American Ring Cycle Continues
At the end of the first installment of Francesca Zambello's American Ring Cycle, last year's Das Rheingold premiered at Washington National Opera, the gods went into Valhalla on what looked like the gang plank of a cruise liner, clinking their champagne flutes. Richard Wagner adapted the libretti of his four-opera cycle from German mythology, and Zambello's idea was to exchange the German myths in the operas for American ones. The gold-hungry Alberich became a Gold Rush 49er, the Nibelungs he enthralls became African-American slaves, and the gods became the wealthy elite. Half of the fun at Saturday's opening night of Die Walküre, the cycle's second part, was guessing how Zambello would Americanize the next part of the story. Most of the other half involved being blown away by how good Plácido Domingo, the director of Washington National Opera, who is also starring in the demanding tenor role of Siegmund, sounds at 66 years old.
As predicted in an excellent preview at the WETA blog, Wagner traditionalists are likely to be offended by this directorial meddling. In fact, the lady at the Kennedy Center coat check, who overhears all the choice gossip, reported Saturday night at second intermission that several people had left early, in a huff because "this was not Wagner." If you were expecting metal breastplates and horned helmets, you might be disappointed to see that Sieglinde was costumed like the female half of American Gothic, living with Hunding (who would fit right in in Deliverance) in an A-frame prairie cabin. In the second act, Wotan plots his next moves in his skyscraper boardroom (in pinstripes but with the traditional eye patch), overlooking the cloudy Manhattan skyline below, and Siegmund is killed underneath an unfinished highway overpass. For the famous Ride of the Valkyries in Act III, the battle-maidens are paratroopers, parachuting down to what looks like a mountain fortress. (One cannot help but think of Robert Duvall's crazy helicopter pilot in Apocalypse Now, who blares Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries during the attack.)
Anja Kampe (Sieglinde) and Plácido Domingo (Siegmund) in Die Walküre, Washington National Opera, photo by Karin Cooper
With the exception of Brünnhilde, whose costume concept remains a mystery — horse rider? dominatrix? — each individual piece of the American Ring Cycle so far makes sense. What is not clear is whether four operas worth of American imagery will ultimately make a coherent whole, once we get to Götterdämmerung, or whether the cycle will be nothing more than a series of scenes that have become unrelated because they have been shoehorned individually into American themes. Whether intended or not, some elements of Zambello's staging came off as a little silly, like the video taken from a camera moving quickly through a forest. The agitated theme of pursuit, which is the first Leitmotif heard in the orchestra, does dominate the opera in many ways, but the video reminded me too much of The Blair Witch Project ("I'm so scared"). At the same time, in some of the scenes, Zambello and her team -- Michael Yeargan (sets), Catherine Zuber (costumes), Mark McCullough (lighting), and Jan Hartley (video) -- created iconic images that will remain in my brain for a long time.
The best example is during the love arias of Siegmund and Sieglinde, at the beginning of which the libretto indicates that a mysterious presence enters the room. In this production, the tree in the center of the house flies upward, the walls open up the back of the house, and an enormous full moon soars up on the rear projection screen. Some traditionalists call this part of Act I, Siegmund's Winterstürme and Sieglinde's Du bist der Lenz, an example of Wagner's failure to resist operatic conventions. However, for most listeners, it is one of the highlights of the opera, and its staging is of paramount importance. Yes, the lovers in this case happen to be twin brother and sister, but they sing beautiful music. (In a bizarre coincidental twist, a brother and sister who have had four children together are fighting right now to have Germany's law against incest overturned.) In general, McCullough's lighting, which underscores the musical and dramatic movements of the opera, and Hartley's video projections make this production a visual success.
It is a musical success, too, thanks to a fine cast of singers, almost exactly identical to the 2003 production the WNO mounted at Constitution Hall. Domingo's fine performance is matched by Anja Kampe's superlatively dramatic and overpowering Sieglinde, literally barefoot in Hunding's kitchen. Baritone Alan Held was a vehement and tortured Wotan, with some surprising vocal twists, like the whispered "Geh!" as he breaks Hunding's neck. Elena Zaremba has developed an alarming wobble in her vibrato, but her Fricka, costumed as a weary wealthy socialite, was deliciously shrewish. Gidon Saks made a good sexist pig as Hunding, complete with knife polishing and slaps on Sieglinde's butt. Linda Watson certainly held her own vocally as Brünnhilde, although one could hope for a stronger characterization. Her eight Valkyrie sisters gave an impressive ensemble performance in Act III, no less remarkable for having to sing many of those Hejetehos while swinging from the ceiling in parachute harnesses. Conductor Heinz Fricke led the WNO orchestra admirably through the four hours of demanding music. In spite of some embarrassing cracks in the brass — like the first time we hear the sword theme — the playing was solid and exciting.
Alan Held (Wotan) and Linda Watson (Brünnhilde) in Die Walküre, Washington National Opera, photo by Karin Cooper
Remaining performances of Die Walküre have already sold out, with the exception of the final performance on April 17. Elizabeth Bishop will sing the role of Fricka that evening.