Wagneriana Sag, welch wunderbare Träume Spring 2011 Halten meinen Sinn umfangen, Volume 8, Number 2 Träume From the Editor D espite an unusually cold and snowy winter, the Boston Wagner Society presented four events in close succession, bringing much-needed diversion to Boston audiences. On February 12 Maestro Rainer Armbrust, taking a few days off from his hectic schedule at the Hanover Opera House, honored us with a lecture on and concert of Parsifal. He was joined by the wonderful soprano Joanna Porackova as Kundry and the delectable heldentenor Alan Schneider as Parsifal. For a review of this special event, see page 2. On February 27 Vice President Erika Reitshamer regaled us with rare videos of Hildegard Behrens. In her retrospective of the German soprano, Ms. Reitshamer went over Behrens s operatic life with a fine-toothed comb, revealing many interesting tales and anecdotes. This was a most enjoyable presentation. March 27 brought us Maestro Jeffrey Brody s wide-ranging lecture on Wagner, Mahler, and other post-wagner composers. Soprano Andrea Matthews s sweet voice and intonation were a perfect vehicle for her Wesendonck Lieder and three of Mahler s Rückert Lieder, followed by an encore of the delightful Liebst du um Schönheit, also one of the Rückert Lieder. And on May 1 the award-winning Wagnerian scholar Professor Hans Rudolf Vaget gave an informative lecture on the influence of the Italian Renaissance on Wagner, with wonderful visual illustrations. For photos of some of these events, see page 6. We are pleased to announce two new board members and one new volunteer. Brian Reasoner, whose entertaining reviews you may have read in these pages, has graciously agreed to join the Board of Directors. We are very fortunate to avail ourselves of his musical expertise and in-depth knowledge of Wagner. Brian teaches chamber music and orchestra at Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We are also fortunate to have Fred Meyer, a devoted long-time member, join the Board and volunteer as our new Events Coordinator. And Fernando Gargano, a relatively new member, is now Membership Coordinator. For information about Fernando, see page 6. We are most grateful for their help and involvement. In September Sirius XM s Met Opera host Margaret Juntwait will honor us with a talk on life at the Met. On October 30 the filmmaker and writer Hilan Warshaw will return to give a talk and presentation titled From Bayreuth to Hollywood: Richard Wagner and the Art of Cinema, with rare video clips. Many members were unable to attend this event last fall due to a Metropolitan Opera presentation of Don Pasquale. Those who did attend thought it was one of our best events. We Now Have PayPal Members now have the opportunity to renew their memberships with a credit card by going to our Web site (www.bostonwagnersociety.org). To renew, please click on Join Us. 1
Maestro Armbrust s Parsifal Lecture and Concert Parsifal: Boston Wagner Society lecture and concert. February 12, 2011, College Club. Maestro Rainer Armbrust, lecturer and pianist; Joanna Porackova, soprano; Alan Schneider, heldentenor Y ou may know that Wagner was influenced by Christian ideas in writing Parsifal (1882). But did you know that he may have been influenced by Buddhist ones as well? And did you also know that Wagner had much trouble finding the right instrument for the ostinato theme on bells (Acts 1 and 3)? These and other pieces of Wagnerian arcana were thoroughly discussed by Maestro Rainer Armbrust, lecturer and pianist, on February 12 at Boston s College Club. He began the lecture with lovely slides of Ravello, Italy. Why? Because Richard Wagner, who often surrounded himself in legendary grandeur, claimed to have been inspired to write the second act of his final opera, Parsifal, at Villa Rufolo in Ravello. Ravello is the highest (and most picturesque) town on Italy s fabled Amalfi Coast. Armbrust s pictures made me want to go there. Too bad there weren t more, as he showed only about five slides. After a helpful reading of Parsifal s plot, Armbrust spoke of the opening notes of its famous and fabulous prelude. He deftly underscored the unsurety of the theme, the floating sense its figures imparted. He then reinforced the view of several musicologists that Parsifal is perhaps the sum of Wagner s works. He mentioned Parsifal s similarity to Siegfried (1871) in the mysterious origins of their respective heroes, yet added that Parsifal was superior to Siegfried in that he gains clarity in his quest, whereas Siegfried doesn t (he falls victim to intrigue). The temptress Kundry has similarities to Venus in Tannhäuser (1845), and she may even have roots in the earlier Der fliegende Holländer (1843). (Now that could make an intriguing lecture.) Wagner