Wagner - Die Walküre (Zurich, 2024)

Richard Wagner - Die Walküre (Zurich, 2024)

Opernhaus Zürich, 2024

Gianandrea Noseda, Andreas Homoki, Eric Cutler, Christof Fischesser, Tomasz Konieczny, Daniela Köhler, Claudia Mahnke, Camilla Nylund, Sarah Cambidge, Ann-Kathrin Niemczyk, Barbara Senator, Anna Werle, Simone McIntosh, Siena Licht Miller, Michal Doron, Noa Beinart

Zurich Opera Ring für alle - 20th May 2024

Sometimes - not often but sometimes - you get the impression that as critical as the Siegfried and Sieglinde story is to Die Walküre and the impact it is to have down the line in Der Ring des Nibelungen, that it isn't always accorded the same attention or gifted with the quality of principal singers as is necessary for the undoubtedly important and rather more dramatic Wotan, Fricke and Brünnhilde conflict and the Ride of the Valkyrie centerpiece to come. Well, the opening of the 2024 Zurich Die Walküre confirms that the superb balance and attention that was paid to all areas in the preliminary evening opera (which itself is no lesser opera) carries through to the First Day of the Ring, and it pays dividends here.

It seems that the reason they are able to do this is in large part by stripping the work down to its essence, yet managing to do so without losing any of the epic mythological quality of the work. There are no indulgences, or none that are excessive or distracting, but the attention to detail is directed to the places where it should be. From those opening moments of Die Walküre, the whole production takes place in the same high white panelled walls of a mansion, where an invisible to the world Wotan is still seen to be playing an important part in the arranging and direction of events, his spear striking lightning bolts, leading the Wölfing to shelter unwittingly at the home of his sister and his enemy Hunding.

The set revolves to show the huge tree dominating the room where Hunding and his men have entered the house. Within the walls of the room, there is no other decoration of the set, yet everything that is needed (except the sword) is there and it still looks impressive, but it is the singers who are the vital element here in getting across the import of the scene. Eric Cutler and Daniela Köhler are so good here that the screen director is happy to draw in for close-ups to show how well they can carry this scene. Director Andreas Homoki is also brave enough to show the depth of the attraction between Siegmund and Sieglinde a little earlier and more intensely than usual, and it develops to close to Tristan und Isolde levels here. Both Cutler and Köhler are simply outstanding and more than capable of living up to that comparison. 

Another promising development is how Sieglinde relates the story of the sword in the tree as it plays out in the scene, the Wanderer’s presence felt again, placing the sword there at the moment of most need, and you can feel that need now. It's also promising because it suggests that the subsequent Act is not going to be as dry as it often can be, but from what we've seen so far, I think we knew that already. That is borne out fairly quickly with the way that Homoki depicts the arrival of Brünnhilde and all the Valkyrie to the gold table conference room style Valhalla, where Wotan is soon to have that long unwinnable dispute with Fricka. It fits perfectly with the aesthetic elsewhere, the Valkyrie wearing horse head helmets, both warriors and horses.

Again, rather than overwork the scene Homoki chooses to use only what is needed and with good direction of the performers and fine singers that is more than enough to deliver the necessary impact and import of the encounter between Fricka and Wotan. Fricka does not laugh or glory in the outcome, despite Brünnhilde's reading of what has occurred between her and Wotan. She knows she has struck a hard bargain and almost sympathises with her distraught husband. Little details like this count for a lot. There is restraint also in Wotan’s account of the origin of his woes to Brünnhilde needing little more than a rotation of the rooms to reveal Erda as her mother. I perhaps expected a little more from this pivotal scene, but can't fault what is presented here, and it seems a wise choice not to throw in too much and risk upstaging the action to come in Act III or indeed the subsequent scenes 3 to 5 in Act II.

In the brief interlude, the rotating set permitting quick scene changes, the room is occupied with a scene of snow flecked trees in dimmed light as Siegmund and Sieglinde reach the end of their flight. The remainder of the Act could hardly be more intense, the set hardly more beautifully decorated and lit (all credit to set designers Christian Schmidt, Florian Schaaf and lighting designer Franck Evin), as Sieglinde collapses and Wagner's stunning music introduces Brünnhilde, arriving to alert Siegmund to his terrible fate. This for me is the most moving scene in this production of the opera, testifying to the validity of the choices made in the stage direction, the overall approach taken and the build up to this scene. A split-screen effect is achieved by a semi-rotation between the cool blue of the dark forest to the gold conference room of Valhalla. It's in the Valhalla realm that Wotan's intervention in the heat of battle strikes his son the Walsüng down. It's devastatingly brilliant musical drama.

