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Variety.com, April 25, 2011 |
By Robert Hofler |
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Wagner: Die Walküre, Metropolitan Opera, 22. April 2011 |
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Die Walkure
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On opening night, Robert Lepage's new, gargantuan production of "Die
Walkure" had all the potential of being opera's "Spider-Man." For her
entrance, Deborah Voigt, the Brunnhilde, took a bad spill trying to
negotiate the set's moving staircase; and also in act two, Margaret Jane
Wray, made an unannounced appearance as Sieglinde, taking over for the
suddenly indisposed Sieglinde, Eva-Maria Westbroek. But no one got a
concussion, and Lepage's staging continues to fulfill the enormous promise
of last autumn's "Das Rheingold," the first in Richard Wagner's four-part
"Ring of the Nibelung."
"Rheingold," with its many entrances and
exits of nymphs, giants and dwarves, is the more natural fit for Lepage's
Cirque du Soleil derring-do stagecraft. "Walkure" is much more earth-bound
with its story of the long-lost twin siblings Sieglinde and Siegmund (Jonas
Kaufmann), who fall in love, and the marital squabbles of the gods Wotan
(Bryn Terfel) and Fricka (Stephanie Blythe), who act just like mortals.
Still, Lepage delivers as a master showman.
For once, the Met
audience can be forgiven for applauding the scenery, in this case the ride
of the Valkyries in which the humongous "keys" of Carl Fillion's piano board
set (known as The Machine backstage at the Met) are harnessed and ridden by
the lady warriors. For all their massive high-tech wizardry, those keys are
incredibly malleable, turning in an instant from phallic horses to trees,
mountain tops, Hunding's hut and molten lava.
This is a most literal
Ring. Through Boris Firquet's projections, Lepage even gives us the
characters' various back stories, in case anyone happened to have missed or
forgotten "Rheingold."
One expects to be visually wowed by
Lepage, but this "Walkyre," thanks to James Levine and his singers, lives in
its music and drama. The high-profile stage of the Met wouldn't seem to be
the ideal place to deliver one's first Siegmund, but Kaufmann sounds and
acts the role with total confidence. His may not be the biggest heldentenor,
but it's extremely focused and certainly one of the most pliant voices ever
to have essayed Siegmund.
Terfel puts aside his crooning
Wotan of "Rheingold" for a full-voiced, totally committed performance that
is at turns angry, outraged, remorseful and especially resentful of his
wife, who gets her way. Blythe's stentorian Fricka leaves no doubt who wears
the pants in this family.
Voigt is a most vulnerable Brunnhilde.
Perhaps a bit too vulnerable. The high-flying "Hojotoho!"s were a trial. The
most mezzo-ish range of the role later in the opera proves more comfortable,
but even here the voice seems to be riding not a sturdy horse by the very
edge of her vocal chords.
Terfel has abandoned the Veronica Lake
peek-a-boo hairdo of "Rheingold" (and still on display in the Ring's posters
around Lincoln Center). Voigt might also consider a makeover before she
attempts "Siegfried" and "Gotterdammerung" next season. With those long red
locks and silver warrior outfit, she's a dead-ringer for Kathy Griffin on
Halloween.
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