Siegfried

And now, what you've all been waiting for (LOL) -- my report on this year's instalment of Edmonton Opera's gradual staging of Wagner's entire Ring Cycle! If you want to read about the previous instalments, click here.

The Plot:

This third opera in the Ring Cycle is all about "The Hero's Journey" of self-individuation and self-actualization. Accordingly, its young protagonist, Siegfried, starts out as an immature, know-nothing idiot. He doesn't know his parentage (the doomed Siegmund and Sieglinde, who died in the second opera) or his family connections (the mighty but treacherous god Wotan, who is his grandfather). Siegfried is a quintessential "dudebro" -- self-centred, arrogant, callous, brash and, consequently, fearless. But in his favour, he is also guileless and keen to understand the world better.

For that purpose, Siegfried reforges his father's broken sword and goes off to kill the dragon Fafner who hoards a vast treasure trove plus the Ring of Power (from the first opera). Having now tasted blood, Siegfried can suddenly understand the language of a helpful woodland bird who advises him what to do next. In symbolic terms, Siegfried matures and learns to listen to and understand his inner voice of guidance. He is growing up, but still knows no fear.

Siegfried then goes off to rescue the valkyrie Brünnhilde, asleep on a mountaintop behind a curtain of magical fire as Wotan's punishment for her disobedience in opera two. Still fearless, Siegfried proves himself a worthy hero and claims the valkyrie as his bride. The opera ends with the pair's ecstatic love duet. And it is Brünnhilde who finally teaches Siegfried the meaning of fear, namely, the fear of losing her love and his place in her life. The hero has now achieved full maturity. 

The Staging:

The minimalistic set was back, dominated by its usual huge round suspended screen for special effects videos and subtitles, with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra tucked in behind it.

The costumes were back to being modern again. The dragon Fafner's costume looked positively steampunk, as pictured in this next photo. And Wotan, in disguise as "The Wanderer," looked like he was stepping out for a business lunch or something.

The cleverest part of the staging was the use of children's toys and imagery in the first Act to represent Siegfried's immaturity -- a great big teddy bear, a light sabre sword (so Star Wars), a kazoo, and a yoyo. I also appreciate that Wotan's walking staff glowed with a neon accent and was forked -- like his lying tongue.

The Music and Singing:

Young Siegfried proved to be a good dramatic tenor. This pared-down opera does not demand the sheer physical and vocal endurance of the typical Wagnerian heldentenor usually cast in that role. I thought Brünnhilde and Fafner both shone in their respective roles.

The Gods in Valhalla Get a Reprieve From Their Downfall:

The Ring Cycle's fourth and concluding opera is Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods). But it will not be staged next year, alas. Its date is TBD -- "to be determined." Last year, Edmonton Opera took a major financial bath when a new Canadian opera it had commissioned, cast and staged had to be cancelled at the last second right before opening night for reasons beyond its control. Until grants and income rebound from that disaster, Wagner will have to wait. I hope The Twilight of the Gods does get staged sooner rather than later, though.

On the bright side, I have tickets to next year's The Magic Flute, a favourite opera of mine, so at least that's something to look forward to.

[All production photos by Nanc Price]

Die Walküre (The Valkyrie)

Last year I revealed my one-item bucket list -- to see Wagner's four-opera epic Der Ring des Nibelungen (usually referred to as "the Ring Cycle") performed live. And as if on command (LOL), Edmonton Opera miraculously decided to stage its own Ring Cycle of one component opera per season over the next four years. So in 2024 I went to the first opera, Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold), which I wrote about here. And now I've just attended the second opera, Die Walküre (The Valkyrie).

The Plot:

Wotan, Ruler of the Gods, fathered many children outside marriage, including a twin brother-and-sister duo named Siegmund and Sieglinde, as well as nine warrior goddesses called Valkyries. Wotan's favourite Valkyrie daughter is his beloved Brünnhilde. Siegmund and Sieglinde, who were separated as children, meet again as adults and fall in love. Their incestuous union angers the Gods. The warrior Siegmund is supposed to win an upcoming battle to the death, but Wotan turns against him and orders Brünnhilde not to assist Siegmund in the fight.

