Santa Fe Opera 2022 Season

 

The Santa Fe Opera has announced their season for the summer of 2022.  This looks like a full season to me.  With works by Rossini, Verdi and Wagner it looks like a very ambitious season to me.  The casts include some wonderful American singers.

Carmen by Bizet  July 1 - August 27

Isabel Leonard, Mezzo-soprano, Carmen; Bryan Hymel, Tenor, Don José (July); Michael Fabiano, Tenor, Don José (August); Michael Sumuel, Bass-baritone, Escamillo; Sylvia D'Eramo, Soprano, Micaëla; Santa Fe Opera Music Director Harry Bicket conducts.

The Barber of Seville by Rossini July 2 - August 26  

Emily Fons, Mezzo-soprano, Rosina; Jack Swanson, Tenor, Count Almaviva; Joshua Hopkins, Baritone, Figaro; Kevin Burdette, Bass, Dr. Bartolo; Ryan Speedo Green, Bass-baritone, Don Basilio (August); Iván López-Reynoso conducts.

Falstaff by Verdi   July 16 - August 25 

Quinn Kelsey, Baritone, Falstaff; Alexandra LoBianco, Soprano, Alice Ford;  Roland Wood, Baritone, Ford;  Elena Villalón, Soprano, Nannetta; Eric Ferring, Tenor, Fenton; Ann McMahon Quintero, Mezzo-Soprano, Dame Quickly; Paul Daniel conducts. 

Tristan und Isolde by Wagner  July 23 -  August 22

Simon O'Neill, Tenor, Tristan; Tamara Wilson, Soprano, Isolde; Jamie Barton, Mezzo-soprano, Brangäne; Nicholas Brownlee, Bass-baritone, Kurwenal; Eric Owens, Bass-baritone, King Marke; David Leigh, Bass, King Marke (August 11); James Gaffigan conducts.

M. Butterfly by Huang Ruo  July 30 -  August 24  

Kangmin Justin Kim, Countertenor, Song Liling; Mark Stone, Baritone, René Gallimard; Hongni Wu, Mezzo-soprano, Comrade Chin | Shu Fung; Kevin Burdette, Bass, Manuel Toulon | Judge; Joshua Dennis, Tenor, Marc; Carolyn Kuan conducts.

Der fliegende Holländer from Bayreuth

 

Mary, Erik, Senta

Conductor: Oksana Lyniv

Director: Dmitri Tcherniakov

 

Daland:  Georg Zeppenfeld

Senta: Asmik Grigorian

Erik: Eric Cutler

Mary: Marina Prudenskaya

Der Steuermann: Attilio Glaser

Der Holländer: John Lundgren

Richard Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer streamed from Bayreuth this summer on July 25.  It's regie, of course.  That means that the staging is modernized.  During the overture a mother hangs herself.  It's rather wildly realistic looking.  This doesn't seem to be the traditional plot about a sailor.  I'm here for Asmik Geigorian.

The sailors sit around drinking in a bar and never go to sea.  The girls don't spin, but instead practice the spinning chorus.  Senta smokes.  Erik comes in and chases the other girls away.  He warns Senta that her father wants to find her a husband.  Erik and Senta are exes and fight like it.  

Asmik is 40 but here passes for younger.  She is good looking, her voice is strong and her acting good.  The sound of her voice does not particularly appeal to me.  For me it is the feeling in the music.

Daland brings the Dutchman home and introduces him to his daughter as her bridegroom.  She swears to be faithful until death.  This takes place around the dining room table.  She gets excited over him for no apparent reason.  The ho hum everydayness of the staging takes all the fizz out of it.  Asmik tries to make up for it, but it's too much to ask.

In Act III everyone is outside eating and drinking except the sailors who sit glumly.  The townspeople ridicule them until the Dutchman takes out his gun and shoots a few.  Ugh.  Everyone but Senta runs off.  Erik complains to Senta who sits staring.  They sing about eternity on the sea, but there is no sea.  The Dutchman throws Senta on the floor.  Mom comes in and shoots him.  Senta laughs and tries to comfort her.  That's it.  I'll probably never watch this again.  The chorus is excellent.

Tristan und Isolde from Munich 👍🏻

 

Conductor -  Kirill Petrenko 
Production - Krzysztof Warlikowski 

Tristan - Jonas Kaufmann 
Isolde - Anja Harteros 
King Mark - Mika Kares 
Kurwenal - Wolfgang Koch 
Brangäne - Okka von der Damerau

This is Wagner's Tristan und Isolde from the Bayerische Staatsoper.  It's a regie production, naturally.  Almost everything from there is.  I'm not sure it provides a context.  They all wear modern clothing, and we don't seem to be on a ship.

Act I.

Tristan has traveled to Ireland to bring back the future bride of King Mark of Cornwall.  He is there in his official capacity as representative of Cornwall.  Actually Tristan and Princess Isolde have an already existing relationship.  In a war between the two kingdoms, Tristan has killed Isolde's fiance and been seriously wounded in the process.  Isolde with the help of Brangäne nursed him back to health.  

