Lyric Opera of Chicago demonstrates excellence in Wagner’s Siegfried
With its production of Wagner’s "Siegfried," Lyric Opera of Chicago once again has proved that it is truly a world-class opera house. The last performance will take place at 6 p. m. on Friday, November 16; the full "Ring" returns in three week-long cycles in April 2020.
“Another spirit prevails on the stage since Wagner rules there: the most difficult things are expected, blame is severe, praise very scarce, – the good and the excellent have become the rule,” said German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Certainly, the good and the excellent have become the rule for Lyric Opera of Chicago since the first days of its existence, but with its production of Wagner’s Siegfried, the third of the four music dramas that constitute The Ring of the Nibelung cycle, Lyric Opera of Chicago once again has proved that it is truly a world-class opera house. One more performance is left, at 6 p. m. on Friday, November 16, and operagoers, especially those of them who love Wagner’s music, should hurry to buy their tickets to this successfully staged new production of Lyric’s Siegfried.
“There is nothing more ambitious for an opera company to undertake than a new Ring cycle,” wrote Lyric Opera’s General Director, President and CEO Anthony Freud in the program notes. “In terms of the vocal, orchestral, and visual requirements, Wagner’s tetralogy is the ultimate challenge. It calls on artists, musicians, and backstage personnel to contribute their last ounce of skill to do justice to the four operas, which stand among the greatest works of art ever produced.”
Wagner created not only fantastic music but also wrote his own librettos and even built his own opera house called Bayreuth Festspielhaus, where this opera was first performed on August 16, 1876. Lyric Opera of Chicago first performed Siegfried on October 31, 1973. This season’s production is new and has become a great attraction for the operagoers from all over Chicagoland and even from the surrounding states. Die Walküre, the second opera in Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung opera cycle, was successfully staged at Lyric Opera of Chicago a year ago, and Das Rheingold – during the 2016-2017 season. The full Ring returns in three week-long cycles in April 2020.
The composer was interested in German heroic poetry and based the librettos for the Ring cycle on the epic story of Nibelung. As the story unfolds, we learn about the struggles of gods, heroes and mythical creatures over the magic ring that gives domination over the entire world. Within the Ring cycle, the opera Siegfried plays a critical role in the development of the dramatic balance between the four music dramas and tells about Seigfried’s life. Wagner wrote librettos for this cycle in reverse order and this particular libretto was second. There was a decade between Die Walküre and Siegfried, and even Siegfried itself was not written in one sitting. The composer started it in 1856, then took a long break to write Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and finally completed Siegfried only in 1871.
Sung in German with projected English translations, Lyric Opera’s production of Siegfried inspires with the first sounds of Wagner’s magnificent music that carries dramatic tension, rich texture, and a constantly developing complexity. The production also catches attention with its unique and provocative set design created by renowned British designer Robert Innes Hopkins (the original scenery designer was Johan Engels.) Bright, mysterious and almost cartoonish, it might surprise with its large and unusual elements and features, but in combination with the music, dramatic action on stage, the intriguing light setting by world-renowned French lighting designer Fabrice Kebour, distinctive costumes created by talented Romanian-born and London-based costume designer Marie-Jeanne Lecca, impulsive choreography by Denni Sayers, the work of wigmaster and makeup designer Sarah Hatten, and the enthusiasm of British associate director Rob Kearley, the production turns into a breathtaking epic masterpiece. The director of Lyric’s Siegfried, David Pountney, with the help of this international team, created “a fantastic, whimsical, imaginative world.”
“When Sir Andrew Davis and I first spoke to director David Pountney about creating Lyric’s new Ring, we told him we wanted to reclaim this masterpiece for the theater,” noted Mr. Freud. “Over the years so much has been done to the Ring, to the point that we felt it had lost its true connection to its theatrical roots. David took that literally, and is setting each opera within the skeleton of an old theater.”
This beautiful production with its theatrical features requires a lot of hard work from the singers. The opera Siegfried has not too many characters and there is no choir, so each of them has to spend a tremendous time on stage presenting their dramatically rich and musically challenging roles. More than that, each of them has to be not only a great singer, but also an outstanding actor. Wagner frequently uses recitatives giving the main characters an opportunity to lead long and emotional conversations and dialogs. These musical dialogs are complex and full of energy, emotion, dramatic tension and a constantly developing musical thought, and all that makes them captivating for the audience and challenging for the singers.
The opera opens with Mime, one of the dwarves from the mythical Nibelung race, who is hammering away at an anvil, trying to repair the sword that was smashed to pieces by Wotan in Act Two of Die Walküre. In this opera, the anvil is used as an unusual musical instrument that is played when Mime, and later Siegfried, is hammering on it trying to forge the pieces of the sword together. Interestingly, the rhythm of this music resembles the rhythm heard earlier in the Nibelung scene in Das Rheingold. Mime raised Siegfried as his foster child and is desperate to possess the Ring and the Tarnhelm. He wants Siegfried to use Nothung to kill Fafner, who has assumed the shape of a dragon and is now watching the stolen Nibelung treasures. After Siegfried would kill the dragon, Mime could dispose of Siegfried and have the Ring’s power to himself.
