Siegfried (Valentin Schwarz / Cornelius Meister): Bayreuth Festival 2022 - Der Ring des Nibelungen

by Mark Berry

Arnold Bezuyen as Mime

Arnold Bezuyen as Mime. (Photo: Enrico Nawrath, Bayreuter Festspiele)

Siegfried – Andreas Schager
Mime – Arnold Bezuyen
Wanderer – Tomasz Koniezcny
Alberich – Olafur Sigurdarson
Fafner – Wilhelm Schwinghammer
Erda – Okka von der Damerau
Brünnhilde – Daniela Köhler
Woodbird – Alexandra Steiner
Young Hagen – Branko Buchberger
Grane – Igor Schwab

Valentin Schwarz (director)
Andrea Cozzi (designs)
Andy Besuch (costumes)
Konrad Kuhn (dramaturgy)
Reinhard Traub (lighting)

Bayreuth Festival Orchestra
Cornelius Meister (conductor)

Miserable music drama

Valentin Schwarz, Bayreuth Festival

Valentin Schwarz, director of the new Ring at the Bayreuth Festival. (Photo: Enrico Nawrath, Bayreuter Festspiele)

This Siegfried made for pretty miserable music drama, I am afraid, the considerable qualities of the music ‘half’ notwithstanding. In a peculiar way, Wagner’s vision was vindicated. His works are not operas, nor are they intended to be. They may well impress in concert performances or in audio-only experiences at home—phenomena worthy of greater attention—but they need to impress musically and dramatically in the theatre, the whole so much more than the sum of its parts. One never knows what might be pulled out of the hat for Götterdämmerung, but it is difficult to imagine that it can truly redeem the incoherent, often tedious parade Valentin Schwarz has set before us so far.

Arnold Bezuyen as Mime

Arnold Bezuyen’s intelligent, wheedling Mime. (Photo: Enrico Nawrath, Bayreuter Festspiele)

Incoherence may be the root problem, or at least a problem that takes us closer to the root. Some of the ideas set forth—some, rather than all—may well have merit, yet rarely do Schwarz and his team seem to have the persistence or even the attention-span necessary to pursue them. A claim might be put forward, I suppose, for an aesthetic of incoherence. Dramaturge Konrad Kuhn makes the claim in a programme note that ‘time and again, we encounter inconsistencies and contradictions in the Ring’. I am tempted to reply ‘speak for yourself’, but to an extent, it may well depend what one means. Rarely if ever are they straightforwardly ‘inconsistencies and contradictions’. The different standpoints presented, the dramatic and intellectual antagonisms put forward, the questions presented that are bigger than any possible attempt at answering them: these are part of what makes the Ring so extraordinary, so powerful, so life-changing a work. They are not signs of ineptitude, of carelessness, or some other shortcoming. This frankly slapdash attitude, however, does seem to inform what is set before us. It is not a matter of taking Wagner to task, of seeing how far a line may be pushed, but apparently of becoming bored with him and the challenges he sets us. It is a point of view, I suppose, or better an attitude or malaise; unsurprisingly, it offers little support for even a one-sided attempt to stage his most ambitious work.

Siegfried opens in the same house in which we encountered Siegmund and Sieglinde, neither the first nor the last time when we return to the same location yet seek in vain a reason for having done so. Mime has done it up for Siegfried’s birthday party, ready to present a puppet show. If, like me, you are always intrigued by the possibilities of puppets and puppetry, you might have thought this augured well, I suspect you would soon have lost interest, when they were barely used—though perhaps not quite as quickly as the director. Having resolved to do without a sword in Die Walküre, or indeed Das Rheingold, Schwarz has Siegfried find one here concealed within Mime’s walking frame (which he does not appear to need). Since it is already there, never having been broken, the not inconsiderable time in words and music taken to reforge the sword requires something else on stage. Alas, none is forthcoming.

