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The Berlin State Opera had planned for its new Ring Cycle, a collaboration of Maestro Daniel Barenboim and Stage Director Dmitri Tcherniakov, to open in 2020. Covid-19 prevented that, and the premiere of the full Cycle was delayed until October 2022, with rehearsals during the preceding nine months. The Program stated: “…the main parts of the musical rehearsals were realized by the young Staatsoper Kappelmeister Thomas Guggeis….” Medical concerns caused Maestro Barenboim to withdraw, and Maestro Guggeis led Cycle II, delivering sensational performances each of the four nights. His participation in the extensive musical rehearsals paid off handsomely, as the orchestra and singers were completely in sync. The singers were never rushed, with pacing and volume allowing them to fully interpret their roles. The audience responded at the end of each performance with some of the longest and loudest ovations I have heard for a conductor and orchestra. Christian Thielemann conducted Cycles I and III. (Maestro Guggeis is scheduled to lead Der fliegende Holländer at the Metropolitan Opera in May-June, 2023, and at Santa Fe Opera in July-August, 2023.)
The operas take place in a “Research Center” studying human behavior. The set rotates, allowing action to occur in different rooms located on the main floor of the Center; the set also can be raised to reveal two lower levels. The Center bears the acronym E.S.C.H.E. – the German word for ash tree – posted on the wall of a lobby/ entrance hall, which also has a tree at its center. The costumes and some props (such as black rotary dial telephones) in Das Rheingold suggest the action occurs about 1975. Characters appearing in multiple operas, such as Wotan, age as the Cycle continues.
Although the Center is in Germany, it is unclear in Das Rheingold if it is located in the former East or West Germany. Extreme medical procedures – such as injection of fluids into neural pathways – are suggested, electroshock therapy is used, and occasionally groups of Stasi-like men appear to enforce compliance. German reunification would have occurred between Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, but the staff remains and psychological experiments are carried out in the same building.
Das Rheingold begins in a Stress Lab on the main floor of the Center. Alberich (Johannes Martin Kränzle), who may be an employee, is on a gurney with a number of interconnected electrodes on his head. Under the observation of three Rhine Maidens wearing white lab coats and several men in suits, Alberich receives electrical shocks and convulses on the gurney. He then has delusions that the Rhine Maidens are making amorous advances; they reject his overtures and he responds by breaking away with computer equipment and printouts which he believes to be the “Rhine Gold.” Fafner (Peter Rose) and Fasolt (Mika Kares) arrive, accompanied by ominous men in overcoats who wait in the outside hall, demanding payment for their work, possibly an extension of the Center. When the Giants agree to accept the “gold” in payment, Wotan (Michael Volle) and Loge (Rolando Villazón) descend to Nibelheim, a laboratory area two levels below the Center’s main floor. As the set rises, the audience can see the level directly below the Center’s main floor -- a laboratory space filled with cages of live rabbits (guinea pigs were eliminated and fewer rabbits were used after Cycle I, following inquiries from PETA officials) -- and the basement level with workers or test subjects in cubicles. In case there is any doubt as to what is occurring, the words “Untersuchung Menschlichen Verhaltensmodelle in einer testgruppe” (“Investigation of Human Behavior in a Test Group”) are displayed facing the audience between the two lower levels.
When Loge and Wotan arrive in the basement/Nibelheim, they learn from Mime (Stephen Rügamer) that the electrodes on Alberich’s head are now the “Tarnhelm.” Alberich uses it to convince the terrified cubicle personnel, through mind control or virtual reality, that he has transformed himself into a giant serpent, and then convinces himself he has turned into a toad, and psychiatric workers remove him to the main floor. There is no ring to be taken from Alberich; only the computer equipment and documents are recovered. These are stacked to (partially) obscure Freia, but the Giants take only a hard copy notebook, and Fafner ends up shooting Fasolt and leaving. The Gods are shocked, but then display party tricks to suggest a storm and rainbow bridge.
On paper this may seem ridiculous, but watching and hearing it unfold on stage was both appalling and fascinating. Alberich (Kränzle), clearly a victim, sang the role simultaneously reflecting physical pain, anger, revenge, disorientation, and delusions, with compelling effect. Michael Volle, a preeminent interpreter of Wotan, was in top vocal form throughout as an administrator determined to keep the Center operating as planned, enabled by the ethically challenged Loge of Rolando Villazón. It was surprisingly believable when they doubled over laughing at Alberich in the basement Laboratory.
Die Walküre. Wotan (Michael Volle), Brünnhilde (Anja Kampe).
Götterdämmerung. Gunther (Lauri Vasar, Siegfried (Andreas Schager), Hagen (Mika Kares).
© Wagner Notes, January 2023, a publication of the Wagner Society of New York. All rights reserved. Photos: Monika Rittershaus.