![\"The](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lfo.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/100722_0370-walkure-adj-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150\")
<\/a><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\nWhat would he make of presenting his Festival opera, his four-day affair, as a chamber
\nopera?<\/p>\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
Then it struck me with real force: he’d hate it. For this is
\nremarkably similar to the way the first productions of Rheingold<\/i> and Die Walk\u00fcre <\/i>were
\npreviewed against his wishes, on 22 September 1869 and 26 June the next year at
\nthe Munich National Theatre, by the command of King Ludwig. But never mind
\ncomplaints from the ghost of Wagner, we were seeing these two pieces much as
\nLudwig first saw them.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And this is
\nthe way Wagner ought<\/i> to have wanted
\nthem done, as the emotion he has written into the music itself is best
\ndisplayed theatrically as at Longborough and Munich, before a small audience.
\nThis is the best acted Wagner production I have ever seen (and I’ve seen many
\nmore than my fair share). Because the singers know their faces can be read even
\nby the audience in the last row, they are really giving their all. They are
\nconcentrating hard on what they are doing and saying, and director Alan
\nPrivett’s team has got every singer, even the Valkyries, to pay attention to
\nthe meaning of the libretto, and work out whom they are addressing. They give
\nus, the audience, the sense that they are singing to someone particular – in other
\nwords, they are creating a drama.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not only
\nthis, but because these are (mostly) fresh, young singers at the start of their
\ncareers, they actually look right. The gods (and Siegmund) are fit, handsome
\nand virile and the goddesses mostly slim and good-looking. Lee Bisset, who was
\na good Freia, turns out to be a spectacularly fine Sieglinde, as wonderful a
\nsinger and actress as she is beautiful. Andrew Rees, her Siegmund, was pushing
\nhis lovely, burnished voice in the first act, but after the interval came back
\non with perfect control of his volume and projection.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Because the
\npit is mostly covered, \u00e0 la Bayreuth, it is easier for the singers to project
\nover the orchestra, even when it’s playing at full volume; but it naturally
\ntakes a little time for the singers to adjust to this. When they do, I imagine
\nthey find the conditions at Longborough very good to work with, as they are
\nkind, especially to young voices.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wotan,
\nJason Howard, seemed in much better voice for the second opera, and happily in
\ncontrol. Alison Kettlewell’s Fricka is almost beyond praise – and her acting
\nconvinces you that there is a real domestic going on here. It read just like
\ntoday’s front pages in the British press.
\nRachel Nicholls’ Br\u00fcnnhilde is amazing – fiery and believable, and acted
\nso well that I almost believed it possible for a 20-something goddess to care
\nso much about her honour and not being shamed. Bravo all, and I can’t wait for Siegfried<\/i>, the opera Wagner delayed, so
\nthat Ludwig couldn’t get it staged as a chamber piece.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I hope
\nthose who are privileged to see this Longborough production realise what an
\nimportant event they are seeing and hearing.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a former henhouse, at Longborough, deep in the Cotswold countryside, a very\u00a0ambitious Ring cycle is shaping up. What, I asked myself, would its bombastic, luxury-loving author and composer make of it? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How would Wagner, who ordered his undergarments from a maker of bespoke women’s lingerie, feel about designer Kjell Torriset’s simple, effective, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/100722_0370-walkure-adj-150x150.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbv6zV-cc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}