The second act takes place in Fafner’s expensive looking residence, irrespective of the changes in location required. Again, the starting idea does not seem unpromising. Various claimants to his wealth come to visit the giant-dragon (neither, in fact) to persuade him to leave it to them. Wotan, Alberich, Mime, Siegfried (in his way) all pay their house calls. Fafner’s carers do what needs to be done, the theme of abuse continuing to play out in his treatment of a female nurse who turns out to be the Woodbird. The other carer seems to be an adolescent version of the dark-haired boy from Das Rheingold. My speculation that he might turn out to be Hagen has been vindicated, though the symbolic identification Schwarz made between him and either the gold or the ring appears to have been dropped entirely. Siegfried has his sword but cannot be bothered to use it to kill Fafner; instead he throws him out of his chair and has Hagen strangle him to finish him off. Siegfried does use it on Mime, though. It looks at one point as if Siegfried and the Woodbird might go off together to further one part of his education, but instead he and Hagen run out together into the world, whilst the Woodbird returns to drop an item of clothing on top of her abuser as the curtain falls.

Daniela Köhler as Brünnhilde

Daniela Köhler as Brünnhilde. (Photo: Enrico Nawrath, Bayreuter Festspiele)

Who cares?

What should probably be the most decisive scene in the entire Ring, Wotan’s abandonment of Fate, quasi-identified with Erda, went for almost nothing, at least scenically. Another character, female, was present: a Valkyrie, a Norn, the girl Erda was chaperoning in Das Rheingold? Who knows? Increasingly, I was tempted also to ask: who cares? Hagen mostly sticks with Siegfried, who bullies the poor boy semi-insistently; until he does not, that is, disappearing at some point—I did not notice when—following the ascent to the mountain-top, which confusingly appears to be an adapted Valhalla. Nothing much else happens thereafter, though Grane-as-PA returns to compliment Brünnhilde on her new hat. Eventually, the work comes to a close.

Tomasz Koniezcny as the Wanderer

Tomasz Koniezcny as the Wanderer. (Photo: Enrico Nawrath, Bayreuter Festspiele)

Cornelius Meister and the Festival Orchestra

Again, Cornelius Meister and the Festival Orchestra impressed. Meister’s discernment of the Ring’s architecture comes through unfailingly yet unobtrusively. If only some of this could have rubbed off on the production team. (I think as much of the dramaturge’s silly claim about inconsistency as in the inconsistencies and non sequiturs that play out visually. How well do they actually know the work?) Dynamic range was considerable, always with good reason, and never to the detriment of the singers. The theatre and covered pit help, of course, but they can only do so much.

The singers

Andreas Schager (Siegfried) and Wilhelm Schwinghammer (Fafner)

Andreas Schager (Siegfried) and Wilhelm Schwinghammer (Fafner). (Photo: Enrico Nawrath, Bayreuter Festspiele)

Andreas Schager’s Siegfried is for many of us a known quantity. On first hearing, it seems miraculous: at last someone who can sing this well-nigh impossible role and draw on seemingly infinite vocal resources to do so. None of that has changed—and we should all be thankful that we need no longer endure performances from singers who are simply not up to the job. Is it unfair to wish for something a little more, some greater verbal subtlety? Probably, yet in the absence of anything compelling from the production, I found myself doing so. Almost certainly, in fact, given the onstage chemistry shown with Arnold Bezuyen’s intelligent, wheedling Mime—who, for once, one never started wishing would emerge victorious.  Tomasz Koniezcny and Olafur Sigurdarson continued to prove themselves as the Wanderer and Alberich, the latter in particular never putting a dramatic foot wrong. This is fine singing, by any standards.

I initially thought Wilhelm Schwinghammer’s Fafner a bit underpowered, but then realised that was not his fault; the lack of a cave and thus of any sort of projection just leaves him to himself. It is a perfectly intelligent performance on its own terms, let down by the staging. Okka von der Damerau’s Erda likewise deserved better, much better, yet could not be faulted on vocal terms. Likewise Alexandra Steiner’s Woodbird and Daniela Köhler’s Brünnhilde. The latter’s gleaming tone and sheer relish for what promised to be new life offered both succour and inspiration.

