The Met's third and final Ring cycle concluded Saturday with a marathon matinee performance of Richard Wagner's Götterdämmerung, with Debbie Voigt back in the central role of Brünnhilde after sitting out Wednesday's performance of Siegfried due to illness. To be honest, she didn't really have it this time either – she was frequently overpowered by the orchestra – but managed to collect herself to deliver the Immolation Scene at the end with fearsome power and emotion.
Stephen Gould took over for Jay Hunter Morris as Siegfried (as he did in the first cycle), delivering a strong, vocally vibrant performance all the way through his final, extended death scene. During Act III, in what nearly amounted to a radical rewrite of Wagner's drama, Gould accidentally tossed the ring into the Rhine, when he was only supposed to toss "a clod of dirt." Fortunately, a stagehand was able to crawl beneath The Machine and retrieve it, placing it back on Gould's finger without being seen.
Wendy Bryn Harmer sang with clear – if shrill – strength as Gutrune. And, Iain Hunter was a convincing Gunther, wallowing in misery and shame at the hands of the fiery Brünnhilde. But, stealing the show was Hans-Peter König as Hagen, whose huge bass boomed through the 4,000 seat Met Opera house, rattling my bones all the way back in standing room.
From what I could tell, The Machine worked perfectly, but the staging of the final scene – from Brünnhilde riding on the back of a puppet horse, to the meek crumbling of statues supposedly marking destruction of Valhalla – was clunky and cringe-inducing. Fortunately, you could close your eyes and still marvel at the wonder of the Met Orchestra, led here by John Keenan, who did an admirable job replacing Fabio Luisi (who had a prior commitment to conduct the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at the Musikverein.) After six hours of Götterdämmerung – and nearly 20 hours in all for the Ring - I was exhausted and entranced, all at once.
This was the final day of the Met's season, though they will return later this summer with their annual series of recitals in the parks and HD screenings on the Plaza. And, if you missed this season's performances of the Ring, there will be three more cycles next season to commemorate Wagner's 200th birthday. See you there.
More pics on the photo page.