On the journey she tries to order him around.  He remains distant and sends his assistant, Kurwenal.  This bit is not precisely clear.  Brangäne prepares a potion that Tristan and Isolde are to share.  Tristan drinks half, and then Isolde drinks the rest.  They seem to think it will kill them, but instead they fall hopelessly in love.  I thought the sudden falling in love was well handled.  We appear to be doing social distancing in this production.  No one touches in this part.

Act II

Isolde keeps turning the lights on and off.  I'm not sure what that's about.  I've never seen this character portrayed as perverse.  A feature of this production is that we see the characters live on the stage and projected on the wall in the form of a film at the same time.  Brangäne blames herself for administering the potion, but Isolde blames the Love Spirit who spreads love all around.  Isolde sees herself without love as destined for death.

I am an hour and a half in and did not ever before realize what a bear of a part Isolde is.  Other characters make brief appearances.  Finally Tristan enters and they talk about their time traveling to Cornwall.  She feels that she loved him then, but he was there in the role of foe.  Now they cannot simply forget that they love one another.  There is much discussion of which is better:  day or night?  Night is chosen.  Tristan wants to die.  The picture above comes from this section.

In the real world they sit in chairs and sing, but in the film behind they meet in the bedroom.  I don't know why I like this, but I do.

They sing for a long time about death, then suddenly they take needles from a bowl on the table and give themselves shots.  Death?  The bed in the background is suddenly surrounded by water.  Then people begin to enter.  They are discovered.  King Mark tells his story, that it was Tristan who thought he should marry.  Isolde is hearing this story for the first time.

This hardly seems like the same opera.  We want these two singers together in this opera because they are together emotionally.

Isolde says that she will follow Tristan to his home.  Melot, the betrayer, complains and the two men draw swords.  The bald person reappears.  Melot stabs Tristan.

Act III

Bald people in uniforms drinking coffee?  This part of the production I don't get.  Tristan sits with them and drinks coffee.  Next to him they look like children.  All but one appear to be puppets. A return to childhood?  An English horn plays on the stage.  

Kurvenal sings to the puppet Tristan while Jonas sings.  Then they exchange places. The puppet in the yellow blouse is Isolde herself.  I don't think I realized before how little time Tristan and Isolde spend on stage together.  I feel like I have never seen this opera before.  Opera's greatest singing actors have brought it to life as never before.  Absolutely stunning.

Old age advice.  Do not mourn that your love cannot be fulfilled.  Rejoice that passion can come to you.

Tannhäuser from Bayreuth 👍🏻

Conductor: Valery Gergiev 
Director: Tobias Kratzer

Tannhäuser: Stephen Gould
Landgraf Hermann: Stephen Milleing
Elisabeth: Lise Davidsen
Wolfram von Eschenbach: Markus Eiche
Walther von der Vogelweide: Daniel Behle
Venus:  Elena Zhidkova
Shepard:  Katharina Konradi

Tannhäuser from Bayreuth from 2019, which can be found in Opera on Video, is a confusing mix of images.  The first scene suggests that we add it to the caravan series, since we see Tannhäuser, Venus and her troop wandering around in an RV in the guise of a carnival.  Venus drives.  They live outside the law.  When the vehicle runs out of gas, they siphon some from a nearby vehicle.  They go through the Burger King drive through and steal their food.  This is not realistic since you always have to pay before they give you anything.  A policeman tries to stop them and Venus runs him down, making Tannhäuser uninterested in going on with her.

In the second scene the curtain opens on an exterior shot of the Bayreuther Festspielhaus.  He is met by a bunch of guys in black outfits drinking beer out of the bottle.  They recognize him in his clown outfit and welcome him back.  At the end of the scene Venus arrives in her RV.

Lise Davidsen is utterly magnificent.  I adore her "Dich teure Halle."  Our boy is back in normal clothes.  Or at least the clothes suitable for the singing contest that is to come.  People begin to enter.  Outside Venus and her gang are trying to get inside.  This must play like a film inside the hall.  Venus steals a suitable outfit from one of the dressing rooms and participates in the ceremony.  This whole thing is like a movie with cameras behind the scenes.  Is that the trend of the future?

The contestants sing about love back and forth until Tannhäuser tells the crowd that he has been in Venusberg.  The women in the crowd all escape except for Elisabeth, Venus removes her disguise, and her group all appear together with Tannhäuser.  Elisabeth prevents the men from killing him, and he thanks her.  The scene is strange.  While Tannhäuser thanks Elisabeth, he is also happy to see Venus.  Someone calls the police.  The Landgraf curses Tannhäuser for admitting he was with Venus.

I am enjoying the idea that the teure Halle is the Festspieshaus itself.  A song contest with pieces that are more like songs would have been nice.  The story is concerned with salvation, and the music is a bit droning.   Tannhäuser chooses to go to Rome with the pilgrims and the giant black man in drag drapes a rainbow flag over the harp that accompanied the singers.

This is almost the Tannhäuser as comedy version. Frei im Wollen! Frei im Thun! Frei im Geniessen!  R.W. [Free in the wanting! Free in the doing! Free to enjoy!]  This seems to be the opposing of two life views that make up the struggle of modern life:  The path of individual freedom represented by Venus and the path of adhering to social norms represented by Elisabeth.  The sign outside the Festspielhaus seems to place Wagner on the side of freedom.  Our hero vacillates back and forth between them.  One gives him a life of earthly pleasure and the other brings salvation to his soul.  He seems to want both.

