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17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
FANTASTIC! A BREATH OF FRESH AIR....., June 28, 2004
This review is from: Wagner - Gotterdammerung / Bonnema, DeVol, Iturralde, Kapellmann, Bracht, Westbroek, Zagrosek, Stuttgart Opera (DVD)
Having seen this production in Stuttgart, I have been waiting for this DVD for years! Not only was this "Production of the Year" for 2000 (Operwelt Magazine), it also features Opernwelt's "Singer of the Year", Luana DeVol, who nails the role of Brunhilde vocally and with her grand stage presence (can you say Immolation Scene!!!). I am generally not a fan of modern productions and I understand those who are shocked by something "different", but somehow Konwitschny takes a lot of interesting ideas and blends them into an extremely entertaining interpretation that moves along quite well. Bits of humour are refreshing but absolutely never take away from the seriousness of the great work and, in fact, make for a very refreshing appreciation of Wagner. I have seen a few of Konwitschny's productions through the years and this is his best work yet. As mentioned, I have been waiting a long time to see this production again and I am happy to say it made me smile as I did a few years ago in Stuttgart when I was blown away by it's freshness and and strong performances by all.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
TWILIGHT FOR THE GODS, May 8, 2010
This review is from: Wagner - Gotterdammerung / Bonnema, DeVol, Iturralde, Kapellmann, Bracht, Westbroek, Zagrosek, Stuttgart Opera (DVD)
This "Gotterdammerung" may not work for you if you're looking for total Wagnerian seriousness, but for those who don't mind some humor this proves to be a surprisingly wonderful experience. Each of the four parts of this Ring was entrusted by Stuttgart to a different director. That accounts for the great unevenness in quality between this part and the rest of the cycle. Potentially the greatest weakness of this production is Albert Bonnema, who sings Siegfriend so comically as to be jarring initially. By the end, however, the palpable intensity of his feeling for the character washes through the house in waves of emotion. He doesn't have a particularly great voice, but he invests every line with significance. Luana DeVol, while not a traditional Brunnhilde, gives a delightfully droll interpretation. We have a phenomenal Hagen in Roland Bracht. When he rips open his shirt and bellows for his men, you know something big is about to happen. The Norns (played as bag ladies) are very good, and there is a fantastic chorus. Yet the star might be the orchestra under Lothar Zagrosek. Finally, the mise en scene and directing is first rate. If only Stuttgart had entrusted the rest of this Ring cycle to Mr. Konwitschny! He is truly a talented stage director. For a light-hearted "Gotterdammerung" that still manages to be emotionally gripping, you can hardly do better than this one.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A surprisingly enjoyable production, December 9, 2009
This review is from: Wagner - Gotterdammerung / Bonnema, DeVol, Iturralde, Kapellmann, Bracht, Westbroek, Zagrosek, Stuttgart Opera (DVD)
Despite my strong aversion to Regietheater's controversial concepts, I find Konwitschny's sensible direction of 'Gotterdammerung' (my favourite 'Ring' opera) quite absorbing as a modern-dress staging. The primitive innocence of Siegfried (finely sung and acted by Bonnema) is underlined through his idyllic Tarzan costume: later, the scheming Gibichungs dress him up in a 'civilized' suit. DeVol's chubby Brunnhilde, contrary to what detractors think, suggests an equally naive character, a fairy-tale bride who is content as a housewife in her simple dwelling with a dining-table, chairs, food, drink and flowers (the curtain in the background projects a sylvan landscape), and who (in due course) is victimized by a corrupt world that humiliates her (in Act 2 she enters with hands tied with the long rope dragged by Gunther): though 60 at the time, DeVol possesses a surprisingly indefatigable voice whose tiny vibrato is acceptable to my ears (I'm a fan of Jones and Marton, if you know what I mean!). Special praise goes to Iturralde: the most distinguished male soloist here, he sings a melliflous (bel-canto-ish!) Gunther. The best female member of the cast is Westbroek, a swooningly beautiful Gutrune, both vocally and physically. Despite his brief appearance, Kapellmann's menacing Alberich is no less outstanding (he's a magnificent 'Rheingold' Alberich on the Dohnanyi Decca recording); to some extent, this is also true of the Hagen of Bracht: visually, their duet is the most spine-chilling scene in this production (the nibelung, who dies in his son's arms, is a hunchback with abnormally long fingers and big feet, wearing black shoes and a large white robe - Hagen covers his dead father with the white sheet worn on the latter's shoulder - his 'reduced' stature evoking a deformed dwarf). Vaughn, a black mezzo (chubbier than DeVol), performs a moving angst-ridden Waltraute. The Norns (bag ladies) and Rhinemaidens (glamorous models? pop/movie stars?) are very good trios (Collins, who doubles as the First Norn and Flosshilde, is slightly wobbly in the former role). Zagrosek draws gorgeous sounds from his orchestra: you might (as I did) come across new things that you've never heard before while listening to other recordings of this opera. The Gibichung chorus performs excitingly, especially in Hagen's aria, another memorable highlight. That Konwitschny dispenses with the epic nature of 'Gotterdammerung' is an advantage, since the action takes place on an intimate stage with a small rotating set, bringing the events so close to the audience that they become a part of the performance: the cameras register their reaction, as when most of them discover that the Norns (bag ladies whom they might have met in the streets before their arrival at the theatre) are already on the stage (nearly 5 minutes before the start of the music), and also when the house lights are suddenly switched on soon after Hagen's attempt to wrench the ring from Siegfried's finger, then Brunnhilde (having sent all characters, including Siegfried, off-stage with forget-and-forgive gestures) addresses her peroration to the audience directly, not unlike an Elizabethan 'epilogue' character speaking to a public-theatre audience, complementing the Norns, who are no more than 'prologue' roles; during the concluding moments, the cameras again focus on the audience, some listening with closed eyes while the final stage directions (rather than acted out) are being projected on a black screen. I wish the whole cycle were directed by Konwitschny: the previous instalments of this multi-directed 'Ring' are below standard, compared to this one, which I recommend not only to hardcore Wagnerians who would like to try something different but also to newcomers looking for a light-hearted (though not entirely farcical) staging. An audio version of the performance exists on Naxos, but (the overall vocal quality not being satisfactory for some, if not many, listeners) it may not be as enjoyable as when experienced in sound and vision simultaneously.
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