Squaring the Circle

Brünnhilde & Siegfried (Lise Lindstrom & Stefan Vinke; Photo by Raftermen)

Wagner-GOTTERDAMMERUNG: Lise Lindstrom, Sylvia D'Eramo, Tamara Mumford; Stefan Vinke, Le Bu, David Leigh, Alexsey Bogdanov/Atlanta Opera Chorus & Orchestra/Roberto Kalb, cond.; Tomer Zvulun, dir.; Erhard Rom, set designer; Mattie Ulrich, costumes (seen June 7)

In a logistical and artistic triumph, Atlanta Opera has pulled off the first post-pandemic Ring Cycle in the U.S., with the final curtain ringing down on Gotterdammerung last Sunday. How well did it do? A two-cycle "Ring Festival" is already on the boards for June 2029. If you want tickets, get ready to sell your sister-in-law to the nearest pair of giants.

Director Tover Zvulun's approach to this Ring has been what might one might call thoughtful traditionalism. (As contrasted to Otto Schenk's long-tenured Metropolitan Opera Ring, which had nothing on its mind beyond slavish representationalism.) Gotterdammerung was consistent in its balance of the world of Nature, associated with the hero and heroine, and the fascistic realm of the Gibichungs. Clad all in black, they maintained cold, rigidly Brutalist surroundings (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe seemed to be their architect), with omnipresent concrete juxatposed by designer Erhard Rom—who also did the many fine projections—with the more-rounded, softer world of Rhinemaidens and Valkyries.

Radical insights are not Zvulun's game but neither was there much in sight that was egregious (unlike his recent Turandot). It was a faithful and lively rendition of Wagner's drama, very true to its spirit. As I said in the context of 2025's Siegfried, it should last and travel well.

The Gibichungs: Le Bu, David Leigh & Sylvia D'Eramo (Photo: Raftermen)

On the podium, Roberto Kalb improved somewhat from his fast-and-superficial Siegfried of a year ago. And he largely succeeded in the difficult tasking of aiding the singers, giving Wagner's (uncut) writing its head and coping with the dampening Cobb Centre acoustic. But he is not a distinguished Wagnerian. He and the Atlanta Opera Orchestra are to be saluted for mastering a totally unfamiliar score. That being said (and the band played mostly very well), somebody must be held responsible for the flaccid, directionless and inexpressive playing, and the generally perfunctory nature of affairs in the pit. Let's hope Atlanta can lure someone more seasoned in 2029.

No qualms need be aired about the augmented chorus. Walter Huff's ensemble made a bold, unified sound and conducted themselves with splendid involvement, making their contribution one of the apogees of the afternoon.

Hagen (David Leigh) with the Atlanta Opera Chorus (Photo: Raftermen)

Atlanta Opera has cast its Ring cycle with the primary emphasis on singing rather than physique du role, as it should be, and that continued to be the case here. As a representation of the current crop of Wagnerian singers, it was a state-of-the-art cast. That is, of course, a double-edged compliment. Brünnhildes are rarely thick on the ground and Siegfrieds even less so. Atlanta met the challenge plausibly.

Pride of place goes to the superb Gunther of Le Bu. The Chinese bass has a steady, handsome, columnar sound, and his musicianship and stage deportment were of like quality. Gunther became a major factor in the action and one hopes that—well down the road—Le Bu is thinking about Wotan and/or Amfortas.

Stefan Vinke's Siegfried owns an unalluring, straight-tone blare that untiringly gets the job done. It ain't pretty but it works and this Siegfried doesn't need to fake the required high notes: Vinke has them and they're immense. He also cuts a likable figure onstage, which is good because Siegfried sure isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Morris Robinson was slated for Hagen but a family tragedy forced him to step aside. Summoned from Europe, David Leigh was hardly sloppy seconds. He impressed with his craggy bass and involved presence. Once he'd gotten a few Josef Greindl-style snarls out of his system, Leigh sang aptly, forcefully and well ... but he should have been strongly discouraged from portraying the grim half-breed as a slack-jawed yokel.

His father Alberich, sung by Alexey Bogdanov, had a cannon for a voice. Alas, it was spoiled by his misguided espousal of the Bayreuth Bark, once thought extinct. Olivia Vote and Caitlin Lynch were capable Second and Third Norns, and the Rhinemaidens (Cade J. Bryan, Alexandra Raszkazoff and Gretchen Krupp) made a strong, positive effect.

The principal women were more problematic. The very good intentions of Tamara Mumford as First Norn and Waltraute were undermined by a pervasive rivet-gun vibrato that proved impossible to ignore. The strong, slightly blowsy singing of Sylvia D'Eramo (Gutrune) was about par for the course and D'Eramo fulfilled her brief sympathetically. For better or worse, Zvulun had doubled down on the standard-issue Gutrune-as-bimbo interpretation, for which Wagner has to shoulder some of the blame. (More can do be done, as shown by a 1955 Gotterdammerung from Munich, in which Leonie Rysanek makes the character a sensual, Poppea-like intriguer.)

Brünnhilde (Lise Lindstrom) in her final moments. (Photo: Raftermen)

My June 2025 confidence that Lise Lindstrom "should be equal" to the rigors of the Gotterdammerung Brünnhilde proved misplaced. She's a very sexy Valkyrie, with carriage and authority reminiscent of Dame Gwyneth Jones. But expressiveness can only get one so far. It sounded as though Lindstrom's voice had lost fullness and power since last spring's Siegfried. While the vengeful rages of Act II lay well for her, much else was hit-or-miss and the bottom literally had fallen out of her voice, with descents into vocal Nibelheim being frequently inaudible. With Kolb's help, she husbanded her resources successfully through the Immolation Scene, enabling her to finish creditably.

Three years can be an epoch in operatic time and there seems little chance that the same singers will be available (or in seagoing condition, in some cases) for 2029's Festspiele. That being said, Atlanta Opera's priorities are in the right Wagnerian place and there are plenty of months ahead for what Verdi called "the work of the file." Let it begin now.—David McKee

Postscript: Opera companies looking to educate their audiences should look no farther than the verve and insight provided by Jay Hunter Morris in his pre-curtain talks. The art form has no better ambassador than the former Heldentenor from Texas.