When projections attack
The Catalan theatre company La Fura dels Baus, under the baton of Zubin Mehta, brought forth a new production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen in 2007 in Valencia. The brochure for the DVD release calls this “A Ring for the 21st Century” and tells us that stage director Carlus Padrissa has employed “…imagery for a young, 21st century audience familiar with the visual language of the Star Wars and Harry Potter films.”
Uh-oh.
The problem here is not the admitted beauty of the projections, but rather that the director has forgotten a fundamental tenet of staging: the audiences’ eye always goes to movement. When there are huge moving visuals to look at, hearing the singers and the story becomes difficult.
That’s a shame, because the singing is of very high quality. Juha Uusitalo, who did not impress as the Met’s Jokanaan, is a powerful and commanding Wotan here. There is fine singing and acting from the entire cast; of particular note were Franz-Josef Kapellman as a very human Alberich, and the booming voices of Matti Salminen and Stephen Milling as Fasolt and Fafner.
Interestingly, the gods are suspended in the air on wheeled machinery resembling the “cherry pickers” used by utility workers. Neutrally-dressed actors operate the machines, raising and lowering the small platform cages. Loge rides a segway scooter. After some initial clumsiness, these “virtual movement” devices became an effective element. The La Fura dels Baus actor-acrobats embody the hoard of gold that hides Fricka and also the entrance to Valhalla—managing to be interesting and distracting at the same time.
Mehta’s leadership did not bring any particularly illuminating moments from the orchestra. The conducting and playing seemed workmanlike.
Act One is performed before a huge, silver, translucent projection of the ash tree in Hunding’s hut. The scene is extremely primitive, with Siegmund and Sieglinde almost animalistic. Peter Seiffert as Siegmund sings heroically but seems uncomfortable with the setting, especially the moment when he and his twin sister sniff each other in greeting. Petra Maria Schnitzer works gamely as Sieglinde, moving mostly on all fours; I found her voice shrill in the upper reaches and lacking in warmth.
Matti Salminen is dressed as a yeti. I’m not making this up. And the tree projection! It undulates, it spins in circles, it changes colors, little lights fall from it, all completely overwhelming the scene. And worst of all, during “Siegmund heiss ich”, the words “Siegmund” and “Sieglinde” appear on the tree, move to the branches, and then the letters fall like apples to the ground. I would have preferred to see the severed head of video creator Franc Aleu falling instead!
Act Two finally brings us back to the story and the singing. Soprano Jennifer Wilson triumphs as Brünnhilde. She possesses a voice of clarion power, produced with seeming ease, and also has the agility and emotional shading one rarely hears in Wagnerian voices. She and Uusitalo seem to have excellent “chemistry” in their scenes, and the splendid farewell scene in Act Three is deeply moving and visually thrilling. Wilson and Seiffert sing with lovely shading and emotional commitment in the Todesverkundigung. Seiffert seems relieved to be free of all the animal stuff in Act One, and here finds his character’s nobility.
The Ride of the Valkyries makes excellent use of the “crane cage” machinery, doubling here as the sisters’ horses, and the singers are uniformly fine. And the final, haunting image of Brunnhilde asleep and surrounded by fire is simply stunning. It gives one hope that the excess is over, and that Siegfried and Gotterdammerung will build on the success of the final two acts of Walküre.
Thank you for this – I saw the Gotterdammerung at the Maggio Musicale in Florence and was bowled over by some of it, but you have unerringly put your finger on the main weakness of the stage, which is absolutely that “the audiences’ eye always goes to movement”.
It was terribly distracting to always have dozens of black-clad stagehands moving equipment to and fro and in spite of oneself one does look at the incidental scene-shifting (or projections) when one should be concentrating on the singing.
The funeral march was a coup de theatre which will be difficult to capture on a DVD.
I meant “…weakness of the staging” – I was distracted by simultaneously clowning around in a puerile manner in another thread.
A Puerile Manner. Is that the new model from Aston Martin?
