Oberon's Glade

Tag: Das Rheingold

  • RHEINGOLD from Australia

    Das Rheingold

    The State Opera of South Australia mounted Australia’s first home-grown production of Wagner’s RING Cycle in 2004; conducted by Asher Fisch and directed by Elke Neidhardt (who recently passed away), the production – which made international operatic headlines – was recorded live and issued on CD in excellent sound.

    I’d already heard and enjoyed Act I of the production’s WALKURE and was equally impressed by the RHEINGOLD. Mr. Fisch, leading the Adelaide Symphony, has an sense of pacing the work that seems at once propulsive and spacious, and he revels in revealing layers of the orchestration that make the opera seem fresh. The playing is rich and there’s a fine sense of grandeur and sonic depth.

    The cast for the most part is very fine, and the Alberich – John Wegner – is simply superb. This bass-baritone, with a 25-year career in the opera world, knows the ins-and-outs of this treacherous role and sings it with power and passion.

    John Bröcheler – who I heard as Don Giovanni and Nabucco at New York City Opera in the 1980s – is a somewhat blustery Wotan; his singing is not always beautiful but it’s surely characterful…a god drunk on his own power. Excellent giants (Andrew Collis and David Hibbard) and Mime (Richard Greager), and a vocally alluring Erda (Liane Keegan). Christopher Doig (who passed away in 2011) steers a middle ground between lyric and dramatic-character tenor as Loge. The Rhinemaidens are well-blended and along with Mr. Wegner they make the opera’s opening scene vivid, finely abetted by the conductor.  

    WAGNER Das Rheingold • Asher Fisch, conductor; John Bröcheler (Wotan); John Wegner (Alberich); Christopher Doig (Loge); Richard Greager (Mime); Andrew Collis (Fasolt); David Hibbard (Fafner); Elizabeth Campbell (Fricka); Kate Ladner (Freia); Liane Keegan (Erda); Timothy DuFore (Donner); Andrew Brunsdon (Froh); Natalie Jones (Woglinde); Donna-Maree Dunlop (Wellgunde); Zan McKendree-Wright (Flosshilde)

  • Wagner in Spain

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    My beautiful soprano-friend Erika Wueschner is currently in Barcelona singing Freia in DAS RHEINGOLD at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. In this production photo Erika is with the Japanese mezzo-soprano Mihoko Fujimura, who is singing Fricka. More details here. Watch the finale of the opera here.

  • Palazzo Vendramin

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    Click on the image to enlarge.

    Late in the evening of February 12, 1883, Richard Wagner sat down at his piano in the Palazzo Vendramin, Venice, and played the Rhinemaidens’ Song from DAS RHEINGOLD. Wagner had been in poor health for weeks, and had come south with his family from Bayreuth following the 1882 festival to recuperate in the warmer climate of Italy. Cosima was with him that night as he finished the Rhinemaiden theme, and he said to her: “I am fond of them, these creatures of the deep with their longings.”

    The next day, February 13th, Wagner felt unwell and decided to stay in his room; Cosima heard him talking to himself and shuffling thru his papers. She went down to luncheon with the children but suddenly the maid rushed in saying that Wagner was calling for his wife. Cosima dashed blindly from the dining room, running head-long into a doorframe which did not deter her. She reached her husband’s side just as he was collapsing of heart failure. His pocket watch fell to the floor. “My watch!” he exclaimed as the life drained out of him. For hours on end, Cosima remained in the room, cradling Wagner’s body. At last she was prevailed upon to return to reality for the sake of her children. Wagner’s coffin was transported back to Bayreuth and he was buried in the garden at Wahnfried. Cosima lived on for nearly fifty years before joining her husband in his resting place.

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    My friend Kokyat was recently in Venice and he very kindly stopped to photograph the Palazzo Vendramin for me. As someone with a mortal dislike of travel, I’m so grateful to have these images of one of the very few places that I would actually love to visit; Bayreuth is another fantasy destination. If only I could simply be there without having to get there.

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    The Palazzo Vendramin houses a Wagner museum in the rooms where the composer lived during his last weeks; the main floor of the building is given over to a casino. When Kokyat walked in, he was urged to buy chips and gamble but he declined.

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    Cosima Wagner kept a detailed diary throughout her marriage to the great composer. The story of his playing of the Rhinemaiden music on the evening before his death marked the journal’s last entry. Although she lived on for decades, her diary ended with her husband’s death.

    All photos by Kokyat.