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REVIEW OF THE CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY RING - SIEGFRIED, September 27, 2006 (third cycle) Toronto, Ontario
Director Francois Girard’s elaborate set is the first star of this opera. Above the stage, a space like a giant 3D cartoon bubble full of rubble occupied two-thirds of the space. A sleeping Siegfried sat on a tree stump.
A white Bigfoot with a rope around his neck hugged Siegfried then remained on stage during the first scene. This annoying distracting character was supposed to the Bear. At times he rubbed himself on the stump characteristic of the Charmin bear. Apparently his hair was woven from four different colors of yak hair and took 90 hours to achieve its look. From my Row 1 seat, he looked like Bert Lahr, the Cowardly Lion. Ninety hours could have been better spend adjusting the spotlights so they didn’t bother the audience.
I had been warned of the "white cotton pyjamas" that worn by everyone in this opera. I had mused that possibly it represented the tabula rasa that was Siegfried. Now, reflecting back, the costumes could have been a reference to the mummified bodies - everyone dressed in white, ready to go at any time. However, this amount of communication between directors would seem unlikely.
Siegfried (Christian Franz) and Mime (Robert Kunzli) were of fine voice. There was no humor and less action than usual in this scene, with Mime spending much of his time in a hole. The Wanderer (Peteris Eglitis for Pavlo Hunka) also in white pyjamas with wispy hair and beard. At times I mistook him for the Bear.
From my front seat vantage, I periodically examined the rubble bubble. The rubble was held by invisible strings and contained tree branches, vases, picture frames, crosses, tools candlesticks, the crown (from the Rhinegold tarnhelm), pieces of Valhalla, body parts and dead bodies - some of whom were illuminated and moved (real people) in tandem with the leitmotifs, I found it a perfect statement of the collective unconscious, of all that went into creating Siegfried. Many audience members were less enthralled that I was.
The singing in the forging scene was strong, however there was little real action. The broken Nothung was lowered into a red-lit hole in the floor. Fire was represented by perhaps 20 hands moving and "flickering". Nothung mostly made itself (perhaps the real metaphor for Siegfried).
Act 2 was set at a 90o angle to Act 1, as if we were looking from above the rubble bubble to the top of Siegfried’s head as he sat on his stump. Dead bodies littered the stage. Alberich’s (Richard Paul Fink) return was welcomed as was Fafner’s (Richard Paul Fink). The men sang strongly in this opera, with Wotan fading a bit near the end.
The Forest Bird (also in white) flew gracefully, and was attractively portrayed and beautifully sung by Laura Whalen.
The dragon was fascinatingly portrayed by dancers. From a pile of white bodies, the dancers rose magically from the stage (by hidden wires); first one, then two, then three. The upper one seemed to be standing weightlessly on the hands of the other two below - a human triangle. At times the triangle moved as one. At no time did it represent a dragon. Later it was suggested that it was only the dragon’s mouth; however that takes more imagination than I possess.
In Act 3, Brunhilde (Susan Bullock, played in Cycle 2 by Frances Ginzer) awoke truly radiant, and ably portrayed the range of emotions from joy, confusion, fear, doubt to love. Siegfried’s voice showed signs of strain, however Brunnhilde’s voice was strong and true. The opera ended with a chaste kiss.
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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