The subsequent Ride of the Valkyrie then is everything it ought to be. The voices of the Valkyrie are phenomenal, creating a formidable force as they herd the rightly terrified fallen heroes like sheep. Yet again the production continues to increase the intensity up to the next level. Act III doesn't need much in the way of set decoration either. Brünnhilde and Wotan’s confrontation takes place against the backdrop of the huge rock that will become Brünnhilde’s prison. Again, it's minimal to need, the direction leaving room for the music and the intensity of the scene to exert everything that is essential, and it's immensely powerful. The singing is fantastic, the direction perfect, the sets and lighting effective, the all-important musical drive under the direction of Gianandrea Noseda of the highest Romantic tragedy.

Camilla Nylund might not be one of the most forceful Brünnhildes, but her delivery is clear and lyrical. She comes into her own in Act III, fleeing Warfather and justifying her defiance of his will. Again, I can't fault Tomasz Konieczny’s performance as Wotan. It's sung with drive, passion and is technically impressive, but still not to my personal taste. Like Nylund, he really called on all reserves for the final scene of Act II and for Act III. We got another superb performance from Claudia Mahnke as Fricka and, as noted earlier, an impressive Siegmund and Sieglinde in Eric Cutler and Daniela Köhler. This is a superb follow up to everything promised in Das Rhinegold and it sets the scene for what will now be a highly anticipated Siegfried.

External links: Opernhaus Zürich, Ring für alle Video on Demand

Photos - Monika Rittershaus

Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier (Munich, 2021)

Richard Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier

Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich - 2021

Vladimir Jurowski, Barrie Kosky, Marlis Petersen, Christof Fischesser, Samantha Hankey, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Katharina Konradi, Daniela Köhler, Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke, Ursula Hesse von den Steinen, Martin Snell, Manuel Günther, Caspar Singh, Christian Rieger, Galeano Salas

Staatsoper Live - 21 March 2021

It wouldn't be like director Barrie Kosky to miss out on playing up any obvious sexual references, but he shows rather more subtlety than Richard Strauss during the opening exertions of Der Rosenkavalier in this production at the Bavarian State Opera. When it comes to highlighting the obvious however, he doesn't miss pointing out the thematic references to time by having Marschallin and Octavian carry on their business inside a spinning grandfather clock. In the unlikely event that you miss the implications, the boy servant Mohammed here is a Cupid as Old Father Time who sprinkles magic dust on their union, and the chiming of a clock is heard at the start of each of the three Acts.

But then it's not as if Strauss and Hofmannsthal were adverse to a bit of show-off cleverness either. Der Rosenkavalier one of opera's most extravagant works in terms of plotting, layering and referencing, delighting in combining farce with high art, comedy with contemplation. The opera captures the melancholy of being between one age and the next, the incompatibility of the old with the young, the old ways with the new ways, tradition with the modern age. There's a gradual acceptance of time and the pain it causes when the realisation hits of necessity to let go and let the world move on without you having as significant a role in it.

Wrapped up on a farce and aspiring to Mozart, Der Rosenkavalier doesn't miss the mark, even as far as realising that Mozart is of a past age and ideas need to be reconsidered for the modern era. It's a magnificent work, a work of true beauty and accomplishment, and there's a certain irony in the fact that we can look back at this end-of-an-era work with some regret that it belongs to a past age of opera that can never be recaptured, and undoubtedly there's some cleverness or self-awareness on the part of the creators themselves.

The sensible director then will avoid over-complicating the delicate equilibrium that the creators have established, and while few would normally apply that description to Barrie Kosky, he does indeed usually know when to intervene and when to step back in his role as Artistic Director at the Komische in Berlin. Aside from a little bit of highlighting here and there, he appears to slip into the background and let the glory of Der Rosenkavalier speak for itself, providing sumptuous but superficial surroundings and judging the mood perfectly throughout. Despite appearances, that does not come about by accident.

