Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold)

As stated in Monday's introductory post, in May I attended Edmonton Opera's production of Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold), the first opera in Wagner's Ring Cycle.

The Plot:

An angry Nibelung dwarf named Alberich steals magical gold guarded by water nymphs known as the Rhinemaidens. He renounces Love so that he can forge a Ring of Power from the gold and rule over others. By trickery and deception, the Ring is stolen by Wotan, King of the Gods. Alberich retaliates by putting a major curse on the Ring and on whoever possesses it.

Wotan reluctantly gives up the Ring as payment to two Giants he had hired to build Valhalla, so as to avoid giving them the Goddess Freia as payment instead, which he had foolishly agreed to do under the construction contract. Freia's magical Apples of Youth are needed to keep the Gods young and healthy, so it would be disastrous to part with her. Once the Giants have the Ring, the curse kicks in and one kills the other in order to possess the Ring by himself.

The opera ends with all the Gods and Goddesses entering Valhalla, their new home in the heavens. Much to Wotan's annoyance, the Rhinemaidens can still be distantly heard far below, crying and calling for the return of their stolen Rhinegold.

[Production photo by Nanc Price]

The Staging:

Wagner's Ring Cycle has always been notoriously difficult to stage because of its many magical and mythological elements. Edmonton Opera used a modern set, contemporary costumes and giant symbolic air-filled bubbles to represent the Rhinegold. A scaled-down Edmonton Symphony Orchestra played on an elevated bridge above the set. The opera's English subtitles appeared electronically beneath the ESO's bridge, but were sometimes obscured by the giant bubbles. Innovative lighting was used to represent other magical elements. For me, the staging's effectiveness was uneven and the least satisfactory part of the production.

The Music and Singing:

I was pleased by the quality of both. An especially powerful performance was given by the singer who portrayed Alberich the Nibelung dwarf.

A number of secondary characters, arias and recitatives were omitted, bringing the length of the opera down from 2.5 hours to a little over 1.5 hours. But all the big musical moments and characters were present and accounted for!

The Ring Cycle's second opera a year from now will be Die Walküre (The Valkyrie).