Anthony Negus, conductor; Matthew Rose (Wotan), Rachel Nicholls (Brünnhilde), Nicky Spence (Siegmund), Emma Bell (Sieglinde), Brindley Sherratt (Hunding), and Susan Bickley (Fricka). Director Richard Jones; design Stewart Laing
After waiting for a long time to see this production, and having been discouraged by the broadly negative responses in the main-stream press (the most positive I saw was in the New York Times – but I wondered who paid for such a trip over to London to see the production!), I was staggered by how good this was – musically and dramatically. Yes, there were a few niggles – the lights didn’t really make the sword shine in the tree in the first act, the pantomime horses owned by the Valkyries got a bit of getting used to (but no sillier than the horse skulls held by Valkyries in the last ROH production), the storm imp in the Ride of the Valkyries was a bit pointless and it was difficult to see why the design team couldn’t have come up with some basic red flames video at the end, the originally conceived fire having been outlawed by Westminster City Council because of horse hair embedded in the stage which caught fire in a rehearsal…….). But the positives were overwhelming – detailed, carefully crafted acting and movement, with the characters on stage really listening and responding to each other, sets that by and large followed Wagner’s stage directions faithfully (though I am glad we didn’t have any rams for Fricka), and some stunning singing. The only real disappointment was John Deathridge’s translation – I can’t see why this was deemed to be more serviceable than the Andrew Porter version of 50 years ago.
Going into more detail, the general atmosphere of the production was dark – no warm colours (maybe that was the reason to block any replacement flame video) and the sparsity of sets on the huge Coliseum stage intensified somehow the focus on the individuals in the drama. Hunding – with the clever introduction of his men, there in the text but not seen before by me in a production – was menacingly and brilliantly sung by Brindley Sherratt. Maybe some of the violence to Siglinde was a bit overdone, but the general menace and brutality was well-portrayed. Emma Bell as Sieglinde was, to me, a revelation – I hadn’t thought that much of her, cast against Stuart Skelton at ROHCG a few years ago, but here in the more sympathetic environment of the Coliseum her voice sounded wonderful – powerful, and beautifully shaded. OK, as the papers went on and on about, her diction wasn’t brilliant, but she was probably the best and most charismatic actor of the evening, conveying clearly the anguish and self-doubt of the role. A marvellous performance. Nicky Spence’s Siegmund was well done, and powerfully sung, but not maybe as well-acted as some of the other roles – he was the only person who at times reverted to the more normal semaphore style of opera performance.
I thought Matthew Rose’s Wotan was tremendous. Rarely can that role have been sung so beautifully, and his diction was impeccable. He also conveyed much of the torment and frustration of the role. I have never been so gripped by Wotan’s Narration in Act 2. Again, the first-night reviewers seemed to be carping at his performance in many ways, particularly in Act 3, but I thought he sustained a long evening incredibly well, with really, really moving singing in the Farewell. Fricka’s of course is relatively a small role, but Susan Bickley made the best of it, and projected a sharply conceived character. Rachel Nicholls was also very convincing as Brunnhilde, making the transition effectively from a teenager to a mature woman in the course of the opera. She pinged out the high top notes with clarity, her diction was good and her voice carried well (I was puzzled by one critic calling it a ‘small voice’)
This was the one performance conducted by Anthony Negus, who had coached the singers. As I am sure they had also for Martyn Brabbins, the orchestra excelled themselves, particularly in Act 3. The pacing of the work seemed just right in Acts 2 and 3 – perhaps slightly on the slow/sluggish side for Act 1, but the great moments of that act were powerfully done nevertheless.
In short, this was a terrific evening. Some of the background to the Scandinavian style of the sets might have been clearer if we had been able to see Rhinegold before Valkyrie, but, as I understand it, the pandemic prevented this. To be frank, yes, of course, old lags like me can refer back to the glory days of the 70’s and the Goodall Ring, and we have the recordings and those are irreplaceable – and few have sung these roles like Bailey, Hunter and Remedios – but in staging and in the overall quality of the singing and acting of many of the roles of the Valkyrie, this was a superior production (there, I’ve said it, may hot coals rain down upon me). And how transformative it is to hear it sung in English
I do hope that the ENO is not put off by the negative press from the first night. It is absolutely essential we see Richard Jones’ vision for the rest of the Ring
John's musical journey 