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REVIEW OF THE CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY RING - DAS RHINEGOLD SEPTEMBER 26, 2006 (third cycle) Toronto, Ontario
"Welcome to the Ring. It just might change your life."
With these auspicious words, Richard Bradshaw, Conductor and General Director of Canadian Opera Company introduced Wagner Week in Canada, Sept 12 to 17, 2007. The first cycle of the first Ring in Canada was broadcast live across Canada on CBC2. Libretto was conveniently provided on a special Ring website. Many other CBC2 programs also had Wagner features all week. My kind of week. Following each performance and live broadcast, fellow Wagnerites across Canada would exchange emails about the operas—how it sounded on radio as opposed to on stage.
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts had recently been completed to house this much heralded event. Diamond & Schmidt Architects designed a 2000 seat hall set in a true horseshoe design. To make the hall more intimate, the five tiers of loges started at Row 1 Orchestra, and continued around the walls of the hall. No seat is far from the stage. All reports are that the sound and sight lines in the hall are wonderful. The hall has a glass front designed to meld the hall patrons with people outside the hall. In reality, I found the hall very unfriendly. During the day, I was unable to enter to view the hall, because a talk was being held and I didn’t have a ticket. When trying to sell extra tickets before the performance, Security made sure that I did not stand on hall property. Unkempt teens were also kept away from the Hall.
What would be some names for this Ring?
- Black and White Ring
- Ring of the 4 directors
- Visually overwhelming Ring
- Canada’s First Ring
- Ring to open Canada’s New Opera House
- "To sleep, perchance to dream"
- The Ring of Lights
Over the previous 3 years, I had heard mixed reviews about the individual Ring operas as they were produced in repertoire; all except Rhinegold, which made its debut on Sept 12. Some reviews tended towards the negative, so it was with low expectations I entered the new opera house and settled into my preferred seat - Front Row, Centre. I was separated from the impressive 105 piece orchestra by a cloth membrane. Richard Bradshaw was warmly welcomed in a non-Bayreuth fashion.
The reassuring rumble of the low E flat did not disappoint, and the growing arpeggios assured me that COC orchestra was up to the task. Two points of interest - E flat is the lowest note that most people can comfortably sing; and E flat is the oldest sound in the universe as received through audio telescopes. No wonder this may be the most famous note in all music.
Opera Director and Ring Production Designer Michael Levine set the stage starkly with white sheets of silk on stage and surrounding it. Banks of naked spotlights shone, some on the audience, throughout this opera (very annoying). A black amorphous blob emerged from the sheets in the middle of the stage and turned out to be Alberich and Wotan. The RhineDaughters (Laura Whalen, Krisztina Szabo, Allyson McHardy) were attractively dressed in nightgowns, and had pillow fights with their lighter than air pillows. Voices were beautiful and they were clearly individuated. The Alberich/Wotan blob moved as one at times - with Alberich’s upper body and Wotan’s lower body doing a swimming motion. Didn’t work for me. In addition, Wotan had glasses and a mustache, and I did not identify him as Wotan initially, but thought he was a Charlie Chaplin or FDR character. In later discussions, it was decided that Wotan was sleeping and Scene 1 was his dream.
A delightfully repulsive Alberich was ably sung by Richard Paul Finch. The gold was represented by a golden light projected onto a cloth that was gathered up by Alberich as he escaped. Wotan remained as a blob on the floor.
Fricka (Judit Nemeth) entered and handed the sleeping Wotan (John Fanning substituting for Pavlo Hunka) his staff. (What would Freud say of that?) Fricka, like all women in the first 3 operas, including Freia (Julie Makerov), was wearing a fussy 1880’s black gown complete with bustle and train. Wotan, with a mustache, in a three-piece suit with dark glasses showed no sign of an eye patch. In the radio broadcast, I found Fanning’s voice acceptable. However, the incongruence of his FDR look made me cringe each time I looked at him, and I could not comment on the quality of his voice in the live performance.
Giants Fasolt (Robert Pomakov) and Fafner (Philip Ens) were each a collective of about 10 men--all in proletarian outfits. Each "giant" was carried in on the shoulders of two proles, with the remaining proles moving with each giant. At times the giants stood on tables. Philip Ens was in fine voice.
A large model of Valhalla dominated the stage, complete with several Capitol domes. A photo of the completed Valhalla was projected on the back screen. As the opera(s) progressed, more and more broken pieces of Valhalla were on stage, as the destruction of Valhalla began even before it was occupied.
Froh (Thomas Rolf Truhitte) and Donner (Julian Tovey) were well-dressed gentlemen of their era. Donner carried a curiously small mallet (Freud, where are you when we need you?) and a small voice. For both of these reasons, the thunder clap and call for rain was disappointingly weak. Froh had a beautiful lyric tenor voice.
Loge (Richard Berkley-Steele) was fine of voice, but remarkably dull clad; his cigarette being his only allusion to fire. I have seen him make much more of this role in different productions.
The Nibelungs were smallish people, well represented in orange jumpsuits, miners’ helmets with goggles and dirty faces. The 18 anvils had a disappointing sound - nothing like Bayreuth or Seattle, where one feels immersed in the surround sound.
Alberich, now clad in a gold Elvis suit remained suitably greasy. No expense was used on making Alberich disappear, which was curious given the large role that lights played in this production. The Tarnhelm was truly beautiful - a gold prince’s crown, with mail cascading from it. Here, in my ninth Ring, I finally realize that the Tarnhelm is a helmet.
One particularly striking moment was when Alberich displayed the Rhinegold, high above the stage on a slanted catwalk. He held a gold lame cloth that was further enhanced by golden lighting, forming a golden pyramid.
Erda’s (Mette Ejsing) entrance was underwhelming. Amidst a gaggle of black-dressed no-name women, Erda emerged in the same basic black dress. It was only when her strong, clear, beautifully throaty voice emerged that one noticed her. She was then an Erda to take notice of.
A crack appeared in the backdrop cloth which became a door and the gods entered Valhalla on a white bridge. Again, it shouldn’t have been too hard to produce some rainbow lighting for the bridge.
All in all a good beginning. Orchestra was great, and Bradshaw’s longer than usual pauses added a different layer to the music. The few "flaws" listed above could easily have been corrected. Director Michael Levine was booed during the first cycle, and did not appear at this third cycle.
June Slobodian
Valhalla Opera Tours
October 2006
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Toronto Ring Cycle
September 25 to October 2, 2006
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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| Join us for Canada's FIRST complete Ring Cycle. This is an occasion so monumental that the Canadian Opera Company is building a new Opera House that will open in September 2006 with Wagner's Ring Cycle. |
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Wagner's Ring Cycle
October 5th to 14th, 2006
Los Angeles, California
Kirov Opera Company
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| Be present for the long-awaited American premiere of the Kirov's acclaimed production of Wagner's Ring Cycle. As a special bonus, we will also be attending Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, by the premier Russian Opera Company - the Kirov. |
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Lyric Opera of Chicago Production
Wagner's Ring Cycle |
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| For their 2005 Ring revival, Lyric Opera of Chicago assembled a Valhallan cast - possibly the best Wagner cast assembled in the past 40 years.
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Seattle Opera Production
Wagner's Ring Cycle |
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| In August, 2005, nine Winnipeggers joined with two "Ringheads" from Chicago and one from Florida to see Seattle's famous Ring Cycle by Richard Wagner. The tour was sponsored by Manitoba Opera, Continental Travel and Valhalla Opera Tours. |
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