“’cos you can always catch our act at the
Met…
I’ll play Siegfried and I’ll play Brunnhild,
Die Gotterdamrung, Die Gotterdamrung, yeah die Gotterdamrung..”
(from the
stage show “Two on the Aisle”, music by Julie Styne)
Listening to Condon
and Green’s take on the concluding section of Wagner’s mighty
“Ring” epic the other day - in effect “Another evening … another
show” - I wondered if some suspected a similarly glib attitude
from the Stuttgart Opera’s management when assembling their
2002/3 Ring. This, you may recall, was the epic cycle launched
with not one but four directors, each managing
one of the four operas.
Some doubtless argued
this exhibited a healthy disregard for the pompous baggage that
frequently surrounds the cycle. However it not only resulted
in an inevitably disjointed overview on stage, it also led to
a number of musical discontinuities.
Whilst the Staatsorchester
and conductor Lothar Zagrosek remain a constant, the interpreters
of the key roles vary. In the case of Brünnhilde three different
sopranos essay the role in Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung.
Whilst no one is saying that casting a Ring is easy, such a
situation cannot help the continuity or dramatic verisimilitude
of what is, after all, a cycle.
However, we must
turn to the discs in hand. Whatever problems I have with the
visual aspects of the Stuttgart Ring - I own the DVDs from which
this issue derives - the impact of this factor is obviously
eliminated when experiencing the sound alone.
I’ll begin, perhaps
unfashionably, with the orchestra and conductor. Zagrosek tends
towards a swift approach to the score, emphasising clarity of
line, but not harassing the music. The result is similar in
feel overall to Boulez’s approach, but without the older man’s
tendency to “nag” and skate over parts of the score. Sometimes
however one could imagine greater depth and power to the music
- the Norns scene for example … presumably a result of a wish
not to over-inflate the sound and avoid portentousness. His
players meanwhile meet the tremendous demands of the music well.
Two performances are credited as the basis for the recording
- perhaps with some patching sessions too? - and there are only
a few signs of tiring inevitable in such a long work.
The singers however
are less consistent. Luana De Vol was nigh on 60 during these
performances - according to the New Grove Opera. Although she
has harboured her vocal resources well she can’t conjure up
much feeling of “young love” in the Act 1 duet, but then in
truth not too many can these days … and anyway any truly young
singer would wreck their voice on this music. She manages to
keep something in reserve for the Immolation scene, and certainly
doesn’t disgrace herself, although she is inevitably found wanting
in relation to the great shadows of the past such as Nilsson
and Varnay.
Bonnema is a decent
Siegfried, not immune to some vocal scooping, who again by and
large acquits himself well … although some listeners may not
appreciate his audible gasps at the beginning of the Funeral
March. At least we are spared seeing him prance about in a bearskin
- albeit that this is just visible on the CD cover - whilst
his “bride” sports a cocktail dress. Still I would far rather
experience his singing than that of one recent incumbent at
Bayreuth.
It was with the
appearance of the unhappy Gibichung family that vocal matters
seemed to make a small but definite turn for the better. The
Gunther, Herman Iturralde was a new name to me but this Argentinean
musician made a very positive effect, marrying an attractive
voice with insightful characterisation. Take his very first
appearance in Act 1 proper: just the right amount of vanity
mixed with annoyance at Hagen’s advice that perhaps his image
isn’t, after all, all that it might be.
Roland Bracht meanwhile
plays the evil half-brother, using his considerable Wagnerian
experience to telling effect, although it must be said that
his voice isn’t as steady as it once was. In truth the wobble
only became worrying to me during the summoning of the vassals
in Act 2. Not in the same class as Gottlob Frick or Matti Salminen,
but perfectly OK. Incidentally as we so often hear these days
…no steerhorns are used in this juggernaut of a scene, just
trombones from the orchestra pit. I think the recent Proms performance
under Runnicles was the first time I’ve heard these instruments
since the legendary Solti Ring on Decca. No matter … listen
to Goodall (CHAN 3060) and hear what you can achieve with a
normal orchestral complement.
Eva-Maria Westbroek
manages to make something of the ungrateful part of Gutrune,
a figure who always strikes me as a more sophisticated yet nevertheless
morphed version of the Rheingold Freia: the hand-wringing “little
woman”. Meanwhile Tichina Vaughn has more opportunities as Waltraute,
and makes the most of them. She impressed me greatly earlier
in the cycle as Fricka, and she certainly doesn’t let the side
down here. Along with Iturralde these are the singers whom I
shall be looking out for in the future.
In terms of sound
quality this Naxos issue scores highly. There is an excellent
sense of being seated in a prime stalls seat in the house with
the real tangibility of the theatre. Voices and orchestra are
well balanced and although there is not perhaps the depth or
perspectives of the best studio recordings I found the enterprise
very satisfying from the audio point of view. In fact for reasons
I can’t explain I preferred it marginally to the DVD.
But … and it’s a
big but … just who is going to purchase this set? There is a
complete Ring cycle still on sale at a leading London store
for not much more than a tenner … and it’s a good bet too. Famous
cycles by Solti, Karajan, Levine and most keenly, Böhm have
been severely discounted of late. Moreover the great shadows
of the further past loom large even over this distinguished
company. I refer to Furtwängler, Knappertsbusch, Krauss and
most pertinently Keilberth, with the magnificent “lost” Ring,
masterminded by Decca, and recently re-issued by Testament.
I don’t enjoy “doing
down” more recent efforts in the Ring stakes – this is a living,
breathing medium and it needs to be re-examined afresh by new
generations and current artists - but the magnificence of the
singing, playing and conducting of a cycle such as Keilberth’s
does tend to put most of the rest in the shade.
I couldn’t honestly
therefore put this Naxos issue at the top of the heap, but if
you acquire it as an impulse purchase, or as a present, I hope
you derive as much pleasure as I have from it. These discs have
interest for any Wagnerian and are by no means negligible.
Ian Bailey
see also Review
by Göran Forsling