It ends horribly.  In the libretto first Elisabeth dies, and then he sees her body borne past him, and Tannhäuser dies.  In this version Tannhäuser goes off with Venus, Wolfram sees his opportunity and dresses up in Tannhäuser's clown outfit so Elisabeth will think he is the man she loves.  He seduces her in this disguise, and later we see her covered in blood.  She seems to have killed herself.  This is truly hideous.  

_____________________________________________

 P.S

I watched the film of Tannhäuser from Bayreuth in 2019 again because it is now playing again in Bayreuth in 2021 and I cannot go. Ekaterina Gubanova is Venus in the current version, and this may be an improvement.  I had already seen all the shocking parts, and was content to watch the whole opera.

I noticed the part where it is indeed Katarina Wagner who calls the cops, as a joke, I assume.  I saw that Wolfram puts on Heinrich's clown outfit, but isn't actually trying to fool Elisabeth.  She laughs and draws him into the van.  That puts a completely different spin on it.  It's too bad she doesn't love Wolfram who is quite charming.

The more I see and hear of Lise Davidsen, the more I admire, enjoy, respect and indeed love her.  She is very well suited to this role.  I am a long distance from having too much of her.  Es lebe die Lise.

 

Lise in Die Walküre at BSO 👍🏻

 

Lise Davidsen sang Act I of Die Walküre at the Bayerische Staatsoper today with Jonas Kaufmann, Georg Zeppenfeld, and Asher Fisch .  I broke down crying it was so wonderful.  How can I pretend to review this?  

We were stomping our feet at home along with the distanced live audience.  Orchestra, conductor and soloists were all outstanding.  Lise is the fiercest Sieglinde I've ever seen.

__________________

I originally posted this on May 13 this year.  I have just finished listening to it for the third time.  It's absolutely wonderful, with two of my great operatic loves singing.  There is a Die Walküre series at Bayreuth this summer with Lise but not Jonas.  It's not being streamed.  But how could I possibly love it as much as this?  Wagner has never gone so deep into my heart.

Lise Davidsen at la Scala

 

Lise Davidsen successfully made her La Scala debut last night in a concert with her as the featured soloist.  These days Lise starts everything at the top.  The above film shows the orchestra on the floor with the audience in the boxes above. Riccardo Chailly conducted.  I remember him primarily as the conductor of Cecilia Bartoli's La Cenerentola recording.

Program
Giuseppe Verdi	From Macbeth  "Patria oppressa"  [chorus]
Henry Purcell	From Dido and Aeneas  "When I am laid in earth" with Lise
Richard Wagner	From Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg  Vorspiel (Prelude)
Richard Strauss	From Ariadne auf Naxos  "Es gibt ein Reich, wo alles rein ist" with Lise
Giuseppe Verdi	From La forza del destino Sinfonia "Pace, pace mio Dio"  with Lise
Richard Wagner	From Tannhäuser Ouvertüre "Dich, Teure halle"  with Lise
Giuseppe Verdi	From Nabucco  "Va’, pensiero" [chorus]

Only "When I am laid in earth" was something I had not heard Lise sing before.  It was good but unspectacular compared to the other things.  She wore black in the first half and looked radiant.  These songs are basically all tragic, so black was ok.  For the second half she wore a beautiful pastel outfit which brightened the mood.  Her hair is enhanced with an extension down to her waist. 

The two pieces in German are Lise's signature pieces, both of which I love dearly in her voice.  The most spectacularly sung of all was the Verdi "Pace, pace mio Dio".  It would not do for her to omit the Italian language.  All of her languages were beautiful.

I was intrigued by the interplay between Chailly and Davidsen.  He seemed to be looking to her for expressive cues.  This is something singers long for.  I felt it allowed Lise to feel secure and give her utmost.  As a result she made the greatest impression in the great Italian aria "Pace, pace mio Dio."  They were a magical pair.  This is La Scala after all.

I found this to be one of the most intense and spectacular vocal concerts I've ever seen.  The audience stood up a lot.  It's out there.

Lise's New Album

Lise Davidsen's new album is out, and I'm having a hard time thinking of anything to say.  Listen for yourself?

I chose this track because it is the thing I least expected.  I was thinking to criticize her Italian work, and then came this.  She is glorious beyond my wildest imagination.  Everyone who has experienced her live says you need to be there.  Go away stupid virus.  I'm doing all I can do.  If you wanted something serious and sensible, I apologize.  I follow opera for passion alone.

The recording includes Beethoven, Mascagni, Verdi, Cherubini and Wagner.  My son said it's amazing, like something from a bye-gone era.

San Francisco Ring -- Götterdämmerung

 

Conductor - Donald Runnicles 
Director - Francesca Zambello 

Brünnhilde - Iréne Theorin 
Siegfried - Daniel Brenna 
King Gunther - Brian Mulligan 
Hagen, Alberich's son - Andrea Silvestrelli 
Gutrune, sister of Gunther - Melissa Citro 
Waltraute - Jamie Barton 
Alberich - Falk Struckmann 

Götterdämmerung completes the Richard Wagner Ring cycle.  This is my first time for this production.

