Wagner's Dream: The Making of the Metropolitan Opera's New Ring of the Niebelungen/Twilight of the Gods: The Ultimate Wagner Ring Collection
2013; Routledge; Volume: 69; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2769-4046
Autores Tópico(s)Musicology and Musical Analysis
ResumoWagner's Dream: The Making of the Metropolitan Opera's New Ring of the Nlebelungen. Susan Froemke, director. (Deutsche Grammophon B008MXMGHC; 114:00)Twilight of the Gods: The Ultimate Wagner Ring Collection. Deborah Voigt, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Mojca Wedmann, Wendy Bryan Harmer, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Erin Morley, Tamara Mumford, Lisette Oropesa, Lindsay Ammann, Marjorie Elinor Dix, Molly Fillmore, Eve Giglotti, Kelly Cae Hogan, Mary Ann McCormick, Mary Phillips, Heidi Melton, Maria Radner, soprano; Patricia Bardon, Stephanie Blythe, Waltraud Meier, Elizabeth Bishop, mezzo soprano; Jonas Kaufmann, Jay Hunter Morris, Richard Croft, Adam Deigel, Gerhard Siegel, tenor; Iain Paterson, Dwayne Croft, baritone; Bryn Terfel, bass baritone; Hans-Peter Konig, Eric Owens, Franz-Josef Selig, bass. (Deutsche Grammophon B0017249-02; 81:13, 77:24)Das Rheingold: Weia! Waga! Woge, du Welle, Fing eine diese Faust, gemahl, erwache, Ihr andern harrt bis Abend hier, Bin ich nun frei, Weiche, Wotan, weiche, Heda! Hodo! Die Walkure: Wintersturme wichen dem Wonnemond, Nun zaume dein Ross . . . Hojotoho, So ist es denn aus mit den weigen Gottern, Hojotojo! Hojotoho! In festen Schlaf, Wer meines Speeres Spitze furchtet. Siegfried: Hoho! hoho! hohei! Nun sing! Ich lausche dem Gesang, Dir Unweisen ruf ich's ins Ohr, Heil dir, Sonne! Sangst du mir nicht. Gotterdammerung: Zu neuen Taten, Hier sitz ich zur Wacht, Gross Gluck und Heil, Erratst du auch dieser Raben Geraun, Fliegt heim, ihr Raben!Two hundred years after the birth of Richard Wagner, the world continues to grapple with this brilliant but troubled genius and an artistic legacy that turned the artistic world upside down. Whether you revere or revile him there can be no question about Wagner's enduring significance or his place in the pantheon of musical revolutionaries. There is also no question that Wagner's works pose uniquely difficult challenges to musicians, designers, and directors alike, and even the largest and most affluent opera houses do not attempt those works lightly.The Metropolitan Opera may have realized that the world's greatest Wagnerian singers would be kept exceptionally busy in 2013 with various bicentennial productions, so it chose to mount its groundbreaking new production of The Ring of the Niebelungen just ahead of the big anniversary year. Presenting Wagner's sprawling tetralogy is the ultimate undertaking for an opera company, and the Met poured an extraordinary amount of money, time, and talent into its new Ring Cycle. The resulting production, designed and directed by Robert Lepage, was by no means universally praised, but it generated considerable discussion as well as brisk ticket sales; by those two standards, the production must be counted among the Met's greatest successes over the last several decades.Filmmaker Susan Froemke was widely lauded for her documentary The Audition, which gave viewers a remarkably revealing look behind the scenes of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera auditions. Her newest film, Wagner's Dream, does much the same thing with the Met's new Ring Cycle production, although this was a journey involving years rather than weeks. Her cameras were present from some of the first planning meetings in 2008 to opening night performances of each of the four operas. For even the casual opera fan it is a fascinating and revelatory look at just how much time, energy, and skills are involved in shepherding a production of this scale and complexity from conception to completion. For aspiring singers, it is an interesting glimpse into a facet of the professional opera world that is not particularly knowable until one is immersed in it. For voice teachers and coaches, it is a helpful reminder of the kind of operatic environment for which we are seeking to prepare our students. That is not to say that a given voice student is likely to ever be even an insignificant part of a Metropolitan Opera production like this one. …
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