music so closely and expertly Dutchman 2 to the text? Is there another opera composer who dramatizes human concerns ■■ Jeering and Applause in such depth, as well as musically explore the philosophical problems that at the Bayreuth Ring have preoccupied humankind for centuries? And last, is it worth either glossing Cycle 6 over or somehow accepting Wagner’s anti-Semitism in order to experience his ■■ Gottfried Wagner in extraordinary artworks? Boston 8 For many people with horrible memories of the Holocaust or for those who have heard of the Nazis’ unspeakable cruelties from their parents and ■■ Hilan Warshaw’s Documentary 9 others, the answer to the last question is a resounding no, which is completely understandable. Sometimes, though, even Holocaust survivors and/or their ■■ All-Wagner Concert children valiantly delve into Wagner’s sublime music and make no bones about (Almost) in Lucerne 9 enjoying it. One such person is the Israeli conductor and pianist Asher Fisch, whose parents survived the death camps. Maestro Fisch, who recently—though unsuccessfully—tried to break the ban on performing Wagner in Israel, became one of the best Wagnerian conductors of our generation. On the ban, Maestro Fisch states: “‘There were many German Jews, like my mother, who thought that if you play Wagner in Israel, you’ve proven that you’ve prevailed. You protest the Nazification, the nationalization of Wagner by the Nazis.’ This, he noted, was the approach of Continued on page 10 REVIEW if not sex workers; Alberich was clearly motivated by dirty sex, and Wotan was number one among them! Bayreuth Diary on the Run: He was powerfully portrayed by Wolfgang Koch as a The Third Ring Cycle and huge womanizer, and every woman on the stage got his sexual attention, even Erda. There was no nobility of The Flying Dutchman character whatsoever. Der Ring des Nibelungen, Bayreuth Festival, The entire production was conceived as a play with- August 22, 23, 25, 27, 2013 in a play where the live action took place in a run-down motel in Texas on a revolving turntable. The action Conductor: Kirill Petrenko; director: Frank Castorf; was filmed and shown on a huge video screen above the staging: Aleksandar Denic´; costumes: Adriana Braga stage as a close-up of the same scene in video format. Peretzki Sometimes the video forecasted scenes to come. The Alberich: Martin Winkler; Wotan: Wolfgang Koch; effect was marvelously theatrical and could have come Fricka: Claudia Mahnke; Loge: Norbert Ernst; only from a director with deep theater and technology Fafner: Sorin Coliban; Fasolt: Günther Groissböck; experience and who could get the singers to act! Freia: Elisabet Strid; Mime: Burkhard Ulrich; The cast was uniformly superb, as was the somewhat Erda: Nadine Weissmann; Siegmund: Johan Botha; straightforward but no less dramatic conducting of Sieglinde: Anja Kampe; Hunding: Franz-Josef Selig; Kirill Petrenko. Brünnhilde: Catherine Foster; Siegfried: Lance Die Walküre Ryan; Forest Bird: Mirella Hagen; Hagen: Attila Jun; Die Walküre brought a number of surprises. The set- Gunther: Alejandro Marco-Buhrmester; Gutrune: ting changed to an oil-producing camplike develop- Allison Oakes ment in Azerbaijan, which was very effective. It con- The Flying Dutchman, Bayreuth tained a very tall tower surrounded Festival, August 24, 2013 by smaller attached structures, Conductor: Christian Thielemann; All the characters all made of wood. Ladders ran up director: Jan Philipp Gloger; and down the tower, and singers staging: Christof Hetzer; costumes: . were mean, often climbed up and sang from a Karin Judd high platform. Act 1 was set in a grubby, sleazy, and small side structure where a much- Steersman: Benjamin Bruns; sex-obsessed. abused Sieglinde (Anja Kampe) Daland: Franz-Josef Selig; awaited a stern, black-clothed, Dutchman: Samuel Youn; Senta: and mean Hunding (the excellent Ricarda Merbeth; Erik: Tomislav Franz-Josef Selig). Johan Botha’s Muzˆek; Mary: Christa Mayer Siegmund was well sung, although his voice had a monotonal quality, and his lack of dramatic stage Das Rheingold presence, together with his size, made for a an unlikely Despite the English and German presses’ reports pair of lovers. on the dismal failure of this year’s Ring in Bayreuth, Act 2 took place in the oil compound and showed an Rheingold was one of the most effective productions older Wotan sporting a long white beard and Turkish- I’ve seen in my many years of attending the Ring style black trousers. He fought