Kosky's touch of vulgarity for example is well-employed in the middle class aspirations of the Faninals, swept away with the notion of a forthcoming marriage into old money and nobility. Octavian as the Rosenkavalier obliges their notions coming not just with a silver rose, but replete with silver carriage and horses. It's unsurprising then that Sophie's head is turned with the romance of it all. It is a quite stunning coup de théâtre. Old age Cupid again sprinkles the magic dust of Strauss's beautiful music on Sophie and Octavian, while the Baron's satyrs chase the Faninal nymphs around the household. With classical paintings of similar scenes decorating the walls, and the old guard sprouting horns of their own, Kosky captures the essential mood and character of the scene perfectly, even with the classical allusions that Strauss and Hoffmansthal reference.

The singing and musical performances are also just about perfect: not just in interpretation of the score, but with performances that enhance the varied tones and intent of the opera. Marlis Petersen is an ideal Marschallin, with the necessary ability and experience (having once also been a Sophie in her time, the work again showing its relevance, meaning and cleverness), and she truly does the role justice. I haven't come across Samantha Hankey before but the US mezzo-soprano only appears to have been on the scene since 2017 and she makes a tremendous impression here as Octavian; nimble and playful also in the dual role as Mariandl. Christof Fischesser is excellent as the boorish Ochs Von Lerchenau, Johannes Martin Kränzle is luxury casting as Faninal and Katharina Konradi is a fine Sophie. With Vladimir Jurowski conducting the glorious sweep of it all, there's no danger of Act II or the concluding Act III failing to hit its targets and it doesn't need any heavy-handed signposting either, or at least no more than the spirit of Strauss and Hofmannsthal dictates.

So when Petersen's Marschallin utters the words "Don't you realise it's all over?", it really hits home. Privilege, class, a whole era is gone or has turned - in the eyes of the young and the modern - into nothing more than a farce. As such Kosky can be forgiven for falling back on the old theatrical trick of turning the audience around and onto the stage, all the more so since there isn't an actual audience present in Munich during the Covid lockdown. Essentially it's what Strauss and Hofmannsthal do, opening up the theatricality of opera and drama as a device, as a trick, as a way of showing the truth. The Viennese farce can reveal something real truths and Der Rosenkavalier cuts to the quick when the Marschallin takes to the stage in Act III. The concluding scenes of this opera are devastating, tying everything up, bringing her curtain down on the old, opening up the way for the new.

There's no better recommendation that you can give for a production than that it brings out everything that is wonderful about an opera, and in Der Rosenkavalier it's even more important to get the tone and the singing right. The Bayerische Staatsoper, Kosky, Jurowski and Petersen at the head of a strong cast do that superbly. The humour feels weighted and balanced with the seriousness, the originality of the composition is perfectly set alongside the references to older works. It's brought out to perfection and to devastating impact here in a wonderfully played performance and deeply felt production that brought a little tear to the eye and a 'Bravo!' from this viewer.

Links: Bayerische Staatsoper, Staatsoper TV

Wagner - Die Walküre (Munich, 2017)

Richard Wagner - Die Walküre

Bayerische Staatsoper, 2018

Kirill Petrenko, Andreas Kriegenburg, Simon O'Neill, Ain Anger, John Lundgren, Anja Kampe, Nina Stemme, Ekaterina Gubanova, Daniela Köhler, Karen Foster, Anna Gabler, Michaela Selinger, Helena Zubanovich, Jennifer Johnston, Okka von der Damerau, Rachael Wilson

Staatsoper.TV - 22 January 2018

Based on the live streaming broadcast of Die Walküre, there doesn't appear to be any grand concept applied to Andreas Kriegenburg's Munich Ring cycle, but after a few recent Ring cycles that have been heavily weighed down by all manner of symbolism and interpretation (Bayreuth, Mannheim), it's refreshing at least to step back once in a while and just let the music speak for itself in Wagner's epic work, as it's surely strong enough in that respect. It's perhaps easier to get away with that though when you have Kirill Petrenko conducting and an exceptional cast of the level assembled here, but Kriegenburg's direction isn't without some ideas and character, even if it's difficult to determine just what it is from this part of the cycle alone.

