Prom 18 - 26.07.13: Wagner – Siegfried

[David-G]

I hope people will not mind if I repeat my question from the Gotterdammerung thread here. As a very infrequent Prommer, I am not very familiar with the "form". I have not been able to get to any of the previous parts of the Ring, but I am contemplating trying to come to Gotterdammerung on Sunday. Any suggestions as to when I should aim to arrive in the queue so as to be able to get a reasonably good Arena place?

[amac4165]

I hope people will not mind if I repeat my question from the Gotterdammerung thread here. As a very infrequent Prommer, I am not very familiar with the "form". I have not been able to get to any of the previous parts of the Ring, but I am contemplating trying to come to Gotterdammerung on Sunday. Any suggestions as to when I should aim to arrive in the queue so as to be able to get a reasonably good Arena place?

If you want the front row - then about 8am !

Otherwise - 1.30 - 2.00pm should be ok - it is always hard to tell. I will be heading up a bit earlier as it is a Sunday

amac

[Resurrection Man]

.....
My favourite Bayreuth Ring would be Keilberth 1955 ...

Ditto. +1

[Tevot]

Hello there,

What an absorbing thread and it is wonderful to hear the thoughts of a veteran Wagnerian such as Slarty Thank you.

Haven't yet heard Siegfried on Listen Again - nor for that matter Das Rheingold - but hopefully I'll be able to somehow before time runs out

I did hear most of the live broadcast of Die Walkure however and really enjoyed it - and I reckon that is a privilege that Barenboim and the "other Berliners" are here to perform The Ring. Initially looking at the schedules for the Proms I thought it was Wagner overkill - but the proof of the pudding imho in this case is in the hearing. I mean even SMP is warming to The Ring A shame that Verdi was a bit short- changed !!

Interesting also about Daniel Barenboim - he seems to polarise opinion. Same thing happened last year at the Proms with the Beethoven Cycle...

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[BBMmk2]

This I think is always good, to have a polarising effect, means a great deal of discussion, perhaps more creative if the performance was otherwise.

[David-G]

If you want the front row - then about 8am !

Otherwise - 1.30 - 2.00pm should be ok - it is always hard to tell. I will be heading up a bit earlier as it is a Sunday

amac

Amac, thanks for this, it was very helpful.

[Bert Coules]

I just listened to act one of Siegfried.

And I really enjoyed it.

Of course some of the singing was less than ideal, and I still have a problem both with Barenboim's overall approach and occasionally with his detailed treatment of particular moments, but I was caught up in the drama and the swing of the whole thing in a way that I wasn't with Rheingold and the sections of Walküre I caught live: and that despite some very feeble (or non-existent) forging and hammering effects.

There was some splendid vocal characterisation, especially from Messrs Ryan and Bronder, and Ryan did rise to some truly heroic moments. This is the first time in this cycle that I wish I'd been there in the hall.

Later...

Act two out of the way, and apart from a woefully feeble final curtain chord, my opinion hasn't changed.

Later still...

Well. Act three just ended with a roar from the audience and well deserved I thought it was. My reservations certainly haven't been completely swept aside, but my word I've heard far, far worse performances than that in my time. Ryan might not always have been pleasant to listen to, and something went slightly awry at the very end, but he never stinted on the volume or the length of the notes and as others have said it's a tremendously engaging and intelligent interpretation. Nice work from everyone else, too.

What I can't help wondering is if I would have felt this way if I'd been able to hear this as it went out live. I suspect not. One's enjoyment is affected by so much more than the simple quality or otherwise of a performance, and I rather think that I'm a somewhat different person this afternoon than I was last Friday.

[bluestateprommer]

Not in my view, though I can see why some were put out by his sometimes effortful approximation. I think he communicated the character of Siegfried well. He's a raw youth, so surely it's about more than just hitting his notes perfectly.

I agree. His vocal timbre was a strain at times to hear, and at times I did fear if he was putting himself out a bit too much. But I also wonder, with just a small touch of snark, if he may unwittingly have been expressing a sense of relief and/or thrill at being away from the notorious Bayreuth Ring of this summer, where he was singing Siegfried. I suppose his "Got anything else?" moment, along with the deliberately bad woodwind solo, was good for light relief, but it may pale for repeated listening (another small reason perhaps not to make this performance commercially for sale).

I was very impressed with Terje Stensvold as The Wanderer, but I wish that I hadn't known in advance of hearing this performance in iPlayer that he was 69. He was vocally excellent regardless of age, but I can't help thinking that I had the knowledge of his age in the back of my head as I was listening.

Splendid work yet again from Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin, with help from Stefan Dohr from "that other Berlin orchestra", as noted, even with some split notes and flubs of the moment, but very forgivable in the heat of the moment. I can only think again that if/when the orchestra return to The Proms, they just won't be able to top what they've achieved this summer.