The Metropolitan Opera: Das Rheingold (2013)

Simply A Masterpiece

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good concept, poorly executed.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Robert Lepage's central conceit for this production of The Ring is to present it on a single set which consists of 24 slabs that can be rotated to form roads, bridges, staircases, even the bottom of the Rhine. I was reminded of Longborough's shoestring production of Rheingold where all the effects are produced by clever lighting and perspective on a sloping stage. This is basically what Lepage does although his production must have cost several million dollars more.The sloping slabs make a very effective river on which the Rhine maidens slither in fishnet bodysuits and fishy tails. I particularly liked the way they coiled together for their ensembles. Eric Owens' Alberich is the standout success of this production, his powerful voice and physique making a change from the weedy Alberichs that we sometimes see. His dwarfism is suggested by his clever costume that has the effect of shortening his arms and legs.Similarly successful are the giants who tower above the other characters simply by standing on the aforementioned slabs. This successfully allows Franz-Josef Selig and Hans-Peter Konig to delineate their characters as Fasolt and Fafner.Rheingold has a large cast and I cannot mention them all by name but the standard is uniformly high. Tenor Richard Croft is deliciously funny as a Gary Glitter lookalike Loge although he does not quite steal the show as the very best Loges can. Bryn Terfel is surprisingly subdued as Wotan, although this is an opera in which Wotan's role is mainly to play straight man to Loge's comedian. Still, nobody sings quiet menace quite like Bryn.

I have always adored opera, and Das Rheingold is just one of four parts of the Ring Cycle, which by musical and operatic standards is the very definition of epic. This Met production is an absolute triumph, one of the best of the Met HD broadcasts and ties with Anna Bolena as the best of the "Opening Season" production broadcasts. On a visual level, the production looks fantastic. The sets are huge and highly atmospheric, I heard their heaviness caused the Met financial increases but I wouldn't have guessed really. The costumes are also very effective, especially Wotan and Alberich.Musically, the Met outdoes itself yet again. Wagner's music is so phenomenal, that it more than deserves a good orchestra and conductor to give it justice. This Das Rheingold production has that and more. The orchestra are huge in number and scale, and play with a rich and often very haunting sound. The motif of the Rhine stood out to me, it is one of my favourite motifs of Das Rheingold, and the way the orchestra play it it is every bit as mysterious and as transfixing as it should be. The climax is equally mesmerising. At this point I want to give a big shout out to James Levine, I was over the moon to see him back after his back problem(he understandably looks exhausted and looks barely able to walk, again understandable, at the end) and he still manages in his first full performance since to give a commanding and I think very emotional reading.As for the staging, this was where I was most surprised. Robert Lepage had a hugely challenging task ahead of him, staging an enormous work and showing his unique style(being a very technical person) without overshadowing Wagner. Wary I was, seeing as this was a director who specialised in something completely different to this, but I needn't have worried. Of the directing jobs of the Met HD series, Lepage's for Das Rheingold ranks among one of the more ambitious ones. And while a couple of scenes occasionally have sound effects or some brashness that inevitably and I think also forgivably detract from the music, it is really compelling and clever staging indeed. The scenes that stood out were the underground lair of the Nieblung, where the planks turn into a bridge leading down, and especially the scene with the Rhine and the Rhinedaughters, where the stage comes alive, lifts itself into the air and becomes the sea complete with bubbles.The performances, coming from a great cast, are outstanding. Bryn Terfel makes his US debut in one of his more celebrated roles as Wotan, and vocally virile and dramatically magnetic, the performance is wonderfully dark and brooding. Richard Croft is excellent as Loge, very commanding and unstrained. Stephanie Blythe was a brilliant Orfeo in the somewhat uneven Met Orfeo Ed Euridice, and she is a powerful Fricka, having a lot of presence in her voice. Eric Owens' Alberich positively made my skin crawl, and Franz Josef Selig(in surprisingly firmer voice than his Sarastro) and Hans-Peter Konig as the giants Fasolt and Fafner are in booming voice and literally tower over the stage.Overall, an epic masterpiece of an opera and a triumph at the Met. 10/10 Bethany Cox