with a Fricka dressed as Cycle. This production captured the essence of the a Middle Eastern princess, in glittery robes. Claudia Ring—a power-hungry money grab or, this time, oil Mahnke’s Fricka was well sung, and Wolfgang Koch grab—but in very innovative ways. again excelled as an Eastern or Asian oil magnate. All the characters—gods, Nibelungen, Rhinemaid- Act 3 was perhaps the best, as it featured, for the ens, and even Loge—were mean, grubby, sleazy, and very first time in my longRing -going life, Valkyries sex-obsessed. Rhinemaidens were portrayed as sluts, – 2 – Norbert Ernst as Loge and Burkhard Ulrich as Mime in Das Rheingold; photo © by Enrico Nawrath/Bayreuth Festival dressed in different costumes, perhaps symbolizing productions. Although I was loath to break into the the multicultural approach of this production. As the Ring with yet another Flying Dutchman, I am very action progressed, their Eastern costumes morphed glad I went. This, too, was a modern production with into strapless gowns, again a different one for each. no ship (just a little rowboat, with Daland and the There were many wonderful touches. In most produc- steersman in it) but a large metallic construction filled tions, Wotan and Brünnhilde approach each other and with flashing lights and a mirrored ground. Instead of embrace, but here he grabbed her and passionately spinning, the women packed small electric fans into kissed her on the mouth. boxes, and at the happy ending, little bride and groom Wotan’s farewell was nothing short of spectacular, figures. both dramatically and musically. The use of video was Vocally, this was another exceptional cast headed particularly effective. The terrified, anxious face of by two diametrically opposed male leads: the power- Brünnhilde stared with wide-open eyes as the huge fire ful bass-baritone of Franz-Josef Selig as a fussy, silly, burned brightly in an oil barrel just below the screen. greedy Daland and a pale, suffering, angst-ridden, Both singers, Catherine Foster and Wolfgang Koch, victimized Dutchman, wrenchingly sung by Samuel were wonderful, and both proved they can act. Youn. Their vocal and dramatic differences made The supreme star of this evening, however, was for superb theater. Ricarda Merbeth’s strong sound, Kirill Petrenko, with his fierce, flowing, and exuber- good pitch, and electric high notes, plus her physical ant mastery of the score and the gorgeous sound of the loveliness, created a great Senta. But here again the magnificent Bayreuth orchestra. star was conductor Christian Thielemann, who led the Interlude: The Flying Dutchman most dramatic, energetic, and vibrant performance of The Dutchman I’ve ever heard. From the opening notes We used to get a free day between Die Walküre of the overture—which can sound hackneyed—his and Siegfried and Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. conducting was at high throttle! Yet the slower, softer Nowadays, the in-between days are filled with other – 3 – Act 3 of Der fliegende Holländer in Bayreuth, 2013; photo © by Enrico Nawrath/dpa parts, as in the Dutchman-Senta duet, were lyrically scene, went down on him while the video above showed played. This was orchestral music making at its best! her sucking his finger! Siegfried The Wood Bird was a beautiful woman in a slinky white gown and sporting enormous colored wings. Siegfried was difficult for many audience members to Siegfried seduced her, and they made passionate love, accept and was viciously booed at the end. The first set another modernism that I’ve never seen before. The was the famous Mount Rushmore showing the heads romantic end between Siegfried and Brünnhilde was of Mao, Stalin, Lenin, and Marx. Then the revolving like nothing I had seen. The set moved back to the stage turned to the famous Alexanderplatz in Berlin—a Alexanderplatz, where a table was set with drinks and noted hot spot. glasses. Siegfried, who had left Brünnhilde when she Mime’s hut was an aluminum trailer at the base of began to sing about her new life, entered and sat down, the mountain and filled with trash and, surprisingly, drank wine, read the menu as though he was about to books. In addition to Siegfried—a black-costumed, order food, and when she followed him still singing punkish Lance Ryan—and Mime in a jacket and rag- away, he angrily got up, leaned against a pillar, and gedy skirt, a chained man played the bear and was with his body language said “Put up or shut up.” Just onstage throughout the first act.