Wagner's Valhalla

[JerryS]

Ack!  Oh sh*t!  That was yesterday and we missed it--rats!  Gotta make sure to catch the encore showing.  This cycle's been too good to miss--so good that I'll probably buy it when it gets released on disc.

By all means catch the encore (I may do that myself)! And mark your calendar for Gotterdammerung on February 11 at 12:00 noon ET. It will be interesting to see how Morris handles the acting demands of the final opera.

[Wendell_E]

Gotta make sure to catch the encore showing.  This cycle's been too good to miss--so good that I'll probably buy it when it gets released on disc.

By all means catch the encore (I may do that myself)! And mark your calendar for Gotterdammerung on February 11 at 12:00 noon ET. It will be interesting to see how Morris handles the acting demands of the final opera.

Currently, neither Siegfried nor Götterdämmerung are scheduled to be encored.  All of the other HD operas this are being encored, as were all of the ones last season, including Rheingold and Walküre.  I've not read any official reason for this, but I'm guessing (hoping) that they're going to wait for the Summer Encore series, and do the entire cycle over a four of five day period.  Say Thursday through Sunday, which would allow for earlier start times for the last two operas.

I wonder how Levine's problems will affect the possiblilty of DVD release.  A Ring split between two conducters won't appeal to some.

[Mirror Image]

Why the low?

I think Siegfried is maybe the best operas comprised in the Ring Cycle, along with Götterdämmerung; it's so passionate, poetic and overwhelming! The Finale is the peak of vital love, so expressive

As a lover of the orchestra, it seems to me that the orchestra took a backseat in Siegfried, which, in turn, disappointed me.

[Karl Henning]

I wonder how Levine's problems will affect the possiblilty of DVD release.

He's got to get some sense, and own up that when a doctor tells him he needs to rest after certain procedures, he bloody well needs to rest. He's got to get over this idea that the musical world will somehow fall to pieces if he takes time off for a medical rest.

[Karl Henning]

Here's a fun story I bring back from Wooster:

I had known long since that my dear composition instructor, Jack Gallagher, back before he came to teach at Wooster, worked at a Sam Goody's.  There he earned minimum wage, of course, which at the time he recalls being something like $2.10/hr.  So for a week of full-time work he brought home about $80.  The benefit of a composer working at a record shop is the employee discount, of course. So Jack remembers the week that he bought the Solti Ring as a box of LPs; that week, he took home $23 and the Ring.

[jlaurson]

Wagner can be better in English than in German:

Wagner on Record – The Mastersingers


http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2012/02/wagner-on-record-mastersingers.html

[Lisztianwagner]

Wagner can be better in English than in German:

It can be an interesting experiment, althought Wagner is only in German for me.

[jlaurson]

Wagner on DVD – Die Meistersinger

Holy German Art: Katharina Wagner's Meistersinger


http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2012/02/holy-german-art-katharina-wagners.html

Lustily booed at its 2007 premiere in Bayreuth, Katharina Wagner's production of Die Meistersinger
gave instant rise to polemics and controversy. Very aptly Bayreuthean, that. Detractors find it is, at
best, a great cast wasted on an absurd production. It's not an absurd production, though. It's just
too darn clever and with many superficial distractions that torpedo the traditional expectations which,
in this work more than any Wagner opera, are very much implanted in audiences.

This was Katharina's 'trial shot' before taking over Bayreuth with her elder step-sister. It might have
been accidentally ingenious, but more likely it was a brilliant statement, folded inside the Meistersinger-
story with the finesse of an expert origamist. At the very least it's jolly good theater, now viewable
on the Opus Arte DVD of the 2008 performance...

[knight66]

Saturday 3 March 2012
Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Andris Nelsons  conductor
Stephen Gould  Tristan
Lioba Braun  Isolde
Christianne Stotijn  Brangäne
Brett Polegato  Kurwenal
Matthew Best  King Marke
Ben Johnson  Melot / Shepherd
Benedict Nelson  Sailor / Helmsman
Men of the CBSO Chorus 

Concert performance:

For me Andris Nelsons is a phenomenon. He so clearly contradicts the pessimistic forecasts of that crapulous critic Norman Lebrecht, who claimed a decade ago that the golden age of conductors was well and truly over. There are quite a number of still young but exciting conductors who are confounding this idea; Nelsons not just among them, but pretty much in the lead.

I have seen him four times now and on each occasion you can sense an audience that anticipates something out of the ordinary and, so far, that is what he has delivered. Although only 30 or so he has accumulated quite a notch of opera performances. He comes from Riga and lead a lot of opera productions in that city.

