OVERNIGHT REVIEW: Los Angeles Opera's "Die Walküre" at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
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Los Angeles Opera: Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen — Die Walküre
Sunday, May 30, 2010 • Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Next Ring performance: Siegfried, Thursday, June 3, 6 p.m.
Next Die Walküre performances: Thursday, June 10, 6 p.m.; Sunday, June 20, noon.
Info: www.laoperaring.com
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There’s something quite magical going on at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the conflagration that Loge kindled at the end of Die Walküre symbolized it enchantingly as the first half of Los Angeles Opera’s production of Richard Wagner’s mammoth cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen came to a fiery conclusion last night.

As was the case with Das Rheingold Saturday night, a stellar combination of conductor, orchestra and singers, along with Achim Freyer’s colorful, albeit somewhat ultra-busy, staging made last night another one to cherish. If Siegfried and Götterdämerung can match or exceed the benchmarks of the first two productions this will go down as a historic Ring for more reasons than the fact that it’s LA Opera’s first complete cycle.

Especially considering that conventional wisdom postulates a paucity of great Wagnerian singers these days, LA Opera has assembled an extremely strong cast. Although there are nine Valkyries in this music drama, the title role — THE Valkyrie — is Brünnhilde and in this production she’s portrayed by soprano Linda Watson, who caused quite a stir recently with her widely reported complaints about Freyer’s staging. To her credit, she didn’t let those feeling influence her performance, which was as radiant as I’ve ever heard her sing.

Once again, Ukranian bass Vitalij Kowalijow melded power and pathos expertly in his portrayal of Wotan (aka “The Wanderer” in Siegfried). Ekaterina Semenchuk, making her LA Opera debut as Fricka, dominated much of the second act, slowly beating Wotan into submission on the minor matter of marital fidelity versus “true love.”

For many in attendance last night, part of the attraction of this Die Walküre was that that the role of Siegmund was being sung by Plácido Domingo and he didn’t disappoint. Although there were a few moments of strain, he gave a remarkably sensitive and powerful portrayal, especially notable given that (a) he’s 69 years old and (b) less than three months ago underwent surgery for a localized malignant polyp in his colon. Domingo seemed to gather strength as the evening wore on; he was particularly impressive during the lengthy second act.

Michelle De Young, singing the role of Sieglinde opposite Domingo, continues to impress with her range and musicality (she sang the role of Fricka in Das Rheingold), while Eric Halfvarson (Saturday night’s Fafner) sounded a little wooly last night as Hunding. The other Valkyries — Ellie Dehn, Susan Foster, Erica Brookhyser, Ronnita Nicole Miller, Melissa Citro, Buffy Baggott, Jane Dutton and Margaret Thompson — sounded properly frightened of Wotan while maneuvering their bicycle-like horses stylishly.

LAO Music Director James Conlon and the LA Opera Orchestra are major stars in this Ring and last night was no exception. What was particularly impressive was how Conlon managed to emphasize the soft, lyrical portions of the score (and there are many) without slighting the major power points. The orchestra's playing continues to be first-rate; someday a Pavilion renovation may boost the ensemble’s sound but for now it’s adequate nearly all of the time and balances between the orchestra and the singers continue to be well managed.

As was the case with Das Rheingold, the staging for Die Walküre shows a great deal of technical improvement from the original production last year, particularly in the lighting (credited to Freyer and Brian Gale).

For Freyer, this opera revolves around pairs and contrasts. Light vs. darkness is a dominant theme. Throughout the opera, he uses several devices to emphasize that Siegmund and Sieglinde are twins and that Brünnhilde is an extension of Wotan which goes far beyond just being his daughter. Unfortunately, while making those points winsomely, he also piled on the symbolism far more than seems necessary in some instances. The old adage of KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) would seem to apply to last night’s production.

Freyer’s use of actors doubling the singers in some instances has been part of the controversy but, as was the case Saturday night, there were only a couple of moments when the disconnect between the visual and aural was noticeable. The uncredited actress/gymnast who portrayed the exhausted Sieglinde in Act II was mesmerizing; I don’t even want to contemplate De Young twisting and tumbling down the sharply raked stage before coming to rest at the bottom (neither does she, I’m sure).

There were a large number of magical moments throughout the five hours, among them the conclusion of Act II, when Hunding and his band of not-so-merry men meet their demise in an intricately choreographed maneuver, and the Magic Fire Music scene that closes the music drama.

One of the impressive things about Freyer’s concepts is how closely he follows the texts — you might not like HOW he does it but follow the words he does. One example: when Wotan pounds his spear three times (Kowalijow forgot the third one last night) to summon Loge to surround the rock with fire, in this production Loge actually appears. Moreover, the sound effect of spear hitting rock actually rang out last night (as it did not for Donner's hammerblow in Das Rheingold Saturday night).

And so it’s on to Siegfried, two days later than is the case with cycles in Bayreuth. While several out-of-towners have complained about the fact that the LAO Ring runs over nine days, instead of the standard six at Bayreuth and other places, I remember being totally drained at the conclusion of Götterdämerung during the six-day Kirov Opera performance in Orange County in 2006, despite allotting the entire week to the cycle. I’m not sure the extra days between the last three music dramas — each of which run five hours or longer — are all that bad a thing, but I acknowledge that I’m not paying for the extra nights of lodging, food, etc.
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Hemidemisemiquavers:
• LA Opera is doing just fine but the Music Center is another matter, at least from a food service point of view. There appeared to be just a couple of places that patrons could purchase food in between acts and lines were extremely long. Three other potential food sites on the Patio were closed, despite the fact that all three theatres had performances running. I repeat what I wrote in earlier Blogs: bring your own food and drink.
• As was the case with Rheingold, Fryer didn’t appear during the thunderous standing ovation that the large crowd gave to Conlon and the cast last night.
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(c) Copyright 2010, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.