 

 

 

Mark Berry is Professor of Music and Intellectual History at Royal Holloway, University of London and will be a visiting scholar at the Humboldt University, Berlin, for the academic year 2023-4. He is the author of Treacherous Bonds and Laughing Fire: Politics and Religion in Wagner’s ‘Ring’ (2006), After Wagner: Histories of Modernist Music Drama from ‘Parsifal’ to Nono (2014), and Arnold Schoenberg (2019), and co-editor with Nicholas Vazsonyi of The Cambridge Companion to Wagner’s ‘Der Ring des Nibelungen’ (2020). His reviews of concert and opera performances are collected on his blog, Boulezian.

 

 

Reviews by Mark Berry on Wagneropera.net

Bayreuth Festival

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Bayreuth Festival: More Reviews (Valentin Schwarz Ring)

The Ring

Review: A New ‘Ring’ at Bayreuth Does Wagner Without Magic. Valentin Schwarz’s production of the four-opera epic presents human characters with relations even more tangled than usual. (Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times)

Das Rheingold

In der Neuproduktion von Richard Wagners "Der Ring des Nibelungen" bei den Bayreuther Festspielen bringt Regisseur Valentin Schwarz das Epos feministisch auf Zack. (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

Valentin Schwarz inszeniert „Rheingold“ bei den Bayreuther Festspielen als Auftakt seines „Ring des Nibelungen“. Schlimmer als die Regie sei der Dirigent und die meisten Sänger, sagt unser Kritiker. Er hofft auf die anderen drei Teile. (Deutschlandfunk Kultur)

Im Stil einer Netflix-Serie will der junge Regisseur Valentin Schwarz Wagners "Ring" in Bayreuth erzählen: als Familiensaga, die in unserer Gegenwart spielt. Eingesprungen für den an Corona erkrankten Dirigenten Pietari Inkinen ist Cornelius Meister. (BR Klassik)

Das Rheingold review – no ring, no gold, instead child abuse and abduction drive Bayreuth’s new Ring. Austrian director Valentin Schwarz’s new Ring presents the bold and searing idea that the original sin that drives Wagner’s world of power is the abuse of children. Can it be sustained? (Martin Kettle, The Guardian)

Das Licht der Welt erblicken auch zwei Kinder, die wir im Vorspiel in einer Videoprojektion sehen, die sich wohl schon im Mutterleib spinnefeind sind – Wotan und sein „Schatten“ (C. G. Jung) Alberich. Der Beginn einer großen spannenden Sage? (Matthias Lachenmann)

Am Sonntagabend feierte "Das Rheingold" von Regisseur Valentin Schwarz Premiere bei den Bayreuther Festspielen. Wagners Mythos wird in dieser Neuinterpretation zur Familiensaga der Gegenwart. (Norddeutscher Rundfunk)

„Rheingold“ in Bayreuth Valentin Schwarz lässt Wagners Symbolik leiden: Dass da noch niemand draufgekommen ist: Göttervater Wotan und sein Kontrahent Alberich sind Zwillingsbrüder. Im Video wird die Es-Dur Ursuppe des „Rheingold“-Vorspiels zur Fruchtblase, in der sich zwei Babys friedlich schlafend wiegen. Bis eines dem anderen das Auge aussticht und das andere den einen entmannt. (Kölnische Rundschau)

Nach 25 Minuten kommt es in jedem „Rheingold“ zum Schwur. Alberichs Fluch auf die Liebe im Gegenzug fürs Edelmetall - nur taucht es an diesem Abend gar nicht auf. Denn was ist tatsächlich das Kostbarste? Da wird Regisseur Valentin Schwarz moralisch: Es sind die Kinder, unser aller Hoffnung. Sie werden von diesem abgehalfterten Western-Desperado entführt, auf dass er sie zusammenpferchen und umerziehen kann. (Münchner Merkur)

„Das Rheingold“ in Bayreuth: Poolparty mit Kindesentführung. Der Auftakt mit „Das Rheingold“ war brav und fern von großartig. (Tiroler Tageszeitung)

Die Walküre

Bühnenunfall, Buhgewitter und ein unrunder Ring: Eine Schrecksekunde, ein Bühnenunfall und ein Einspringer, der bejubelt wird. Heftige Buhgewitter gab es auch. Die galten offenbar der Regie von Valentin Schwarz. Der erzählt die Handlung der "Walküre" weiter als Familiensaga im Netflix-Stil. Ein ereignisreicher Abend mit überragenden, traurigen und mittelmäßigen Momenten. (BR Klassik)