There certainly doesn't seem to be any grand vision here as Kriegenburg's Die Walküre plays the familiar story out in a fairly straightforward fashion on relatively minimalist sets. It's an approach that is rather more in keeping with the recent move away from the more extreme kinds of interpretation we have been accustomed to seeing at the Bayerische Staatsoper. The production is unobtrusive, it doesn't call attention to itself, but by the same token it's not particularly attention-grabbing. The intentions of the director however would appear to be working not so much with drama as with the 'space' around it, using supernumeraries and dancers who "represent the reality that surrounds the singers" rather than interfering with the work itself.

Act I, for example, is dominated by a huge tree in Hunding's lodge, which is decorated it seems by desiccated corpses. Siegmund is initially kept at a fairly large distance away from Sieglinde on the large open set that has only a few indications of a home environment, the space filled rather by 'invisible' servants who pass the drinks and set up a long dinner table between them, as well as (curiously) tend to dead bodies in the background. Wearing torch lights strapped to their palms, they also reflect light and appear to be directing or highlighting the invisible tensions between the twins and Hunding. Other than establishing that undercurrent of menace and confusion, there isn't a lot else you can do with characterisation here to bring any real drama out of the scene, but the musical and singing performances take care of it well enough. The richness of the score and how Petrenko manages it is clearly evident even at this stage, the Act flowing from cold menace to warm wonder, with Ain Anger's menacing Hunding fully conveying one end of that scale and Simon O'Neill and Anja Kampe bringing us gloriously through to the other.

Act II is of course an even greater challenge with its long scene between Wotan and Fricka. Kriegenburg plays around with the various tones of this Act, opening with an epic Valhalla intro in swirling mists, but then settling for a tone set by the extra figures around the singers that establishes itself as business-like. In a bare wood-paneled wide office space, with a large prestigious painting hanging on the wall. Wotan is more of a businessman or lord of a vast estate, playfully engaging with his daughter Brünnhilde, but he has documents to sign, matters to arrange. Up to now, like the servants who even form a throne for him to sit on, everything bends to his will and it's been a relatively simple matter of sending Brünnhilde and the Valkyrie warriors to carry out his orders. That way of working, as we all know, is about to change.

Dancers are used to set up the war-like environment that prefigures Act III's Ride of the Valkyrie, with warriors (in business suits), impaled on top of spears. It's a strong image, but the actual appearance of the Valkyrie is disappointing. With no mounts of any kind, their reins are attached to the poles and it's a bit undramatic. The singing again makes up for any shortcomings here, as does Petrenko's conducting which works hand-in-hand with the action and the demands of the singers. Act III is critical and regardless of the strengths and qualities of a production, the musical performance, no Die Walküre is going to have the necessary impact unless it has a convincing Wotan and Brünnhilde, and no-one could surely be disappointed with John Lundgren and Nina Stemme in those roles.

If Andreas Kriegenburg's production is successful (provisionally as far as Die Walküre is concerned, without having seen the other parts of this Ring cycle), it in how he (and the performers) manage to bring out the father/daughter relationship as the true heart of the work. It's much more than just a regular parent/child relationship that you would find, for example, in a Verdi opera. With his daughter as an outward expression of Wotan's will, it's also about the wielding of power and how the exercise of it can corrupt and have other unforeseen consequences. As Stemme alludes to in her interval interview, it's also about becoming human, emancipating oneself from older ways, and Brünnhilde makes mistakes but makes them honestly with the best of intentions. Critically, through Siegmund and Sieglinde she learns about true love and doesn't so much lose her divinity as become more human.

Stemme, seeing this character though all three Ring operas in which she has a role in this Munich Ring cycle, sings terrifically as you would expect, but also displays a wonderful warm, sympathetic relationship with Lundgren's superbly sung Wotan. Lundgren has already demonstrated his capability in this role at Bayreuth, and here he just seems to have assumed the personality of Wotan completely. The Wotan/Brünnhilde relationship is a vital element in Die Walküre, and whether you put it down to the quality of the singing or the direction, or both, it's really nailed here. Although important as the lynch-pin that the drama of Die Walkure turn on and a formidable character in her own right, Fricka's role has less room for interpretation and motivation. She acts out of wounded pride at the evidence of Wotan's betrayals making a mockery out of her office of marriage, compounded by the brother and sister relationship of Siegmund and Sieglinde, and can consequently come across as strident and harsh in her judgements, but Ekaterina Gubanova sings the role well and succeeds in showing Fricka as someone with a sense of what is right and how false actions can have consequences.

