In the second instalment of The Ring, we move to the world of mortals, and to probably the most popular and familiar of the four works that comprise this masterpiece. It starts with the act that sees the burgeoning love and recognition developing between long-parted siblings Siegmund and Sieglinde. Regent Opera partnered a pair of singers well matched vocally and definitely on the lyric side in terms of vocal characteristics. This suits the reduced orchestration, allowing their interactions to be the more conversational in style and bringing a sense of intimacy to the drama. Brian Smith Walters’s Siegmund has a pleasingly vibrant top range effective for the heroic outbursts and a warm middle range that shows the empathy nascent in the character. The feistier Sieglinde of Justine Viani has a vibrancy and a sense of latent passion within the tone that excites, yet in the looming presence of Gerrit Paul Groen’s brutal and hostile Hunding a vulnerability also emerges. Somehow the close of the act didn’t have quite the sense of abandon that it sometimes can, and I liked the sudden emergence of a sleepy, drugged Hunding at the end – a nice directorial touch.
In the latter acts the drama took off. Ralf Lukas’s moody Wotan interrupted by Catharine Woodward’s ebullient, sometimes petulant, Brünnhilde heralded the pivotal encounter with Fricka. Ingeborg Børch captured the proud goddess’ ‘end of tether’ moments as she almost casually dissects Wotan’s plans one by one for the shams that they are to perfection. Her singing was lush, full of colour as well as bite. Lukas charted Wotan’s desperation and collapse similarly well, heralding a masterly account of the long narration, here acted with a strong sense of a long-term depression reaching its absolute depths. Every word mattered and was clear, even when sung at a whisper. Catharine Woodward’s gloriously free vocalism brought wonderful light and shade to Brünnhilde’s gradual understanding of the ramifications of Wotan’s capitulation to his wife and their effect on her and those she had been taught to love with point. She has a very affecting stage presence; her expressive eyes and every gesture tells. Lukas and Woodward bring pathos aplenty to their final emotional encounter. Preceding this, the eight art-thieving Valkyries provide a lively, spirited and excitingly loud display in the space, each with a distinctive costume allowing a degree of individuality of characterisation.
In the elevated ‘pit’ Ben Woodward leads his indefatigable players to great musical heights, his own orchestral arrangement once again exceeding what one thought could be possible with such forces. His reading was again propulsive, theatrically alert with the ‘big moments’ having their necessary grandeur. It too complements Caroline Staunton’s thoughtful staging so well. Highlights here include Sieglinde’s secretive longing for and model recreation of her family or eventual rescuer was a deft touch. There’s humour too – Sieglinde’s perfunctory making of Hunding’ meal and the mutual disdain of Brünnhilde and Fricka being such moments. The Valkyries arriving at their rock with framed masterpieces by Munch, da Vinci, Friedrich and so on was witty, and, in the context of the art-gallery setting, brings interesting connections with the Das Rheingold settings. I’m guessing the fire-extinguisher will see more action before the end of the cycle too (ps. It wasn’t there to put the fire on the rock out!). Watch this space!
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