Author : Jos Hermans
Dmitri Tcherniakov is not among those directors for whom the theater is a sacred place. The "Holy Theater" of Peter Brook, Jerzy Grotowski, Antonin Artaud and others is not about religion, but about experience. Here one sees the invisible, things that normally escape our senses. The "Holy Theater" is about the communion between actor and spectator, about community building, about spirituality, about the intangible, about mystery, about myth and ritual. This quasi-religious focus on myth and its magical effects is also found in Wagner's music drama.
Contemporary Wagner productions that shamelessly domesticate the dramas are therefore in danger of getting bogged down in the banal: by taking the dramas out of the exalted sphere in which the music has placed them and returning them to the world of human trivia, they betray their fear of the sublime experience and the power of myth. Or as Roger Scruton put it : taking myth seriously was Wagner's big idea.
Domestication zeal is a constant in Dmitri Tcherniakov's work even if he does not always push it consistently as in "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" which he delivered in Brussels as ... a fairy tale. Apparently he is capable of a different kind of sensitivity when it concerns his own culture canon or when it does not concern works on which the burden of a leaden history of interpretation rests.
Whoever de-mythologizes Der Ring des Nibelungen in such an invasive way as Tcherniakov has done in Berlin must then come up with an alternative sensuousness, borrowed from the iconography of the everyday, to compensate for the loss of sensuousness caused by ignoring the supposedly negligible myth. This is exactly where Tcherniakov succeeded; unfortunately only partially and notably only in Die Walküre and in Götterdämmerung.
Tcherniakov's directorial concept of the Ring is based on a research center E.S.C.H.E (Experimental Scientific Centre for Human Evolution) in which all sorts of experiments are carried out. Wotan is initially in charge there. Exemplary is the opening scene where Alberich undergoes a stress test in a cell behind glass and fully wired in the presence of three lab assistants in white coats. The Wälsungen couple's romance in Hundings hut and Siegfried's exploration will also be presented as experiments. The reader will not blame me if I do not waste my precious time in listing all the intrusive incongruities that Tchernikov's concept, spread over 4 days, will entail. Very often they undermine the sensuousness of the experience.
Das Rheingold
At the mercy of ugliness and banality, Das Rheingold, being the most mythological part within the tetralogy, is obviously its greatest victim. No scene is captivating, not even Nibelheim which rarely disappoints in a provincial theater. This is not the first time something like this has happened: Ivo van Hove, who also refused to stage the "fairy tale" also failed in Das Rheingold while the next three parts of his metropolitan vision of the Ring were largely able to convince.
Die Walküre
With Die Walküre, visual beauty is back. This time all the scenes work, the interpretations are committed, the actors' direction is fantastic, the vocal performances very good though not exceptional. It is the first time we get to see the beautiful see-through apartment whose walls, windows and doors are only suggested by frames. It has an equipped kitchen, a toilet, a shower, a bedroom and every space will be utilized. What could be more beautiful to watch than a young woman combing her long blond hair for minutes on end? The ravishing Vida Miknevičiūtė puts all her femininity into making Sieglinde the most attractive character in this Ring. Her acting is athletic, the interpretation lived through, the vocal performance not ideal but only in the sense that she wields a slender soprano that lacks the deeper vocal color as many of her most famous predecessors. She is one of the truly unexpected highlights in this Ring. She receives the visit of Siegmund, a dangerous delinquent who seems to have escaped from prison. Hunding is an extremely bureaucratic policeman. Uninterested, he cleans his service weapon during Siegmund's account while half undressing his wife. Then he goes to pee, undresses and goes to bed.
Robert Watson sings "Ein schwert verhiess mir der Vater" with handcuffs on. It is an excellent hint to get singers in conventional productions off their old-fashioned gestures. Need I repeat that all the actors are perfectly natural in their on-stage behaviour? Watson's tenor does not really shine, is not particularly bright and projects moderately but Robert Watson nevertheless manages to make Siegmund a sympathetic outsider. Miknevičiūtė's "Der Männer Sippe" tends toward erotic ecstasy. "Winterstürme" is not drawn into a romantic bath: Gleb Filshtinsky's lighting direction is virtually non-existent. All decisive symbols are removed. Until they can no longer be avoided: for example, Siegmund suddenly finds a sword in the wall of Hunding's house. And sometimes symbols re-enter through the back door such as the spear Wotan will find in a closet for his showdown with Siegfried
The exciting prelude to the second act is the soundtrack to the flight of the Wälsungen couple: the refrigerator is emptied, a shopping bag is quickly stuffed with clothes, then both get lost in the labyrinths of Nibelheim among the hell-lit cages of the rabbits and guinea pigs. Truly magnificent. Brünnhilde's "Hojotoho" means cracking a bottle of bubbles with father. Fricka forces Wotan to sign a contract; he gets to keep the pen. Claudia Mahnke is several years past her prime, the vibrato is unsteady and she is given less freedom of movement by the director than Wotan.
Michael Volle can richly nuance Wotan's monologue and spice it up with angry outbursts. In the parlando sections, the voice can get very thin. In "Götternot," he knocks over the table; in "Das Ende," he slams the door. Volle can also exaggerate slightly and then becomes a bit of a caricature of himself. For many, this makes Volle the Wotan of the moment. I am not entirely convinced. Because of the lower timbre and his equally good art of nuance, I prefer Tomasz Konieczny for now.
