Die Walküre

by Richard Wagner

seen at the Royal Festival Hall on 29 June 2016

Opera North's semi-staged semi-concert production of Der Ring des Niblungen is performed in one cycle in London this week. Richard Farnes conducts the Opera North Orchestra throughout the cycle which is staged and lit by Peter Mumford. For the 'first day' of Die Walküre the cast included Michael Weinius as Siegmund, Lee Bissett as Sieglinde, James Creswell as Hunding, Robert Hayward as Wotan, Kelly Cae Hogan as Brünnhilde and Yvonne Howard as Fricka.

Once again, the orchestra, fully visible on the Festival Hall stage, revealed the fabulous richness of Wagner's score under the expert leadership of Richard Farnes. All manner of detail often lost in a less clear acoustic could here be enjoyed, especially in the quieter more intimate moments which develop the central concerns of the story. For example, the string playing accompanying the first moments when Siegmund and Sieglinde regard each other, even before either has any idea who the other is, was delicate and tender. The momentous conversation between Siegmund and the implacable Brünnhilde in Act Two was hushed and grave until Siegmund finally rejected the Valkyrie's call to Valhalla with unexpected but shattering vehemence. At the other end of the dynamic, the great set pieces of the ride of the Valkyries and the magic fire music were delivered with magnificent panache and assurance.

The video projections were more successful on this occasion, starting with a frantic and lurching passage through a wintry forest to the opening storm music, and intimating Hunding's house through a close-up picture of an ash-plank spread across all three screens. The subdued flames of a hearth-fire played across the screens during the act, a subtle precursor of the great conflagration called up by Wotan at the end of the evening to protect his errant daughter. In Act Two the mist-enshrouded mountains of Das Rheingold reappeared, but then back on earth a trickling stream accompanied the flight of Siegmund and Sieglinde, conveniently ready to turn red with blood as first Siegmund and then Hunding fell to Wotan's wrath. For the ride of the Valkyries at the opening of Act Three, the shapes of great black birds flickered menacingly, very appropriate for the aftermath of battle.

The cast was excellent, making a virtue of the unusually constricting performance style on the platform in front of the orchestra. Rather than reacting directly to each other, Michael Weinius as Siegmud and Lee Bissett as Sieglinde sang directly to the audience and mimed their interactions. It was initially strange to see Sieglinde offer an invisible drink on one side of the stage, and then Siegmund accept it hesitantly on the other, but once the convention established itself it became curiously effective, and made the rare occasions when they moved closer together even more intense. James Creswell (Fasolt from yesterday's Das Rheingold) was a powerful Hunding, oppressive and self-assured. The protocol for the death of a character was carried through from the despatch of Fasolt - the singer quietly turns his back to the audience with his arms crossed over his chest; thus both Siegmund and Hunding died at the end of Act Two.

For the gods, Robert Hayward portrayed a wide range of emotions as Wotan, from embarrassed truculence when cornered by Fricka, through despairing frustration and boiling anger to resigned tenderness in all his dealings with Brünnhilde. Yvonne Howard, repeating the role of Fricka, showed the steely resolve that had been hinted at in her performance the night before, while Kelly Cae Hogan rendered Brünnhilde girlish, enthusiastic, confused, rebellious and passionate in equal measure, so that her gradual development throughout the opera was always clear both emotionally and vocally. The final farewell between father and daughter was beautifully managed and brought the evening to a sublime end.