Act I

The balance between the orchestra and the three Norns is terrible. Why is this always such a problem?  Why don't properly placed microphones solve this?  Instead of threads, these strands of fate are fat electrical cables, and when one breaks, the Norms die.

We see Siegfried and Brünnhilde after their night together still blissfully in love.  He gives her the ring and goes off to explore.  The Rhein valley looks like a refinery.  

Siegfried ends up at the posh home of Gunther, Hagen and Gutrune.  He has taken the tarnhelm with him and tells them where he got it.  He drinks a potion, falls immediately for Gutrune and forgets all about Brünnhilde.  

Now we are back with Brünnhilde where she waits for Siegfried.  Her sister Waltraute arrives.  I like very much Iréne Theorin.  I remember that she was an emergency replacement.  I'm not sure I think Jamie Barton is a Wagnerian.  Waltraute tells Brünnhilde about how much Wotan has changed.  

After Waltraute leaves, Siegfried returns with the tarnhelm on his head.  The other three parts of the San Francisco Ring had subtitles, but this one does not.  It's hard.  He takes the ring from Brünnhilde and leads her off.

Act II

Alberich shows up to lecture his son Hagen.  If the ring is so powerful, why doesn't it work for anyone but Alberich?  I have always wondered about this.  I'm trying to make it all the way to the end, but it's pretty rough going.  Gunther drags Brünnhilde onto the stage in front of a crowd of his subjects.  Siegfried has eyes only for Gutrune, and she for him.  Siegfried swears he doesn't know Brünnhilde, and she swears things, too, only hers are true and his are not.  I enjoy very much how Theorin enthusiastically jumps about in her role.

Act III

All the fun parts of this opera are in this act.  The Rhein maidens are back, and they are covered in plastic bags full of garbage.  Siegfried enters and I'm booing. He's carrying a military style rifle which the maidens take from him.  Perhaps none of them can rule the world with the ring because they haven't renounced love.  It's harder than you think. The bad acoustics at the San Francisco Opera House are all too apparent in this recording.  They give him back his gun and he goes off.

One both hates and loves Daniel Brenna's Siegfried.  One loves the singer and hates the character.  One is no longer charmed by his egotism.  I'm shouting at the screen "You f**d up buddy."  Hagen, Gunther and Siegfried are together.  Hagen gives Siegfried a potion to reverse the other one, and he tells the story of Brünnhilde in the ring of fire.  That means he lied when he swore he didn't know her.  So Hagen kills him.  The big discovery of this Ring cycle was Andrea Silvestrelli as Hagen.  Magnificent.

For the ending we return to Gutrune with Siegfried's body.  When Hagen tries to steal the ring from Siegfried's dead hand, S raises it in the air and Brünnhilde appears.  It works out as it should.  My favorite thing is Brünnhilde gets to be Brünnhilde again.  Big finish.  I'm crying.  The sheet of gold is back where it belongs.  It's all about women now.  A great ending.

We loved Donald Runnicles, and it's great to see him again.

Lise Davidsen from Trondheim in Norway

 

Lise gave a concert today from Trondheim with James Gaffigan who is their regular guest conductor.  The program alternated instrumental numbers and vocal numbers.  On Monday Lise gave an all Grieg recital with 100 in the audience. The Norwegian government reimposed the lockdown just before this concert.  There are more than no people here but maybe 10?  We don't get to see them.

Verdi                    Overture from the Sicilian Vespers

Verdi                   "Ma dall 'arido stelo divulsa" from Ballo in Maschera                          

Verdi                     Dance from Act III Macbeth  

Verdi                    "Tu che la vanita" from Don Carlo

Intermission

Beethoven             Leonore Overture #3

Beethoven            "Abscheulicher" from Fidelio

Wagner                 Forrest Murmers from Siegfried

Wagner                 "Dich teure Halle" from Tannhaeuser

 

It was nice to see so many young women in the orchestra in Trondheim.  Lise stays in the wings until just before she sings as though perhaps this were an opera. Each of her numbers is introduced by an instrumental piece by the same composer.  So we are hearing instrumental pieces by Verdi.  For the second Verdi she comes out in the break which is what is expected.  I have heard her sing the Verdi Requiem from a few years ago, but this is the most Verdi opera I have heard.  I think she will work her way into the Verdi heroines, and perhaps Don Carlo would make a good start.

The Beethoven and Wagner I have heard before, of course, but they are wonderful again.  This concert is all Lise sings big, which is what she is famous for.  I find her very exciting.

After the end of the concert, Decca released the new recording which can be found on lisedavidsen.com.  Only the third aria from the Thursday concert is from the new recording.  She is very wonderful and has a style uniquely her own.  Future things include a recording of Fidelio and a whole Grieg album.  Forgive me if I can't act like this glorious soprano is all new to me. James Gaffigan recommends being in the room with her.  I'm working on it.

