DAS RHEINGOLD, Royal Opera House, October 17 2007

Woglinde...................................Sarah Fox
Wellgunde...............Heather Shipp
Flosshilde ......................Sarah Castle
Alberich.................................... Peter Sidhom
Wotan......................................John Tomlinson
Fricka.......................................Rosalind Plowright
Freia........................................ Emily Magee
Fasolt.......................................Franz-Josef Selig
Fafner.......................................Philip Ens
Froh.........................................Will Hartmann
Donner..................................... Peter Coleman-Wright
Loge.........................................Philip Langridge
Mime.........................................Gerhard Siegel
Erda.........................................Jane Henschel 

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Concert Master Vassko Vassilev

Conductor...................................Antonio Pappano

Director......................................Keith Warner
Set Designs..................................Stefanos Lazaridis

I hope the excellence of this performance is a good omen for the rest of the
RING! Pappano drew such burnished tones from the orchestra, right from that magical, mysterious beginning - and I liked the fact that there wasn't the
usual business of the conductor coming on beforehand to be applauded, it
creates a much better atmosphere if the sound seems to emerge from
nowhere. The orchestral balance was ideal, and Pappano takes it at a tempo
that seems exactly appropriate and also gives due emphasis to the passages
for solo instruments at crucial moments. Pappano is also very sensitive to the needs of the singers.

I would single out for special praise John Tomlinson's Wotan and Philip
Langridge's Loge. Tomlinson's deep sonorous voice is of course well-known and highly praised, but he is also a gifted actor and gave a very subtle
characterisation of  Wotan as a god with very human failings! Especially, of
course, that of greed and lust for power, and he is beginning to intuit that this
is going to be his undoing, even as he waves the sword around before the
entry into Walhall. 

Loge, of course, will have nothing to do with any of this.
the particular qualities of Langridge's tenor voice are ideal for this role (who is actually my favourite character in the RING!) . There are nice touches of
comic genius, such as the fact that when Donner summons the thunder, the
other gods stand apathetically around while Loge sits under an outsize
umbrella - eliciting laughter from the audience, as of course it's yet another
way in which Loge undercuts the pretensions of the others.
Peter Sidhom as Alberich seemed to start off tentatively, but this was
obviously part of the characterisation, as he gained in power - and of course
malevolence - in the Nibelheim scene. This is the point at which I must start
to describe the production - Nibelheim is, among other things, a laboratory in
which monstrous experiments on humans and animals are being perpetrated, there is a mutilated skeleton on a hospital trolley, and Loge throws some of
the body parts away - later, after Alberich has been captured by Wotan and
Loge, Mime throws some more body parts away. (An interesting idea, BUT I
started to wonder if it wasn't a bit too 'busy').The actual gold which Alberich
has been amassing is barely visible, as it is all packed into suitcases, which
Mime has to carry around, and which are too heavy for him.
The Tarnhelm is - an outsize Rubik Cube, which glitters in certain lights
 

- yes,
Ok, but the novelty will have worn off by GOETTERDAEMMERUNG (I've seen
this production before!) One thing I did like, though, was that when Alberich is tricked into turning himself into a toad - a little toad with a MINI-Rubik Cube
on its head hops across the stage!
Mime is sung by Gerhard Siegel, who emphasised very well the contrast
between the Nibelung brothers - Mime lacks the tragic grandeur that makes
Alberich a distant cousin of Milton's Satan - something that was very apparent when he cursed the Ring - which of course is now on Wotan's finger, and
Alberich actually takes Wotan's hand when he curses the Ring - I haven't seen it played like this before.

I'll return to the beginning now - the Rheinmaidens are naked right at the
start, but as soon as Alberich appears they hurriedly scramble into some
clothes (probably not before he's had a good stare, though, as they don't see
him at first). 

 One thing I particular liked about the staging was that the
projections of green wavy lines that indicated the Rhine gradually change into  a spinning globe with Mercator projections - the globe becomes smaller and  smaller as the Valhalla scene approaches, and Valhalla is shown as the interior  of a rather grand mansion with a black marble fireplace and matching black  furniture.

 
Fricka and Freia were wearing very elegant Edwardian tea-gowns.

Rosalind Plowright was very good as Fricka, her warm mezzo tones contrasting  well with the soprano of Emily Magee - who sang well but her characterisation  was a bit lack-lustre. I liked the fact the she seemed to tentatively respond  to Fasolt's genuine affection for her. The giants were sung by Philip Ens and
Franz-Josef Selig.