I spent the last weekend in July at the Tanglewood Music Festival in the scenic Berkshires as part of a group of two dozen music critics attending the annual meeting of the
Music Critics Association of North America (MCANA). It was a Wagner weekend, with three of the four concerts on our schedule dedicated to a complete concert performance of
Die Walküre: Act I on Saturday night and Acts II and III in separate concerts on Sunday. Not surprisingly, the
Tanglewood Learning Institute (TLI) sessions we attended were focused entirely on Wagner and his world.
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The Linde Center at Tanglewood, home to most
of our TLI events
Photo by Robert Benson |
Sunday, July 28th, was my final day at Tanglewood and a big one for lovers of the operas of Wagner.
Following an MCANA business meeting was a panel discussion with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood on the challenges facing American orchestras today and the creative ways those orchestras are meeting them. Moderated by WBUR's Keith Powers, the blue-ribbon panel consisted of BSO CEO Mark Volpe, Tanglewood Learning Institute Sue Elliott, Tanglewood artistic director Anthony Fogg, and
Symphony Magazine managing editor Jennifer Melick. It was informative and frank, dealing in a forthright manner with a number of questions, including the difficult exit of former BSO music director James Levine.
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The end of Die Walküre, Act II
Photo by Hilary Scott |
Next, it was a quick dash across campus to the intimate Tanglewood Theatre for an entertaining look at "Wagner and Humor." The session wasn't so much about the humor in Wagner's work (although there is plenty of it in
Die Meistersinger) as it was about the ways the composer and his music have been lampooned and parodied ever since he rose to prominence in the late 19th century.
Not surprisingly, there was a lot of material to cover in only an hour.
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Stephanie Blythe and James Rutherford
Photo by Hilary Scott |
The 19th-century editorial cartoons mocking the composer's pretensions ran the gamut from clever to crass, and there was at least one very welcome musical discovery: an 1880 piece for piano four hands by Gabriel Fauré and André Messager, titled
Les Souvenirs de Bayreuth, that turns some of Wagner's most dramatic themes into what Jeremy Grimshaw (
at allmusic.com) describes as "danceable ditties and overripe rhapsodies that sometimes border on the maudlin." Although Fauré and Messager were great admirers of Wagner, they apparently couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a bit of fun at his expense.
Some of my own favorite Wagner parodies were sampled, including Peter Schickele's
Last Tango in Bayreuth for four bassoons and Anna Russell's legendary survey of the
Ring cycle. And there was a complete showing of the Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd classic
What's Opera, Doc? with its visual and musical send-ups of
The Flying Dutchman,
Tannhauser, and (of course) the
Ring. Perhaps the most ridiculous bit of video, though, was a "Ride of the Valkyries" performed by a madcap musical duo known as The Melodica Men. It must be seen to be believed. Fortunately, it's
on their YouTube channel.
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Christine Goerke and Simon O'Neill
Photo by Hilary Scott |
Up next was Act II of
Die Walküre, as soprano Christine Goerke (Brünnhilde), mezzo Stephanie Blythe (Fricka), and bass-baritone James Rutherford (Wotan) joined soprano Amber Wagner (Sieglinde), tenor Simon O'Neill (Siegmund), and bass Franz-Josef Selig (Hunding). There's plenty of family drama in the second act, as Fricka expresses her outrage that Wotan is condoning not only adultery but incest as well. She browbeats him into upholding the sanctity of marriage by letting Hunding kill Siegmund, even though Wotan had hoped Siegmund would be the hero who would save Valhalla from the descendants of Alberich. When Brünnhilde (who, like all the Valkyries, is a daughter of Wotan and the earth goddess Erda) violates Wotan's orders and tries to save Siegmund, Wotan kills Hunding after having allowed him to kill Siegmund and storms off to punish his errant daughter.
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James Rutherford, Andris Nelsons, Christine Goerke
Photo by Hilary Scott |
This is strong stuff, and it got truly gripping performances from all concerned. Ms. Wagner, Mr. O'Neill, and Mr. Selig continued the fine work they displayed on the previous night's performance of Act I. Ms. Blythe was a regal presence as Fricka, displaying an impressively wide vocal range with powerful low notes. The same was true of Mr. Rutherford's conflicted, heaven-storming Wotan. As Brünnhilde, Ms. Goerke displayed a touching vulnerability and soaring, clear voice. The Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra played splendidly under the baton of Andris Nelsons.
Next was the dinner break, during which members of MCANA were treated to sandwiches and a showing of the 2010 documentary
Wagner and Me, in which actor and writer Stephen Fry combines a backstage look at Bayreuth with an examination of the difficulty of separating Wagner's music from the composer's own antisemitism and the appropriation of his music by the Nazis. I saw the film when it first came out, but Fry's wit and wisdom are always worth another visit.
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The Tanglewood Shed
Photo by Fred Collins |
The evening concluded with the final act of
Die Walküre, including an electrifying performance of the famous "Ride of the Valkyries" featuring eight stunning singers as Brünnhilde's warrior sisters. They were: sopranos Jessica Faselt (Helmwige), Wendy Bryn Harmer (Ortlinde), and Kelly Cae Hogan (Gerhilde) along with mezzos Eve Gigliotti (Siegrune), Dana Beth Miller (Grimgerde), Ronnita Miller (Schwertleite), Mary Phillips (Rossweisse), and Renée Tatum (Waltraute). Fronting the massive orchestra in full battle cry, they were overwhelming in the best possible way. Mr. Rutherford and Ms. Goerke gave us a beautifully touching "Wotan's farewell" scene to bring the concert series to a rewarding close.
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