(Sorry – answered you at 2 below)
ditto. what I didn’t care for was the GIbichungs as Flintstones, but didn’t the Hagen in Firenze (Hans Peter Konig) KICK ASS. The funeral march was also lost in much of the theater unless you were in the platea; it was flat from my otherwise great seat. There were tremendous moments in the theater, but what was lost was the psychology, which Carsen lays bare so brilliantly in his Cologne-Fenice ring.
The Hagen did Kick Ass (technical term), but I was very impressed by Lance Ryan (especially having suffered John Treleaven at Covent Garden). Poor Ryan is being shot down in flames here as Bacchus!
yes, Ryan’s singing upside down in Act 2 was startling, and he seemed to grow in power and voice, rather than wane as the night went on, the Act 3 being, IMHO opinion, quite brilliant.
No – it’s the Best Film nominee at the Oscars.
I was impressed – even stirred.
It’s the only time I’ve ever seen a credible rendition of Valhalla – awesome!
I agree with Jack. Rheingold was screened last winter at the Symphony Space and I loved it. I know the movie theater version is kinda not the real thing by far but I walked away wishing the LA Opera’s pricey version had been nearly as compelling. Usually this kind of thing gives me a rash but I was just glued and towards the end the acrobats made squeal. They don’t do much, which is like anti-Lepage, making it sublime. The Gold infant is genius. Better than the creepy eye LA Opera has.
I agree that the cherry pickers are a bit weird- unnecessary even.
I think that projections are the way of the future. In terms of the money spent vs. effects created, it only makes sense. The key will be directors knowing how to employ the images without distracting from the music. It’s the same challenge that directors face in all kinds of productions. There is a constant tendency to fill the stage with movement, especially when an aria goes into a second verse (God, the audience must be bored; let’s have the singer move some furniture). But as techonologies improve, projections might be the only way that we can achieve the huge effects that some opera stories (like the Ring) demand.
Thank you for the review. I now have all the volumes of this Ring on DVD. Already mentioned it in a posting a week ago I believe. Have to say I don’t care much for the projections, which seems superfluous and in the Valencia case, grossly overdone. I prefer the more discreet use of this device in the Covent Garden Goetterdaemmerung, which makes for a brilliant Rhine Journey. Yes, there’s lots of movement but unrefined and really not providing any personenregie to mention. IMHO there’s much more to DRDN than stage craft and fantasy.
The musical level is altogether extremely impressive, however. Who would have thought that one might find today genuine voices able to cope with this music? So Jennifer Wilson is an absolute triumph. It remains to be seen how she copes with the big houses (how BIG is the new Valencia house, I wonder?), because the vocal quality, level of execution (terrific Ho jo to ho’s) and general verbal acuity and musicianship is very, very high with this Brunnhilde. Lance Ryan is a major gamble and also a triumph. It’s very true, instead of tiring throughout Siegfried (cf Jerusalm at the Met)he gives an impression of gaining in strength and assurance as the very long evening wears on. It’s not a subtle reading, but it’s virile and commanding. I guess he was really ill when singing Bacchus at the Met. Uusitalo is not very interesting but has a true Wotanstimme, slightly resembling Sigurd Bjorling (those who are familiar with the 1951 Ring under Karajan will know what to expect). Schnitzer is the only undersung role in this production. A light lyric totally miscast. Wyn-Rogers (Vicar, please note) is a particular strength. Great, enthusiastic yound orchestra, revitalized Mehta (though the Todesverkundigungszene is slightly dissappointing).
It’s not my top DVD Ring because of the staging. But as an audio experience it is mighty impressive.
does anyone remember a recent NYT article reviewing several rings on DVD? i went to their website but i can’t find it. it might have been tommasini. i recall they mentioned a great production from copenhagen, i think.
Until you find it, take a look at a posting by CF in the Council Chamber thread, under 24.1.1.12. There something about the Copenhagen Ring too.