Number 201: APRIL 2011 - Wagner Society of England

DIE WALKÜRE: “A RICH TAPESTRY OF GLORIOUS SOUND”
Review by Katie Barnes of the live relay from La Scala, Milan on 7th December 2010
I feel that there is always a disadvantage in reviewing a live stage performance on
screen, as I have had to do with this cinema relay. The audience in the theatre can see
everything that the producer has laid before them, and can assess it all for themselves. The
cinema audience is obliged to focus upon the elements which the camera gives them. This
was a particular disadvantage on this occasion, where the cinema version frequently
concentrated upon scenic elements which I, for one, would probably have chosen to ignore
in the theatre.
I lost count of the number of times during Act II when the camera was snatched
away from the singers, often at crucial moments, for lengthy shots of the huge, spinning
globe which dominated the stage, upon which various video images were projected in the
course of the action (and which made me feel seasick). At other times, the camera dwelt
upon huge video projections (designed by Arjen Klerkx and Kurt D’Haeseleer) which
may have looked splendid onstage, but did not always make much sense on the screen. I
had the impression that many of the video effects would have been very confusing to the
audience in the theatre, because they would dwarf the singers and distract attention from
them. It was a pity that some scenes were so dimly lit, to the extent that it was almost
impossible to detect the singers. This was especially unfortunate when Siegmund was in
darkness as he sang his first lines and when he drew Notung from the tree. It was also a
pity that the surtitles appeared to be made up on the spur of the moment and were often
unintentionally risible – Notung was called “Needy”, Fricka ordered Wotan “Hands off
Siegmund”, and Brunnhilde promised Siegmund that in Valhalla he would be welcomed
by “dead heroes in a splendid body”.
Nonetheless, from the cinema relay it was clear that much of the production was
very impressive. Hunding’s house in Act I was formed by two large white screens placed
together with a point at the front of the stage onto which were projected drawn black and
white images of a Victorian room with a cheery golden fire blazing on the hearth. Two
larger screens with images of huge, gnarled trees enclosed the house, one with Notung in
its trunk off to one side. Later the projected images varied, and during much of the love
scene the screens were blank until, at the beginning of Winterstürme, they slowly opened
to reveal a forest made from tall spears. The first appearances of Siegmund and Hunding,
both entering with their silhouettes projected upon the screens, were particularly effective,
and later Sieglinde was seen in silhouette, drugging Hunding’s drink.
In an interview shown during the first interval Cassini explained that the first act
was staged in this way because Hunding’s world is two-dimensional: he plays by the rules
but uses them to his advantage. Wotan’s world is also two-dimensional: he has tunnel
vision because he has only one eye. The gods are a dysfunctional family who have
forgotten how to find balance between their emotions, feelings and ideals. Their world
within Valhalla is as claustrophobic as Hunding’s.
The setting for the opening scene of Act II was as solid as that for Act I had been
insubstantial. Wotan and Brünnhilde were discovered standing at the foot of a massive
statue of several rearing horses dominated by the aforementioned spinning globe, with
green lightning flickering all around and green trees projected behind. Later the Wälsungs
fled among a forest of standing spears upon which numbers, symbols and tree images
were projected and amid which the final showdown and Siegmund’s death took place.
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