The complicated role of Mime is brilliantly presented by extremely talented and artistic German tenor Matthias Klink. With his strong and flexible voice that sometimes turns creaky and unpleasant to show the dark personality of Mime, his constantly bent posture, hanging long hair, rich facial expressions, and the entire grotesque presentation of this greedy and deceitful dwarf, Klink created an unforgettable character and demonstrated his incomparable vocal and acting skills. It is a spectacular Lyric debut for Klink. The Chicago audiences immediately fell in love with this colorful and skillful singer and actor.
Siegfried, who instinctively doesn’t trust the old dwarf, doesn’t like him and doesn’t see any resemblance with him, comes to Mime. He breaks the sword that Mime tries to fix and orders him to reforge it again. Although at this point Siegfried runs away into the forest, as the main character he is on stage for most of the opera which lasts about four hours. The German word “Sieg” means “victory” and “Fried” or “Friede” means “peace,” which is a great name for a hero. The singer chosen for this role needs a very strong voice, often called a “Heldentenor” in German (a “heroic tenor”), and Lyric Opera made a great choice by inviting acclaimed German tenor Burkhard Fritz for this complicated, yet rewarding role. It became an American operatic stage debut for this great singer who is especially renowned for heroic Wagner roles. He is well-known in Germany and in other European countries and has performed at the most prestigious theaters across Europe. Listening to Fritz present his role of Siegfried for almost four hours on stage one might think that the singer has giant lungs and never gets tired, but his brilliant singing is just a result of ongoing tedious work, extreme talent and endless devotion to profession. His voice is so strong, yet sincere and full of various emotions, that Chicago audiences will always associate Wagner’s Siegfried with this talented singer.
The role of Wotan, the chief god who is disguised as the Wanderer, is performed by Eric Owens, the celebrated American bass-baritone who is well-known by the Lyric’s audiences and the audiences across America and around the world. The Wanderer brings an important message to Mime by telling him that the person who doesn’t know fear shall forge the fragments of Nothung together. This role is monumental and important, and Owens presented it with all his charisma, power and strength. The low notes in the Wanderer’s voice scare and intrigue, and Owens does a great job presenting this outstanding character.
In act three we meet Alberich, Mime’s brother, who keeps a vigil near Fafner’s cave. He also wants to recover the Ring and the Tarnhelm. The two brothers are equally unpleasant, and South Korean bass-baritone Samuel Youn finds the best ways to demonstrate Alberich’s dark personality. This acclaimed singer achieved a significant international recognition and success presenting important role in German repertoire and is very good in performing in Wagners’s operas. His Alberich catches attention with his powerful voice and outstanding presentation.
Fafner in the form of a dragon, who later on for a short time turns back into a person right before dying from Siegfried’s Nothung, is performed by bass Patrick Guetti, a New Jersey native and a Ryan Opera Center alumnus. Young and outstanding, this singer has been seen in many Lyric’s productions and on many famous stages across America. The role of Forest Bird whose language Siegfried later starts to understand and who tells him about his future wife Brünnhilde, is performed by American soprano Diana Newman, a recent winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Illinois District), who returned to Lyric for the first time since her Ryan Opera Center tenure. Her soft and tender high voice became the best fit for portraying the wise and kind Forest Bird.
For Ronnita Miller, acclaimed American mezzo-soprano who has sung twenty seven roles in Berlin since the 2013-2014 season and who is famous for her wide range repertoire and style, the role of Erda became her Lyric debut. Erda is the wise Earth Goddess, and Miller demonstrated this character’s wisdom and strength with all the charisma and power in her voice. The touching role of Brünnhilde, who is punished by Wotan and is sleeping on the mountaintop, is presented by famous American soprano Christine Goerke. She is internationally celebrated for many of opera’s most formidable roles, and the role of Brünnhilde is just another gem in the colorful pallet of her rich repertoire. Compassionate, selfless and fierce, Brünnhilde is lying on a rock being protected by fire. She is finally rescued by the passionate kiss of Siegfried who learns what fear is by seeing a woman for the first time. Her passion is heard in every note sung by Goerke, while her heroine chooses to give up her immortality in exchange for human love.
Wagner’s music is larger than the plot that it develops around. The upscale technical characteristics of this complex, four-hour long opera, its complicated compositional style where the orchestra is equally important as the singers, and the orchestra’s active use of leitmotifs and musical phrases that announce specific characters and plot elements make it one of the best and most difficult operas that Lyric has ever staged. The work of legendary Maestro Sir Andrew Davis once again captivates with its enthusiasm and mastership. This epic Wagnerian saga with its utterly exhilarating music will stay with the Chicago opera lovers forever. “I write music with an exclamation point!” said Richard Wagner. Without any doubt, Lyric Opera of Chicago performs Wagner’s music with an exclamation point, and with excellence, as always.
For tickets and information, please call 312-827-5600 or go to https://www.lyricopera.org/concertstickets/calendar/2018-2019/siegfried-opera-tickets.
Natalia Dagenhart
Photos: Courtesy of Todd Rosenberg