Right from the start there was a real committed concentration from both sides of the podium. Often as I have heard that famous prelude; he nevertheless conjured up sounds in the middle of it I have never heard before. I looked at the organ consol to check the organ was not being played. He pulled out an extraordinary sound like a massive organ surging through part of the prelude. It was neither fast nor slow, no eccentricity; but it packed a powerful punch. That can lead to anticlimax in what follows, but not here.

For me the star singer was Christianne Stotijn. That is not to suggest shortcomings elsewhere; but she is really exceptional with an even rich tone top to bottom, platform presence and terrific breath control. I looked forward to her every contribution and she ensured that her character was heard as a determined passionate woman, no mere sidekick. The Isolde was head and shoulders shorter, but her voice was a good size and she really used the words. One flat note all night and other than that, strong firm tone, long lines and first rate phrasing. Her curse was the highlight one hopes for and here, as in many places, the conductor and singers produced shivers up the spine or gooseflesh.

The Tristan I had never heard before. Stephen Gould: he was a biffer to look at, but is an imposing height and not withstanding his constant putting on and taking off spectacles; he somehow conveyed that hero and that fallen man of honour. His voice is very large, but subtly used and like the others; he sounded as fresh at the end as he did at the start of the opera. One aspect of the concert layout: he was one side of the conductor and Isolde the other: their many longing looks and the communication they attempted during the duet took place across the conductor's moving arms.

The only place where I would like Nelsons to rethink is that crucial suspended moment where the protagonists drink the love potion and then wait. Furtwangler imbues this with a mystical element of timelessness. Nelsons I felt underplayed it. Other than that, I have nothing negative to suggest; the cumulative effect across the three acts really was overwhelming. The orchestra shone and outshon itself. The cor angles in Act three seemed to come from another world, distanced and utterly magical, the audience entranced and still.

Act Two had the traditional cuts; the passionate rush and the atmosphere of night were there in spades and the singing was terrific. Act Three; the orchestra walked into a buzzing audience, a feeling of a high. Then with suddenness we were tipped into that grief laden world, that dream scape of pain, regret, hope and despair. Instantly we were transported to the heart of it as though a switch had been thrown. 

I have to mention the King Marke of Matthew Best: what a voice! He has the technique of singing softly and projecting clearly with a beautiful dark voice. It was a heartbreaking performance, full of compassion and puzzlement at how betrayal had crept into the heart of his closest friend, how he found himself with the best of intentions in a world of ashes.

In the concert circumstances where there is no distraction of the production and the singers get the help of standing in front of the orchestra and can refer to their scores, the concentration seems complete and the conditions for an opera of the mind are at their best. It was all so exciting that I wanted a fourth act. Not something I normally think of at the end of a Wagner opera. I like my Tristan und Isolde to act like a narcotic and it did here; my head was filled with the music for days afterwards.

Mike

Here is something exceptional from the Mezzo Christianne Stotijn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMnXlgrr_YI

[madaboutmahler]

Thought this would be an appropriate time to enter the Wagner thread!

Just about the get started.... (as you can see, I am prepared, with a whole box of teabags)


I am very excited to start listening, and shall report back once I have finished Das Rheingold!

[madaboutmahler]

Listened to Das Rheingold in full today, absolutely amazing, beautiful, thrilling music! I am very excited to continue my journey through the Ring Cycle! So great....

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Rheingold is just the beginning... Btw, I always think that Wagner becomes WAGNER in the music which leads us to Nibelheim.

[Karl Henning]

(* bites tongue *)

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

(*hears scream*)

[madaboutmahler]

Rheingold is just the beginning... Btw, I always think that Wagner becomes WAGNER in the music which leads us to Nibelheim.

Yes.... and the shortest....   
Yes, I'll certainly want to listen to the operas that came before the Ring as well. Well, I'll want to have heard of all them eventually of course!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Who knows - we might see a new person here: madaboutwagner.

[madaboutmahler]

Who knows - we might see a new person here: madaboutwagner.

I should probably copyright the 'madabout....' name

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

 

[Karl Henning]

(*hears scream*)

No, that was a soprano . . . .

[Lisztianwagner]

Listened to Das Rheingold in full today, absolutely amazing, beautiful, thrilling music! I am very excited to continue my journey through the Ring Cycle! So great....

So glad you listened to Das Rheingold, so, so glad! Listening to the Ring Cycle is absolutely an overwhelming experience, its massive beauty and power capture you completely, like a sort of hypnotism!