Observations by Barbara Casey
Although I think I am tending more toward Ring Tusch than Ring Head after almost six hours for “Siegfried”, including James Conlin’s lecture, it certainly defied expectation. A spectacular explosion of colors, music and emotions was close to a sensory overload.
There was a welcome dose of buffoonery in this opera with Mime even lighting up a cigar in the midst of the deep forest. Obviously no smoking yet in Nieblingville. I thought Siegfried’s wild blonde wig and Six Pack shirt with wolf or bear pants established him well as the naïf adolescent and he was most touching when he learns that his mother died in childbirth.
I marveled at Siegfried’s stamina as a musician. He is on stage in all but one scene as I recall – the one in which Wotan and Mime take turns asking each other three questions. I liked the way that Mime removed his head now and then for dramatic effect. And the better to enjoy his expressive face.
Of course everyone wants to use Siegfried to recover the gold and the Ring but he is cheerfully oblivious to this seduction for most of the show. He is looking for fear and a friend. And finds his first friend briefly in an ethereal sounding forest bird who is wonderfully encased in a puppet with giant wings that give the illusion of flying.
Then after slaying the dragon (the giant Fafner who is guarding the gold and the Ring), killing Mime after a wonderful exchange in which Siegfried can read Mime’s mind and learns he hates him and plans to poison him, and encountering Wotan and breaking his spear, Siegfried still must conquer the ring of fire and make his way to Brunnhilde. Of course she has been resting through the first two acts and can sing Wagner’s impossible notes with great power and agility. Although Siegfried is a hero among heroes, still I wished he could have had more than 25 minutes rest before tackling that difficult duet. He sounded understandably a little exhausted.
I thought the idea of stripping Brunnhilde of parts of her dress as she sang of her new vulnerability transforming from warrior to woman was ingenious. And I loved her horse sleeping upside down next to her and then regaining its legs as she awoke. While the kabuki like performers who traversed the stage throughout added to most of the scenes, I wanted them to take a break during the final love duet. It was disconcerting for me to see the figures continuing to pace across the stage when I was trying to concentrate on Siegfried and Brunnhilde. They interrupted the flow for me.
We are now on the home stretch of The Ring. It’s already been a powerful and transcending experience. I understand now the reason to experience the four in a compressed time period. It compounds exponentially.
I have often thought of giving the Ring cycle a go at Beyreuth. But I hear the seats are wood – so I am very glad that the Ring came to me in the comfortable upholstery of the Dorothy Chandler.