a Buddhist? Perhaps. Although Wagner never spoke of the influence of this religion on Parsifal, Armbrust maintains that the development of the character of Parsifal and the many reincarnations of Kundry are more Buddhist than Christian. Indeed, other scholars have also claimed to have found Buddhist traits in the opera, specifically in the doctrine of the transfer of merits. As a Christian saint, Parsifal absolves Kundry of her sins; however, as a Buddhist saint, he transfers some of the merit that he has gained through good works in many earlier lives. Finally, the anecdote of the bells. In Acts 1 and 3, the transformations are accompanied by bells, sometimes alone, sometimes in unison with brass. Armbrust related the story about Wagner never quite getting the tone right. To actually reproduce the right intonation, the bells would have had a diameter of seven meters and have weighed seventy tons. The Asian tamtams he initially tried fell short, so Wagner had metal drums constructed to produce a better sound. Again, a failure. So he had an upright piano frame with 24 strings built, but with only four keys, each causing a hammer to strike six strings tuned to the same pitch. Even that wasn t up to snuff. Only long after Wagner s death was the right sound eventually produced for these bells (according to scholars). His dauntingly detailed lecture over, Armbrust then performed Franz Liszt s piano transcription of the prelude. The clarity of his playing made it easy to hear the contrast between the diatonic and chromatic sections of this music that he had been discussing. The demonized music of sexual desire, he tagged the chromatic figures. After that, he surprised all by playing an unscheduled Wagner-inspired piece by Liszt, the poignant and intricate March of the Holy Grail. After intermission, the crowd was treated to two excerpts from Parsifal. The first was Parsifal - Weile!... zu Amfortas mir den Weg (Parsifal stay!... the way to Amfortas). Both Soprano Joanna Porackova and Heldentenor Alan Schneider performed this difficult piece sensitively. Porackova demonstrated startling dynamic range in her interpretation of Kundry the temptress. In relating how she saw Parsifal at his mother s breast, she sang in flowing compound-time narrative, with intensely contrasted tones. Most notable was her singing about Herzeleids Entbrennen / ihn sengend überfloss (when Heart s Sorrow s passion / engulfed him in its fire). She sang with such voluminous intensity, the walls of the Percy-Dauber Drawing Room almost shook. (I for one felt as though I d been hit by audio lightning.) Then she plunged to the depth of her mezzo-soprano range with der Liebe - ersten Kuss! (the first kiss of love). Throughout the extract, Schneider conveyed a convincing performance. As Parsifal, he first sang in tones that characterized the character s perplexity at what was transpiring. Later he erupted into forceful passion as he realized the nature and scope of the seduction attempt and his duty to Amfortas. He sang Elender! Jammervollster! (Most wretched! Most pitiable!) with furious passion. The second excerpt, although not as musically dramatic as the first, is just as momentous in a narrative sense. It portrays a transformed Parsifal at the opera s end. Nur eine Waffe taugt (Only one weapon serves) may be brief, but within its stolid tones Schneider revealed a determined, rock-steady hero, rapturous at times, and at the end ascendant and hopeful. In a triumphant D major, he sang of the hero touching Amfortas s wound with the magic spear and healing him. Modulation abounded as D major quickly shifted to D minor, and then to the final tonality 2
of A-flat major, at the words open the shrine! Such a fitting way to end both the opera and the Boston Wagner Society s evening of entertainment. Peter Bates Peter Bates, the former Vice President of the Boston Wagner Society, is a music critic. To see his writings, go to www.stylus.batescommunications.net/recordedmusic.htm. The Metropolitan Opera s Das Rheingold: Review and Comparison Das Rheingold, April 2, 2011: Metropolitan Opera, cond. Fabio Luisi; Woglinde: Lisette Oropesa; Wellgunde: Jennifer Johnson-Cano; Flosshilde: Tamara Mumford; Alberich: Eric Owens; Fricka: Stephanie Blythe; Wotan: Bryn Terfel; Freia: Wendy Bryn Harmer; Fasolt: Franz-Josef Selig; Fafner: Hans-Peter König; Froh: Adam Diegel; Donner: Dwayne Croft; Loge: Arnold Bezuyen; Mime: Gerhard Siegel; Erda: Patricia Bardon; director: Robert Lepage Review Iwas somewhat anxious about this performance, as James Levine was unable to conduct it. However, Fabio Luisi stepped in and led the orchestra with a sure grip on the score. He balanced the orchestral sections well. Inner voices counterpoints and figurations, inner melodic voices