When Brünnhilde learns that Sieglinde is pregnant, she decides to disobey Wotan and protect both lovers. An enraged Wotan appears on the battlefield and shatters Siegmund's sword, ensuring his death. Brünnhilde rescues Sieglinde and takes her to a place of safety so her pregnancy can continue.

Wotan tells Brünnhilde he will punish her for disobeying him by removing Brünnhilde's divinity, putting her into a deep sleep on a mountainside, and letting the first man who finds her "claim her as his wife." Brünnhilde negotiates to mitigate this rape so that only a worthy hero will be able to reach her. Wotan concedes and encircles the mountainside with a protective wall of flames as he leaves Brünnhilde to her fate. 

The Staging:

I was much happier with this opera's staging compared to last year's uneven efforts. The set was minimalistic and dominated by a huge round suspended screen which was used for special effects videos and subtitles. The scaled-down Edmonton Symphony Orchestra was tucked discreetly behind the set. Costumes were more traditional looking than last year's modern clothing.

The Music and Singing:

Both were excellent! The singers who performed as Siegmund and Sieglinde were especially compelling with their arias and duets. And the famous orchestral piece "The Ride of the Valkyries" was suitably thrilling to hear. Die Walküre is my favourite opera of the Ring Cycle and I enjoyed this performance of it tremendously! What a treat!

Of course, because this is Edmonton and we're in the midst of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the stage during intermission sported a different video projection --

Yes, GO OILERS, Mighty Warriors of Valhalla!

The Ring Cycle's third opera a year from now will be Siegfried.

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).

My One-Item Bucket List

I've never really maintained a formal bucket list. It's just not my style. Oh sure, there are things I'd like to experience and places I'd like to go. Maybe they'll happen and maybe they won't. I don't get too bent out of shape about it. Que sera sera, that's what I say. And I have already done some bucket-worthy things and gone on some bucket-worthy trips, so it's not like I'm deprived or anything.

But secretly, I do have ONE item on my bucket list.

I would love to see Wagner's operatic epic Der Ring des Nibelungen (usually referred to as "the Ring Cycle") performed live. It consists of four very long, very German operas based on Germanic-Norse folklore that is massive in scale and epic in subject-matter. The Ring Cycle concerns nothing less than Greed, Betrayal, Heroism and the Downfall of The Gods. Tolkien stole its basic plot to write The Lord of the Rings but left out all the gods and stuck in wizards and hobbits instead.

Yes, I've seen various Ring Cycle productions on film or heard recordings of them. And they're great! But I'd love to see a live production, which is not terribly easy to do without paying for major travel and tickets purchased often years in advance.

However, The Gods (or someone like them)* have smiled on me recently! My city's own Edmonton Opera has decided to stage a Ring Cycle! There will be one opera of the Cycle performed each year over the next four years. The operas will be scaled-down versions, with a lot of the blah-blah-blah parts omitted, but still with the basic plots and all the famous musical parts intact. This will make the operas easier and less expensive to stage and at the same time, more palatable to the Younger Audience (Millennials and Gen Z, not us old Boomers) that the Opera Biz is trying so desperately to attract for the future.

Hey, that's good enough for me! I often say anyway that the Great Classics of every old art form usually need a serious editor (I'm looking at YOU, Shakespeare, Dickens and Melville) so why shouldn't Wagner be subject to some judicious pruning as well?

In May, Edmonton Opera performed the first opera of the Ring Cycle -- Das Rheingold.  I'll tell you about it in my next post. I know you will all be on pins and needles until then, right? Right?

But in the meantime, here's a question for you. Answers on a postcard please**

*   phrase shamelessly stolen from Dr Spo of Spo-Reflections

** phrase blatantly stolen from John Gray of Going Gently