Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Night with Siegfried

Tonight, Tuesday October 23, starting from 19:00 (cet) Mezzo TV will live broadcast the Milan premiere of Siegfried, the third opera of the Guy Cassiers production of Der Ring des Nibelungen [this must be one of the finest Ring productions so far].

On case you cannot receive Mezzo TV, check out your local cinemas -- many will be broadcasting the premiere too.  Details about the cast can be found here [I'll just note that three top fave singers will be performing -- Anna Larsson, Nina Stemme and Johannes Martin Kränzle; plus Lance Ryan is always superb as Siegfried].

Photo from Guy Cassiers production of Siegfried [©Monika Rittershaus]


Unlike the previous two operas --that yours truly saw in Berlin and immensely enjoye-- this opera [Siegfried] was already premiered in Berlin before Milan [attached below is a clip from the Berlin premiere].

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Et c'est parti! 19:15



Lance Ryan is always super-impressive as Siegfried. The fact that he sustains this level of intensity in his singing is mind-boggling. Interesting Mime (never heard of Peter Bronder before).



And here comes (a slightly nasal) Wanderer -- Terje Stensvold


The French translation of "Wanderer" as "Voyageur" is weird, to say the least. It's close but not the same.  It's like Sorbet and Ice Cream...









Oho Aha Oho!




I liked the finale of Act One. Lance is absolutely smashing in this opera.




A very short break and off we go to my favorite Act Two which is probably the most difficult part to stage in the whole Ring.
It's time for J.M. Kränzle to hit the stage. In bocca al lupo!



Two words: JMK RULES!




Beautifully done...



Fabric + Video = Fafner. Through a game of shadows Siegfried slays the beast. It's all good ;)



Fafner's monolog instead is very well staged. Cassiers idea to engage dancers in his production of the Ring was very clever... How come that no one came up with that idea before?!



Here comes back JMK!  Yay!











The show is not excellent! Loving it... Second Act is really wonderful musically, dramatically... plus it is beautifully staged in this production.



End of Act Two! LOVED IT! Break.... but only 5 minutes!




Act Three -- Nina and Anna are coming!

Here comes Anna Larsson  in one of the bitchiest roles there is (Erda)...

...with Wotan:



...and alone

Brava!

Terje too sounds better and better... wow!



Snap -- and so the spear breaks in two



It's time to wake up Brünnhilde...




I love love this opera! Barenboim is on the slowish side & the orchestra sounds fantastic right now.



This production is magnificent! Everything is so delicately structured...




Ah this is why I love opera and yes -- we all love Nina!






Ewig war Ich!!! What a singer!




WOWZA!



I stand by what I said before: this is one of the finest Ring productions ever! Last part with Lance and Nina was astonishing. His stamina to maintain that intensity to the very end is unbelievable (Lance Armstrong comes to mind ;) ) and Nina --  simply outstanding! [Team Sweden with Nina and Anna remains unbeatable as far as singing of the Wagner repertoire is concerned]

Thanks to Mezzo TV and I'll definitely be at La Scala for one of the Ring Cycles next year!




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