Prom 11 (25.07.20) Die Walküre

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

A performance from the 2013 BBC Proms when Daniel Barenboim conducted the Staatskapelle Berlin and a starry cast in Wagner’s Die Walküre, as part of the first complete Ring cycle in a single Proms season.

It was an event which drew unanimous critical and audience acclaim for conductor cast and, not least, the orchestra. As one critic put it: ‘there’s surely no other ensemble in the world that has this music more deeply ingrained in its collective psyche than the Berlin Staatskapelle. Even with some of the greatest Wagner singers of the present day onstage here, it was the orchestral playing that regularly demanded the attention, whether it was the effortless depth of tone in the strings, the sheer solidity and easy assertiveness of the brass, the perfectly defined pianissimos or the immaculate articulation of every solo detail.’

Wagner: Die Walküre

7.30pm: Act 2

9.15pm: Act 3

Bryn Terfel (Wotan)
Simon O’Neill (Siegmund)
Anja Kampe (Sieglinde)
Eric Halfvarson (Hunding)
Nina Stemme (Brünnhilde)
Ekaterina Gubanova (Fricka)
Sonja Mühleck (Gerhilde)
Carola Höhn (Ortlinde)
Ivonne Fuchs (Waltraute)
Anaïk Morel (Schwertleite)
Susan Foster (Helmwige)
Leann Sandel-Pantaleo (Siegrune)
Anna Lapkovskaja (Grimgerde)
Simone Schröder (Rossweisse)
Staatskapelle Berlin
Daniel Barenboim (conductor)

Die Walküre, the second instalment of Wagner’s epic four-opera cycle The Ring, opens with a terrible storm presaging the devastating events which are about to unfold, as the gods fall prey to all too-human flaws. Siegmund, who has been asked by his father Wotan to help him acquire the Ring, meets and falls in love with his long-lost twin sister Sieglinde. Fricka, Wotan’s consort, is infuriated and demands Siegmund’s death. Brünnhilde, Wotan’s rebel daughter, tries to defend him, but in punishment she is put to sleep on a rock surrounded by fire.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Good choice, though I would have preferred a repeat of the Pappano Prom of the same opera from a few years earlier.

[Belgrove]

I was in the hall for this one. Looking back to what I wrote at the time, the first act was underpowered but the performance improved as the night progressed. Barenboim’s trajectory through the crucial second act captured the huge arcs and avoided the longueurs that can undermine performances conducted by lesser talents. This performance was probably around the time when Terfel was at the peak of his powers in Wagner. I recall having an amiable conversation with the late Bryan Magee during an interval.

This Ring cycle was generally of high quality. I wonder why we have not since seen more in this country of Andreas Schager who stood in to sing Siegfried in Götterdämmerung - he was outstanding.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I went to the Götterdamerung part of this cycle - one of my most memorable Wagner evenings. Wasn't there something of a heated exchange between Barenboim and the Concertmaster after Act One with the Maestro implying the strings weren't giving it enough oomph or - as they say down here - wellie ?
After TWOG Barenboim paid fulsome tribute to the retiring Concertmaster and mentioned that in England the role was called Leader -" a word that in German has unfortunate connotations" he added. Well the audience laughed anyway.....

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Was that the one with Meier and Domingo absolutely incandescent and unforgettable closing Act 1?

That was the one.

[Alison]

Still find it difficult to be fully involved in Barenboim’s Wagner conducting, too calculated and lumpy IMVHO.

[Rjw]

Well it sounds good to me!

[gradus]

Just listened to Act 1 and I thought the playing utterly extraordinary, talk about vivid.
Great Sieglinde but on my humble radio the balance made Siegmund sound slightly under-powered until that is he sang the final note of the act. Bravos all round.
Nevertheless whenever I hear Wintersturme my memory immediately flips back to Jon Vickers, even in concert he could summon up the kind of involvement in the role that I have never seen or heard equalled by anyone.

[duncan]

Was that the one with Meier and Domingo absolutely incandescent and unforgettable closing Act 1?

That was with Pappano in 2005.

This one doesn’t quite reach those heights but it’s still great to hear it again.

[kernelbogey]

What an orchestra!

[Keraulophone]

Missed this in 2013 but thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing, lumpy or not. Have seen the recent ROH and Met Ring cycles, this audio-only experience did not suffer comparison with those two great events, perhaps chiefly due to the vivid orchestral playing and its broadcast clarity and lack of any opera-pit boxiness (though you don’t get that at the Met). Stemme was not quite as incandescent as at CG with Pappano, but she paired well with an on-form Terfel, who had the stamina required. He cleverly rescued her at one point in Act 3 Sc 3 when she missed out eight bars. Sufficient heat was generated in the love music of Act 1, though I thought Stuart Skelton both at CG and the Met sang a more gripping Winterstürme (I can only imagine what Vickers must have sounded like live).

[kernelbogey]

I also enjoyed the whole thing - though on this occasion, for extraneous reasons, I found my attention wandering by Act III.

I love Act I, which I think one of the best things in opera, and they did it full justice in this performance: Simon O'Neill as Siegmund and Anja Kampe as Sieglinde i thought both excellent. I haven't previously heard Bryn Terfel sing Wotan, but agree he was definitely on form right to the end, and brought out the full emotional spectrum of the role. I had also not heard Stemme before in the role (and could not understand what it is that some object to).

What was outstanding for me was the orchestra: just wonderful ensemble and solo playing. I have no quarrel with Barenboim's conducting of Wagner, and salute his achievement in rehabilitating his music, to some extent, with those who bear historical prejudices about it.

A thoroughly enjoyable evening with a whole Wagner opera at home!

[Keraulophone]

a whole Wagner opera at home!

...in undisturbed comfort, with excellent refreshments. I did spare a thought for the Prommers who stood for over four hours, receiving the admiration of the Berlin clarinettist interviewed during the first interval. (Lumbago-inducing Mahler 3 will remain my maximum.)

[kernelbogey]

...i the admiration of the Berlin clarinettist interviewed during the first interval....

Alas I was doing Refreshments just then, and missed him. But I did have the same thought about the prommers - particularly as the audience was notably quiet....