Written as a prologue for the other works in the Ring Cycle, Das Rheingold moves at a quick pace that makes it digestible for a general audience. A spectacular opener for Seattle Opera’s 60th season, Brian Staufenbiel’s production features a stellar cast, an excellent orchestra, and somewhat muddled staging.
Wotan-veteran Greer Grimsley embodies his powerful, stubborn character with total confidence. It’s a delight to watch him stride purposefully from scene to scene, long hair wafting behind him. Melody Wilson’s Fricka similarly captures royal poise, drawing a sympathetic figure from Wagner’s one-dimensional nag. The Rhinemaiden trio of Jacqueline Piccolino, Shelly Traverse, and Sarah Larsen blend their voices beautifully, while Martin Bakari enhances the woebegone Mime with pathos. Michael Mayes plays an impressively physical Alberich. He crawls, splashes and cracks his huge whip all across the stage while maintaining a strong, beautiful sound.
On top of an overall strong cast, Frederick Ballentine’s Loge completely steals the show; it’s worth attending just to see this performance. Ballentine draws attention to Loge’s status as a liminal figure among the gods, while his beautiful voice and nuanced acting choices are captivating, bringing the loquacious trickster to the forefront of the story.
The Seattle Symphony are understandably comfortable under the baton of Ludovic Morlot, their conductor emeritus. They play beautifully and sensitively, although the orchestra is a little quiet overall. For Wagner particularly, the orchestra can be as present as the vocalists, and here they take a backseat rather than the passenger seat. However, balance within the group is excellent and significant leitmotifs are very clear.
This Rheingold’s costuming is a mixed bag. I particularly enjoyed Fricka’s queenly gown and the Rhinemaidens’ flowing skirts entrapped in netting. Ashlee Naegle’s wigs and makeup are stunning — Freia’s flowing curls are unbelievably long, Loge’s headdress and sparkling lipstick are gorgeous, and Fricka wears a regal updo that glows with otherworldly light. These lovely pieces are contrasted by some odd costuming for the men. Wotan’s glowing arm and spear are a little distracting and Alberich sports an odd leather harness akin to bondage gear. Alberich, Mime, and the giants all wear large goggles that blend them together visually and clash with the medieval elements.
This production originated with the Minnesota Opera in 2016 and is set in a far future where nature and technology combine. It places the orchestra onstage, extending the performance space with a catwalk above and into the pit below. Watching the huge Wagner orchestra certainly adds excitement and the transformed pit is well utilized. The opera opens with the Rhinemaidens splashing about in the pit, which is full of mist and glows appealingly. Alberich clambers lustfully around its edges and the whole picture is an engaging and original staging. Another excellent moment is Alberich’s toad transformation, in which he leaps into the pit out of sight, then throws a large toad out of it. His dragon transformation is less delightful, with a dragon resembling a video game villain projected to the back of the stage.
Although I’ve loved the use of projection in Seattle Opera’s other productions, here it distracts throughout the performance. Most egregiously, Fafner and Fasolt stand upstage while a small camera projects them live onto a small rectangle beside the other characters on the catwalk. This constrains the excellent performances of Peixin Chen and Kenneth Kellogg, and the end result resembles an awkward Facetime between Wotan and the giants. A similar issue emerges during Loge’s storytelling, when a small projection high above him displays strange accompanying graphics that draw away from Ballentine’s outstanding performance.
Many of the production’s visuals suffer from mismatched iconography. Staufenbiel is aiming for naturalistic techno-futurism, but his concept’s potential is confused by combining medieval fantasy with an outdated steampunk aesthetic. At the very opening of the opera the long, calm E flat major of the Rhine is bizarrely accompanied by large grinding gears projected on the front screen. Gears as a primary visual component don’t look like technology of the future; they send us backward to the industrial revolution. The same issue applies to the leather and goggles costuming, which clash beside the fairytale gowns of the women. The catwalk onstage is reminiscent of the 1980 Bayreuth Rheingold’s dam set, but its plain metal exterior evokes neither the natural world nor futuristic tech and looks strange placed in front of a projected, Hogwarts-knockoff Valhalla.
Despite some confused visual elements, the cast and orchestra make this production well worth a watch. Although this particular direction’s concept doesn’t enhance the work, the musical performance is excellent and we can hope that this will combine with last season’s stunning Tristan to encourage Seattle Opera to continue to stage Wagner.
