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Anchorage Daily News, 28 May 2011 |
By MIKE DUNHAM |
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Wagner: Die Walküre, Metropolitan Opera, May 14, 2011 (cinema) |
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Stupendous 'Die Walkure' repeats at local cinemas
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Due to travel, I missed the big screen broadcast of Richard Wagner's "Das
Rheingold" from the Metropolitan Opera last fall. When scenes from that
production were replayed as a cinematic pre-curtain feature before the
recent broadcast of "Il Trovatore," I kicked myself for missing a production
as stunning visually as it was musically.
Wild horses couldn't keep
me from seeing the broadcast of "Die Walkure," the next opera in Wagner's
"Ring" cycle, when it screened live May 14. It meant spending five and a
half hours of a beautiful spring day indoors, but the experience was worth
every second.
Wagner isn't for everyone. Many people with taste find
his scores impenetrable and unlistenable. He can get pretty wordy. Even
Wagner enthusiasts may admit to sitting through the first two acts saying to
themselves, "C'mon, get to the 'Ride of the Valkyries' already!"
Key
to transforming the musical experience into a theatrical one were the
movie's subtitles. I've heard the "Ring" in English before, and still didn't
get it -- until this broadcast. It seemed less wordy, or rather, most of the
words seemed important. I felt that I got closer to understanding Wagner
than I have in the past 50 years of listening to a lot of his music.
This being a Met production, it goes without saying that the voices
were stupendous. Some found Deborah Voigt a bit light for Brunnhilde. But no
one could fault Bryn Terfel's Wotan, Jonas Kaufmann's Siegmund or Eva-Maria
Westbroek's Sieglinde. Conductor James Levine was at his most fluid and
nuanced, and the Met orchestra was at its full-throated best.
The set, a line of rotating panels also featured in "Rheingold," kept me
transfixed waiting to see what it would do next. The stagehands call it "the
Machine" and difficulties with the computer programming of the thing caused
a delay in the start time in markets where it really was shown live. (The
tape-delayed same-day Anchorage start time, mercifully, was 1 p.m.) When the
"Ride of the Valkyries" finally did arrive, it was hard not to laugh at the
sight of warrior maidens apparently on teeter-totters. And there were times
it didn't seem to be functioning as planned; Kaufmann made a grand gesture
toward it at the end of the first act -- and nothing happened. I suspected
something was supposed to. But it also made for some jaw-dropping effects
when it worked.
I initially thought the acting was slightly less
convincing than what one might expect at a junior high school production of
"Annie." Every singer seemed to come on with a single stock image in mind
that they stuck with until the bitter end. Despite that, I had the sense of
genuine dramatic development and character evolution. Close-ups and opera
singers may not be made for each other. (Kaufmann's drool at one point
remains an unfortunate memory.) But at least one could see how earnestly
they were addressing those all-important notes.
That was driven home
the next day as KLEF played a radio broadcast of the same performance.
During intermissions, I threw on recordings of the scene just aired as sung
by great artists of yesteryear. The Met cast really were acting, turning in
all-star performances -- but mainly with their voices. Voigt may not be
Birgit Nilsson. Who is? But she's darned good, better than most the
Brunnhildes I've heard lately.
The odd thing is that I had been
distracted by the visual image. I'll surrender to the music on Wednesday
when the show is repeated. It will screen at 6:30 p.m. at both the Century
16 and Regal Tikahtnu cinemas.
There are two intermissions. "Walkure"
veterans will advise that you drink nothing until the second act is over.
And don't plan to get home until after midnight.
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