The Ring Comes Full Circle
Well, we’ve done it. Seattlest is finally done with the Ring Cycle. And despite ourselves, we enjoyed it.
The last installment of the Ring, Götterdämerung, is a marathon of an opera, partially because most of the story is recapped in the prologue. You can read a synopsis here (or, in twenty words or less: recap, recap, recap, magical potion, plot to steal ring, betrayal, betrayal, betrayal, death, funeral pyre, destruction of ring, new world).
Aside from Die Walküre, Götterdämerung is probably the most emotionally complex of the cycle. There are multiple levels of betrayal here, and you can hear and see everyone figuring it out in front of you, in the music and, in this production at any rate, in the acting. The singing and acting were again superb. The sets this time around were not as spectacular as the sets for Siegfried, but those would be hard to top.
One aspect we’ve neglected through this whole series of reviews is the orchestra. In these operas, the orchestra is almost like a supporting character. It carries most of the leitmotifs; the singers do sing some of them, but most are established, maintained and echoed in the orchestra. The members of the Seattle Opera Orchestra come from the Seattle Symphony, and they played wonderfully throughout the entire cycle under Robert Spano’s masterful conducting.
In Götterdämerung, Wagner uses the opera chorus for the first time in the cycle. It was exciting to hear such a big sound come from the stage after three operas of arias, duets, trios, etc. Having a lot of people on stage also added to the drama.
Although the second series started last night, the most exciting opera of the series is tonight (Die Walküre). Everyone recaps enough on stage that if you wanted to take in a single opera, Seattlest thinks you could totally do so tonight. People will probably be scalping tickets outside. On the other hand, if you want to see the entire series, you have one more chance to do so. The third series starts next Tuesday, August 23rd. People will definitely be selling tickets to the entire series – hopefully, they’ll be in your price range.
Overall, Seattlest has been impressed with the high quality of this production. Obviously, a lot of time, money and passion go into Seattle Opera’s production of the Ring Cycle. We only hope that the rest of the season doesn’t suffer as a result.