James Gaffigan is very lively and entertaining in addition to being a good conductor.  I enjoyed him.

San Francisco Ring -- Siegfried

 

Conductor: Donald Runnicles 
Director: Francesca Zambello 

Mime: David Cangelosi 
Siegfried: Daniel Brenna *
The Wanderer (Wotan): Greer Grimsley 
Alberich: Falk Struckmann 
Fafner: Raymond Aceto 
Forest Bird: Stacey Tappan 
Erda: Ronnita Miller 
Brünnhilde: Iréne Theorin 

I am enjoying that at the beginning of Siegfried Mime is banging in the rhythm of the score.  We are up to the part of the San Francisco Ring that I have not seen before.  The last time I simply was too tired to do four long operas in a row.  This is part of the caravan series.  Mime and Siegfried live in a busted up caravan.  We actually get a bear--not an actual bear.  

Wotan comes in to check on Siegfried.  I actually love Greer's harsh, growly voice as Wotan.  Mime and the The Wanderer are exchanging riddles and Mime recognizes that this is Wotan.  He is too dumb to figure out who it is who has never known fear.  We figure this out easily.  How about someone who brings a live bear home with him?  The reforging of the sword is very convincing.  In retrospect I suspect that Mime is pretending not to know.

This scene with Alberich and The Wanderer is reminding my of my rule of 3 baritones.  "Never go to an opera with three baritones."  This is a hell of a lot of snarling and growling.  Wotan by himself is fine.  Wotan wanders from place to place seemingly to provide Wagner with someone to explain what is going on.  I insist on my no explaining/all showing philosophy.  These operas are so long because someone is always explaining something.

The character of Siegfried in the person of Daniel Brenna is enjoyable.  The production seems to work in spite of the fact that the dragon is a machine.  Theoretically the machine should disappear when Siegfried takes the Tarnhelm from Fafner.

I like more and more the Wotan of Greer Grimsley.  However, he summons Erda and then doesn't really ask her anything.  He predicts the end of the gods, including her.  Then when Siegfried breaks Wotan's spear with Notung, all truly is over.

This is very cool.  "Mother, behold your fearless child."  He's terrified of a sleeping woman.  Herr Wagner, at last you have done it.  He kisses her awake like sleeping beauty.  We waited a very long time, but this is the best thing ever.  He thanks his mother for giving him life.  If it only ended here!

San Francisco Ring -- Die Walküre

 

Conductor: Donald Runnicles 
Director: Francesca Zambello 

Sieglinde - Karita Mattila 
Siegmund - Brandon Jovanovich 
Hunding - Raymond Aceto 
Wotan - Greer Grimsley 
Brünnhilde - Iréne Theorin 
Fricka - Jamie Barton 

Die Walküre is of course the next installment in the San Francisco Ring.  Wotan lives in a skyscraper high over a relatively small city somewhat like San Francisco.

Act I is in Hunding's house which looks like an American house in the woods.  Inside is a cabinet full of sport trophies.  This Hunding is really a brute.  There's no question about whose side we are on.

Act II Scene 1.  is in the high rise built by the giants in Das Rheingold.  Jamie Barton is a truly magnificent Fricka.  She storms with great style.  He is clearly for Siegmund, but Fricka turns him to Hunding's side.  The goddess protects marriage no matter how bad it is.  There is lots of plot stuff in this act.  At the beginning Wotan orders Brünnhilde to defend Siegmund.  Then after Fricka's complaints, he reverses himself and tells her Siegmund must die.

Act II Scene 2.  In this scene Sieglinde and Siegmund are under a freeway, the latest symbol of urban wilderness.  Sieglinde has begun to feel guilt, both for staying with a husband who did not love her and for leaving him for Siegmund.  Brünnhilde enters and tells Siegmund he must come with her to Valhalla, thus at least attempting to fulfill Wotan's orders.  Siegmund says he will not go without Sieglinde.  This is all quite wonderful.  Brünnhilde changes her mind when Siegmund threatens to kill both himself and his twin even after Brünnhilde tells him Sieglinde is carrying his child.  The child must live.  I think we have here not at all the normal ending.  Hunding kills Siegmund, Wotan kills Hunding and Brünnhilde rescues Sieglinde.  Wotan just says to tell Fricka that he killed Siegmund, but he didn't actually.

Act III is the only part I remember vividly.  During the Ride of the Valkyries they enter on wires, which I see now are supposed to be parachutes.  I love this.  They are all wearing flying suits except Brünnhilde.

I just realized that Siegfried is a joining of the words for victory and peace.  One who brings peace in victory.  Forgive me Karita, but I long to hear Sieglinde in the voice of LD. Karita's performances always bring us her own personal intensity.

The Ring is very unliberated.  Where is Susan B Antony when you need her?  The gods can only imagine women belonging to men.  I enjoy Greer in many scenes, but he seems able to bring only anger into his voice.  And now I'm going to do what I criticize in others.  For me there is only one Wotan's Farewell and that is James Morris.  Greer has done well, but I want to hear the love bursting forth.  This is the only Wagner I truly love.  The ring of fire is perfect.

