An epic new series of Ring operas came to its conclusion at Brussels’ Theatre de la Monnaie on February 4 with the premiere of Götterdämmerung. All eight performances were sold out. An abstract and atmospheric production by Pierre Audi, a splendid orchestra led by the company’s music director Alain Altinoglu, and a fine ensemble of singers brought the story of the end of the world of power and greed and its rebirth through love to breathtaking new heights of artistic success. One will not soon forget several seconds of a deliberate musical pause before Altinoglu ushered in the final theme of Brünnhilde’s sacrifice/treasure of the world. (It has been rumored, but not substantiated, that the La Monnaie cycle will move to Barcelona, with Roman Castellucci, director of the first two, to direct all performances.)
Director Audi and his team continued their approach of placing the Ring in a dreamy setting of no specific time or place when they took over the production of Siegfried in the fall of 2024 (reviewed in the Nov. 2024 issue). The sets consist of monolithic walls and movable platforms on rotating tables on stage. Props are minimal, as lightings by Valerie Tiberi of white, red, blue, and purple hues are used effectively to highlight the shifting moods of characters and changing scenes, with close attention to musical motifs. Music and singing flow with natural smoothness to make the hours fly away. Costumes by Petra Reinhardt are simple but stunning. Brünnhilde is clothed in a long white dress, as if to symbolize her status as a sacred savior of the world. She dons a dark coat at times and appears on stage in Act III as a mute figure, with veil, to witness and mourn Siegfried’s death. When she sheds her dark coat during the immolation scene, she reveals a flame red dress as she hands the Ring to the Rheinmaidens and joins her husband in death by walking towards the red wall hanging in the back, indicating fire. Other characters are mostly dressed in dark colors. Günther and Gutrune, with the same blond hair bob, are in identical gray robes and coats to emphasize their strong affinity and mutual affection. The Norns are clothed in earth-colored bulky costumes to make them appear as earth worms. The Rheinmaidens wear revealing bathing suits at first but add long skirts as they try to entice Siegfried to give them the cursed Ring.
photo by Monika Rittershaus, 2025
Audi’s command of stagecraft is perhaps most striking in the Act II crowd scene. The male chorus was seated on long benches that glided on stage. Hagen’s powerful call and the subsequent chorus scene were more ominous and sinister than usual as the singers did not have to move around on stage, and the audience was fully able to absorb the unfolding of the tragedy leading to Siegfried’s murder through the music. The exit of the chorus from the stage was managed so quickly and quietly that the following scene of Brünnhilde, Hagen, and Günther seemed to appear out of nowhere.
The quality of singing was mixed, although all the singers were well rehearsed and committed. Ingela Brimberg, tall and statuesque, did not have the dramatic and powerful core in her voice to be an effective Brünnhilde. Her high notes were often shrill and detached from her middle notes, but she rallied to deliver a moving immolation scene. Taking on the role of Siegfried for the first time, American tenor Bryan Register, whose career has been mostly in Europe, was a beefy-voiced hero with the requisite legato and lyricism, but his voice lacked the strength and sheen to cut through the orchestra for clear projection. Anett Fritsch was delightful as a clear-voiced and sensual Gutrune, well matched with Andrew Foster-Williams’ robust, assertive, and conflicted Günther. The Norns and Rheinmaidens were well cast, and the Rheinmaidens’ Act III harmony was a standout. Scott Hendricks’ Alberich and Nora Gubisch’s Waltraute were adequate to their tasks.
It is almost tempting to call the opera “Hagen” when blessed with an excellent Hagen as in Ain Anger. He was the best singer of the evening, with his dark, menacing, and powerful bass and his tall, hulking, and frightening stage presence dominating the proceedings whenever he appeared on stage. His slimy manipulation of his half siblings, Günther and Gutrune, and eventually the hero Siegfried and his bride Brünnhilde, and his heart of darkness as an unloved child and adult were first rate acting, making the character the complex, total villain that he is. Anger received the loudest and well-deserved applause among the singers, although the enthusiastic premier night audience reserved their highest praise for the excellent orchestra and its conductor, Altinoglu, and to the production team. A triumph of a happy marriage of music and theater.
© Wagner Notes, March. 2025, a publication of the Wagner Society of New York. All rights reserved.