Wagner's Valhalla

[Luke]

Tristan's horhouse atmosphere...

Sorry to isolate this one bit of an excellent post, James, but that is a fabulously appropriate typo   

[karlhenning]

Nyuk nyuk! Tristan & the Floozy . . . .

[Chaszz]

I don't know if the Met Die Walkure has been written about here recently, and unfortunately I don't have time to go back through the pages to find out. I saw it last night and was overwhelmed. The singing and playing was extraordinary.  Levine's dramatic pacing was superb -- he may take Wagner too slowly at times, but I don't think any other conductor can milk the pauses the way he does for every bit of drama and pathos. The story touched me more deeply than it ever has.

I saw the Rhinegold from this new cycle also (in the HD live movie theatre version) and thought the huge xylophone set was a gimmick worth somewhat less less than it cost. Die Walkure did not really change my mind on this, but in one scene it was very effective. The xylophone keys were black and vertical at the rear during the penultimate scene where Wotan tells Brunnhilde he is exiling her to a long sleep and will never see her again. At each successive stage of grief in one or the other of the two actors, the keys became gradually more covered with a painterly irregular white which slowly flowed downward in slow fits and starts from the ceiling to the floor. A real visual analogue of the pitiful emotions being expressed by the father and daughter.

I am a Wagner devotee but not an opera expert, so cannot really evaluate this properly. But this was one of the two best Wagner productions of the dozen or so I've attended at the Met -- the other being the Gergiev Parsifal I saw several there years ago. And since I am now retired and not better heeled the way I used to be, this was my first time in the highest balcony - the Family Circle. I didn't really mind the height and distance at all, and could see and hear everything fine. 

This is playing once more this coming Saturday afternoon at the opera house and HD live at the movies. If you like Die Walkure at all, I would advise you not to miss this. 

[bhodges]

Chaszz, thanks for that report, and good to hear some positive things. (Most comments I've read have been mixed.) I do agree with you, after seeing the first installment (twice) that the set seems a bit over-priced for the results they are getting. But we'll see after Die Walküre. I'm seeing it at the movies on Saturday afternoon.

And PS, the Family Circle is a great place to sit, sound-wise. Yes, ideally you need a pair of binoculars, and if some staging elements are very tall, the top may not be visible. But sonically, the blend of orchestra and singers is much better up there.

--Bruce

[JerryS]

...This is playing once more this coming Saturday afternoon at the opera house and HD live at the movies. If you like Die Walkure at all, I would advise you not to miss this.

I've been wanting to experience one of the Met HD Live presentations and this is the perfect opportunity! Die Walkure is my favorite Ring opera but so far I've only seen it in my living room (Levine 1990?, Mehta Valenciana and Copenhagen Ring). I checked the video clips on the Met site and it looks like a fairly traditional production.
Thank you for the reminder!

[Rinaldo]

I saw the Rhinegold from this new cycle also (in the HD live movie theatre version) and thought the huge xylophone set was a gimmick worth somewhat less less than it cost. Die Walkure did not really change my mind on this, but in one scene it was very effective. The xylophone keys were black and vertical at the rear during the penultimate scene where Wotan tells Brunnhilde he is exiling her to a long sleep and will never see her again. At each successive stage of grief in one or the other of the two actors, the keys became gradually more covered with a painterly irregular white which slowly flowed downward in slow fits and starts from the ceiling to the floor. A real visual analogue of the pitiful emotions being expressed by the father and daughter.

I admit I was generally impressed by the "xylophone" (seeing it for the first time) - especially in the finale. And I actually thought the snow coming down the mountain simply represented an avalanche pulled down by Wotan's voice (it first appeared right after one of his booming lines).

[Brahmsian]

A high-school friend of mine, who I just recently reconnected with, told me her brother is heavily involved in the current production of the Met Ring.  So cool!!!!   

[Guido]

Oh my god! The Valkyries actually do the trills in Haitink's Ring cycle during the Ride of the Valkyries! Wagner writes a number of trills for his major rolls... Has anyone ever heard the trills being done properly by any Hans Sachs in that role? I can't remember where they come, but I remember looking at the score once and being extremely surprised!

Where else are there trills in Wagner, and which recordings honour the score in this regard?