 

San Francisco Ring -- Das Rheingold

Conductor: Donald Runnicles
Director: Francesca Zambello

Wotan, head god:  Greer Grimsley
Loge, god of fire:  Štefan Margita
Alberich, Nibelung: Falk Struckmann*
Fricka, Wotan's wife:  Jamie Barton
Erda, goddess of the earth, Ronnita Miller
Mime, Alberich's brother: David Cangelosi
Fasolt, giant: Andrea Silvestrelli
Fafner, giant: Raymond Aceto
Donner, god of thunder: Brian Mulligan
Froh, god:  Brandon Jovanovich
Freia, goddess of the apples;  Julie Adams
Woglinde, Rhinemaiden:  Stacey Tappan
Wellgunde, Rhinemaiden:  Lauren McNeese
Flosshilde, Rhinemaiden:  Renée Tatum

I've seen this San Francisco Opera production of Wagner's Das Rheingold twice before.  I don't remember the other times hardly at all.  I can read about them in this blog, of course, here and here. 

Runnicles still feels like the best Wagner conductor around.  I liked the production better than before and found that it clarified all plot points even to my fussy standards.

It is a surprise how much I like Greer Grimsley as Wotan.  I don't seem to be able to write a lot these days.  They are streaming the entire Ring throughout the month of March.  I am determined to make it through all four operas this time.

La Walkyrie from Paris

 

Left to right:

Stuart Skelton, ténor (Siegmund)
Günther Groissböck, baryton-basse (Hunding)
Lise Davidsen, soprano (Sieglinde)

This is the concert performance from Paris of Wagner's Ring that has been going on this week.  I think you can still catch it.  I'm listening to Act I.  All three of these singers are fabulous in these roles.  Lise just sings and out comes this amazing sound.  Stuart sounds good, too.

Go to the Paris opera to listen.

Lise Davidsen from Norway

Lise Davidsen with James Baillieu, piano.

 
I have changed the picture to this one that shows both of the faces of the performers in Lise Davidsen's Metropolitan Opera sponsored recital on Saturday.  For the performance they were dressed in normal recital clothes.

Lise began with what is already her signature piece:  “Dich, teure Halle” from Wagner’s Tannhäuser and followed it with “Allmächt’ge Jungfrau” from the same opera.  I reviewed her performance of this at Bayreuth in 2019 and said: "Lise Davidsen is utterly magnificent.  I adore her 'Dich teure Halle.'"  It's somewhat less impressive with piano but is still excellent.  I have also seen her in a production of Fidelio from the Royal Opera described here.

In a similar vein she performed “Es gibt ein Reich” from R. Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos.  This also displays perfectly her suitability for German repertoire.  I enjoyed this very much.

Operatic pieces included one Verdi,  “Morrò, ma prima in grazia” from Un Ballo in Maschera, and one Puccini, “Sola, perduta, abbandonata” from Manon Lescaut.  All of her operatic selections were easy for her.  She is never pushing or struggling with the notes.  She has been taught an excellent legato as well.  Or perhaps she comes by it naturally.  Operatic works were alternated with song repertoire.

• “Ved Rondane,” Op. 33, No. 9 By Edvard Grieg 
• “En Svane,” Op. 25, No. 2 By Edvard Grieg 
• “Våren,” Op. 33, No. 2 By Edvard Grieg

• “Säf, säf, susa,” Op. 36 By Jean Sibelius 
• “Var det en dröm?” Op. 37 By Jean Sibelius 

• “Ruhe, meine Seele!” Op. 27, No. 1 By Richard Strauss 
• “Cäcilie,” Op. 27, No. 2 By Richard Strauss 
• “Heimliche Aufforderung,” Op. 27, No. 3 By Richard Strauss 
• “Morgen!” Op. 27, No. 4 By Richard Strauss  

She finished with pieces approaching pop songs, ending with "I could have danced all night" where we were invited to sing along.

• “Johnny” By Benjamin Britten 
• “Heia, heia, in den Bergen ist mein Heimatland” From Kálmán’s Die Csárdásfürstin 
• “O lovely night!” By Landon Ronald 
• “When I have sung my song to you” By Ernest Charles 
• “I Could Have Danced All Night” From Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady.  I sang along, of course.
  

That's Norwegian, Finnish, German, Italian, and English.

She grows on me very quickly.  The Queen of Norway loves her.  This is an excellent selection of pieces for her voice.  She sings from a place of joy and peace.  We should await a long career.

She was hosted by Christine Goerke.

Die Walküre with James Morris

 👍🏻
Conductor...............James Levine
Production..............Otto Schenk

Brünnhilde..............Hildegard Behrens
Siegmund, brother.....Gary Lakes
Sieglinde, sister.........Jessye Norman
Wotan......................James Morris
Fricka, Wotan's wife.....Christa Ludwig

Hunding.................Kurt Moll

This performance of Wagner's Die Walküre streamed today from the Metropolitan Opera, played at the Met on April 8, 1989.  One forgets.  James Morris is the most intensely emotional Wotan that ever existed.  Everyone is wonderful.  Hildegard Behrens indeed seems like a goddess.  Gary Lakes has that true Heldentenor sound and pairs well with the ever great Jessye Norman.  Who could top Christa Ludwig, and I actually recognized Kurt Moll under all that makeup.

