Germany Tiroler Festspiele Erl – Wagner, Die Walküre: Soloists and orchestra of the Tyrolean Festival Erl / Erik Nielsen (conductor). Passionsspielhaus Erl, 24.7.2024. (DMD)
In the Tyrolean village of Erl, Passion Plays have been taking place since the seventeenth century. In 1959, the current Passion Play festival theatre was built, where the passion plays are performed every six years. In 1998, it was offered for use to musician and conductor Gustav Kuhn for the summer months (no indoor heating) of the years it was not used for the Passion Plays, and in 2012, an adjacent Festival Theatre was built for use in winter and the years of the Passion Play. Kuhn’s seasons were artistically very impressive. However, in 2018 a scandal broke relating to business practices and sexual misconduct in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Kuhn resigned, and after an interim period, Bernd Loebe (artistic director of Frankfurt Opera) took over. He managed to lead the festival with both its stages into a new era of success. Overseeing the production of the Ring cycle (directed by Brigitte Fassbaender) was central to his era. From the 2024/25 season on, Jonas Kaufman will take over as artistic director.
Since Brigitte Fassbaender retired from her acclaimed international career as a mezzo-soprano in 1995, she has dedicated her life to directing opera. In her approach she emphasizes attention to the detail of the characters’ motivations and their resulting interaction. This was most evident in her production of Die Walküre as part of the complete Ring cycle shown at the Tyrolean Festival in Erl this year. Stage designer Kaspar Glarner and video artist Bibi Abel used the back and sides of the vast stage of the Passion Play building as projection surfaces throughout, with patterns reflecting those on the rather conventional furniture in Hunding’s contemporary living room for Act I, the vast expanse of the castle of Valhalla for Act II (with a simple plastic garden table and chair for Wotan) and a space with small lake (used by the Valkyries to wash the dead soldiers on their arrival from earth before they led them on to Valhalla, naked) in the vicinity of Valhalla, surrounded by mountains and clouds for Act III.
The acting was very nuanced throughout. Hunding was a relatively young man, burly, uncouth, and behaved in line with the conventions that come with that fundamental nature. He was as genuine (not knowingly nasty) about regarding Sieglinde as his possession as he was about the honour of his hospitality and the duty of revenge. He asked for Fricka’s support because that was the normal thing to do in his situation, and he acknowledged her support with conventional gratitude for a guaranteed service. Two of his huntsman mates were with him when he arrived at home. They were not particularly interested in his wife, not surprised at the rough way he behaved towards her: he had probably taken them home because they were hungry after having been called by Hunding’s relatives for the revenge – when Sieglinde brought food for all, they gulped theirs down as if they had not eaten for a long time.
Much of the detail of the character interaction was obvious from very specific gestures. For example, when Siegmund sang ‘Die Sonne lacht mir nun neu’, with a minute gesture towards Sieglinde, she responded with an expression of surprised happiness (nobody had ever paid her a compliment before in all her life), turning into a shy gesture implying: ‘Are you referring to me?’ to which he signalled, equally shyly, ‘Yes’.
The orchestra was placed behind a gauze curtain at the back of the stage on a raked area. Large screens in front of the stage allowed for visual communication of the singers with the conductor. Conductor Erik Nielsen chose consistently brisk tempi without sounding hurried. Music from the various sections of the orchestra was well integrated, with cello and double bass strings providing a particularly sonorous basis.
Some sopranos cast as Sieglinde display heavier vocal material, prompting comments about a future Brünnhilde already shining through, and indeed, some have both Sieglinde and Brünnhilde in their repertory. As for Irina Simmes, she sang an intensely lyrical Sieglinde, which was very convincing in its own right. She was steady across registers and did not stretch beyond her limit in the outbursts, particularly in ‘O hehrstes Wunder!’. Marco Jentzsch struggled against wobble and issues with intonation until the strong cries of ‘Wälse!’, his singing improving considerably from then on. He was especially strong in the bright upper register of his voice, which does not have (nor does it need) much of a baritonal basis. His strong technique allowed him to cover areas in the lower register that will strengthen with time. Anthony Robin Schneider sang Hunding with great ease, relishing his ability to produce long phrases with an abundance of breath available.
Simon Bailey was a particularly musical Wotan, modulating each phrase with considerable attention and making use of the full range of vocal volume, supported by the acoustics of the venue. Bianca Andrew sang Fricka with a full mezzo voice. Christiane Libor was a strong Brünnhilde. Her voice was compelling in the jubilant exclamations of ‘Hojotoho’ in Act II, gentle, authoritative and moving in her summons to Siegmund, and suitably passionate in her exchanges with Wotan, comforting him in Act II and pleading in Act III. The eight singers of the Valkyries made most of their brief contributions.
The festival’s artistic manager, Bernd Loebe, made a brief appearance on stage before Act III to excuse one of the Valkyries who had injured her leg that morning. He said the company was like family, and with a nod to the fact that Kaufmann will be taking on his position next season, exited with a wistful ‘see you around’.
Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe
Featured Image: Passionsspielhaus von Robert Schuller und Festspielhaus von Delugan Meissl Associated Architects in Erl © Peter Kitzbichler
Production:
Direction – Brigitte Fassbaender
Stage and Costume design – Kaspar Glarner
Lighting design – Jan Hartmann
Video – Bibi Abel
Dramaturgy – Mareike Wink
Cast:
Sieglinde –Irina Simmes
Siegmund – Marco Jentzsch
Hunding – Anthony Robin Schneider
Wotan – Simon Bailey
Brünnhilde – Christiane Libor
Fricka – Bianca Andrew
Gerhilde – Mojca Bitenc
Ortlinde – Nina Tarandek
Waltraute – Karolina Makula
Schwertleite – Marvic Monreal
Helmwige – Ilia Staple
Siegrune – Helene Feldbauer
Grimgerde – Sarah Mehnert
Rossweisse – Anna-Katharina Tonauer
Loge – Ian Koziara