![\"Lizzie](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lfo.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Lizzie-and-Martin-Graham-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150\")
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There are many reasons for this. The first is the low-budget,
\nhigh-imagination of the staging, which allows the audience to concentrate on
\nthe music, the singing and the acting. The director and designer, Alan Privett
\nand Kjell Torriset, made the brilliant decision not to faff about during the
\nmusical interludes. So, though I’ve seen some terrific projections of Siegfried
\nmanning a punt or sailing during the Rhine Journey, I’ve never revelled in the
\nmusic itself so much as at Longborough, where absolutely nothing happened on
\nstage to interfere with the appreciation of it. This was true of almost every
\none of the interludes. Though Wagner’s purpose in writing them was chiefly to
\nallow time for scene-shifting, they are some of his most glorious orchestral
\nmoments.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The small
\n500-seat house has fantastic sightlines; you can see the singers’ faces from
\nevery one of the (former Covent Garden) plush chairs; and these mostly young
\nsinger-actors made the most of it, with expression so subtle they would have
\nworked in cinema close-ups or on the TV screen – no hamminess, no gurning, just
\nthe appropriate facial movements and gestures. And most of the time (though not
\nalways – the first Siegfried needs to remember when he’s singing to his sword)
\nthe singers remember the rule that their character is always singing to<\/i> someone, and that is only rarely the
\naudience. In most cases, any failings in this respect were only of degree, and
\nthe director can easily improve the performances by slightly repositioning the errant
\nsingers.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For the
\nmost part the singers in both Siegfried<\/i>
\nand G\u00f6tterd\u00e4mmerung<\/i> were alert to the
\nfact that they were performing them as chamber operas in a small house, with
\nthe 70-piece orchestra in a covered pit. There is no need<\/i> to shout, bellow or bark \u00e0 la Bayreuth, and most of the
\nexceptionally fine, and exceptionally good-looking singers, were never tempted.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There were
\na few lapses. The wonderful looking young Siegfried, Hugo Mallet, has an
\nexquisitely beautiful baritonal tenor voice (and he’s the only Siegfried I’ve
\never seen who could take his shirt off on-stage without shame – though he, in
\nfact, did not; but when he stripped his padded bulk down to<\/i> his shirt, we saw a slender young man). In his first appearance
\nhis eyes were glued to Anthony Negus, the superb conductor. By the second cycle
\nhe will have gained the confidence that will let him concentrate on Br\u00fcnnhilde.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The second
\nWotan, Philip Joll as the Wanderer, is experienced, but used to bigger houses.
\nHe will learn to modulate his dynamics by the next performance.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My own
\nsense of pitch is hardly perfect, but the magnificent orchestra didn’t seem to
\nall agree that A = 440, but their fuzzy attack in the first bars of each of the
\nopenings soon gave way to wonderful ensemble playing and, as I noted above, the
\ninterludes were almost uniformly thrilling. This is an orchestra specially
\nassembled for Longborough, not a permanent band, and everyone concerned in
\nrecruiting and rehearsing this marvellous group deserves the standing ovation
\nthey received after the first G\u00f6tterd\u00e4mmerung.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And we were
\npresent at the discovery of some new stars. I’ve previously mentioned the
\nSiegmund and Sieglinde, Lee Bisset. But Ms Bisset also sang Freia and gave us
\nthe most glamorous, beautifully acted Gutrune. Alison Kettlewell’s Fricka was
\nsensational, but so was her Waltraute. Stuart Pendred’s baritonal bass is
\nalmost too attractive for Hagen, as you can’t help feeling sympathy for a
\ncharacter with such a lovely voice. Eddie Wade’s Gunther was believable -very
\nfew singers playing this role have ever achieved that.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I wondered
\nhow the older Siegfried could possibly match the charisma and vocal beauty of
\nJason Howard’s young held<\/i>. I was
\nwrong. Jonathan Stoughton equalled him in power, stamina and acting ability;
\nand if his voice is not as warm as his predecessor, he has a faultless upper range,
\nand could reproduce the Woodbird’s motif without straining or pushing his
\nvoice. Finding one fine Siegfried is a real accomplishment – two is positively
\nLady Bracknellish.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Finally
\nthere’s a superstar. If Rachel Nicholls can manage six more performances of
\nBr\u00fcnnhilde without damaging her voice, I’ll expect to hear her perform the role
\nsoon in one of the world’s major opera houses. Her acting and singing is almost
\nbeyond praise – and she kept the level up to the same mark in all three operas.
\nHer presence is commanding, she looks the part of an emancipated but beleaguered,
\nself-aware, proud young woman. Her warm, splendidly coloured true soprano voice
\nis powerful and dramatic, and also lusciously lyrical.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I’ve
\nmentally compared her favourably to some of the Br\u00fcnnhildes I’ve heard in the
\npast – Linda Watson, Gwyneth Jones, Jane Eaglen and Susan Bullock, for example.
\nI have heard, but not seen Anne Evans, and have not yet heard Nina Stemme’s
\nBr\u00fcnnhilde. The only Br\u00fcnnhilde I can remember seeing who compared at all to Ms
\nNicholls is Deborah Polaski in the Kirchner\/Rosalie Bayreuth production.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of course,
\nLongborough doesn’t have the resources to cast a Bryn Terfel or a John
\nTomlinson as Wotan. But by god, they’ve made a good fist of it. If anyone
\nreading this has the wherewithal and desire to sponsor a supremely deserving
\nmusical venture, this is the project for you: a superb chamber production of Der Ring des Nibelungen<\/i> in the
\nCotswolds. And a knighthood for Martin Graham wouldn’t be inappropriate.<\/b><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The last “Ring” I saw was last autumn’s revival of the Keith Warner production at Covent Garden. As in 2005\/6 I had intended to write a book about seeing every Ring cycle produced in a single year, I not only saw the Bayreuth Ring in summer, 2006, but the earlier Manaus and Adelaide Rings. I’ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":788,"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-757","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\/Lizzie-and-Martin-Graham-150x150.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbv6zV-cd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757","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=757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}