Because I do not have my own computer, my only access to the Internet is either at work or at various internet cafes. I can only use my computer at work for personal pursuits during my lunch hour, so I usually spend most Sundays at an internet cafe called "Netzone" on 32nd Street between Broadway and 5th Avenue. This is basically the only place I can listen to internet radio broadcasts and anything else with sound. There are only two drawbacks to being here - one is I tend to get distracted from my actual "work" (i.e writing and E-mails and occasionally critiques for the various science fiction writing forums) with the many wonderful games on Yahoo and MSN or with surfing, the other is that Netzone plays a lot of very loud music, mostly either rap (complete with profanity and racist lyrics) or candy-apple rock (in Korean, yet! Although there was a nice riff on Grieg's "Solveig Song" in there somewhere), which interferes with listening to classical music and opera no matter how loud I turn up the computer or the earphones. It's usually OK when the broadcast is at reasonable volume, but a lot of singer pianissimis, as well as orchestral subtleties, get lost. Still, this cafe charges only $15 for a whole day (up to about 16 hours), it's comfortable, and the only remotely similar-priced internet cafe (EasyEverything on 42nd Street) is a rip-off where half the computers don't work and there's no access to internet broadcasts at all.
It was under these circumstances that I was listening to what seemed to be an otherwise superb reading of Die Walküre from the BBC Proms on Sunday - the BBC, bless them, archives their broadcasts for up to a week. In addition to the noise distractions, I was also concentrating on writing this blog's first post, so I wasn't giving the opera quite the attention it deserved. Also, there were several server problems that made me have to start the broadcast over from the beginning and fast forward - unfortunately, the BBC's media player fast-forwards only in increments of 5 and 15 minutes and doesn't rewind. Therefore, what follows is more random thoughts than a true "review".
That said, I could see why the reviews in the British press were raves. I've already mentioned how much I love Covent Garden's new Music Director, Antonio Pappano (universally known as Tony). Having heard him conduct excerpts from Tristan und Isolde, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung on the two Wagner discs he did with Placido Domingo, I was eager to hear how he would handle an entire Wagner opera, especially considering that it was as a Wagner conductor that he first won international acclaim when he replaced Christoph von Dohnanyi for Siegfried in Vienna in 1993. Some critics who saw Pappano conducting the same forces at the Royal Opera House the week before complained that while he got all the individual moments right, he didn't "connect" them enough to bring out the architecture of the entire opera. That might actually be true, but I think, again, that if I sensed that at all it might simply be because I couldn't give the opera my full attention. Pappano's usual qualities - passion, drama, warmth, immediacy, sympathy for and intense support of singers - made the performance electric, particularly in the love music of the first act. I was also struck by just how much the opening sounded like a driving rainstorm, with each cello note an individual drop beating on a rooftop.
As eager as I was to hear Pappano conduct this opera, I was even more eager to hear Bryn Terfel sing his first Wotans. While I'll admit he came off better than he did on his Wagner album under Abbado (a great conductor, of course, but I'm not quite convinced of him as a Wagnerian), he didn't sound like he has quite enough power and authority to be ideal for the role yet - a bit of a surprise considering the magnificent Dutchman monologue he recorded on his Opera Arias CD with James Levine, and his voice seemed a little smaller than on other broadcasts/recordings or in live performance. This might be due to the size of Royal Albert Hall - 6,000 seats. I did notice some telling word-painting, and if I were intimately familiar with the opera or had a libretto in front of me I would have been able to appreciate it more. Wotan's Farewell, though, was magnificent, full of passion and sorrow (I personally, would have taken the last "Leb'wohl!" pianissimo, but that's really picky). And his cry of "GEH!" when he kills Hunding sent chills up my spine. Still, whether Wotan will indeed be Terfel's greatest role as many thought at the beginning of his career, or if he will be this century's first great Wotan, still remains to be seen.
As for the title role, I was at Lisa Gasteen's Met debut as Aida in 1997, and was very disappointed that she did not come back until just this past season - as Sieglinde. She was a little shaky in the "Hojotoho!"s, but the rest of the role is virtually at mezzo level. She struck me as very competent but not overwhelming; she was most impressive during the Death Annunciation scene. Incidentally, it was at this point when the computer got "stuck" and RealPlayer was playing the exact same phrase over and over again. I would like to give Gasteen another chance with Brünnhilde, and ideally to hear this under better circumstances, but I think Verdi suits her better. I'd like to see what Violeta Urmana or possibly Nina Stemme could do with the role.