were easily heard; these were especially notable in the clarinets and oboes. Luisi also supported the singers without drowning them out. Yet a few times the orchestral playing seemed to lose momentum, its sense of a melodic/harmonic goal. Interestingly, Luisi s timing came very close to Levine s. Lepage s placement of the singers forward on the stage helped the voices balance with the orchestra. In addition, the machine (Robert Lepage s term) acted as a vocal reflector, contributing to the performers vocal ease. Bryn Terfel as Wotan sang with a beautiful light-baritone sound. His interpretation had great inner moments delivered with wonderful pianos. He still needs to grow into the role, as his acting was often stiff. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe brought Fricka to life with excellent singing and believable acting, especially in response to the other singers. Eric Owens sang Alberich with a powerful voice, which turned menacing as the story progressed. He also rose to the challenge of the difficult acting requirements. His delivery of the curse, however, was marred by vocal stress. Wendy Bryn Harmer, with her wonderful, bright, and on-pitch singing, easily filled the auditorium. She has sung in Boston Vitellia in Mozart s La clemenza di Tito (Opera Boston, 2006) and Wanda in La grande duchesse de Gérolstein (Opera Boston, 2010) and is a singer to watch. In Freia, she created a character who was very much moved by the lovelorn Fasolt sung convincingly by Franz-Josef Selig. When Fafner, performed by the impressive bass Hans-Peter König, killed Fasolt, the sad expression and body language of Freia registered clearly. Fasolt s desire for Freia is the only moment of love in this loveless opera. The newest member to the cast was the Dutch tenor Arnold Bezuyen, who sang Loge. With his pointed vocals, Bezuyen created fantastic characterization, in addition to his impressive ability to handle difficult movements while maintaining lyric and dramatic vocal lines. An example of this feat was his having to walk backward up the slanted machine while on a hoist. His expressive hands also made great use of the innovative lights that were attached to his fingers used as spotlights illuminating the faces of the gods after Freia was taken away by the giants. Under these lights, the gods faces looked more distressed than in other Rheingold productions I have seen. Adam Diegel as Froh was rather light vocally, yet he had a pleasant sound. Dwayne Croft as Donner was full voiced, especially when he summoned the thunderstorm. Gerhard Siegel sang and acted Mime well, with no whining, as so often happens. The Rhinedaughters Lisette Oropesa, Jennifer Johnson-Cano, and Tamara Mumford blended their voices beautifully, with their individual timbres clearly audible. They also performed some amazing aerial movements while they sang! Patricia Bardon s Erda was lighter in sound than expected. Her warning to Wotan was noted, but it lacked the sense of an all-knowing deity. The machine functioned well, and in some segments it was a marvel to see, as in the very beginning of the opera and the descent into Nibelheim. The serpent was cleverly done, with the use of the structure of the machine as its backbone. Also unique was Alberich s capture and later release. Instead of appearing in his own form, he was caged by Loge and Wotan as a toad. This made his capture more believable. Despite all these wonderful touches, there are problems with Lepage s staging. Wotan just walked onto the front of stage right and sat down during the music before scene 2. This was clearly visible and quite distracting, as our 3
focus here should have been on the music that took us from beneath the Rhine up to the mountaintop. Wotan does not belong onstage at this point. The exits of many characters were just as clumsy, with Wotan and Loge casually walking off the stage on their way to Nibelheim. The appearance of Erda was lackluster rather than magical. In scene 2, the constant movement of the projected clouds grew monotonous. This drawback was magnified by the director s decision to have the characters just stand there and sing without interacting in portions in this scene. Depriving audiences of any visual clue of Valhalla until the very end may work on paper but not on stage. A description of Valhalla at the beginning of scene 2 is written into the score and libretto. It is a visual/auditory moment. And Valhalla s big emotional climax occurs soon after the thunderclap and rainbow bridge. Again, it is in the music and meant to be seen at this time. If done in accordance with Wagner s intent, the emotional experience of the contrast between the Rhinedaughters lament and the false glory of the gods castle is quite dramatic. And the view of Valhalla