This is the weekend in which the streamed Opera is ON offering presented by the San Francisco Opera is the second of the four operas in Richard Wagner’s cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen (the ring of the Nibelung). The first opera, Das Rheingold (the gold of the Rhine), is a single uninterrupted act consisting of four scenes and lasting about two and one-half hours. The second opera, Die Walküre (the Valkyrie), is the first “full” opera, unfolding over the course of three acts. The Opera is ON video lasts for about fifteen minutes less than four hours, since there are no intermission breaks.
Das Rheingold unfolds as a “series of unfortunate events” culminating in the Norse pantheon, led by their leader Wotan, taking residence in Valhalla in a procession that is marred by a reminder of one of those “unfortunate events.” Die Walküre similarly unfolds as a series of personal conflicts. Those conflicts arise not only among the supernatural figures in the cast but also among three mortals, two of whom basically initiate the narrative that will continue to play out during the remaining two operas. Most of the conflicts are earth-bound; but two of them unfold at considerable length in Valhalla, both in the opera’s second act.
War is sometimes described as a series of long periods of idle monotony interrupted by episodes of intense violence. In a similar manner, Die Walküre unfolds through lengthy dialogs and monologs, which are interrupted by intense action. Fortunately, Wagner usually supplements those dialogs and monologs with his rich thematic lexicon, which frequently bridges the gap between what is uttered and what is meant. As a result the entire journey through Die Walküre is a complex one; and, in an opera house setting, intermissions provide an opportunity to collect one’s thoughts. Nevertheless, as one adjusts to Wagner’s skillful amalgamation of drama into the music, the attentive viewer becomes readily willing to follow the path through his narrative.
That willingness is, of course, enhanced through the actual performance of the opera. Francesca Zambello’s approach to staging situates the characters is different aspects of an American context. Thus, Valhalla has become a skyscraper; and Wotan has his “office” in the top-floor penthouse. The Valkyries, nine daughters of Erda (the earth-mother) fathered by Wotan, have become a crack team of paratroopers; and the Völsung twins of Siegmund and Sieglinde also have Wotan as their father. Married to Hunding, Sieglinde lives in a prototypical “cabin in the woods,” pretty much alone because her husband spends most of his time hunting.
Siegmund (Brandon Jovanovich) begs for hospitality from Hunding (Raymond Aceto) and his wife (Karita Mattila) (photograph by Cory Weaver courtesy of SFO)
In other words, rather than evoking the imagery of Norse mythology, Zambello provides settings with connotations that lend contemporary credibility to the complexities of the narrative that might otherwise strain belief. In the first act we witness how Sieglinde encounters Siegmund and how that encounter leads to an incestuous pregnancy (whose consequences will be examined in the third opera). The second act revolves around Wotan’s romantic approval of that incestuous union coming into conflict with his wife Fricka’s insistence on traditional family values. When that act finally culminates in a one-on-one fight between Siegmund and Hunding, both of them perish before the second-act curtain falls. Only the final act emphasizes the mythic elements (even with the paratrooper Valkyries), preparing the narrative for the fates of the Valkyrie Brünnhilde and the child Sieglinde is carrying, which will unfold in the remaining two operas.
As to the amount of time required to do justice to this complex narrative, I must confess that my wife and I took an extended break between the second and third acts. Unless I am mistaken, Bayreuth also believes in lengthier intermissions. So much is packed into so many of Wagner’s plots that audiences need time to “digest.” (In Bayreuth that time usually also allows for food breaks!) Perhaps video may yet emerge as a preferred medium for experiencing Wagner’s heady blend of the other-worldly and the mundane. After all, if television viewers had no trouble sitting through all of Game of Thrones, the “Game of The Ring” should not be any more demanding.
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