tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841348142033509263.post7585011177017986430..comments2023-12-31T02:40:43.545-06:00Comments on The Norse Mythology Blog | norsemyth.org: Review: Wagner's Rheingold at Lyric Opera of ChicagoDr. Karl E. H. Seigfriedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175244816952769358noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841348142033509263.post-29372008224302031542016-10-17T01:01:17.120-05:002016-10-17T01:01:17.120-05:00I saw this production today (October 16, 2016) and...I saw this production today (October 16, 2016) and I must say this review nailed it very well. The orchestra, the singing and the acting were all first rate, even sublime at times. However, except for subterranean scenes, which were excellent, the staging was simply a disaster. Clever, yes, but too clever by half and therefore annoyingly distracting. The costuming wasn't even clever; it was incoherent. <br /><br />Two things especially detracted from the piece: the concept of Freia succumbing to the Stockholm Syndrome, which simply doesn't do justice to the text, and Fasolt's murder by his brother, which even though I've experienced it a hundred times in the opera house, on video or on audio recordings, has always shocked me--until this production, where it was comic book, Punch & Judy stuff.<br /><br />Anyway, in the end, the music conquered all, as it always does. And I'm not sorry I drove 200 miles each way to see how Eric Owens, who was so brilliant as Alberich at the Met, and similarly brilliant a few years back at the Lyric as Hercules, would do as Wotan. While nobody does Wotan quite like James Morris did, Eric Owens was very convincing in the role despite having to swim against the tide of a bad production. At the Met with better acoustics than the Lyric (why don't they tear that barn down and start over??) and a decent production, he would have been great in the role, not just convincing.Charles Martelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05123519139151854061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841348142033509263.post-69578358727725899212016-10-04T07:19:58.049-05:002016-10-04T07:19:58.049-05:00Oh my gosh. I'm honestly so sorry you had to s...Oh my gosh. I'm honestly so sorry you had to see this, it sounds like an embarrassing rendition of a great opera!! It makes me kind of (ok, really) mad that the Gods were portrayed in this joking and frankly disrespectful manner. And of course now people are going to think that the Rheingold is a joke (it's kind of a separate thing with the Thor comics/movies, but this doesn't really separate the real stories from this terrible adaptation). To hoping the others will be better?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01629549748566651907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841348142033509263.post-31984470341224092312016-10-03T11:50:55.971-05:002016-10-03T11:50:55.971-05:00Oh, my! Now, I understand the importance of drama...Oh, my! Now, I understand the importance of dramaturgy to any production, be it play or opera. (I remember a wonderful staging of Shakespeare's All's Well That End's Well in 1972 on Broadway done ala the Gilded Age.) Some are able to withstand any number of restagings, others, not so much. This one sounds like a mistake -- a huge one. Of course, the Niebelungs were a part of the Germanic mythos, and I am an Hellene so I don't know all the ins and outs of the differing lores. Thank you for the heads up on the new productions.Julia Erganehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04613625453621934834noreply@blogger.com