a nondescript gray wall that we finally do get does not bode well for the visual realization of the conflagration in Götterdämmerung. A Comparison of the In-House and HD Versions The HD presentations are wonderful for seeing facial expressions, providing a feel of intimacy with the characters. The sound is better balanced than in some areas of the Met, where acoustic anomalies affect the sound quality. Yet the HD version lacks part of the warmth that the theater s acoustics bring to the voice. After viewing the HD version, I was really interested in attending this production in-house due to the visual fatigue that I felt from looking at the slats of the machine for two and a half hours. Was this because of the HD format and of being so close to the action? I am sorry to report that the answer is no! Even at the Met, the venetian blinds appearance of the machine became tiresome regardless of where the machine was placed. At last, the star field at the conclusion came as quite a relief. I can t image watching 16 hours of these vertical blinds! David Collins, M.Ed. David Collins, a member of the Boston Wagner Society, is the resident lecturer for Opera Boston and teaches opera appreciation in the Greater Boston area. Die Walküre at the Met: It s About the Singers, Not the Stage Set Die Walküre, April 25, 2011: Metropolitan Opera, cond. James Levine; Siegmund: Jonas Kaufmann; Sieglinde: Eva-Maria Westbroek; Hunding: Hans-Peter König; Wotan: Bryn Terfel; Fricka: Stephanie Blythe; Brünnhilde: Deborah Voigt; director: Robert Lepage For a second review of Die Walküre and comparisons, please see pages 7 8. E ven though the Metropolitan Opera gathered six worldclass singers for its new presentation of Die Walküre, most of the attention has been focused on the controversial production, which was conceived and directed by the versatile Canadian Robert Lepage. Since so much has been written about the machine, as the stage set is referred to by Lepage and the Met staff, it would be curmudgeonly not to chime in. Leaving aside the enormity of its weight (45 tons) and the extravagance of its cost ($40 million), the set did not serve Wagner s own assessment that Die Walküre had turned out to be terribly beautiful. Consisting of 24 massive planks constantly turning and twisting and rising and falling, the apparatus proved to be overly contrived and unwieldy. Despite its ingenuity, it failed to connect with the wonders of nature and the depths of human experience that are so much a part of the opera s music and story. Although as mighty as Valhalla and as formidable as its resident gods, the machine often became a distraction for the audience and on occasion even a hazard for the performers. The venerable opera critic Martin Bernheimer offered a wonderfully clever one-liner that will forever be associated with this Met production. He called it Lepage aux folles. 4 Eva-Maria Westbroek as Sieglinde and Jonas Kaufmann as Siegmund, just before the end of Act 1 of Die Walküre
The most moving and visually memorable moments in the performance were two simple gestures, one by Siegmund and the other by Wotan, both involving an open hand. At the end of Act 2, as he lay dying in Wotan s arms, Siegmund reached up and gently ran his hand across Wotan s face. This simple movement conveyed the acceptance, forgiveness, and redemption that are such central concepts throughout The Ring. Then, in Act 3, as Wotan struggled to reconcile his love for his favorite daughter, Brünnhilde, with the punishment that will separate them forever, he painfully bent over and silently covered his face with his hand in an effort to control his conflicting emotions. The power of these two fleeting gestures far surpassed anything that the gargantuan stage machinery brought to the production. Over the past 25 years probably almost every performance of The Ring at the Met has been conducted by James Levine. There is a reason for this. Maestro Levine has made a lifelong commitment to the works of Wagner. As a result, he has nurtured and cultivated the Met orchestra so that it can share his passion and join him in the journey. Most of the music world agrees that this mutual dedication of maestro and orchestra has consistently led to achingly beautiful performances by both instrumentalists and singers. Although seriously debilitated by health issues the Boston music community has been particularly affected Maestro Levine was able to summon glorious results from both orchestra and singers throughout the performance of Die Walküre. Thunderous applause from the audience as well as the cast onstage for curtain calls attests to the well-deserved reverence that is bestowed on him. In Act 1 there are only three participants in this production Eva-Maria Westbroek as