On the last day of the 2012-21013 Metropolitan Opera season, we saw the final performance of Gotterdammerung.
Elizabeth – From the start of the prologue of Götterdämmerung, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Three Norns (whatever those are) are spinning the ropes of Fate, actual ropes, while giving the background of the ring—Wotan, Siegfried, the whole gang. Whereas in the previous installments of the Ring I was captivated and entranced from the beginning, both by the music and the story, here I was already bored. And we were barely an hour into the five and a half hours of Gotterdammerung. I understand the need for a recap of the story, but instead of three women standing on stage with rope couldn’t Wagner have thought of a cleverer way to remind us of where we were in the story? And did it have to take almost two hours to do that???
In general I found the story of Götterdämmerung did not make as much sense as the other parts of the Ring. Brünnhilde sends Siegfried off, gives him her horse, and he gives her the ring as a token of his love. Why does he need to leave her? He just saved her from her sleep curse and he passed through a ring of fire to do it. And she sends him off to do what exactly?? Poor Siegfried.
Meanwhile, new characters Hagen (spawn of Alberich) and his half siblings, Gunther and Gutrune, are introduced. It makes sense that Alberich’s son wants to complete the Nibelung’s mission and obtain the ring. And I did find it ingenious that Hagen has Siegfried, now disguised as Gunther courtesy of the Tarnhelm, get the ring for him by going back through the circle of fire protecting Brünnhilde.
The most moving part of the story for me was Brünnhilde’s sister visiting her, warning her that the gods are doomed unless she gives the ring to the Rhinemaidens. Brünnhilde refuses to give up the ring because she cares more about Siegfried. She would rather let her father and all the gods perish than lose Siegfried. Talk about love, letting the world go up in flames and your family die all so you can be with the one you love.
BUT at the end of the opera, the water from the Rhine floods into Gutrune and Gunther’s hall and Valhalla is consumed in flames. Why do Valhalla and the gods burn? The ring is now returned to the Rhinemaidens were it belongs. Was it actually Brünnhilde choosing Siegfried over the gods and Valhalla that doomed them? Hopefully someone can edify me.
Perhaps because of the story (and endless backstory) I wasn’t as drawn by the singers. Everyone was great, especially considering how long the opera is, with Hans-Peter König as Hagen being the real standout. His height and general commanding presence in addition to his deep bass voice was a great pleasure.
Fabio Luisi has completely grown on me this season. This was my seventh opera he conducted and I really appreciated how effortless he makes conducting look. I never was aware of pace or anything amiss with the music. It’s easy to ignore the conductor when something is going as it should, but after hearing many operas both at the Met and around NYC, I very much appreciate when the music to an opera is going so well its conducting isn’t noticed.
The Machine remained the focal point for the performance for me and I became more and more curious about how the machine actually moves as there don’t seem to be regular hinges, no bar that goes through the entire machine. I also want to know how the images appear on the machine—via projection?
Overall, I am so glad I got to see the Ring, too bad it isn’t going to be on again for a long time. But I look forward to more Wagner—perhaps in 2014-2015…
Shawn – This may peg me as an ignoramus but I enjoyed Götterdämmerung by far the least out of the four Ring Cycle operas. It’s all downhill after the Forging Song in Siegfried as far as I’m concerned. Now that’s a pretty high peak so there’s some great stuff after but that was the high point for me.
There are several reasons for this I think. One, we saw the last performance of the season so we were without Jay Hunter Morris as Siegfried and Eric Owens as Alberich. Eric Owens had been with us since the opening minutes of Das Rheingold and was sorely missed. But especially glaring was the absence of Jay Hunter Morris. As I said his rendition of the Forging Song was the highlight of the entire cycle for me. His replacement, Lars Cleveman, while vocally solid, I found theatrically weak. His constant pacing, motion and ill-defined gestures were incredibly distracting and made him seem uncomfortable on stage. I understand he was going for a youthful vitality but all the excess movement gave him a frenetic, scattered and amateurish stage energy, as if he was nervous not vital.
Secondly, I found the structure of Götterdämmerung itself problematic. There is so much recap in the piece versus actual new narrative. Almost half and half it felt like. I understand a lot has gone on in the cycle that needs to be mentioned, but the other operas in the cycle camouflaged the expository dialogue in action far more compellingly. Wotan’s riddle game with Mime in Siegfried, for example. Here too often the characters simply told the backstory to the audience. We’ve been all in for over 17 hours now, we know what happened. The Norn weaving women in the Prologue exist only to give back story detail and later Siegfried simply sits by the campfire and tells the audience his own backstory. Perhaps if I had found Lars Cleveman a more compelling Siegfried this would have been less glaring.
Hans-Peter Königwas excellent. He was our constant in this Ring Cycle, as Fafner in Das Rheingold and Siegfried, Hunding in Die Walkure and in Götterdämmerung as Hagen. He shined equally in every role.
My mild disappointment with Götterdämmerung aside, I still find The Machine a wonderful and compelling stage tool. One set, four operas, constantly and organically shifting from one set piece to another with the music as if born of it.
In Götterdämmerung, The Machine transforms from the World Tree into Brünnhilde’s mountaintop into Siegfried’s raft on the Rhine (from two different angles) then into the Gibichungs’ Palace Hall all very seamlessly and beautifully. In fact the prologue demonstrated something to me about The Machine. The slats of The Machine spin wildly above the Norn Women to break the strands of their braid. This spinning was almost completely silent. No groaning or creaking that I could perceive. It is only when The Machine moves up or down does one hear the creaking and groaning. Perhaps The Machine itself is far more silent and smooth than I first thought and it is the foundation of the Met stage (which was “reinforced” to support The Machine) that actually creaks and groans. Perhaps on a stage better suited for its technological needs The Machine would be nearly silent AND far less glitchy. The Met stage is undergoing renovations, which perhaps would have eliminated some of the tech interface problems with The Machine. But we will most likely never know if this is true as the word is that they have shelved this production of The Ring indefinitely.
This angers me greatly. Sometimes you have to cram innovation and change down the public’s throats. Again The Machine in its current incarnation is far from perfect. In fact the Siegfried’s final funeral pyre was a bit of a letdown after many of the stunning visuals that preceded it. But The Machine’s core idea is still the future of stagecraft. The Met and opera in general should take into account the rule that applies to all life, artistic or otherwise. Adapt and Grow or Die.
– Elizabeth Frayer and Shawn E Milnes
Related Articles:
The Hunchback of the Casino: Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera
Wagner and The Machine Infernal: Das Rheingold at the Metropolitan Opera
Mid-Scene Replacements and The Machine Triumphant (Almost): Die Walkure at the Metropolitan Opera
Very interesting story and craft observations, as one would expect from this site and its authors. Their recent articles lend the reader an informed sensibility of this Ring Cycle, and the Met, for a fraction of their 20+ hour investment of time.