It seems that fortunes favors the bold. Although the weather was far from good, I had decided not to see today’s Götterdämmerung and only changed my mind in the last minute. I am glad I did change my mind, for not only was it the best performance by far in this cycle, but also a good performance for any standard. First of all, the orchestra seemed to find its lost affection for Wagner’s music and played with full commitment – and Donald Runnicles did not miss the opportunity to offer an alert and dramatic account of the score. This evening – as it should – the orchestra was very much in the center of the events, eagerly commenting the recapitulation of Leitmotive in the Prologue, heightening the atmosphere in Brünnhilde and Siegfried’s duet, relishing the effects in Siegfried’s journey through the Rhine and so on. It is curious that, last year, the Gibichungenhalle scene didn’t seem to start off, while this evening it was particularly effective in its supple organicity. Although the Waltraute scene did not keep up with the overall animation and the ensuing scene with Brünnhilde and Siegfried could be a little bit more intense, act II regained some of the excitement in spite of some mismatches between chorus and orchestra. The conductor deserves credit for his ability to balance singers’ needs and the intent to maintain a large orchestral sound, especially in the Immolation Scene, soon after an impacting Trauermarsch the climax of which was very coherently built. In a nutshell, this was not the last word in Götterdämmerung, but it was nonetheless a very competently done performance with one or two truly interesting scenes. It is only a pity that the remaining operas in the tetralogy did not show the same level of care and involvement.
After getting off on the wrong foot in Siegfried, Janice Baird seemed ready to clean her records this evening. Although her middle and especially her low registers lack volume, she was well in command of her high notes and produced required dramatic acuti whenever this was necessary. More than this, her phrasing was often clean and consequent (provided there were no low notes on the way). Even if she is not a very specific interpreter, she was not sleepwalking either. A very decent job, considering what one hears around. With her focused, pleasant-toned soprano, Heidi Melton is almost luxurious casting as Gutrune. I couldn’t help noticing she has lost some weight too, the right decision in order to build a career as important as she deserves. Replacing Karen Cargill, Christa Mayer offered a very subtle and expressive if a bit underpowered Waltraute. The Norns (especially Liane Keegan) and the Rhinemaids (I feel badly for singling Clémentine Margaine out, since the three of them were excellent, but a contralto dark-toned and focused as hers calls attention) were all cast from strength from the ensemble.
Siegfried is a role a little bit on the high side for Stephen Gould and yet he can pull it off almost without accidents. Although his tone becomes taut when things get high and fast, he managed his resources expertly reaching his last scene in better shape than most. His voice is refreshingly big and firm, his diction is very clean and, considering the baritonal sound of his voice and his physical frame, he was able to suggest boyishness without looking silly. It was very rewarding to realize how Markus Brück’s Gunther improved since last year – his performance is free now free from the blustering and hamming that disfigured it last time and one could sample the richness and forcefulness of his singing the way it should be. I was also surprised to notice that Matti Salminen, at 66, can still be an effective Hagen, actually really better than he was last year. Only those who knew his younger self could notice the effects of time in a voice still powerful, firm and incisive enough for this key role. Actually, his scene with Alberich had the effect of exposing Gordon Hawkins’s lack of charisma in the role of Alberich.
I HEAR VOICES 
Salminen is definitely starting to display some gruffness in his singing; there is less legato. But he is still a powerful presence, I would imagine. (I haven’t heard him live for four years.)
I should note that my comment about the gruffness is based on audio streams, etc., since I haven’t heard Salminen live. Hagen has always been one of his best roles. How was Gordon Hawkins vocally? Last time I heard him live he was recovering from surgery and there was a noticeable diminishing in the power of his voice.
Very glad you decided to go to this. I wish I did.
Thanks, Jerold. Your words encouraged me to go! 🙂
Loki, yes, Salminen is basically gruff right now (and gets away with acting with the voice when things get difficult), but it is more than stage presence. His singing has a raw, menacing sound that basically works for Hagen. It is not a very “educated” sound, and that’s what makes it so Hagen-like 🙂
Hawkins, well, I had never head him before this Ring, so I can only speak about now. His is a dark, grainy, big voice. It lacks a bit of a cutting edge for Alberich. His diction is a bit indistinct too and sometimes he seems to be just vocalizing the text without quite processing it. I guess that this is why the audience was a bit cold about him here in Berlin. In my opinion, the role of Alberich does not go with his personality at all.
Just heard Salminen a couple of months ago while the performance was impressive in isolation the gruffness and loss of volume was all too palpable, especially for those of us who were lucky enough to hear his standard setting Wagner in the 90s. I think he sustained very high vocal standards for a long time and as recently as 3 years ago was an excellent Mark. Even today, at least in my experience, his contribution is more likely to be a credit to rather than a flaw in a performance but he is not what he once was.
I do think, however, that he is in better shape at this stage than Kurt Moll was, although I didn’t have too many chances to hear him earlier in his career, his recording, even from the mid 90s are extremely impressive.