Sieglinde, Jonas Kaufmann as her brother/lover Siegmund, and Hans-Peter König as her bellicose husband, Hunding. Rarely will one encounter three performers all of whom have a physique du rôle ideally suited to the characters they play. Westbroek and Kaufmann were handsome and energetic, whereas König was stolid and threatening. Likewise, each sang with power and conviction. König s dark, deep, and resonant bass reflected the blackness of his soul. Westbroek in her Met debut sounded radiant and was dramatically convincing as she ran the gamut of emotions from being imprisoned in her bondage with Hunding to finding true love for the first time with Siegmund. Particularly powerful was her passionate O hehrstes Wunder (Oh, mightiest of miracles) in Act 3 after Brünnhilde announces that Sieglinde is pregnant with Siegfried. Noted for his dramatic power and burnished baritonal tones, Jonas Kaufmann was a Siegmund for the ages. His physicality, musicality, and sensitivity dominated his characterization. His clarion tenor outcry to his father, Wotan ( Wälse! Wälse! ), was breathtaking. Act 2 introduces the three remaining star characters Wotan, Fricka, and Brünnhilde. Taking on the iconic role of Wotan is Bryn Terfel. Brusque and stern in manner, Terfel s Wotan was sung and acted with great intensity, commitment, and nuance. He navigated Wotan s decline from chief of the gods through a piercing series of losses as Die Walküre progressed. First, he saw his plan for world domination fall to pieces. Then, on the insistence of his wife, Fricka, he yielded to her moral persuasion by allowing his son Siegmund to be killed by Hunding. Last, and perhaps most painful of all, he banished his beloved Brünnhilde for her disobedience. Wotan s farewell to Brünnhilde ( Leb wohl [Farewell]) brought tears to my eyes. Stephanie Blythe as Fricka and Bryn Terfel as Wotan in Act 2 of Die Walküre The role of Fricka was owned by Stephanie Blythe. The richness and roundness of her powerful mezzo-soprano reinforced the pivotal role she played in dictating so much of the action of The Ring. In this production, although she appeared seated in a mobile throne, her splendid vocal resources dominated the proceedings. Deborah Voigt, a sterling Sieglinde 15 years ago, has ascended to the more demanding role of Brünnhilde. She acquitted herself admirably, and her ho-jo-to-hos were tossed off with accuracy and aplomb. In spite of being such an instrumental part of The Ring, for most of the dramatic Act 3 she was directed to simply stroll around and assume occasional warrior poses rather than exhibit the energy and engagement that are part of the character. To sum up, the Met s Die Walküre was never less than compelling. As with all Regietheater productions, gratuitous controversy inevitably swirls around the contemporary versus the traditional. But there is no place for controversy when singers and orchestra aspire to the highest levels of artistic achievement and attain it with such stellar success. Damon Smith Damon Smith was a member of the Wagner Society of New York for 15 years. 5
New Membership Coordinator Fernando Gargano has volunteered to serve as the Membership Coordinator of the Boston Wagner Society. Fernando grew up in a musical family and was exposed to classical music from an early age. Although he started out playing the trombone, the French horn became his instrument of choice due mostly to its larger repertoire of music. Fernando s first instructor for horn was the late Jay Wadenpfuhl of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Through the horn, Fernando was able to truly indulge in his love for Wagner. He currently plays for the New Philharmonia Orchestra with music director Ron Knudson, who is also a long-time violinist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Fernando works for the Cambridge Health Alliance as the manager of Multilingual Services, a job that helps him fund his trips all around the United States so that he can experience the Ring Cycle. Photos of Our Events Parsifal Lecture and Concert, February 12, 2011 From left to right: Soprano Joanna Porackova, Pianist Rainer Armbrust, President Dalia Geffen, and Heldentenor Alan Schneider The three soloists, Heldentenor Alan Schneider, Pianist Rainer Armbrust, and Joanna Porackova beaming at their well-deserved ovation at the College Club (Photos by Philip McAlary) Wagner/Mahler Lecture and Concert, March 27, 2011 Maestro Jeffrey Brody and Soprano Andrea Matthews enjoyed the audience s appreciation at the College Club (Photos by Dalia Geffen) 6
