Germany Wagner, Götterdämmerung: Soloists, Chorus of Saarland State Theatre, Saarland State Orchestra / Sébastian Rouland (conductor). Saarland State Theatre, Saarbrücken, 2.5.2026. (DM-D)
This production of Götterdämmerung brought the Saarbrücken Ring to completion, which was launched in 2022 with Das Rheingold. See reviews here of Die Walküre (2024) and Siegfried (2025). The idea of Wotan as a human geneticist competing with fellow scientist Alberich for the best ways of creating the next generation of purpose-built creatures was carried further by the production team, leading to the emergence of a new non-human superintelligence, still in its infancy, which uses Brünnhilde to perform its will.
This development was cogently narrated by directors Alexandra Szemerédy and Magdolna Parditka, who were also in charge of the set and costume design. The rich visual component of this Ring, with lighting design for Götterdämmerung by Björn Schöck and videos by Leonard Koch, was offered as an integrated component without forcing the spectator to attend to all of its vast detail at any one time, and clearly foregrounded our insight when such attention to detail was requested. This Ring overall was a very good example of a consistently thoughtful interpretation executed at a high level of intellectual rigour and artistic craftsmanship. The cast, too, clearly enjoyed the journey. Hopefully Saarbrücken State Theatre has created at least an archive video for posterity.
General music director Sébastian Rouland enjoyed the opportunities this opera offers to allow his orchestra to play at full throttle. He still maintained good balance and took into account the acoustic of the venue. With Aile Asszonyi, in particular, as Brünnhilde he worked with a soloist able to soar above the orchestra with relish, gusto and perfect ease at all times and for her, Rouland did not have to hold back at all. Over the duration of this Ring, she has developed vocally from Die Walküre in 2024 via Siegfried in 2025 to the current culmination in Götterdämmerung very remarkably indeed, making her one of the leading representatives of the role today. The voice is powerful, big, technically very well controlled, and sounds gloriously beautiful. A strong lower register serves as the basis for a ringing top. Asszonyi is equally comfortable across the whole range of volume as well.
As Siegfried, Tilmann Unger’s voice has also developed favourably since he sang the title role in the 2025 Saarbrücken Siegfried: the voice has become less nasal, and there is not so much pressure on his higher notes. Markus Jaursch was in authoritative command of his rich bass voice as Hagen, able to bring out vocally ever so many shades and nuances of his character’s overriding evil nature – and not hiding the fact that he is painfully aware that he cannot but think and act as an expression of his evil core. Judith Braun returned to the Ring, following on from Fricka in Das Rheingold and both Fricka and Waltraute in Die Walküre, impressing with her clear, emotionally charged interpretation of Waltraute. Werner Van Mechelen returned as Alberich, his voice robust and his singing very musical. Benedict Nelson made Gunther, who can be a rather pale character in some productions, into a man with his own palpable agenda. Fortunately, Rouland did not interpret the fermata in the score after Siegfried’s question ‘Gunther, wie heisst deine Schwester / Gunther, what is your sister’s name’ as a pause (which would imply the nonsense of Gunther not remembering his sister’s name); rather, it was a marked caesura. Susanne Serfling gave Gutrune an equally strong personality. Her singing was passionate and Gutrune’s hurt when she realised some of the truth behind the events was genuinely moving. Clara-Sophie Bertram as First Norn and Flosshilde, Carmen Seibel as Second Norn and Wellgunde, Margot Genet as Woglinde and Jessica Muirhead as Third Norn sang their Rhine daughters and Norns, respectively, with playful charm and ancient dignity.
Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe
Featured Image: Markus Jaursch (Hagen) and chorus © Martin Kaufhold
Production:
Direction, Stage and Costume design – Alexandra Szemerédy and Magdolna Parditka
Lighting design – Björn Schöck
Videos – Leonard Koch
Dramaturgy – Patrick Strasser
Choreography – Gaetano Franzese
Chorus director – Mauro Barbierato
Cast:
Siegfried – Tilmann Unger
Brünnhilde – Aile Asszonyi
Hagen – Markus Jaursch
Alberich – Werner van Mechelen
Waltraute – Judith Braun
Gunther – Benedict Nelson
Gutrune – Susanne Serfling
First Norn / Flosshilde – Clara-Sophie Bertram
Second Norn / Wellgunde – Carmen Seibel
Woglinde – Margot Genet
Third Norn – Jessica Muirhead