Occasional cutaways to the orchestra pit during the broadcast showed just how much Kirill Petrenko was not only managing the detail and dynamic of the score, but clearly enjoying himself immensely with the wonders on offer. The musical director of the Munich house seems to have a strong affinity with Wagner, and indeed with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester if the broadcast performances this season and last are anything to go by. Everything you want from Die Walküre is there in terms of drama and romantic sweep, but Petrenko never lets the work get carried away into bombast, finding the deeper sensitivities in the anguish and tragedy of the final act, giving them voice and allowing room for the singers to fill these epic characters of legend with real human feelings. And the singers assembled are more than capable of doing that.

Links: Bayerische Staatsoper, Staatsoper.TV

Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen (Leipzig, 2019)

Richard Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen

Oper Leipzig, 2019

Ulf Schirmer, Rosamund Gilmore, Iréne Theorin, Thomas Mohr, Simon O'Neill, Simone Schneider, Christiane Libor, Kathrin Göring, Vladimir Baykov, Martin Winkler, Dan Karlström, Henriette Gödde

Oper Leipzig - 1, 2, 4, 5 May 2019

It's important that any Ring Cycle establishes its own identity, and since it is the composer's birthplace and historically it was the first opera house outside of Bayreuth to ever perform Wagner's epic tetralogy in 1878, there is an expectation on Oper Leipzig to respect and do justice to its legacy. The last Ring production at Leipzig was 40 years ago, but that was also an important production and it would be impossible not to be mindful also of its impact. The creative team behind the 2013-2020 Leipzig Ring seem to be keen to respect the original intentions of the mythology, the history of the work as it applies to Germany and hopefully find a few new things to say about it.

As far as creative decisions go, the Leipzig Ring is informed very much by the historic legacy of the works' performances in the Leipzig house. Long before Frank Castorf's bold association of Der Ring des Nibelungen with the flawed 1871 creation of a German nation and the building blocks of a capitalist system that would eventually lead to the destruction of Wagner's socialist dream. Even before Patrice Chereau's famous production for Bayreuth, Joachim Herz made a similar association with the work's socialist underpinnings in Leipzig's groundbreaking 1973-76 100-year anniversary 'Jahrhundert-Ring'.

There's no question that Wagner wanted the Ring mythos to be part of the German identity, but the human element in the story, the social structures and character traits and flaws put in place during its creation (indications of future trouble that Wagner had previously identified much earlier in Lohengrin) shouldn't be neglected either. Revived for a series of full Ring Cycle performances in 2019 (with plans to do it all again in the 2020 season) Christian Geltinger's dramaturgy and Rosamund Gilmore's direction of the current Leipzig Ring are very much in line with this deeper exploration of the creation and downfall vision of the work as it applies to Wagner and his views on the newly formed German state.

The ideas of a beginning, and a flawed beginning that heralds the end, is immediately apparent in the choice of location and period of the first day prelude, Das Rheingold, a work that is nonetheless important for establishing what is to follow. In the Leipzig production the world is given form and structure from the outset; not the murky depths of the Rhine, but a courtyard in a castle with curved staircases running up and down. At first life consists of twisting formless shapes but soon the Rhinemaidens appear and Alberich the Niebelung Dwarf. There's a moment when there is the possibility of complete harmony arising out of the E-flat Major beginning and leitmotif evolution, but Alberich's choice of rejecting love and goodness for gold and power leads to later unresolved chromaticism.

The production has the appearance of a German period costume drama from Wagner's time, the castle location even resembling one of King Ludwig's elaborate fantasy creations, and in that respect it also has a resemblance to Luchino Visconti's Ludwig. That highlights very much the themes that reflect Wagner's concerns at the time of writing the work, the corruption of the ruling class (failing to treat fairly the labours of the Giants) that makes them the agents of their own downfall, but Wagner is also aware that his idealised socialist vision is already compromised by the human lust for power and wealth.