Paul Heise s Book on the Ring Cycle The following came from Paul Heise, an independent Wagnerian scholar who has twice lectured to the Boston Wagner Society. D r. Roger Scruton, [the British philosopher and author of Death-Devoted Heart: Sex and the Sacred in Wagner s Tristan und Isolde,] introduces Paul Heise s monumental quest to grasp the conceptual unity of Richard Wagner s music-drama, The Ring of the Nibelung, at www.wagnerheim.com, where Heise has made it available free of charge so that it can be read in its entirety. [Titled The Wound That Will Never Heal,] this is the most sustained effort to grasp Wagner s tetralogy as a whole (libretto text, plot, and music) in the literature. Its central argument is that Wagner s gigantic tetralogy is an allegory representing the conflict between man s quest for power through acquisition of objective knowledge and man s counter-impulse to affirm his transcendent value in religion, morality, and art. For a brief overview of the argument, read the introduction on pages 93-108. I hope you will find this Web site enlightening. It contains the most complete account of Wagner s employment of musical motifs (178 numbered motifs) for conceptual purposes, and the most extensive (chronological) anthology of Ludwig Feuerbach s relevant writings, and Richard Wagner s writings and recorded remarks (1,151 numbered extracts), currently available. Visitors to www.wagnerheim.com are encouraged to participate in the discussion forum to debate Wagner interpretation and the plethora of issues raised by Wagner s artistic and philosophic legacy. Die Walküre at the Met, on the Radio, and in HD Live Coming on the heels of the Metropolitan Opera s venerable Ring Cycle of 20 years duration, this review is difficult to write, as one cannot avoid comparisons with performances from archival memory and those available on DVDs. The April 25 production of Die Walküre was the second presentation of this run. Luckily no one was indisposed. Although a production is a coherent, whole experience, I discuss here the various aspects in turn: the orchestra, the singers, the staging, the sets and concept, and the costumes. And finally, an issue that I realized was very important in this age of electronic transmissions: the acoustics. This was brought home to me after I compared my experiences in-house, on the radio on May 14, and finally the HD Live theater presentation, in encore, several weeks later. The orchestral playing, under the baton of James Levine, was gorgeous. Levine summoned all of his powers and was in complete charge. He received tremendous ovations. The many beautiful phrases were lovingly lingered over, and the outcome was expressive, powerful, and thoughtful. The singers were given full rein. They were never covered over. With Levine s health problems, we may be nearing the end of a memorable symphonic era. (As a subscriber to the entire Boston Symphony Orchestra concert series for many years, I have experienced firsthand the transformation of the orchestra under Levine s artistic direction.) This was Jonas Kaufmann s first Siegmund, and it was formidable. It was a delight to hear German properly pronounced. Despite the low tessitura of the role, Kaufmann s voice was powerful and sensitive and had a lovely legato. His cry of Wälse was astonishing, and he held it for a very long time. As a tired, wounded man, he had plenty of spirit. And for a change, this was a young and slim Siegmund. I can see him progressing to Siegfried. Eva-Maria Westbroek as Sieglinde matched Kaufmann in appearance, spirited acting, and youthful looks. Her voice was lyrical, expressive, and strong over the entire range. In Act 3, her O hehrstes Wunder! (Oh, mightiest of miracles) was shattering. Hans-Peter König as Hunding was in good voice, strong and crude, although somewhat unidimensional. His death in Act 2 was more amusing than convincing. Stephanie Blythe is a force to be reckoned with. As Fricka, she was both powerful and vulnerable, and she sobbed when hurt. It was easy to see why Wotan would have to bow to her requirements. She has an amazing voice. Deborah Voigt rose to the occasion of her punishing role as Brünnhilde and was very expressive. She came across as a maturing teenage tomboy who suddenly finds that she is no longer a child. The only problematic casting was Bryn Terfel as Wotan. He did march about and sing powerfully for the most part. There were some splendid moments. At the end of Act 2, he spat out Geh (Go) to Hunding with venom, and his final duet with Brünnhilde was quite expressive. On the whole, however, I would have liked to see more subtlety in his characterization. I sorely missed James Morris s infinitely varied hues of expression. One can only hope that Terfel will grow into his role, since it looks as though he will be with us for a while. But now we have to get to the staging concept and the sets, and it is here that this production really suffers in comparison with the previous one, by Otto Schenk. In many ways, Lepage s production is quite conservative, at 7