Der Ring nimmt an Fahrt auf, was vor allem einer Reihe von exzellenten Sänger:innen zu verdanken ist. Im ersten Aufzug begeistern Georg Zeppenfeld als sonorer, klarer und bösartiger Hunding und Lise Davidsen als präsente Sieglinde, mit einer bombigen Mittellage, über die sie Tiefen und Höhen eindrücklich erreicht. Auch Klaus Florian Vogt kann begeistern, selbst wenn ihm die Partie eigentlich zu tief liegt. (Matthias Lachenmann)

Der Bayreuther «Ring»-Regisseur Valentin Schwarz inszeniert Wagners großes Musikdrama um Gold und Gier, Zwerge und Drachen als moderne Serie über eine verkorkste Familie. Vor allem mit dem Familienoberhaupt gibt es Probleme. (Schwarzwälder Bote)

Siegfried

Schnitzeljagd für Wagner-Nerds: Der schreckliche Drache ist ein todkranker, uralter Mann. Siegfried zieht ihm den Rollator weg, worauf er einen Herzschlag bekommt. Außerdem wird er sicherheitshalber noch erstochen und erstickt. Und so weiter. Ständig ist man am Rätseln und Entziffern. Was erzählt Wagner, was erzählt Schwarz, was ergibt die Differenz. Ergibt sie was? (Bernhard Neuhoff, BR Klassik)

Nachdem man den ersten beiden Abenden viel Positives abgewinnen konnte, überrascht nun Cornelius Meister mit einem zupackenden Dirigat und gutem Zusammenspiel mit dem Orchester, während die Solisten leider schwächeln und die Inszenierung vielen Zuschauern den letzten Nerv raubt. (Matthias Lachenmann)

Götterdämmerung

In der Trash-TV-Sendung „Die Geissens“ erlebt der Zuschauer das Leben einer reichen, wohlstandsverwahrlosten und prolligen Familie, was Valentin Schwarz – nach dem ersten Aufzug der Götterdämmerung zu urteilen – zu seiner Ring-Inszenierung inspiriert hat. Dabei denken wir natürlich gleich an das Rheingold und die Walküre, wo ebenfalls eine reiche Familie zu sehen ist, so dass sich der Ring zur Götterdämmerung schließt. Nur: Was interessieren uns „die Geissens“? (Matthias Lachenmann)

Bayreuther Festspiele: Ob dieser «Ring» zu retten ist, wissen die Götter. Valentin Schwarz erntet für seine wenig schlüssige Neuinszenierung von Richard Wagners «Ring des Nibelungen» fast einhellige Ablehnung. Bei der Musik gibt es Hoffnung, aber die Arbeit muss jetzt erst richtig beginnen. (Christian Wildhagen, Neue Zürcher Zeitung)

Intellektuell und sinnlich erweist sich der neue Bayreuther „Ring“ schließlich als das Fiasko, an das man zuvor drei Abende lang trotzdem nicht glauben konnte. (Judith von Sternburg, Frankfurter Rundschau)

More Reviews

“In a very loose interpretation of Wagner, Valentin Schwarz leads the characters of the complex storyline in "The Ring of the Nibelung" down different paths and into new depths, toward other peaks and climaxes. His "Ring" is a drama of the present, and one about the traumas that are passed down through families across generations. In this interpretation, the Ring is not gold, but a child—children, in fact, are central to his vision, representing the ones who suffer the most from the mistakes and vices of their parents.” (bnn.de)

“In the spirit of the "Bayreuth Workshop," director Valentin Schwarz continued to fine-tune and adjust his much-criticized production this summer, refining it in detail.” (BR-klassik.de)

“This summer at the Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth, the world ends in "only" two cycles of The Ring of the Nibelung. Valentin Schwarz's production, as in previous years, creates a lot of noise. Not everything is bad, but the few good elements are hopelessly drowned in the overloaded rest. It's a display of the inability to engage the audience—were it not for the music.” (opernmagazin.de)