I liked the set for not distracting from these magnificent singing actors.  All was as it should be.

One forgets.  One forgets that in his prime James Levine was truly a great conductor.  Why he wanted to go on past even merely competent we will never know.

One forgets that this is the greatest Wagner performance ever assembled, that James Morris towers over Wotan like a true god.  Thank you for the reminder.

Lohengrin stream

Conductor...............James Levine
Production..............August Everding

Lohengrin..........Peter Hofmann
Elsa....................Eva Marton
Ortrud................Leonie Rysanek
Telramund..........Leif Roar
King Heinrich....John Macurdy

Herald.................Anthony Raffell 

This nightly stream from the Metropolitan Opera is Wagner's Lohengrin from 1985.  This Lohengrin is not pretty, unless you count Peter Hofmann, who is really quite gorgeous.  But prettiness isn't everything.  I don't think I've seen this version before.

If you know only his recent outings, you may have forgotten or never have known how great James Levine was in his prime.  Musically this is a triumph.

What can one say of the production?  The sets are consistently dark with only occasional dark brown to contrast with the black.  The men wear dark military outfits, but are surprised when Lohengrin says he will lead them into battle.  Against whom is not said.  Only Lohengrin and Elsa, sung beautifully if calmly by Eva Marton, wear relatively light colors.  Lohengrin is always dressed in white.  For my requirement that it explain the plot, I find it very successful.

The flashiest character in the opera is Ortrud who is as flashy as can be imagined played by Leonie Rysanek.  She is intense.

Lohengrin himself is kind of a rat.  He marries her knowing full well that the longest he will be allowed to stay with her is one year even if she never asks who he is.  He doesn't mention this until after she asks the forbidden question.  His excuse is that you can have a lot of fun in a year.  Ortrud admits that it was she who transformed Heinrich into a swan.  Lohengrin's last deed is to change him back.  I like the careful detail explaining the plot.

Hofmann retired from opera not long after this, but he sounds ok to me.  Rysanek sort of upstages Marton.

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

Conductor...............James Levine
Production..............Otto Schenk

Hans Sachs..............Michael Volle
Eva.....................Annette Dasch
Walther von Stolzing....Johan Botha
Magdalene...............Karen Cargill
David...................Paul Appleby
Beckmesser..............Johannes Martin Kränzle
Pogner..................Hans-Peter König

When the Metropolitan Opera presented Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in December of 2014, I must have been in Ohio for Christmas.  The Met is streaming it today, and I realize this is my first time seeing it.  The Sachs was supposed to be Bryn Terfel, I think.  I generally love this opera, but I'm afraid this version is not working for me.  Paul Appleby's David is excellent, but so far he's my favorite.

[I haven't been feeling well.]

Rienzi, der letzte der Tribunen

Conductor:  Pinchas Steinberg
Stage director:  Jorge Lavelli

Torsten Kerl | Rienzi
Marika Schönberg | Irène, Rienzi's sister
Richard Wiegold | Steffano Colonna
Daniela Sindram | Adriano, his son
Stefan Heidemann | Paolo Orsini
Robert Bork | Cardinal Orvieto
Marc Heller | Baroncelli
Leonardo Neiva | Cecco del Vecchio
Jennifer O’Loughlin | The Messenger of Peace

Wagner's Rienzi, der letzte der Tribunen, 1842, in a performance from Toulouse in 2013 is offered by medici.tv.  This infrequently performed opera has a dense back story.  Wagner was living in France at the time of composition and was strongly influenced by Grand Opera and Meyerbeer.  In fact it was Meyerbeer who rescued Wagner from debtor's prison and introduced him to someone in Dresden who produced the opera.  Everything in Grand Opera seems to be about politics, in this case medieval Roman politics where the opera is set.  What makes something a Grand Opera?  Heavy pomposity.  Ballet.  Historical subjects.  In Meyerbeer it seems to include coloratura arias but not here.

Another part of the back story for Rienzi is that it is supposed to have been a powerful influence on Hitler.  I think it was perhaps Rienzi the orator that attracted him.  He missed the part where everything ends in disaster.

The plot concerns freeing the Roman people.  Politics in the nineteenth century was chaotic and violent.  The nations Germany and Italy were formed during this time, and France restructured a few times.  It would make an interesting project to study the relationship between opera and contemporary politics.

Wagner seems to have wised up after this.  He remains extremely popular because operas about Minnesingers and Meistersingers (Tannhäuser and Die Meistersinger), Arthurian knights (Lohengrin and Parsifal), and mythical figures (Tristan und Isolde, Der fliegende Holländer and The Ring) don't arouse modern cultural animosity.  We want to blame him for Hitler, but concrete evidence doesn't seem to be there.

I digress.  The opera begins with films of rioting from various times and cultures.  It's intensely violent, but cuts away to the orchestra occasionally to ease the tension.

The Orsinis, who resemble the gangsters in West Side Story, are harassing Rienzi's sister.  A young man, Adriano, and the Colonni step in to rescue her.  There is some rioting followed by the entrance of Rienzi who brings peace.  He makes a speech to the crowd.  There is great singing and fabulous choral sections here.  Nothing gruesome happens.

