Mainly Opera and Ballet
Less than two years after the end of the first world war an opera on the loss of a loved one resonated with contemporary society, and was a huge success. Its 23-year old composer Erich Korngold already had two successful one-act operas to his name and this new 3-act work attracted fierce bids, premiering simultaneously …
This was a revelation: first the acoustic, where singers can be heard clearly wherever they stand on stage; second the wonderfully subtle conducting of Ádám Fischer, who produced a funeral march in Götterdämmerung that sang with unforgettable emotion, helped by a well-controlled brass section; and third the semi-staging. See my review in The Daily Telegraph, which …
The overall conception of this production is seediness, but the main problem is a failure of dramaturgy and linkage to the music. There is a sword, originally held by Siegmund, but Siegfried uses a machine-gun for killing Fafner, and although Hagen brings out a spear for the opposing oaths of Brünnhilde and Siegfried, he simply …
