Monday May 6th, 2013 - The final performance of my series of RING operas heard from The Met's score desks. Upon learning that the next planned RING Cycles at the Met - set for 2016 - have been dropped from the repertory, I felt the distinct possibility that I might be experiencing these operas live for the last time.
This evening's WALKURE was a male-dominated affair vocally, for aside from the lively and well-sung octet of Valkyries (Mlles. Mayer, Fillmore, Harmer, Phillips, Johnson Cano, McCormick, Gigliotti and Ringle) the women in the cast had problems while the men flourished and provided some serious vocal thrills.
Martina Serafin has a pleasing mid- and lower range and very nice instincts with words and colours, but her top was desperate and wild; she also had an ever-so-slight tendency to sharpness much of the evening. Could we not have had Ms. Harmer or Heidi Melton in this role? Stephanie Blythe's huge, flattish and blunt singing bordered on vulgarity, and sadly Deborah Voigt (spelt "Voight" in the Playbill) has hardly anything to recommend her as Brunnhilde at this point in time. And so all evening the scenes where the female characters hold forth tended to be aurally unpleasant.
But the men - thank goodness - were a whole 'nother story. Simon O'Neill, back on the gold standard after allergies beset him at the season prima of this opera, ranks with the finest Siegmunds I have heard. His singing was generous, colourful, heroic or tender by turns. The way Simon sustained the famous cries of "Walse! Walse" in Act I was simply uncanny. From first note to last, he gave a wonderful performance.
And the same can be said for Greer Grimsley's marvelous Wotan: the dark, powerful voice penetrated the orchestral wall to striking effect; from highest to lowest notes, and throughout the dynamic range, his singing was even and vivid. His long monolog, detailing the god's insecurities and his sense of foreboding, was an expressive as well as a vocal highlight of the evening. Mr. Grimsley was superb in the emotion-drenched pages of the opera's final scene where the flood gates of anguish and paternal love opened thrillingly in his rich and colourful singing.
One of the greatest attractions of these RING performances has been the singing of Hans-Peter König (above, as Hunding in a Ken Howard photo). Mr. König took on the great roles of Fafner, Hunding and Hagen, singing with stunning tonal amplitude. Tonight he scored yet again as the menacing Hunding, winning a vast wave of cheers at his bow after Act I.
Fabio Luisi tonight impressed me with his rather fast-paced but emotionally satisfying rendering of this matchless score. Only some momentary covering of the voices prevented me from a full endorsement of the conductor's work tonight, but compared to most of his earlier performances that I've experienced at The Met his current RHEINGOLD and WALKURE are truly pleasing to experience.
Ms. Blythe hobbled out for a bow, using a cane and supported by Mr. O'Neill; a knee injury had kept her out of Saturday's RHEINGOLD but since in this production the WALKURE Fricka is seated throughout her time onstage, she was able to perform tonight. The situation somewhat de-fused the potential excitement of a big ovation for the tenor, since he had to stand there while the mezzo milked her applause.
And so, who knows when the RING operas will be back at The Met? The Machine (now reportedly frequently 'assisted' by stagehands to accomplish its job) would seem to preclude free-standing performances of WALKURE. Rumors that the previous production is mothballed somewhere continue to circulate, but would a revival of that be an admission of failure for Gelb/Lepage? Whatever the case, I sincerely hope to be able to experience the RING operas live again in my lifetime.