[Guido]

I saw the Rhinegold from this new cycle also (in the HD live movie theatre version) and thought the huge xylophone set was a gimmick worth somewhat less less than it cost. Die Walkure did not really change my mind on this, but in one scene it was very effective. The xylophone keys were black and vertical at the rear during the penultimate scene where Wotan tells Brunnhilde he is exiling her to a long sleep and will never see her again. At each successive stage of grief in one or the other of the two actors, the keys became gradually more covered with a painterly irregular white which slowly flowed downward in slow fits and starts from the ceiling to the floor. A real visual analogue of the pitiful emotions being expressed by the father and daughter.

They were meant to be avalanches! And it hardly needed "the machine" to do that projection.

I thought that musically it was good and sometimes great, but that this production had absolutely nothing to say about the work and was completely shallow.

[Harry Powell]

I agree. I watched it on cinema and thought it was just a renewal of "Grand Opéra" through technology. The actors direction was shallow and sometimes utterly mistaken.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Oh my god! The Valkyries actually do the trills in Haitink's Ring cycle during the Ride of the Valkyries! Wagner writes a number of trills for his major rolls... Has anyone ever heard the trills being done properly by any Hans Sachs in that role? I can't remember where they come, but I remember looking at the score once and being extremely surprised!

Where else are there trills in Wagner, and which recordings honour the score in this regard?

Hagen does a trill in Götterdämmerung, when he 'jokingly' calls the Gibich men to arms. I have heard it in the Solti.

[karlhenning]

"Major rolls" is a great typo for Wagner!

[Harry Powell]

Siegfried's Brünnhilde must do a big trill in the big duet.

[kishnevi]

time for a head to head on budget Rings.

Furtwangler/RAI vs. Bohm/Bayreuth

EMI is releasing the Furtwangler in a budget format in a couple of weeks;  the Bohm is already available in DG's budget format (Collector's Edition, so called).     The Bohm is about $5-$10 dollars more than the Furtwangler.   I have each of the four parts of the Ring in individual recordings, but no integral cycle, and both of these are tempting me. 

Who is for Bohm and who is Furtwangler?  And no,  I'm not going for the obvious solution--getting both!

[PSmith08]

time for a head to head on budget Rings.

Furtwangler/RAI vs. Bohm/Bayreuth

EMI is releasing the Furtwangler in a budget format in a couple of weeks;  the Bohm is already available in DG's budget format (Collector's Edition, so called).     The Bohm is about $5-$10 dollars more than the Furtwangler.   I have each of the four parts of the Ring in individual recordings, but no integral cycle, and both of these are tempting me. 

Who is for Bohm and who is Furtwangler?  And no,  I'm not going for the obvious solution--getting both!

Tough call. Böhm has, subject to your feelings about Theo Adam (I prefer either Hotter or Tomlinson as Wotan), a great cast in solid voice. He has the benefit of the previous decade and a half at Bayreuth, which left the orchestra and choir in remarkably good shape. Finally, the set as a whole is in excellent sound.

Furtwängler's cast has some weak spots, the RAI orchestra of 1953 isn't the Bayreuth orchestra of 1967, and the set doesn't have quite the same sound quality. But it has Mödl, which is a considerable credit, and Furtwängler was, in my view, probably a better Wagner conductor than Böhm (though I think Böhm's Meistersinger is more fun to listen to).

If I had to choose one before being packed off to some Siberia, I would probably pick Böhm (James King's Siegmund alone is worth the price of admission for me), but I'd probably spend the next couple of days second-guessing my decision.

[AndyD.]

For just one, I'd pick the Böhm too. But the Furtwangler is well worth having.

[Harry Powell]

Avoid Theo Adam.

[eyeresist]

I've heard Bohm's Rheingold and didn't much like it. He doesn't exactly stop to smell the flowers.

[kishnevi]

My dilemma was settled for my Arkivmusic.
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Page?pageName=pages/listPromo.jsp&list_id=2241&site_id=E824

Furtwangler RAI set on sale for $39.99 for the next 24 hours (until Thursday midnight). 

Also, for those interested, the Sawallisch ring is also $39.99, Solti's second recording of Meistersinger is on sale for $29.00, and the newly released Met broadcast recording of Meistersinger is on sale for $14.99.

[PSmith08]

I've heard Bohm's Rheingold and didn't much like it. He doesn't exactly stop to smell the flowers.

Böhm's set is every bit as fast as Boulez's across the board. In fact, I think Böhm's Götterdämmerung may even be faster than Boulez's (I once compared runtimes for whatever reason).