Those aspects of society are established from the outset in the Leipzig Das Rheingold, the social stratification marked by the colour schemes of white, green and fiery red, brought together in the rainbow arch at the conclusion in the creation of Valhalla that suggests that the world has been given shape, order, form, purpose and meaning. It's a false hope that however since Valhalla has been built in bad faith that will lead to its ultimate destruction. With the emphasis on the symbolism of the greater picture, it's Erda and Loge who have the dominant roles to play in this Das Rheingold. Erda sees the end in the beginning and it's Loge who is the dangerous force of chaos that is thrown into the creation. In terms of singing that was effectively performed by Thomas Mohr's vibrant Loge and Henriette Gödde's deeply troubled Erda, but the singing was clear and resonant throughout in the stunning acoustics of the Leipzig Opera House.

The strength of the Leipzig Ring's Die Walküre lies in its conflicting forces, and it's here that director Rosamund Gilmore's background as a dance choreographer comes into play more meaningfully. Dancing figures throw shapes and symbolise shadow aspects of characters. Wotan is accompanied by two dancers that between them form a raven, which is then able to represent Wotan even when he is not on stage but relevant to the drama or evoked in the music. Fricka, likewise, represented by a two part ram, is present in spirit throughout the drama between Siegmund and Sieglinde.

There is also a presence alongside Brünnhilde which is nominally her steed Graune. Arguably since Brünnhilde is already nothing more than the personification of Wotan's will, it's not so much a shadow version of her, but the point at which she asserts her own will is a significant point and Graune's separation perhaps reflects this to some extent. The Wotan and Fricke scene is also fizzling with tension, not so much for its domestic situation as for Wotan's resignation that the war has been lost. Seen in this light alongside Siegmund's heartfelt rejection of his fate if Sieglinde cannot follow, all of this makes for an intense and tragic Act II. Simon O'Neill's Siegmund was warmly applauded, but the really impressive performances were from Simone Schneider's Sieglinde and Christiane Libor as an impressive Brünnhilde. With Kathrin Göring's Fricka and Vladimir Baykov Wotan this Second Act really set the groundwork for a charged and tragic Act III, and essentially for the rest of the tetralogy.

Siegfried, rather like the overstretched opera itself with its frequent references to the backstory, doesn't make any great advances in the overall production but it does certainly emphasise the work's parallel to the curse of capitalism. Mime is the middle management worker or foreman, exploiting the graft of the working man Siegfried, who is kept in the dark as to the true workings of the world and the secret of the power he is unaware he possesses. Alberich when he appears is not a deformed dwarf but a businessman in a suit, an upper management executive, still ambitious for the greater power that the Ring will grant him.

Fafner likewise is not a literal dragon, but a monstrous distortion of the former giant corrupted by greed, sitting lazily on his hoard of gold, reluctant to give it up. Kept in the dark, with no knowledge of history in his own background, Siegfried has the power of his labour to correct the injustice of his position when he is made aware of it. Love could fill that void and save the world but it cannot fill the void inside him, an emotional void that will be exploited by others for their gain. The whole system is corrupt, the Norns have woven it into the fabric of the world, it cannot be fixed from within without succumbing to its power, without succumbing to the lure of power itself and the exercise of it.

There's not much that in the staging or the singing that stand out to make this Siegfried exceptional but it reinforces the central theme and the singing and musical performances support it well. The few points that are genuinely impressive come with Rosamund Gilmore's dance and movement choreography. Siegfried's superhuman mending of the broken Nothung is represented by a score of shadow Siegfrieds hammering in the forge, there are likewise multiple extensions of Fafner that make his slaying rather more dramatic, and the dancer movements of the Waldvogel are enchanting. All of this ensures that the production sustains interest and is visually impressive.

By the time we get to Götterdämmerung we're not expecting any new elements to be added to the concept that has already been established, although new ideas are always welcome since otherwise it can be a long five-and-a-half hour slog. Few productions of the Ring are as varied and innovative as Frank Castorf's Bayreuth production and the Leipzig Ring indeed doesn't break any new ground, but like Siegfried it has a couple of welcome touches that make the very long prelude and Act I much more engaging, and for a few reasons you might even go as far as saying that this Götterdämmerung was among the highlights of this Ring Cycle production as a whole.

