The Passion of Opera

Siegfried , like Die Walküre  is one of the linchpins of the Ring Cycle. Both of these operas are more recognized than Das Rheingold  or Götterdämmerung . While the performances in this production continued to be generally solid, Siegfried  did not feel as well put together as the preceding two operas in the cycle in the Wiener Staatsoper's production. The sets continued to be lackluster, and the voices, with some very notable exceptions, were neither as kind to the ear nor as consistent as in the other operas. Synopsis & general information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_(opera) Cast: Siegfried | Richard Wagner Christian Thielemann | Dirigent Sven-Eric Bechtolf | Regie Rolf Glittenberg | Bühne Marianne Glittenberg | Kostüme fettFilm | Video Stephen Gould | Siegfried Linda Watson | Linda Watson Albert Dohmen | Der Wanderer Tomasz Koniczny | Alberich Anna Larsson | Erda Wolfgang Schmidt | Mime Ain Anger | Fafner Chen Reiss | S...

Wagner's Der Ring der Nibelung  continued at the Wiener Staatsoper with a well-sung production of Die Walküre . With all elements of the production the same (singers, conductor, director, designer), it had great continuity. This meant the singing and the conducting continued to be excellent while the design still did not impress. General information & synopsis:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Walk%C3%BCre Cast: Die Walküre | Richard Wagner Christian Thielemann | Dirigent Sven-Eric Bechtolf | Regie Rolf Glittenberg | Bühne Marianne Glittenberg | Kostüme fettFilm | Video Christopher Ventris | Siegmund Eric Halfvarson | Hunding Albert Dohmen | Wotan Waltraud Meier | Sieglinde Brünnhilde | Katarina Dalayman Janina Baechle | Fricka Donna Ellen | Helmwige Ildikó Raimondi | Gerhilde Alexandra Reinprecht | Ortlinde Aura Twarowska | Waltraute Ulrike Helzel | Siegrune Monica Bohinec | Grimgerde Zoryana Kushpler | Schwertleit...

  Yes. Wagner. Here we go. This  Das Rheingold  was my first experience with Wagner of any kind at the Staatsoper and my first time seeing the Ring live. This performance was interesting to me because, looking at it beforehand, I recognized many of the performers as those that I had seen in R. Strauss operas and in Beethoven's  Fidelio , other operas that require voices comparable in size and stamina to those demanded Wagnerian operas. Oddly, many of these singers were not thrilling to me in other roles, flaws in their voices at times rather evident in this repertoire. The singing here, was, however, more or less excellent. The costuming and sets were, in general, mediocre with a few interesting things here and there. Still, the somewhat incomprehensible improvement of the singers even compared to repertoire with similar demands. General information & synopsis:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Rheingold DAS RHEINGOLD |  Richard Wagner C...

Ah, Fidelio . Beethoven's one and only opera. Beethoven's frustration with the art form, expressed in letter form,  "I assure you, dear Treitschke, that this opera will win me a martyr's crown. You have by your co-operation saved what is best from the shipwreck. For all this I shall be eternally grateful to you," is fascinating given his status as one of the most renowned composers in history. I had always thought, prior to seeing this opera here for the first time in full, that the music was amazing (as can only be expected from Beethoven), but that the drama was static and not particularly moving throughout most of the work. I, at least in part, attribute this to the libretto , despite the fact that three different operas have been based on the same story. An interesting comparison here is the fact that, if we expect Beethoven to have successful operas to his name due to his status as an all-star composer, we expect Schubert to have them because of his stat...