The following is a list of the operas by Richard Wagner that comprise “Ring of the Nibelung”, whose production by director Francesca Zambello I will be reviewing for operawarhorses.com in June, 2018.
Das Rheingold (Wagner), San Francisco Opera, June 12, 18 and 26, 2018
Francesca Zambello has created evocative American-themed images for each of the four “Ring” operas, that include a Gold Rush-era mine as the Alberich’s Nibelheim, and a “Great Gatsby”-era mansion in the Hamptons as the residence of the gods while construction workers Fasolt and Fafner built Valhalla.
Greer Grimsley is Wotan, Jamie Barton is Fricka and Stefan Margita is Loge. Brandon Jovanovich is Froh, Brian Mulligan is Donner and Julie Adams is Freia.
[Below: Wotan (Greer Grimsley, center) restrains Alberich (Falk Struckmann, left) as Loge (Stefan Margita, right) keeps watch; edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]
The Rhinemaidens are Stacey Tappan (Woglinde), Lauren McNeese (Wellgunde) and Renee Tatum (Flosshilde). The Giants are Fasolt (Andrea Silvestrelli) and Fafner (Raymond Aceto). The dwarves are Falk Struckmann as Alberich and David Cangelosi as Mime.
Francesca Zambello directs. The sets are by Michael Yeargan. S. Katy Tucker is projection designer. Maestro Donald Runnicles conducts.
[For my review of the 2011 performance of “Das Rheingold”, see: “Rheingold” Evolves in First Full Zambello “Ring” – San Francisco Opera, June 14, 2011.]
[For my performance review, see: Review: Another Zambello Ring Cycle Begins – Wagner’s “Das Rheingold”, San Francisco Opera, June 19, 2018.]
Die Walküre (Wagner), San Francisco Opera, June 13, 19 and 27, 2018
The “American” images continue. Act I takes place in the small Appalachian cottage in which Sieglinde (Karita Mattila) and Hunding (Raymond Aceto) reside. Act II Scene 1 in the corporate penthouse of a skyscraper looking down on a metropolis. Grimsley and Barton as the lead god and goddess have issues to work out, and, in doing so, Wotan’s strategic thinking changes, leading to unexpected instructions to his daughter, Brünnhilde (Irene Theorin).
[Below: Brünnhilde (Irene Theorin, center, bareheaded) is surrounded by her sister valkyries (all in aviatrix helmets); edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera .]
The eight Valkyries appear as paratroopers. The sets are by Michael Yeargan. S. Katy Tucker is projection designer. Maestro Donald Runnicles conducts.
[For my review of the 2011 performance of Die Walküre”, see: Power Singing, Powerful Imagery in Zambello’s “Walküre” – San Francisco Opera, June 15, 2011.]
[For my performance review, see: Review: Francesca Zambello’s Iconic “Walküre” – San Francisco Opera, June 20, 2018.]
Siegfried (Wagner), San Francisco Opera, June 15, 22 and 29, 2018.
Zambello’s “Siegfried” deals with the unraveling of established order and the ascendancy of things that have gone awry. Images include the dwarf Mime, now living in a seedy trailer, the giant Fafner, who has gained fabulous wealth, but is forever trapped in the form of a dragon to protect his possessions, and the god Wotan, who must travel in disguise as the Wanderer.
[Below: Siegfried (Daniel Brenna, left) has battled the Magic Fire to awaken Brünnhilde (Irene Theorin, right); edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]
Daniel Brenna is Siegfried, Aceto is Fafner (who has reinvented himself as a Dragon). Cangelosi, Grimsley and Struckmann continue roles from the preceding operas. The sets are by Michael Yeargan. S. Katy Tucker is projection designer. Maestro Donald Runnicles conducts.
[For my review of the 2011 performance of “Siegfried”, see: Down and Out in Zambello’s American Ring: Sly, Theatrically-Centered “Siegfried” Satisfies – San Francisco Opera, June 17, 2011.]
[For my performance review, see: Review: An Heroic, Passionate “Siegfried” – San Francisco Opera, June 22, 2018.]
Götterdämmerung (Wagner), San Francisco Opera, June 17 and 24 and July 1, 2018.
As the longest and arguably most ambitious opera in the core opera repertory, the challenges of mounting “Götterdämmerung” are extraordinary. Director Zambello has indicated that it is this opera (and to an extent “Rheingold” also) in which revisions to the original concept will be most noticeable.
Besides Brenna’s Siegfried, Theorin’s Brünnhilde and Falk Struckmann’s Alberich and the Rheinmaidens from “Rheingold”, the cast includes Brian Mulligan as Gunther and Andrea Silvestrelli as Hagen.
[Below: Brünnhilde (Irene Theorin, left) tries to work out why Siegfried (Daniel Brenna, center), the man to whom she believed she is married appears to be the bridegroom of Gutrune (Melissa Citro, right); edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]
The sets are by Michael Yeargan. S. Katy Tucker is projection designer. Maestro Donald Runnicles conducts.
[For my review of the 2011 performance of “Götterdämmerung” see: “Götterdämmerung”: Strong Finish to the First Zambello “Ring” – San Francisco Opera, June 19, 2011.]
[For my performance review, see: Review: Theorin, Brenna Triumphant in Zambello’s “Götterdämmerung” – San Francisco Opera, June 24, 2018.]
This list is supplementary to previous lists in this “Quests and Anticipations” series of selected operas being performed through January 2019:
Rossini’s “Barber of Seville” at the Glimmerglass Festival; Rossini’s “The Italian Girl in Algiers” at the Santa Fe Opera; and Donizetti’s “Roberto Devereux” at the San Francisco Opera [See In Quest of Rossini and Donizetti – June-September, 2018.]
Bernstein’s “Candide” and Adams’ “Doctor Atomic” at the Santa Fe Opera [See In Quest of New Opera Productions, March-August 2018.]
Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos” at the Santa Fe Opera [See In Quest of German Operatic Repertory – September 2017-August 2018.]
Verdi’s “Don Carlo” at the Los Angeles Opera and Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” at the Seattle Opera [See In Quest of Verdi Operas, March 2018-January 2019.]
Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” at the Santa Fe Opera and Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Leoncavallo’s “I Pagliacci” at the San Francisco Opera [See In Quest of “Core” Verismo Operas, February-September, 2018.]