Das Rheingold in Bayreuth 2022: Brutal, matter-of-fact representation of moral bankruptcy, but questionable use of pedophilia undertones

 Valentin Schwarz's Ring in Bayreuth transposes the Wagnerian myth into our time, and has been dividing the public in two groups. Olafur Sigurdarson (Alberich) was a tour de force as a central figure, surrounded by superb cast featuring Egil Silins (Wotan), Daniel Kirch (Loge), Christa Mayer (Fricka), Elisabeth Teige (Freia) and Okka von der Damerau (Erda). 

 

Valentin Schwarz's Ring Cycle in Bayreuth 2022 has been dividing the public in two extremes. It is indeed an unconventional, some may say provocative, staging. "I want it to be a drama of actual people in the actual time, and not about gods and giants," the 32-year-old Austrian stage director said in an interview. Schwarz put a larger focus and interest on the characters and their relationships, instead on the underlying myth. The excitement of the unusual, if not revolutionary, staging, owed itself to the first-class singers who also played their characters very well. In regards of the continuity, the Cycle is represented as film series, with elements and symbols connecting one work to another, with an illuminated triangle being an omnipresent symbol and spatiotemporal marker for the series in the installment. Spatially, the drama profited from a smart use of space showing the bipartition of the worlds. Andrea Cozzi's decors show fluid and masterful transitions of all dimensions of the scene, connecting an act to another by one or two elements of the previous act repurposed in the upcoming act, thus maintained a sense of unity, but also a spatial largeness. Reinhard Traub’s lighting was straightforward, poetic, and altogether dramatically impressive. I'll make sure to keep an eye on his future projects. 

The calm before the storm...

Projected in the context of our time, the Rheingold is no longer an item, but a child or, were we to consider it metaphorically, the Youth. Alberich was an aging, desperate biker, trying desperately to seduce the Rheintöchter, here babysitters guarding little children by the pool. The stealing of the gold meant the kidnapping of a child (the only boy in the group), who Alberich then grooms over time into a violence-loving person, fascinated by guns and blood instead of toys. 

The drama built itself on the bipartition between Nibelheim and Walhall, which were both intrinsically linked by the moral bankruptcy of their leaders, Alberich and Wotan. The Nibelheim was a sterile asylum-style room with white walls and a surveillance camera where the girls are dressed in pink surrounding the boy, the "gold". I found this part of the representation, dancing on the border of the representation of pedophilia, highly disturbing, and I asked myself whether the representation would have been as effective without such clearly reaction-arousing trick. At the same time, considering Alberich's character and the "gold" as youth, such a disturbing representation is perhaps an effective way, in this context, for a concrete representation of Alberich's moral failure anchored in the despair of the lost youth. I for one would like to see both alternatives in the context of a rehearsal, just to see whether one alternative could be as effective as the other, and whether the "trick" is actually a necessary part of the representation of the underworld. For instance, why not focus on the two kids necessary for the representation and show how growing up in the underworld affect their mental development, and/or how they end up agreeing or disagreeing with Alberich? 

The Walhall is Wotan's well-lit, luxury nouveau-riche mansion full of servants and bodyguards catering to the family's every need and caprice (see Donner, who plays golf in the middle of the living room). The "God-Father" was quite explicitly a Mafia-godfather figure, at the same time elated and suffering on the throne of his riches, chained by societal conventions (the "spear"). The staging made it clear to us who Wotan really is: a ruthless fraud and a victim of his own rules, who will go to whatever extent to get what he wants. Fricka, as expected, was the matriarch keeping the family on track with fierceness and almost mathematical precision, and Loge the family lawyer was funny on the outside, deeply perverted on the inside.

Egil Silins had the adequate timbre, with its velvety texture and a hint of darkness, to play Wotan. He played the character skilfully enough, creating a constant cliff between the traditional representation of who Wotan is, and the rich, corrupt family leader that looked almost ridiculous in his nouveau-riche mannerisms. This contrast in Silins' portrayal successfully underlined the very contradiction at the heart of Wotan's character. Christa Mayer captured the cunning, cold-hearted matriarch who, like her husband, defends the status quo at all costs. In her glittery suit and 80s sunglasses, she was an imposing figure both vocally and scenically. The timbre was rich, with a velvety and darker texture, but was at the same time capable to pierce with energy and éclat in the higher register, perfectly concretized who her character actually was. Olafur Sigurdarson gave a remarkable vocal performance and dramatic interpretation as Alberich. The depth and the rich nuances of his voice, and how much darkness it could convey in the most menacing lower register, as well as how solid it is when voicing the dwarf's aggression was a perfect match of his strong stage presence. He was, all in all, a tragic character whose despair of lost youth finds a way out only by destructing others and himself. As stated above, I questioned the necessity to make the showcasing of abysmal mental state even more explicit by typical representations of pedophilia, because I thought that Sigurdarson's Alberich would have been convincing enough anyway. Daniel Kirch as Loge showcased a rich, warm timbre suited for a hero despite being the drama joker (which he sometimes pushed a bit much). The same playful side, however, was not reflected in the voice, which does not at all undermine the quality of the interpretation, although one could hope that the voice reflects the same playfulness as the character. Elisabeth Teige as Freia showcased the density and at the same time the crystalline sharpness of her voice in her despair, and showed the psychological impact of the kidnapping scathingly. She was not the naïve, pure one in the usual representation, but a typical spoiled nouveau-riche daughter facing an unexpected crisis in her so-called perfect world. Okka von der Damerau was an impressive Erda, charismatic and imposing with a silky timbre with richly-textured density, precise and flexible in its nuances. Her role as the silent observer standing beside the family throughout the drama culminated well, and memorably, in her solo. Jens-Erik Aasbø (Fasolt) and Wilhelm Schwinghammer (Fafner) played the convincing duo as the Hausmeister of the family, desperately trying to defend their rights through violence, which in turn highlighted Wotan's dishonesty. Finally, Arnold Bezuyen's Mime displayed a nice balance between the irony and the perversion of his character. His timbre, of a proud resonance, brushed skillfully the intonations of a proper Charaktertenor. (Later, Bezuyen was a dramatically amusing Mime next to Andreas Schager's brass, blue-collar Siegfried. More on that in the upcoming article on Siegfried.)

Cornelius Meister's sensitive, thoughtful, yet also straightforward directing showed a thorough comprehension of the music and its dramatic potentials. The sound made itself remarkable though clean textures, and the contrast imposing, grainy, spacious resonance of the brass and the sure lyricism of the violins were a delight to listen to, and never without the guarantee of keeping the drama alive through well-timed momentum. An article in Die Zeit argued that the "Netflix-style" staging downgraded the music into soundtrack, but this was, in my impression, really not the case.Meister maintained his stance very well in the equation, and that without being forceful. He did an impressive job in the unlikely—and rather uncomfortable—entrance into Schwarz's world of Ring. 

Das Rheingold in Bayreuth 2022. Cast from L to R: Stephanie Houtzeel (Wellgunde), Lea-Ann Dunbar (Woglinde), Katie Stevenson (Floßhilde), Arnold Bezuyen (Mime), Daniel Kirch (Loge), Olafur Sigurdarson (Alberich), Egil Silins (Wotan), Christa Mayer (Fricka), Jens-Erik Aasbø (Fasolt), Wilhelm Schwinghammer (Fafner), Okka von der Damerau (Erda), Elisabeth Teige (Freia), Raimund Nolte (Donner), Attilio Glaser (Froh)