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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Slow and stately, abstract and modern, a hybrid Wagner, September 11, 2007
This review is from: Wagner - Gotterdammerung (DVD)
As the world of the Gods comes crashing down at the end of Wagner's tetralogy, one should feel as if something has been lost with the end of the age of divinity and the advent of the human era. Certainly something momentous has occurred. While I was watching Deborah Polaski as Brunnhilde negotiate this 4 1/2 hour opera in the biggest pair of pants I've ever seen, reminding me of the Talking Head's David Byrne and his "Big Suit", I couldn't help thinking what a sense of relief she felt because the new human era meant a change of clothing. Her big pants are a hoot: she wears several different pair, and if they are meant as a symbol, all that I can think of is that they symbolize an amazingly successful diet. Like much set and costume design coming out of Europe these days, this stage production features abstract geometrical shapes in an austere, minimalist set and strange costumes suggestive of a sharp break with the past (their function, presumably, given the controversial past of this composer and this opera). Gotterdammerung features some of Wagner's most glorious music. I am happy to report that, although Levine conducts the Bayreuther Festspiele using exceptionally slow tempi, the musical performance is splendid. Levine imparts a Furtwangler like grandeur to the opera. It is truly monumental in scope. He carefully articulates Wagner's lengthy melodic lines, making them even more stately and emphasizes the opera's profundity. This is a titanic Gotterdammerung, worthy of the Gods. But such monumentality is frequently undercut by Alfred Kirchner's totally abstract staging and set/costume designer Rosalie's (Gudrun Muller) slightly bizarre sartorial choices. Levine's musical conception, though grand, is traditional. The staging most definitely is not. That makes for an uncomfortable hybrid, at times. I was certainly conscious of it when my attention should have been focused on the opera itself. Bayreuth's beautiful and unique acoustics were splendidly recorded for this 1997 performance. Listening in the crystalline multispeaker DTS 5.1 format, there is a wonderful "you-are-there" feel to the recording. On a good system it sounds great. Levine's musical conception strikes me, at least, as better than the Met performance recorded a decade earlier. He plumbs the depths of Wagner's lofty conception, revealing some of the musical profundity that is not always brought out in lesser and shallower performances. Levine imparts a "lived-in" feeling to this score: he knows it well and has obviously thought about it deeply and for a long time. He has something to communicate and he does so without dawdling or noodling around, despite the length of the performance. The singing is very good, helped by Bayreuth's glorious acoustics. The aforementioned Polaski is excellent, as are Hanna Schwarz as Waltraute, Wolfgang Schmidt as Siegfried, Falk Struckmann as Gunther, Eric Halfvarson as Hagen and Ekkehard Wlaschihaas as Alberich. The combination of Levine's more traditional musical conception, Bayreuth's uniquely 19th Century musical and acoustic atributes and some exceptional singing almost completely offsets the occasionally pointless (if not silly) abstractions that a tradition-denying Europe seems wedded to at this moment in history. The opera runs a lengthy 275 minutes (see what I mean by grand and stately?) spread across 2 discs. It is recorded in 16:9 widescreen, digitally remastered on region code 0 (worldwide) DVDs. The usual menus and languages as well as DGG previews are here. Whatever shortcomings I found in the production design, dwindle in the face of such glorious music. This DVD release is a good investment for all Wagnerians. Not indispensible but certainly desirable. Recommended. Mike Birman
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings, April 1, 2009
This review is from: Wagner - Gotterdammerung (DVD)
Wagner - GotterdammerungThis final installment of the Ring cycle is the designer version of the opera, or, as noted by another reviewer, it's Brunnhilde meets David Byrne in Stop Making Sense. Brunnhilde asks Siegfried: Honey, do I look fat in these pants? The answer is "yes", but to be fair, I think they were meant to represent a horse, since her Valkyrie sister Waltraute also has big pants. Maybe if they trotted around the stage it would look more realistic. Hagen, played by Dick Cheney, is the most convincing actor in the opera, partly because his costume is less outrageous than the others and partly because he conveys a visage of pure evil. Siegfried, played by Opie, could not look less like a hero in his blue polyester play suit. The set is about as minimal as it gets (we don't even get a hint of fire when Siegfied goes to rescue Brunnhilde, for instance, and Siegfried's sword looks like a crosscut saw). In short, like Heaven, this is a place where most of the time nothing happens. Which is a long time, since this opera is VERY LONG. On the other hand, this production looks good on an HDTV, the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, conducted by James Levine, sounds very good, and the singing is excellent. To tell the truth, I don't miss the old standard version of husky singers in helmets with horns bellowing out their numbers in order to be heard above the orchestra, but Rosalie's costumes don't do it for me either. The final scenes of the opera, where Brunnhilde, sung beautifully by Deborah Polaski, brings Siegfried's body to the funeral pyre, returns the ring to the Rhine Maidens, and dies in a glorious conflagration is well worth watching again and again.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
AN IMAGINATIVE TWILIGHT THAT'S WORTH A VIEWING, January 20, 2008
This review is from: Wagner - Gotterdammerung (DVD)
When this production of Wagner's RING was introduced at the Bayreuth Festival it caused quite a stir. People really discussed it and debated it at every intermission and end of performance. Rosalie's sets and costumes were the main topic of discussion. People were not sure how to take them. Today, they don't seem all that controversial to me; in fact they seem tame compared to some of today's Euro Trash Abominations. In my humble opinion they are not my favorite but, they work. I've seen a lot worse. This would not be my first recommendation; yet, I don't find the concepts offensive at all. A creative mind has definitely done some real thinking and applied it to solving some of the Ring's challenges. Many of her solutions really work. I would be interested in seeing the rest of this production; but that has not been recorded or filmed. Now to the music and artists. With James Levine all matters orchestral and musical are in a well seasoned MAESTRO'S hands. He is excellent with a slow, broad interpretation; almost a Furtwangler or a Knappertbusch. Deborah Polaski is a rich voiced Brunnhilde with plenty of stamina and rich focused tone. She leaves all current Wagnerian Sopranos in the dust. She is just the best we had then in 1997. I didn't expect to enjoy Wolfgang Schmidt's Siegfried. I heard him do a disastrous performance of both Siegfrieds in San Francisco and it was horrible. He pleasantly surprised me with a much better performance here; not one of the greats but, more than just acceptable. In fact, he does some lovely mezza voce singing. In conclusion, this is not one of those ESSENTIAL recordings or interpretations yet, I am very glad I watched it and will return to view it again.
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