least compared with European and even West Coast versions, and it borrows substantially from its predecessor. But Lepage seems more seduced by technology than by what Wagner s music or staging requires. And the technology doesn t always work. A unified set would seem to have many advantages over changing ones. In this case, however, Schenck s sets were much more evocative and gave the performers more room to maneuver through. In Lepage s production, the singers clearly approached the set with great trepidation. In Act 2, Deborah Voigt stumbled when getting up on the set. Act 1 opened with an abstract scene of projected weather, which rapidly morphed into trees (one tree per plank). Siegmund ran through the trees, which changed into the roof and wall of Hunding s hut. So far so good. But the logs then eerily turned back into plain planks when spotlights hit them, and the ash tree dissolved under the lights. When seen end on, especially in Act 2, the hollow ends of the planks were disruptive. The space provided for the performers in Act 1 was very narrow, and the singers were cut off at the knees. I d have liked to see their feet. In Act 3, the Walküres horses were planks also, which the women rode like seesaws and then slid down them as on playground slides. Silly. The final scene on the rock was a real comedown. Brünnhilde was suspended upside down at the top of the planks and was left there for Siegfried to find her. How on earth is he supposed to get close to her? It boggles the mind. The fire was most unconvincing and looked more like blood. It was here that I truly missed the previous production s fire scene, which was magical. Schenck s fire depended only on fluttering foil and lighting, with no rocket science, and it was three-dimensional, especially as it grew here and there in nooks and crannies and finally erupted. No such luck with Lepage s crude video. The costumes borrowed heavily from the previous production but got lost in translation. Nothung looked cheap and flimsy (so that it could be easily shattered?). The designer should have crossed Central Park and viewed a real Viking sword at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Perhaps the Metropolitan Opera ran out of money. More important, I heard a substantial difference between Terfel s performance in-house and his performance in the radio broadcast. As the broadcast occurred several performances later, I will never know whether he suddenly sang better or whether the difference was due to the acoustics. At the Met, my seat was in the front section of the dress circle, which is far from the stage. I have sat in the very top balcony and heard quite well. But there is a difference between hearing well and hearing all the nuances. Nuances came through much more clearly on broadcast and in HD Live. Are broadcast and HD Live better for listening whereas in-house attendance is better for the whole experience? This may be an issue to think about. Renata Cathou Renata Cathou, a member of the Boston Wagner Society, is now retired from a profession of science. She has attended opera performances for many years and is very active in opera in Boston. Wagner on His Composition Methods The following is an excerpt from a letter Richard Wagner wrote to Karl Gaillard, the editor of the Berliner Musikalische Zeitung. The letter is dated Dresden, January 30, 1844. The way I set to work is quite different. In the first place I am only attracted to matter the poetic and musical significance of which strike me simultaneously. Before I go on to write a verse or plot or scene I am already intoxicated by the musical aroma of my subject. I have every note, every characteristic motif in my head, so that when the versification is complete and the scenes arranged, the opera is practically finished for me; the detailed musical treatment is just a peaceful meditative after-labour, the real moment of creation having long preceded it. Furthermore, subject matter ought to be selected that is capable of musical treatment only. I would never take a subject that might be used just as well by an able playwright for spoken drama. (Gertrude Norman and Miriam Lubell Shrifte, Letters of Composers: An Anthology, 1603 1945 [New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1946], p. 175) Wagneriana is a publication of the Boston Wagner Society, copyright The Boston Wagner Society, Inc. Publisher and Editor: Dalia Geffen Proofreader: Erika Reitshamer Logo design: Sasha Geffen We welcome contributions to Wagneriana. Please contact us at info@bostonwagnersociety.org or 617-323-6088. Web: www.bostonwagnersociety.org. Address: Boston Wagner Society, P.O. Box 320033, Boston, MA 02132-0001, U.S.A. 8