The Hunding-Siegmund fight is not only invisible, it doesn't even take place. As Hunding walks off the scene, Siegmund is violently picked up by a police force and beaten up.
During the Walkürenritt, young scientists in blue overalls gather to discuss their field research on violence. The tense daughter-father relationship comes off well in the finale, even though there are only chairs on display and Brünnhilde has to draw the orange fire tongues of her shabby Feuerzauber herself with a felt-tip pen on the backs of the chairs. Smiling, she indicates the fire with flapping hands. When Wotan disappears into the depths together with the stage during the last measures, leaving Brünnhilde perplexed on the front stage, it looks like a real farewell.
Siegfried
With Siegfried, ugliness is back: a world of old ugly men, even if they have to represent a dragon. Also back are the intrusive incongruities of Tcherniakov's concept that squeeze all the sensuousness out of the piece. There are moments that work more or less or are laugh-out-loud funny (like Brünnhildes awakening!) but most of it is rather tedious.
Götterdämmerung
The success of this Götterdämmerung is unevenly distributed throughout the evening. Large parts are successful such as the prologue, the Siegfried-Brünnhilde duet, actually the entire first act. At the start, the beautiful see-through apartment is back. The elderly Norns come there nosing about in the kitchen and the laundry basket. When the rope breaks they drop their cups of tea: very nice and entertaining and excellently performed by Noa Beinart, Kristina Stanek and Anna Samuil. Time for Brünnhilde to prepare breakfast during the dawn interlude while Siegfried takes a shower. His Rheinfahrt goes with the curtain closed so that for once the focus is on the star in the orchestra pit.
The Gibichungen have now taken over the scepter and given the research center a facelift. Siegfried does not need the forgetting potion to erase the memory of Brünnhilde. Later, he will also not drink the potion that will restore his memory.
Mika Kares (formerly Hunding) can now be experienced as Hagen, with bare skull and a large wine stain on his face. For Kares, this Ring will undoubtedly be a career boost. His bass has depth, his German is perfect, his articulation captivating and not least because of the lust with which he pounces on the consonants. In Rheingold he was already the most fascinating character in the small role as Fasolt. Violetta Urmana impresses both vocally and through her detached portrayal of Waltraute. Andreas Schager sings the Tarnhelm scene without disguise with slightly lowered voice and robotic intonation.
The duet Hagen/Alberich is conceived as a dream scene. Alberich is naked except for a diaper. In the "Holy Theater," nudity is associated with a certain sense of primitivism or an inward-looking consciousness. But what does nudity mean in Tcherniakov's desecrated theater? Johannes Martin Kränzle shows more voice than in his Rheingold Alberich.
The slapstick Tcherniakov employs in the second act often tends toward the adolescent. Why is smoking always so attractive on an opera stage? In the Tcherniakov Ring, the cigarette is used so frequently that it loses its added value. The chorus agitates strongly when welcoming Brünnhilde. The quartet of Siegfried and the Rhine-daughters in the stress laboratory has no charm. The world ash tree that could still be seen in Das Rheingold in a courtyard has withered and has disappeared in favor of a basketball court. The green shirts and gray pants of Hagen's henchmen are anecdotal but Siegfried's inexplicable awakening (within the Tcherniakov concept) is no less fascinating. Schager manages nevertheless to give him a tragic and moving format. Where Siegfried, whose back is broken with the club's flagpole, is often left in solitude, here his corpse is visited by the entire center, including, the Rhine Daughters, the Norns, Erda and Wotan. A truly sad evening vigil.
Eventually, Brünnhilde will turn her back on the research center whose blueprint we will see disappear pixel by pixel on the video wall, and face an uncertain future as the "New Woman," suitcase in hand. As she says goodbye to Erda and the fluttering forest bird, words appear on the video wall written by Wagner for the primal version of Götterdämmerung, then known as "Siegfrieds Tod," but never set to music. They sound like a call to disobedience, to insubordination, to reflection on the freedom of the individual, a reinvigoration we could well use today.
Anja Kampe is not a truly high-dramatic soprano. The higher dramatic outbursts push her to her limits. But she is fantastic to watch because of her facial expressions, body language, charisma and naturalness of her delivery. It is the best all-round performance I have seen from her yet. Andreas Schager as Siegfried impresses greatly with his stamina and athletic interpretation of the role. Is there anything his acting talent can't handle? Tcherniakov makes grateful use of it. He knows how to dose his powers and seems tireless enough although I must admit having experienced his trumpet-like tenor more impressively in the theater itself.
Götterdämmerung is also the night when Christian Thielemann makes the Staatskapelle sound most impressive. He seems to have conceived the entire work as a gigantic crescendo, and the Berlin audience is at his feet. On social media, his fans use the disappointing reality of the nonsensical productions he conducts to give him extra credit. The orchestra could sometimes sound a bit rough as in the entrance of Wotan in Walküre III. He did not want the Walkürenritt to sound like "an elephant ballet," the Ring had to sound like Mendelssohn, light and bright with a basic touch of gaiety, he claimed beforehand in the Berliner Zeitung. But did it sound any different? Did the brass sound lighter than usual? I didn't think so. It was an intoxicating musical universe with a romantic perfume, enchanting in the dawn and sunrise of Götterdämmerung, with a beautiful crescendo in the brass following the Hagen/Alberich duet and in the Todesverkündigung, and capable of a terrific apotheosis at Siegfried's arrival on Brünnhilde's rock. Tempi were appropriate, sometimes rather slow but never tensionless.
Watch the show at Arte concert (free)