First of all there's the singing. With a variety of singers taking on the roles from one day to the next, Leipzig saved the best Siegfried and Brünnhilde for the last. Thomas Mohr, who impressed earlier as Loge in Das Rheingold, was a stunning Siegfried in terms of singing and characterisation, cruelly exploited to be cruel himself. Likewise Iréne Theorin's tragic fortitude and consistently good singing performance as Brünnhilde made all the difference to how we view the relationship between the couple and the coming cataclysm. It builds on the chaos of Loge, the unravelling of tangled threads of fate viewed by the Norn and the despair of resignation felt by Wotan to make the climax for these foolish gods and would-be heroes of the world genuinely and humanly affecting.

Secondly, the production design is again consistently impressive, adaptable through superb lighting to the changes of scene and, just as importantly, to the variances of mood. Not a minute of this drags and that's saying something for Götterdämmerung. Thirdly, and perhaps most important of all, Ulf Schirmer's conducting keeps the mood and momentum going well with the Gewandhaus Orchestra. By the time you get to the third day you feel like you are familiar with all the motifs, but Schirmer keeps them fresh, showing how Wagner puts them not just to people, objects and symbols, but varies them according to mood and situation. It's a masterful account that brings the Leipzig Ring full circle.

Das Rheingold
1 May 2019
Conductor - Ulf Schirmer, Director - Rosamund Gilmore, Sets - Carl Friedrich Oberle, Costumes - Nicola Reichert, Lights - Michael Röger, Dramaturgy - Christian Geltinger, Orchestra - Gewandhausorchester

Fricka - Kathrin Göring
Freia - Gabriela Scherer
Erda - Henriette Gödde
Woglinde - Magdalena Hinterdobler
Wellgunde - Sandra Maxheimer
Floßhilde - Sandra Fechner
Wotan - Tuomas Pursio
Donner - Anooshah Golesorkhi
Froh - Sven Hjörleifsson
Loge - Thomas Mohr
Fasolt - Sebastian Pilgrim
Fafner - James Moellenhoff
Alberich - Martin Winkler
Mime Dan Karlström

Die Walküre 
2 May 2019

Conductor - Ulf Schirmer, Director - Rosamund Gilmore, Sets - Carl Friedrich Oberle, Costumes - Nicola Reichert, Lights - Michael Röger, Dramaturgy - Christian Geltinger, Orchestra - Gewandhausorchester

Sieglinde - Simone Schneider
Brünnhilde - Christiane Libor
Fricka - Kathrin Göring
Wotan - Vladimir Baykov
Gerhilde - Gabriela Scherer
Ortlinde - Magdalena Hinterdobler
Waltraute - Monica Mascus
Schwertleite - Sandra Fechner
Helmwige - Daniela Köhler
Siegrune - Sandra Maxheimer
Grimgerde - Karin Lovelius
Rossweiße - Sarah Alexandra Hudarew
Siegmund - Simon O´Neill
Hunding - Randall Jakobsh
Wotan - Vladimir Baykov
Grane - Ziv Frenkel

Siegfried
4 May 2019

Conductor - Ulf Schirmer, Director - Rosamund Gilmore, Sets - Carl Friedrich Oberle, Costumes - Nicola Reichert, Lights - Michael Röger, Dramaturgy - Christian Geltinger, Orchestra - Gewandhausorchester

Erda - Henriette Gödde
Brünnhilde - Katherine Broderick
Stimme des Waldvogels - Bianca Tognocchi
Siegfried - Michael Weinius
Mime - Dan Karlström
Der Wanderer - Simon Neal
Alberich - Tuomas Pursio
Fafner - Randall Jakobsh

Götterdämmerung
5 May 2019

Conductor - Ulf Schirmer, Director - Rosamund Gilmore, Sets - Carl Friedrich Oberle, Costumes - Nicola Reichert, Lights - Michael Röger, Chorus Master - Thomas Eitler-de Lint, Dramaturgy - Christian Geltinger, Orchestra - Gewandhausorchester

Brünnhilde - Iréne Theorin
Gutrune - Gabriela Scherer
Waltraute - Karin Lovelius
1. Norn - Karin Lovelius
2. Norn - Kathrin Göring
3. Norn - Olena Tokar
Woglinde - Magdalena Hinterdobler
Wellgunde - Sandra Maxheimer
Floßhilde - Sandra Fechner
Siegfried - Thomas Mohr
Gunther - Tuomas Pursio
Alberich - Martin Winkler
Hagen - Sebastian Pilgri

Links: Oper Leipzig