Seattle Ring Cycle 2

[jemerson]

Just returned from seeing the Seattle Opera's production of The Ring. My first time to see this production, and indeed I thought it was overall a very well done event. The stage settings were just wonderful with the NW forest or majestic granite towers of rock. I thought the singing and acting in the drama was "over the top".

Some observations/comments:

Singers/Actors:
1. Greer Grimsley was born to do Wotan. The best I have seen. Very wonderful voice, and the emotion came out when he was brooding.
2. Richard Paul Fink nailed Alberich. Just a great voice, and his animations really enabled the character.
3. Stephanie Blythe performance as Fricka was simply absorbing.
4. Gordon Hawkins did a terrific job as Hagen.
5. Stig Anderson sang well as Siegfried, but his acting skills were short in my opinion.
5. Janice Baird, at least to me, blew it away. I had read that in Cycle 1, some comments were made that she started slow. I heard others in the hall that were lamenting they did not have Jane Eaglen back. Well, I am a physician that is appalled by these morbidly obese women becoming opera divas. There is no anatomical validation of super obese women singing better. The health issues of being morbidly obese are very, very serious. Wagner wanted The Ring staged as a Festival Drama. Drama includes singing and acting. Wagner wanted the audience to get emotionally involved with the characters. There would be now way to get involved in the love between Siegfried and Brunnhilde with a morbidly obese woman, such as Jane, playing that part. It would take away from the overall opera. For those that say the singing is the only thing, I politely disagree. Why is the opera set on stage with elaborate costumes and sets. It is indeed a singing drama, and I believe the singer/actors need to look like their part.

Back to Janice Baird as Brunnhilde. She looked like a Brunnhilde, she had the emotions clearly displayed like a Brunnhilde as her acting skills were also good, and she sang just wonderfully, in my opinion. In the closing scene, she reached pitch and notes that just were amazing.

Production:

1. The snake in Niebelheim was like a cheesy high school prop. Could not the Seattle Opera done a screen projection or some other means for its betrayal. The one they used was almost laughable.
2. Why was Siegfried, the great warrior, dressed like a peasant farmer throughout the opera.
3. Was the use of the live horse really effective for any dramatic effect?
4. The flying Rhine Daughters were really terrific.

Just some of my comments/thoughts on a great production.

Would love to hear other WSNC members input about their experiences in Seattle.

[honus]

I agree with much of jemerson's review.  I found janice Baird's voice took a bit of getting used to at first, but I did get used to it and I felt her acting ability and intensity more than compensated for any vocL deficits. 

I attended the full program of lectures and found them to be very valuable. 

Some general coments:

The Seattle O really knows how to "do" audience development. Speight jenkins stays after each performance to do a one hour Q&A. That was too much for me and amazing that he does it at over 70! At the dinner w an artist, he worked the room, w a handshake for everyone and being very approachable. Both at the performances and the lectures, SO volunteers were there to thank you for coming. Thaink about that--we pay for expensive tix etc & when does it ever happen we are thanked for our support? Doesn't happen at Sac O (where I am) and not at SFO that i know of.  Certainly not in LA.  Also, they had an information table w volunteers to help you re things to do in Seattle.

I loved Richard Fink's Alberich w his game face on--he was so commanding of the stage. But I thought the bullwhip trick detracted a bit. It seems to be his "thing" and in a way, that's the problem--he's showing off some other trick instead of being Alberich's fiendishly clever self. Dennis Peterson's Mime was also outstanding

I felt all the singers were also excellent actors. The four nights went by so quickly!

I thought there was a lot of needless movement on stage. I know they wanted to avoid park & bark, but they had enemies walking carefully around each other for no purpose. Later, when i went to the tech talk, I realized this was probably due to the small area on stage for the singers. While the stage sets were beautiful and detailed, I don't know why they didn't give the singers more room. I also felt they didn't do much w showing the oppressive conditions for the Niebelungen.

I can't believe the limited no. of bathrooms they have at McCaw Hall. What's up w that? Have to spend most of the intermission trying to get your pit stop in.

Stephanie Blythe as Fricka was outstanding both in terms of her voice and her acting. Her sheer vocal power is tremendous--her voice hit me in the chest almost like a concusion. And one of the goals of this "nature" Ring (I learned in one of the lectures) was to humanize the Wotan/Fricka relationship rather than just have him as the wilful god and her as the societal rule-setter. Even though they are not a match physically, I thought they did accomplish this mainly through her many loving gestures.

I see some have criticized the orchestra, but whatever errors they made, i missed. i did think it dragged a bit at times. The thing I really look for in a Ring orchestra is a sense of lurking power and then the full-bore display of that power. I felt they accomplished this very well.

One of the highlights of the Ring for me is the opening of Rheingold, and this unfortunately was marred by a singer warming up who was clearly heard by the audience. Maybe because of this or because the orcestra was a bit light to begin, I did not find it as dramatic as i hoped it would be. Well, what're ya gonna do?

I went with a brother who had never been to an opera before (Speight called him a brave soul indeed to start w the ring) and my wife Bella, who has been to many operas but had not been to a Ring--both loved it and are "on the bus!"

All in all, I found this an excellent production. They will continue the same production for a year or so but have a secret plan for the hallmark year of 2013--am sure they will come up w something fascinating!

[Dennis Graves]

Like you, I saw the Seattle Ring in 2009. It was my first out of town Ring.
While I thought Grimsely was a very good Wotan, I have been spoiled by hearing Morris, who may be the best ever. I agree that Blythe was wonderful. However, while Baird was a good actress, I have to say I just didn't think her voice was quite up to the very difficult task of being a good Brunnhilde. And, while I realize Siegfried is a very demanding role, I thought Siegfried could have been sung and acted better. (If you are playing a 16 year old boy, it helps not to have a 50 year old beer belly. ) Generally, though, I thought the acting was very good, which is a tribute to the extra time and effort that Seattle Opera puts into staging and directing its Ring.
Despite these criticisms, the Seattle Ring was well worth the time and expense. I really enjoyed the seminars and the people I met, and I thought the Hall was certainly better than our SF Opera House. It was a great experience, and I look forward to seeing the Seattle Ring again.