I find Waltraud Meier far more convincing in German soprano roles than in French mezzo roles. For one thing, her lower register is the weakest part of her voice, often sounding rather curdled. I don't know whether this was planned or not, but the quality of Meier's voice suggested that Sieglinde is a not a sweet young innocent but a middle-aged woman who had been trapped in a miserable marriage to Hunding for many years, rejuvenated by her love for Siegfried. I prefer a brighter, fresher, "younger" voice in this role, but Meier's characterization more than made up for any vocal flaws - rather like her Eboli on the DVD of Don Carlos. I am now very interested to hear her Kundry in Parsifal, reputedly her greatest role, when she does it at the Met in May 2006.
I remember being shocked at just how good a singer of Wagner Placido Domingo is when I saw him do Siegmund at the Met in 1997. His two aforementioned Wagner albums with Tony only escalated this impression, and his Parsifal (also at the Met, in 2004) was nothing to sneeze at either. I don't think his Siegmund here was quite on the level if the one at the Met but still very, very good. As a matter of fact, I think I prefer him in German opera to Italian or French, at least at this point in his career. Even though German isn't exactly his best language, Domingo's voice is more sheerly beautiful than that of many heldentenors, and he brings a lyricism to this music - particularly wonderful in the first act - that some of them can't or won't. And yes, as we all know, he's 64 and sounds 20 years younger. Certainly his cries of "Wälse! Wälse!" make this horrendously difficult moment sound like the easiest thing in the world. His best work, though, like that of Gasteen's, was in the Death Annunciation scene, in Siegmund's rejection of Valhalla because he would never see Sieglinde again.
I confess, though that the singer who most made me sit up and take notice in terms of sheer voice was Rosalind Plowright. I had not heard much of her as a soprano, but I know she had an excellent reputation - she recorded Il Trovatore with Domingo under Giulini about 20 years ago. She recently (I think within the last 5 years) made the transition to mezzo-soprano, and it suits her very well. I didn't notice details of characterization, but the voice is rich, warm and powerful, almost contraltoish. I'm definitely going to seek out more of her soprano work. Erik Halvarson was an appropriately black-voiced, nasty Hagen. The Valkyries were all very good but nobody stood out from the others.
What really bothered me here was the fact that the BBC announcers seemed desperate to turn this into The Placido Domingo Show. Even worse, they can't even pronounce his name properly! The first syllable has the "a" in "car", not the "a" in "cat", guys! * I am aware that Domingo was the biggest star in the cast, although Bryn and Tony are well on their way up there and Gasteen and Plowright are certainly very well thought of in England if not quite major international stars. And yes, this was Domingo's very long-awaited Proms debut, and I doubt that there is really anyone else today who can sing Siegmund as well as he can (except possibly Ben Heppner, who I don't think will do it). But I found the implication that no one else involved with this concert was worthy of interest, or that everyone listening has to be a slavering Domingo fan with no interest in anything but their idol, including what he is actually singing, insulting - and frankly, it diminishes Domingo as well. Unfortunately, in the case of the Proms audience, I suspect it's at least partially true - apparently there were quite a few people who left after Domingo was finished in Act II to try to get his autograph (and missed "The Ride of the Valkyries"???). I am not certain because I fast forwarded most of the intermission features, but I believe that Domingo was the only member of the cast interviewed (everyone else was "talking heads"). On the other hand, everybody else was very well applauded, and Tony got the biggest hand of the night - even the announcer admitted that he was the hero of the hour.
Again, since I was listening to this on a Sunday and the broadcast "expired" the day after, I deeply regret that I was not able to listen to it more than once or go back and review certain things. I'm sure that plenty of people will have recorded the broadcast and I can borrow or trade for someone's copy, so I can listen to this in more detail with a libretto. I'm looking forward to it. Who knows? There might even be an "official" release of this broadcast sometime within the next 50 years. Even if not, there will be DVDs coming of the staged performances of the entire cycle. Worse comes the worse, if the production turns out to be ridiculous, I'll just listen with my eyes closed.
*And by the way, it's Ro-BEHR-to, not Ro-BUR-to, Alagna!
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