Atlanta Opera's "Siegfried": Ably Forged

Wagner-SIEGFRIED: Lise Lindstrom (Brünnhilde), Lindsay Ammann (Erda), Amber Norelai (Forest Bird); Stefan Vinke (Siegfried), Rodell Rosel (Mime), Greer Grimsley/Kyle Albertson (Wanderer), Zachary Nelson (Alberich), Alexander Koepeczi (Fafner); Atlanta Opera Orchestra/Roberto Kalb, cond. Seen April 26, 2025.

Stagings of the operas of Richard Wagner, let alone well-performed ones, are becoming something of an endangered species in the United States. Current musical standards at that erstwhile Wagnerian bastion, the Metropolitan Opera, are somewhere between dreadful (the recent TANNHAUSER) and godawful (the preceding LOHENGRIN), with undoubtedly worse to come.

Which is a perverse way of saying that The Atlanta Opera put its best foot forward in terms of addressing SIEGFRIED, a daunting task under even the most propitious of circumstances. The cast included a Siegfried and Wanderer of vast experience and Bayreuth credentials, along with some unknown quantities who turned out very well indeed. Clearly, musical values were to the fore in mounting this cycle, which concludes next spring with a 150th anniversary GOTTERDAMMERUNG.

Stefan Vinke as Siegfried

Give credit to Atlanta Opera's artistic director (and régisseur of this cycle), Tomer Zvulun, for casting it well and staying largely out of the way. In his program note, Zvulun espouses the interpretation of SIEGFRIED as the scherzo movement of the RING. His staging emphasized lightness of spirit and outright comedy whenever appropriate (which turned out to be often), although the supertitles eschewed Siegfried's mirth-inducing "Das ist kein Mann!" in Act III.

This was a firmly traditional SIEGFRIED of a post-Chereau orientation. Its time period was helpfully vague: Industrial pipes pervade Mime's smithy and Alberich brandishes a flashlight, but Fafner had clearly been snacking on woolly mastodons, and swords and spears remained the weapons of choice. The Wurm, by the way (courtesy of the Center for Puppetry Arts), was an indescribable beast with multiple heads, one that gave Siegfried quite a task in slaying.

Whether by choice or necessity (I suspect the latter), Zvulun's primary remit as director was to keep the singers down on the apron of the stage as much as possible. Interpretively, this was a very human SIEGFRIED, with believable interaction the priority: Siegfried takes refuge in Mime's arms after learning of his mother's sad fate; Alberich is (for once) terrified of the Wurm. And no, Siegfried and Brünnhilde don't hit the floor at the final curtain, for a change. Fafner still re-emerges in giant form, for his expiry, so at least one of the more dubious Patrice Chereau traditions is still with us. No political agendas were on display nor were any sacred cows slaughtered. It's an approach to that one suspects will wear (and travel) well.

Projection designer Erhard Rom created many an evocative image, making up for the lack of magic in Robert Wierzel's lighting plot. Rom's sets were, however, a grab-bag of styles: some Richard Peduzzi here, a bit of Joseph Urban there, some Emil Preetorius nearby and a soupçon of René Magritte for the finale. The costuming by Mattie Ullrich was apt without being—except for Erda—attention-drawing, and the production team was received with enthusiasm at the end.

Stefan Vinke and Lise Lindstrom

Obviously the sine qua non for mounting "Siegfried" is a protagonist who can more than survive the cruelly demanding title part. Finding someone who can sing AND look the part AND be sympathetic is a near-impossible task. As though to remind one of that fact, the pre-curtain talk was entrusted to Jay Hunter Morris, one of the few Siegfrieds to meet all three of those criteria. Morris introduced the opera with verve and passion, and it's always a pleasure to encounter an operatic artist who has so much enthusiasm for the medium.

The evening's Siegfried himself, Stefan Vinke, was a best-two-out-of-three proposition. An almost all-Wagner diet of performances has worn the nap from his tone. Despite some understandable fatigue midway through the third act, he husbanded his resources sensibly, if unalluringly. His voice is a bright, metallic blare that gets the job done. To his credit, he frequently employed piano dynamics and his upper register was reliable ... yes, even to a concluding high C. If that sounds like backhanded praise, let it be noted that he made a convincing young Siegfried, a commodity always in short supply.

It was almost unfair to pair a tiring Siegfried with a tireless Brünnhilde. Lise Lindstrom awoke with guns blazing, although Vinke rose to the challenge. Lindstrom offered a big, cutting voice, a believable stage presence, appealing femininity—and a pronounced beat in her tone. (Shades of Eva Marton.) It sounds like she's been dipping into her vocal capital, although Lindstrom should be equal to next season's GOTTERDAMMERUNG challenges.

Lindstrom aside, the artist with the most voice was Rodell Rosel, as Mime. A veteran smith, his sound is perhaps more consonant than vowel at this point and verbal acuity got him a long way. But it's a capacious tone, one deployed with know-how and a cagey feel for the role. The only conspicuous cut in the opera was the excision of most of his first Act II dialogue with Siegfried—a regrettable redaction. When Mime got the chop, one was sorry to see Rosel go.

Greer Grimsley: on mute

This was my first chance to see Greer Grimsley as Wotan and see him I did. Hear him I did not. Pollen season in Georgia had rendered this Wanderer hors de combat and voiceless. In an alienation effect that would have made Bertolt Brecht green with envy, Grimsley acted the part while Kyle Albertson sang it from a loge in the auditorium. The placement put Albertson at a severe acoustical disadvantage but one could still discern a rolling, splendid voice ... as well as a close study of the Wotan of James Morris, a worthy sire.

The find of the evening was Zachary Nelson's Alberich. He has what he needs to be world-renowned in the part. Not only was Nelson's voice big and flinty, his mix of venom and unlikely pathos was spot-on. Not since Richard Paul Fink, 25 years ago, have I heard so authoritative and multi-faceted a Nibelung. Alexander Koepeczi, in his U.S. debut, proved to be everything one could want in a Fafner and Amber Norelai was an winsome Forest Bird, sung from the upper reaches of the auditorium.

Lise Lindstrom: spend-thrifty?

Lindsay Ammann's Erda was the weakest link in the cast. In place of the needed contralto, we had a mezzo-soprano leaning heavily on her chest register. He voice shuddered considerably beneath the pressure.

Conductor Roberto Kalb skimmed the surface of the rich score. In keeping with the directorial, scherzando conception, his was a light and propulsive treatment of Wagner. It was also completely lacking in profile, with myriad intended orchestral details going for naught. His prime directive seems to have been to keep the orchestra down, which he did, although he kicked out the jams once Lindstrom started singing, which wasn't really fair to Vinke. Kalb's was a wind-and-brass-based sonority, and his seating arrangement split the violins and violas to the right, cellos and double basses far to the left. The undermanned string contingents put up a brave, if losing, struggle against their brass and woodwind fellows.

In sum, was it a worthwhile SIEGFRIED? I've already bought my tickets for GOTTERDAMMERUNG, which should answer your question. SIEGFRIED runs through May 4.