Mainly Opera and Ballet
Richard Strauss’s last major (three-act) opera, completed in 1940 was not given a public performance until 1952, three years after his death, though a private dress rehearsal was arranged in 1944. It is little performed — but why? The music is wonderful, particularly the remarkable Act III with its sublime orchestral interlude, “Jupiter’s Resignation”. And …
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 …
A young man brought up in a foreign country encounters an old man who gets in his way, so he sweeps him aside with his sword, not knowing it is his grandfather. Shades of the Oedipus myth here, but the curse comes not from marrying his mother but taking the Ring. The old man, Wotan, …
The first two operas of this cycle experienced slight problems: orchestra lights failed a couple of times during Rheingold, and stage backdrop lighting flashed and failed in Walküre. But Siegfried saw a more serious disruption when the eponymous hero failed to show up for Act I. Why, we were not told, but the role was admirably …
