Observations by Barbara Casey
It sounds more like what you want to shout with great jubilance and gusto at the end of The Ring. I hear it means the Twilight of the Gods from a good source – Maestro James Conlon – but it’s more of a shout of joy for me. When you first hear that this the 4th and final episode is 5 hours and 45 minutes, it is enough for nightmares. And, in fact, I did have one. Woke up in a real sweat - could I really do it? But, the reality was that I loved it and could have sat for another 5 hours and 45 minutes if it had been as enthralling and bewitching as the first 5 hours and 45 minutes. The Ring ends with a tremendous volley of sound, images and color.
Siegfried in his wild yellow wig and clown-like outfit won me over. I was quite sorrowful for him as I saw that he was being set up by the Gibichungs brother and sister and their half brother Hagen, son of Alberich, who appeared to be a puppet to his father’s ambitious agenda. But one is not sure. Treachery has few fathers or mothers.
I learned from Maestro Conlon that Wagner came to hate choruses but was still under the spell of the French Grand Opera at the time he wrote Gotterdammerung. It was quite surprising that Wagner wrote the operas in inverse order but then wrote the music front to back. Twenty years went by during the time Siegfried fell asleep in the forest and when Wagner turned to his piano again to write the music for The Ring. However, the director used the chorus quite inventively. At first they seemed like well trained ROTC officers as they turned right and then left and swung their light sabers to emphasize what was being sung by the protagonists. I loved the way the chorus was used throughout the final act.
Brunnhilde and Siegfried have a wonderful moment together at the beginning of this opera but then it all goes downhill – figuratively and literally as they have been on the mountaintop in her hiding place. But only after he has given her the ring as his token of devotion. Soon after one of her Valkryie sisters arrives to fill her in on all the gossip from Valhalla and the gods and to warn her to give the ring back to the Rhine Maidens in order to protect herself from the curse. Because she is so in love with Siegfried, she refuses to part with the ring and has a bitter parting with her sister. After being tricked by Siegfried into coming to the castle where she is hailed as the bride of Gunther and learns he plans to marry Gutrune, she plots revenge with Hagan and Gunther. Siegfried is then given a truth serum and recalls his life including his love for Siegfried. This triggers the chain of events that leads to his death , Gunther’s death, and Brunnhilde’s death as she leaps into the funeral pyre aboard her faithful horse Grane. She tells the Rhinemaidens to recover the ring from the ashes and return it to the Rhine.
As Valhalla bursts into flames, the director brought the opera to a stunning conclusion by deconstructing the stage and revealing the behind-the-scenes riggings and even the prompters. It was a brilliant idea and it was brilliantly executed.
Last night I felt very bereft that The Ring was starting all over again and I wouldn’t be there. That is how seductive this production is.
