Customer Reviews

Wagner: Die Walkure [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The opening bars of Die Walküre immediately establish the danger and excitement in the tale to follow. Zubin Mehta's first downbeat conjures up that tempestuous, ferocious flight, as stage projections show running wolves, passing trees, the legs of a man fleeing whom we eventually see stumbling into Hunding's dwelling. Peter Seifert is the Siegmund, Petra Maria Schnitzer Sieglinde, Matti Salminen Hunding. The stage is dominated with the liveliest tree I have ever seen in a Ring production, always changing hues, and importing an alphabet when Sieglinde gives the name Siegmund to her beloved brother. Costumes are eloquently primitive, Siegliende appearing bound by a rope around her neck, clearly Hunding's chattel that must not get away. The imaginative vision of La Fura des Baus with which we first got acquainted in Rheingold continues and grows in this Walküre. The second act brings back the strong, riveting Wotan of Juha Usitalo and the Fricka of Ana Larsson. It also introduces the powerful Brünhilde of Jennifer Wilson, and without reservations one can honestly say: at last, a Brünhilde! One of the joys of this ring is that the voices are firm, secure, in all cases fresh and young (well, we know Salminen is mature, but the voice is rock-solid and overwhelming, as if the years hadn't passed). The singing is always musical, subtle when called upon by the text, and soaring when they need be. The ride of the Walkyres is as close to a ride as one has ever seen (symbolically achieved)..... with an element of terror in their stride. It is all quite astounding. The final Wotan-Brünhilde scene is eloquent and powerful, with the scenic background, always dynamic, reflecting the momentous parting of father-god and human-to-be daughter. The music, the staging, the singing indeed embody the momentuous rupture of the old order, as indeed from this moment on the demise of the old gods becomes inevitable. Twilight really begins here, with Brünhilde's disobedience and embrace of humanity, which is why Wagner treated Walküre as the first opera in the cycle. The long dénouement of Götterdammerung is the final catastrophe for the gods and the rise of humankind, with Siegliende's soaring phrase for her son in the third act of Walküre, sealing the cycle.

This production is a treat. If one doesn't like what one sees, one can close the eyes and see with the ears as the singing and playing are stupenduous. The sound on blu ray is sumptuous, demonstration quality if you have surround; it's true high-definition sound. And, by the way, there is real fire on stage when the Fire Music plays. I can hardly wait for the remaining two operas, particularly with the much praised young Canadian Lance Ryan as Siegfried whom I've never heard except in YouTube. One is looking forward to much pleasure.

I am wildly enthusiastic about this performance. The singing is uniformly excellent, Mehta proves to be a superb conductor and his orchestra play like angels. The busy production, frequently involving creative and colorful back projections, seemed to my eyes to be intelligent and enhancing of Wagner's vision. It will not be to everyone's taste but it is a performance that demands to be experienced by the many fans of this inexhaustable masterpiece. Excellent sound and visuals. Please see my more comprehensive review given for the non Blu-ray version.

After their earth shaking Rheingold this production of Die Walküre is more traditional: rather static with long dialogues. It does not have the "action flick" Star Wars style of the prelude, but the basic design is similar with the focus back on the dialogue. The colors are darker and more brooding and the casting has been made with emphasis on the voice rather than physical appearance. With one exception the Walkuries are a formidable lot. Not be messed with! One or two had huge breast shields over just the left breast giving them a rather wierd lop-sided appearance. The mature Siegmund looked more like his twin sister's father. It would have been a better visual fit if Brünnhilde and Sieglinde had changed roles. Having said that the singing is really very good and the movie style focus on carefully planned close ups enables one to fit the acting / facial expressions to the text with considerable benefit to the better understanding of what is a complex story line. A minor concern here was the English translation used. It dates from 1996 but I found it in many places a bit silly and not always comprehensible.

The production continues the fantastic style of Rheingold but with fewer options to be so spectacular. The use of acrobats is not really explained in either the booklet or the "making of" short doco - (better than that for Rheingold but not by a lot). I feel this is a frustrating shortcoming of this series. La Fura dels Baus are clearly a remarkable mob who have transformed Wagner in a way no other producer has attempted before, but we are told absolutely nothing about them anywhere. Why on earth not?

I am not wholly convinced by Mehta and the orchestra who don't quite catch the extra thrust and fire that one got with say Solti. They are more than competent and beautifully recorded but with such a special production one inevitably looks for a bit more. Despite a few regrets this continues to be a remarkable re-invention of how the Ring is seen and all credit to La Fura dels Baus and the immensely talented production and lighting team. I can strongly recommend this disc and overall it is now my preferred version although I will still return to Boulez and Haenchen from time to time, not to forget my old Solti CDs.

Wow, what an evening of home entertainment!! Friends came over and being very tired, I was not really looking forward to a 4 hour Wagner opera. But that rapidly changed as we became immersed in this fabulous production. And yes, it is fabulous from all points of view, even better than Rheingold. The staging and special effects were mind boggling, the music itself sublime, the singing and acting sensational, the orchestra brilliant, all combining to keep us riveted to our seats. It was a cold night and I was so engrossed in the opera the fire went out!!!

Special mention needs to be made of the acting and singing of Juha Uusitalo in the role of Wotan. Few male singers move me but his performance was heart wrenching both in the scene where he was forced to decide to have his son Siegmund and daughter Sieglinde murdered and in the final scene with his other daughter Brunnhilde. The rest of the cast was not far behind as all sang and acted their roles passionately and convincingly. And that takes some doing in a storyline involving murder, incest, deception and adultery but fortunately set to glorious music which they all sang beautifully.

Unfortunately (for me) my wife dislikes traditional operas like Traviata, Aidia, La Boheme but she reveled in this Wagner production and loved every minute of it. This was after a bit of moaning at the start about having to sit through a 4 hour opera - she really was not looking forward to it. What better recommendation could a production get?

Yes there were a few odd moments where the symbolism of the scenery escaped us but overall it is one of the most memorable opera videos we have ever experienced. The video quality via Blu Ray was excellent and the audio of demonstration standards with solid deep bass, great dynamic range and first class clarity overall.

This disc should be in every opera lovers collection and might even convert a few others, like my wife, who are generally negative about the genre. If you do not have it yet, place an order NOW!!!