Like the first part, really pretty fine in many places. The first thing one I noticed (once I had noted that the stage curtain was traditionally down…) was the incredible urgency and energy of the orchestra – and this did not really let up during almost all of this act. It did slip very slightly towards the end of the this act - but there was a very good reason for that – of which more later. The set was darkly effective and the probably ubiquitous suitcases made a fine representation of the walls of Hunding’s hut with more piled up behind. The most striking feature was the addition of a son for Sieglinde and Hunding. Absolutely no justification or reason for this in the text but it worked as it gave Sieglinde a clear focus for care and affection (or at least until Siegmund arrived) The son was handicapped but not in a tackily blatant way and his presence meant that the direct communication between Siegmund and Sieglinde was deferred as the young man was often the focus of Siegmund’s narrations. At the end of the act he was (necessarily?) killed by Sieglinde – an interesting idea as it showed a different aspect of her, not just the love-lorn sister but one with a degree of ruthlessness which, given the rest of her (unseen) story is more than plausible; at least nine months would have to have gone past before she bore Siegfried and in that time she would have had to survive in the forest – although probably with Mime – again of whom, more later.
Acting was excellent – clearly combined with really subtle and thoughtful direction. I particularly loved the way, very early on in the scene before the two had exchanged any words, how their movements matched each other – Sieglinde lying on the piano, with Siegmund on the floor, and their movements and leg positions almost exactly mirrored each other – a great way to indicate their closeness before they had realised that fact.
Vocally all were superb – and Jovanovich made a visually convincing hero as well as having a superb voice with a touch of sweetness to it that easily rose above the orchestra. However, it was Sieglinde who was, for me, the vocal triumph of the evening. Elizabeth Teige is at the start of her career and I am confident she will have a great one. Her voice had a wonderful sheen with easily produced power and, to be honest, at times, she sounded better than Nina Stemme. Now this may well be because hers is a younger voice but the scene between them in Act 3 was gripping – I had the sense that in a few years (but not too soon!) Teige would be singing Brunnhilde.
Sieglinde’s dramatic red dress had a white garment under it and in the latter part of the act, this was flung off, revealing her in all white and so clearly linking her with the Wotan who, like all the gods (except for Loge) was all in white. Siegmund also, necessarily, revealed an all-white costume but it was his underwear (as used by the chorus in Rheingold) and so we had the rather ridiculous sight of him removing his trousers centre-stage. I do feel that there might have been a better costume solution than this as there is (always) something intrinsically ridiculous about a man taking off his trousers and revealing his underwear, no matter what the musico-dramatic situation is!
But now we come to the problem that occurred in the last half-hour or so. At the moment when the door is flung open and spring/moon light breaks into the dark hut there was a catastrophic scenery fail. From the top of either side of the stage, the white parachute silk cloth was clearly meant to descend and have sping woodland green projections on it. But the clip holding the corner of the cloth SL did not hold and so we (and the performers) were left with a triangular shaped piece of material upon which nothing could be effectively projected! The singers coped very well, Jovanovich having to push some of the descended cloth to one side at one stage to make sure Nothung was revealed. This was a REALLY painful thing to have happened as there were hints of what we should have seen visible, faintly, and at the end of the scene the tree shape that provided the glorious concluding image to Rheingold should have been seen in vivid red (as shown in a production photograph in the programme).
Act 2 was…pretty good, although for me this has always been the weakest of the three acts in this work. I was not as involved as I should or could have been in the two main narrative scenes between Wotan and Fricka, (who turned out to be a more serious character than previously indicated in Rheingold) and Wotan and Brunnhilde. Vocally and orchestrally though, this act was as strong as the preceding and there were some fine staging details – Siegmund actually being killed with Wotan’s spear (nice irony) – and it was a grim and slightly protracted death, not the usual jerk back, fall and lie still.
The final act was excellent. The opening scene with the Valkyries – surely one of the most impossible scenes to stage with all the talk of exactly what the horses are doing – was very fine. We saw the zombie-like bodies of the dead whom they gathered up – again white underwear but this time dirty and very bloody. And clearly, it’s not just feasting and drinking that is the dead heroes’ reward – they get to be with the Valkyries as well in a pretty graphic scene. The Valkyries themselves were, as ever, superbly sung, and they came across as pretty nasty dangerous creatures – and quite rightly so. It was also good to see Hunding and Sieglinde’s child there – and I think Siegmund…but what about Hunding – or was it only certain warriors that were taken to Valhalla, not everyone who died? Mythological question!
Then final scene with the laying to sleep of Brunnhilde had all the stunning visual and emotional power that it should have – and, thank goodness, the exact moment at which they embraced for the last time was done at exactly the right moment. It’s not difficult to do – it’s all there in the music!
But, as now seems to be a characteristic of the production, the final moments set up the events of the next opera. We saw Sieglinde give birth assisted by Wagner-Mime with the final image being Mime crooning to the infant front and centre stage. Smart. Liked it.
This time I was less distracted by the piano than in Rheingold – perhaps I have just got used to it and it was effectively used, as there, as an entry and exit point, a storage place etc. etc. And we seemed to have lost the commenting/judgemental chorus of refugees until the final moments of Act Three where they slowly appeared at the back of the stage.
However, I did notice more the use of the musical score. It was there in Rheingold but I did not notice it as much as here. And it struck me – was it being used something like a Book of Fate in which all that will happen is set down and cannot be changed – just as the musical score sets down exactly what must transpire. Were the characters who were looking at it trying to find guidance and know what is going to happen next? Will see what I think after Siegfried today.