Riding along with the Valkyries

Press, 2 September 1980, Page 26

Riding along with the Valkyries

From

JOHN RITCHIE

in- Bayreuth The Valkyries' is. the most -popular' of the Ring cycle. Even the . black mar-• ket will tell ' you ' that.’ Whereas the average official price for - a .’ segt is -, around $5O, enthusiasts willingly will pay double that at the last moment;,, a. remarkable ' manifestation of “going 'along for the Ride.” But, in terms of value for money, where else can one be . entertained .(if that is the word) from 4- p.m. to 9.45 p.m. on a • summer’s evening with ; the rights to promenade,, i eat > and drink , during ample interyals and among parkland conditions?.: Wagner picked his place -well' and the family follow his lead with taste, decorum and dedication.'’ •••: , . - Act I;, the compulsive love-matching of; Siegmund ‘ and ■ •••; Sieglinde against the backdrop : of Hun din g’s aggressive hatred, s .is; Wagner’s; finest hour. Peter Hofmann- (Siegmund) •• and;. Jeannine -Altmeyer (Sieglinde) provided a dazzlingly poignant portrayal -ipf- lovers,dost' in themselves." What a Tristan and Isolde these two young geniuses will make. Matti Salminen’s Hunding heightened their-youthful abandon; through a black arid'; threatening'. heaviness and--the > orchestra ' flung '

shafts of illumination and flashes of tonal commentary . as though this music had been played : < night, after night In fact, this was the season’s first ' ' performance.” ; - It is worth reflecting on ■>. what kind,of-an orchestra -can- perform Wagner eight evenings . in . aj row - with , only two repeats. From August -2 .to 9 these players will do just'that. Their cohesion as* ateam ’ and their soloistic mastery are a source of wonder. 1 Apart from what I understand to be very good pay.'their, working . ■ conditions contain one; : ; '-ipferk.? < They do not need to dress up.—except for the trumpets and trombones .. on Tahfare duty.... before each act They play from the balcony out-of-doors.. In. the pit informality, reigns. Even Pierre Boulez is in shirtsleeves. He dons a coat to take a rapturously accorded bow before going home each night.. • ■ ;; : ' II, in which Wotan, at great length, fumes and frets ’iabbut Brunnhilde’s insubordination, allowed the mind;to wander. More ' sinned' against: than, sinning; Donald Mclntyre’s 5 < realisation; of this huge, ‘i. role is one of growth from henpecked ineffectuality to domineering anger. It is a . subtle development in an act' of onfe , and a half hours’? duration;.-Internal .

fuming is not easy to convey and might go unrecognised in the short term; but there could be no doubting its cumulative effect upon; the audience. Mclntyre is a senior citizen in the Beyrouth hierarchy. His activity on stage reflects the older generation of Wagnerian singer, reliant on experience and pacing. It is in.’contrast with the more . youthful aspirants to fame in this genre. The women have beautiful figures, superb voices. The men are agile, handsome and physically, fit. All, seem to have ..attended , the Royal Academy for Dramatic Art or ah equivalent. And they sing in tune. ■lt ’, all represents a change from the . bloated Brunnhildes, the pine-sized Siegfrieds and the wooden Wotans of the past. The name of the game is real-, ism. Proof of this is the number of dwarfs wandering the streets of Bayreuth at present — they are. here for the festival, not as audience, but as the Nibelurigeh in "Das Rheingold:”*'’■ On the other hand the' giants, Fafner and Fasolt, are phoney. At three metres tall reality is too much to expect. But these ! massive figures, which make Mclntyre look like Sid Going, J nevertheless defy rational explanation for as long as the illusion is required,' ', ~/