Rienzi declares peace in a grand oration, but the overthrown nobles are understandably angry.  One of them tries to assassinate Rienzi, but he is wearing armor under his clothing.  They are led off by guards.  Adriano and Irène plead for mercy for his father, and Rienzi grants it.  This is quite thrilling, mainly because the singing is so fabulous.  The role of Rienzi is huge and very well sung.  A half-hour ballet goes here, but they have skipped it.

Act III features the real star of this show:  Adriano, the character who messes everything up, was written for Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient.  Schröder-Devrient is known for singing Fidelio and making it famous.

Rienzi's army kills both Orsini and Colonna, and Adriano swears revenge.  Rienzi offends the Pope, and that appears to be it.  Everything goes down in flames.  This is very well done, but the musical style is repetitive and endlessly bombastic.  I may not be particularly wild about this opera, but the tenor who sings Rienzi is amazing.  "Allmächt'ger Vater, blick herab!“the hit tune of this opera, comes in Act IV.  Recommended.  

Skip to about 3 1/2 minutes in. Unless you want to hear the prelude.

Die Walküre in HD

Conductor...............Philippe Jordan
Production..............Robert Lepage
Hostess..............Deborah Voigt

Brünnhilde..............Christine Goerke
Siegmund, brother.....Stuart Skelton
Sieglinde, sister.........Eva-Maria Westbroek
Wotan...................Greer Grimsley
Fricka, Wotan's wife.........Jamie Barton
Hunding.................Günther Groissböck

Opera is the greatest of all art forms because it centers on so many great female characters.  The opera is almost always about them.  Men tried to keep it all to themselves for as long as they could, but as soon as opera became commercial, that was over.

Wednesday I saw Wagner's Die Walküre delayed from last Saturday. I have seen this work many times, but this was very romantic for some reason.  I followed the story of Wotan better than ever.  In the previous opera, Das Rheingold, he is Fricka's husband, and they are happy but have no children.  He gains power by trading away the gold for Valhalla.  He is all powerful and uses his power to do whatever he wants.  By Walkure he is the father of everyone else in the story except Fricka and maybe Hunding.  He's been busy and Fricka is pissed.  All of the 9 Valkyries are his daughters by Erda.  Siegmund and Sieglinde are his children by a she wolf.

They did act bows to avoid making people stay in costume all the way to the end.  Act I is Siegmund, Sieglinde and Hunding.  The twins have not seen one another since the day their house burned down, killing their mother.  Siegmund has wandered alone while Sieglinde was forced to marry Hunding.  The singing in this act was beautiful.. Eva-Maria created the role in the original mounting of this production.  Her partner at that time was Jonas Kaufmann.  They truly looked like brother and sister.  Stuart sang well this time, but Eva has grown in the role.  She was wonderful, with great dramatic presence.

The staging was slightly different.  The planks at the front of the stage didn't stick up in front of the singers this time which looked much better.  When he sings, "du bist der Lenz" I want something spectacular to happen.  I want to feel that in that moment spring has arrived. 

In Act II Wotan, Fricka and Brünnhilde arrive.  Christine is very saucy at this point.  Her Brünnhilde has truly spectacular emotional range.  She shows us joy, love, pride, sympathy, sorrow.  It is the greatness of this performance that makes this production of Die Walküre the best that I have seen.  Wotan asks to see the joy again, and she justly refuses.

I have seen Jamie Barton's Fricka before and loved it again here.  I have also seen Greer Grimsley's Wotan before and found him very much improved.

Act III starts with Valkyries waving.  A bit too silly for me.  However, the act ended well.

Philippe Jordan brought us the emotional range that appeared in the interpretations of all the actors.  I truly loved this.  The Met seems to have realized that Christine Goerke would be something we would all want to see.  Thank you.

Lohengrin from Bayreuth -- the Blue Lohengrin

Conductor:  Christian Thielemann
Production:  Yuval Sharon

King Heinrich:  Georg Zeppenfeld
Lohengrin:  Piotr Beczala
Elsa von Brabant:  Anja Harteros
Friedrich von Telramund:  Tomasz Konieczny
Ortrud:  Waltraud Meier
Heerrufer:  Egils Silins

The complete Lohengrin from Bayreuth has been posted on YouTube.  Piotr replaced Roberto Alagna in the title role, probably because Christian Thielemann had worked with him in his debut in the role in Dresden.  Piotr is quite successful in this role.  Lohengrin doesn't take on the Heldentenor tone seen in later Wagner.  Anja Harteros is making her Bayreuth debut here.  In her interview she says that Thielemann never does anything the same way twice.

At the beginning of the opera Elsa is already bound as a prisoner.  You will note please that the wings some of the characters wear only appear on the ruling classes.  King Heinrich has them, as do Friedrich and Ortrud, and of course Elsa.  This makes them symbols of position?  When the duel begins, the fighters fly up into the air, which makes the ropes defining the fighting ring irrelevant.  Lohengrin steals Friedrich's wings and is awarded his own set to adorn his costume when he wins the battle.