Gotterdammerung
Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Symphony Space Opera in Cinema |
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Götterdämmerung
Performed at Palau de les Arts “Reina Sofia”, Valencia
Richard Wagner
4 hours, 40 minutes with two intermissions
Conductor: Zubin Mehta
Director: Carlus Padrissa and La Fura del Baus
Starring: Lance Ryan, Jennifer Wilson and Franz-Josef Kapellmann
Valencia Regional Government Choir (Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana)
Valencian Community Orchestra (Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana)
Cast
Siegfried: Lance Ryan
Gunther: Ralf Lukas
Alberich: Franz-Josef Kapellmann
Hagen: Mattil Salminen
Brünnhilde: Jennifer Wilson
Gutrune: Elisabete Matos
Waltraute: Catherine Wyn-Rogers
First Norn: Daniela Denschlag
Second Norn: Pilar Vázquez
Third Norn: Eugenia Bethencourt
Woglinde: Silvia Vázquez
Wellgunde: Ann-Katrin Naidu
Flosshilde: Marina Prudenskaja
In this production, the Barcelona-based La Fura dels Baus, headed up by director Carlus Padrissa, blends music, dance, acrobatics and technology into unforgettable stage events of raw but always captivating power. The Fura made its breakthrough in the classical establishment with its production of Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust at the 1999 Salzburg Festival.
Musically, this Ring is on a par with productions from historically more prestigious opera houses. Legendary conductor Zubin Mehta leads promising young talents, including Jennifer Wilson (Brünnhilde) and Juha Uusitalo (Wotan), whom the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung hailed as a new “number one among the opera gods.” Equally outstanding is the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, an ensemble of top musicians hand-picked by Music Director Lorin Maazel.
Synopsis:
PROLOGUE. On the Valkyries’ Rock, the three Norns spin the rope of Fate, as they recall Wotan’s former power and predict the end of the Gods. The rope breaks, and they descend to their mother Erda, the goddess of the Earth. Siegfried his bride, the former Valkyrie Brünnhilde, emerge from their cave. Brünnhilde fears losing her husband, but still sends him off into the world. They exchange tokens of love: he gives her the magic Ring, and she gives him her horse Grane.
ACT I. Gunther and his sister, Gutrune, plot to secure the Ring with their half-brother Hagen (the son of the the Nibelung, Alberich). Hagen suggests that they slip a potion in Siegfried’s drink to make him forget Brünnhilde, and then have him marry Gutrune. When Siegfried arrives, they execute their plan. Siegfried forgets his true bride, and immediately agrees to marry Gutrune. Back at the Valkyries’ rock, Brünnhilde is joined by her sister Waltraute, who tries to convince Brünnhilde to give her back the Ring, so that they may save the Gods from destruction. Brünnhilde refuses, saying that her mortal bond to Siegfried is more important than the Gods. Waltraute leaves empty-handed. Siegfried arrives, transformed into the shape of Gunther by the power of the Tarnhelm. He claims the terrified Brünnhilde as Gunther’s bride and tears the Ring from her finger.
ACT II. At night, Hagen dreams of his father Alberich, who demands that he regains the Ring. The next morning, Siegfried returns with Brünnhilde in tow, and gives her to the real Gunther. Brünnhilde is shocked at seeing the Ring on Siegfried’s hand, and realizes his deception. Siegfried, still enchanted, dismissed Brünnhilde’s anger and leaves with Gutrune. As vengeance, Brünnhilde tells Hagen how to kill Siegfried – by stabbing him with a spear in his back. Gunther, enticed by the Ring, joins the murder plot.
