Last year (2006) this
Dutch Ring, directed by Pierre
Audi, was released on DVD. It attracted
a lot of attention through the brave
concept of having the orchestra fully
visible mid-proscenium and the action
taking place on a sparsely decorated
stage that surrounded the orchestra.
The singers sometimes act almost in
the lap of the on-lookers in the first
rows of the stalls. The production was,
in the main well received, on Musicweb-International
by myself and my colleague Anne Ozorio.
We each commented on the timelessness
of the concept. These were committed
performances and even though some of
the singing wasn’t up to the best on
competing sets it was a fresh Ring
that offered new perspectives and
new insights. On DVD, interest will
inevitably focus on the visual impact.
However the musical side was analysed
and the same freshness was inherent
in the orchestral concept. One reason
was that the conductor, Hartmut Haenchen,
is known first and foremost as a baroque
specialist and a stickler for authenticity.
When he ventured into high romantic
repertoire it was with something of
the same approach, creating lightness
and transparency of orchestral structure,
like blowing away a good century’s worth
of cobwebs. But it was more musicological
than that. For this production Haenchen
has gone to sources beyond the printed
score and studied the details that Richard
Wagner’s assistants recorded while rehearsing
the opera at Bayreuth. There is copious
commentary concerning notes and rhythms
that were changed, agogic details, orchestral
balance and, not least, questions concerning
tempos. Wagner stresses time and again
‘in tempo’, ‘very brisk’, ‘never drag’
and ‘Moderate, but always lively and
full of variation’. The outcome of this,
which Maestro Haenchen writes quite
extensively about in the liner notes,
is exactly what I have already touched
upon: no cobwebs, brighter colours,
greater transparency, a feeling of chamber
music-making but still no lack of power
and drama. Quite the contrary in fact
since the lightness and the relative
briskness produces greater momentum
and propels the action forward. Few
composers divide opinion more than Wagner:
there are pro- and anti-Wagnerians and
very few in between. The anti- camp
invariably states that ‘he is so pompous,
so heavy, so long-winded’. I have thought
so myself and when listening to the
other recent Götterdämmerung
- the Stuttgart production under Zagrosek
on Naxos - I felt that even this reliable
conductor, whose earlier instalments
I have admired, dragged and marked time.
Haenchen’s prelude
to the prologue is as good an example
as any to show the transparency and
the chamber music quality of the music.
His Rhine journey has nicely pointed
rhythms. The Entr’acte before act 1
scene 3 is forward moving, where Zagrosek
stands still – and the delicate woodwind
writing is beautifully played. The Funeral
March (CD4 tr. 8) is taut and swift
and the surround-sound adds extra atmosphere
and presence. The concluding music,
depicting the Rhine overflowing, is
forceful and vehement and has the listener
grabbing the arm-rests not to be swept
away. This being recorded during the
second round of Ring performances,
Haenchen has obviously put his finger
on even deeper insights and now controls
the proceedings superbly. This alone
should make this an important acquisition
for Wagnerians.
But opera is also singing
and here, as in the Zagrosek set, there
are swings and roundabouts. There are
new singers in all the roles since the
DVD series, bar one, namely Kurt Rydl’s
Hagen. Seen as well as heard he was
formidable in his viciousness. Dramatically
he is definitely a force to reckon with
too. Unfortunately his voice has deteriorated
further and today – read ‘two years
ago’ – it was in a state where he could
hardly sustain a single note without
an incipient beat – read ‘heavy wobble’
– afflicting it. Roland Bracht on the
Zagrosek set does not have the most
ingratiating of voices but it is steady
and he is almost as formidable as Rydl.
It’s the same state of things with Hagen’s
father, Alberich: Günter von Kannen,
such an expressive and many-faceted
singer and actor on the Barenboim set
from Bayreuth fifteen years ago, is
here just a shadow of his former self
and almost as shaky as Hagen. Franz-Josef
Kappelmann on Naxos, in spite of thirty
years as a professional singer, has
retained his voice more or less intact
and has just as much insight.
The Rhinemaidens are
good in both incarnations but when it
comes to the norns Haenchen’s trio wins
hands down. They are among the best
in any recording I have heard. Two of
them also double in bigger roles; Irmgard
Vilsmaier as a splendid, silver-voiced
Gutrune. I would not be surprised if
before long she upgrades to Brünnhilde.
Michaela Schuster, who was also Fricka
in Zagrosek’s Rheingold, is a
deeply engaging, expressive Waltraute
with admirably steady tone, outsinging
Tichina Vaughn’s likewise expressive
but over-vibrant Waltraute for Zagrosek.
Robert Bork’s Gunther is strong but
wobbly in the first act. He improves,
though, and in the second act he rises
to the requirements and delivers some
manly, heroic singing.
I have mixed feelings
about the hero and heroine. Danish tenor
Stig Andersen is a highly experienced
singer, not equipped with the enormous
all-encompassing baritonal voice of
his compatriot from long ago, Lauritz
Melchior. Instead there are parallels
with the rather more Nordic silvery
tones of his latter-day fellow-countryman
Poul Elming, Barenboim’s Siegmund. He
has enough heft to make his mark but
is also, to begin with, rather strained
and worn. He is uneven but in act 2
he sings with much more ease than in
the beginning and in the final act he
sounds almost rejuvenated. In the scene
with Hagen and Gunther, before the murder,
he is truly heroic. Then he delivers
a death scene, both sensitive and dramatic,
that is by some margin the best thing
on the whole set, challenging even Jerusalem
(Barenboim). His counterpart on Zagrosek’s
recording hardly reaches to his waist.
Linda Watson is a youthful
Brünnhilde who is able to lighten
her voice but she too is uneven. The
final scene of act 2 offers some beautiful
lyric singing but under pressure her
voice adopts an edge that, paired with
a certain fluttery unsteadiness, makes
her less than attractive. What one always
remembers after a Götterdämmerung
performance is the immolation scene
and here her tone is more concentrated
and she sings with great feeling. Flieg
heim, ihr Raben! is dramatic singing
of the first order, not as rock-steady
as Birgit Nilsson or even Anne Evans,
but impressive even so. For pure singing
she trumps Luana DeVol on the Zagrosek
set, even though the latter has the
deeper insight in the role.
As I said: swings and
roundabouts but summing up pros and
cons the Haenchen is a much safer bet.
Neither set has a libretto but this
can be downloaded from www.naxos.com
Et’cetera don’t even have a synopsis,
which is rather parsimonious. On the
other hand the booklet is lavishly illustrated
with colour photos from the production.
The price difference is also a deciding
factor but the difference is obviously
not that big. On www.amazon.de
I found the Haenchen set at under EUR
30, while Zagrosek was just over EUR
23. I would however recommend readers
to wait for the last instalment in Melba’s
Australian Ring, which should
be due before long. Of somewhat older
versions Barenboim’s is strongly recommended,
whether as CD or DVD.
Göran Forsling
for details
Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest/Hartmut
Haenchen
ET’CETERA
KTC 5503 [4 CDs: 70:00 + 39:35 +
61:40 + 74:01]
