SAN FRANCISCO – As she strides bravely into the flames of Siegfried's funeral pyre, Nina Stemme as Bruennhilde redeems the world at the conclusion of Wagner's epic "Ring" cycle.
And the astonishing performance by the Swedish soprano goes a long way to redeem a production that otherwise suffers from uneven singing and direction by Francesca Zambello that seems at times more interested in making political points than honoring Wagner's creation.
When Stemme appeared for a solo curtain call on Sunday after soaring through the 15-minute "Immolation Scene" that concludes "Goetterdaemmerung," the audience that packed the War Memorial Opera House rose to their feet as one in a frenzied standing ovation.
It was richly deserved. Stemme made a strong bid to be considered today's leading Bruennhilde in singing her first complete "Ring," and invited comparison with great past exponents of the role. Her appearance was also a coup for the San Francisco Opera — the company that 55 years ago presented Birgit Nilsson in her U.S. debut.
A compact, youthful-looking woman who just turned 48, Stemme is a true dramatic soprano with a voice that is smooth and evenly produced throughout its wide range up to a clarion high C. And she can produce terrific trills, which Wagner wrote but which are rarely performed. At the end of the cycle, she sounded as fresh as she had in her first playful appearance as Wotan's favorite daughter in "Die Walkuere" on Wednesday night.
Dramatically, she captured the growing emotional complexity that marks Bruennhilde's progress from warrior maiden to woman in love, from betrayed wife to the transcendent figure who sacrifices her life to free the world from the curse attached to a ring of magic gold.
When Zambello's production was launched in 2006 at the Washington National Opera, it was conceived as an "American Ring," and the initial scenes build intriguingly on themes in the nation's history.(The WNO ran out of money before it could complete the cycle, and it was left to San Francisco to mount all four operas.)
The dwarf Alberich flirts with the Rhine Maidens while he pans for gold like a `49er, and he whips his terrorized underlings like a slave master. Wotan and his fellow gods are high-living characters out of the Roaring `20s who board a cruise ship for the journey to Valhalla. But in the later operas, the American echoes drop away, replaced by an insistent feminism and a heavy-handed depiction of environmental ruin.
Repeatedly, the roles of female characters are magnified beyond what Wagner envisioned. Instead of Siegmund singlehandedly pulling a sword from a tree, his twin sister, Sieglinde, has to help him. Erda, the earth goddess, angrily tries to snatch Wotan's spear from his grasp. Gutrune, a weak and corrupt figure who has married Siegfried under false pretenses, becomes Bruennhilde's right-hand woman in setting up the funeral pyre.
The environmental theme is hammered home in projections that show forests being clear-cut and rivers polluted, and in the setting of scenes under abandoned freeways and next to power plants. By the time the Rhine Maidens reappear in "Goetterdaemmerung," their pristine river is awash in discarded plastic bottles and car parts.
Zambello is adept at creating lively interplay between the characters, but too often the humor evokes laughter at the expense of Wagner's meaning. One glaring example comes at the beginning of Act 2 of "Die Walkuere" when Wotan is forced by his wife, Fricka, to abandon his plan for salvaging his empire. Seated in his office in a mid-century Manhattan skyscraper, Wotan tries to ignore Fricka's harangue by picking up a newspaper and perusing it, only to have her snatch it out of his hand. After she has won her point, Fricka herself picks up the newspaper and begins reading — as if thumbing her nose at her husband.
This robs the encounter of the dignity that both figures should have in this pivotal confrontation.
Vocally, apart from Stemme, the best single performance came from Czech tenor Stefan Margita as a wily Loge with a deliciously pungent sound to his voice. Also worthy of praise were mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Bishop as Fricka, alto Ronnita Miller as an Erda with unusually potent low notes, and tenor Brandon Jovanovich and soprano Anja Kampe as Siegmund and Sieglinde.
The Rhine Maidens sang in gorgeous harmony thanks to soprano Stacey Tappan (also delightful as the Forest Bird) and mezzos Lauren McNeese and Renee Tatum. The three Norns who weave the rope of fate (in this production it's an Internet cable) were strongly portrayed by Miller, soprano Heidi Melton and mezzo Daveda Karanas.
Baritones Mark Delavan and Gordon Hawkins both sounded underpowered at times as the competing figures that battle for possession of the ring — Wotan and Alberich. That was never a problem with Italian bass Andrea Silvestrelli, who unleashed a cavernous but grainy voice and mushy German pronunciation in several roles — the giant Fasolt, the boorish Hunding and the scheming Hagen.
Siegfried was cast with two different tenors. Jay Hunter Morris displayed an appealing voice that was a few sizes too small for his role in "Siegfried." In "Goetterdaemmerung," Ian Storey was more of a match for Stemme initially but ran into serious vocal distress in Act 2. After getting medical treatment backstage during intermission, he did much better in Act 3.
Led by conductor Donald Runnicles, the orchestra played splendidly for the most part, though there were scattered intonation and coordination problems as the week wore on. Runnicles made some daring rhythmic choices, slowing down the music to a near-halt on several occasions.
The more familiar moments of the score, such as the Ride of the Valkyries and Siegfried's Rhine Journey and Funeral March, came across with dazzling energy.
There are two more complete cycles through July 3. For Stemme's performance alone, this "Ring" is a must see.
