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Rating: 
Summary: Very interesting performance
Review: I personally found this performance to be very interesting. Initially, I was astonished by all those "up-dates" in the action. However, most finally makes good dramatic senses. The singing is fine, and the acting is superior. I must admit that I've never liked this opera much. Yet, this recording has no doubt increased my interest in the music as well as the drama, which is evidence of its quality.
Rating:
Summary: Very interesting performance
Review: I personally found this performance to be very interesting. Initially, I was astonished by all those "up-dates" in the action. However, most finally makes good dramatic senses. The singing is fine, and the acting is superior. I must admit that I've never liked this opera much. Yet, this recording has no doubt increased my interest in the music as well as the drama, which is evidence of its quality.
Rating: 
Summary: The "Stepchild"
Review: It seems to me that "Seigfried" has always been the "stepchild"
it the ring cycle. This version part of the Cenntenial Ring Cycle
has I think some of the finest music for a heldentenor that
Wagner ever wrote. This production I think shows the best performance of the forging scene ever, you really get caught up in Seigfried's excitement at making his sword anew. I will admit the first time I watched the Cenntenial production, I was a little turned off by it. But know I can watch it having seen the MET production and enjoy making comparisions between the Two.
This opera helps set the stage for the big finale "Gotterdamerung", and is a worthy part of this ring cycle set of DVD's My apologies to all stepchildren out there.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting interpretation
Review: Like many people, Siegfried is the least favourite of all the Ring operas. However, I must praise the interesting interpretation and direction of Patrice Chereau here. Just like elsewhere in this centenary Bayreuth production, the drama is so vivid and believable, aided by superior acting on the part of the singers. Although Manfred Jung doesn't exactly conform to my idea of a great helden-tenor, he does well in the production. The other singers also give excellent support, as have Boulez and the excellent Bayreuth orchestra.
Rating:
Summary: A passable performance
Review: This is a decent performance of Siegfried; however, Manfred Jung as Siegfried is rather weak as an actor. He has a decent (though beefy) voice, but he can't seem to get into the part. His face seems to have two expressions: either a silly smile or an angry snarl. As a result, the 'hero' Siegfried comes across as an unsympathetic crude arrogant bully who takes what he wants without regard for the rights or feelings of others. I don't think this is what Wagner intended, and it's hard to fathom what Brunhilde sees in this haughtly adolescent. I guess Wotan really did punish her quite harshly by sending this churl to be her lover. Jung's kiss to awaken Brunhilde had about as much passion as Michael Jackson kissing Priscilla Presley on national TV (at the time he was being accused in the press of pedophilia). The other actors are much better performers. The stage directions often don't match the words. Examples: Siegrfried sings about Brunhilde being covered with a shield (but she is not), or he sings about his hand trembling over his heart, when at the time his hand is outstreched and perfectly still. The sound quality is also quite variable, probably due to the placement of microphones and the movement of the actors across the stage. Sometimes the singing ranges from too loud to almost inaudible in the space of a few minutes. Another problem is that the 2nd DVD in the set skips in parts on my DVD player. This is the only DVD that my DVD player ever had trouble reading, so I thinkt here may be a defect in the manufacturing.
Rating: 
Summary: I wish Mime had been successful in killing Siegfried in this
Review: Unlike most Wagnerites, I like Siegfried best of all the Ring
operas. To me, it is the most fairy tale-like, the most full of
nature and nature imagery, has the most interesting characters, the
most fascinating confrontations and also the most sublime love scene
in all opera. It is a coming-of-age story, full of Freudian intuition
on Wagner's part, and its symbolism is universal...the depth of the
libretto alone and the mental stimuli it provides are enough to give
a lifetime of study and enjoyment. Add to all this the sublime,
rapturous music and its thread of subliminal subconcious thought and
you have one whale of a work of art. IN LOVE with Siegfried, I
decided that I had to have the Bayreuth Siegfried of 1980... So, disregarding the mostly negative reviews that
customers on Amazon had written about this production, I ordered it.
It arrived yesterday. With heart pounding, I tore the wrapping off
and plugged it into my DVD player with trembling fingers. I settled
in, with my cat on my lap and a cup of hot Earl Grey nearby, ready
for an uninterrupted evening of my favorite opera. I lasted two acts.
What can I say other than that I was grossly disappointed? The
sets were unusual, to say the least, but this was ok. In fact, they
were fascinating and I got to see how Wagner "works" for a specific
age as well as universally. As a whole, the vocal quality was
entirely passable, even good at times, the orchestra was a little
under-volume but otherwise balanced and completely presentable, and
the sets, though dark, were visually beautiful. Even the dragon was
not as laughable as I had been prepared to see. Heinz Zednick, as in
the Met version, was fantastic as Mime...in fact, he outdid himself
both vocally and dramatically and stole the show, for me. The guy
who sang Fafner was excellent, and Donald McIntyre and Manfred Jung
seemed to be in good voice for the performance, and were dramatically
into their roles. In fact, the acting as a whole was superb. Except
for some slightly distressing rushing on Jung's part at the end of
Act 2, there was good synchronization between the orchestra and
singers. All in all, it was excellently sung and acted, the orchestra
was in good form, the sets were visually interesting and it was a
perfectly good professionally-rendered presentation of Siegfried.
But----there was one thing wrong with this performance that
spoiled it for me, and that was Jung's characterization of Siegfried. Siegfried, at best, is hard to like. But knowing that
he is the hero of the whole tetralogy, we TRY to like him, even
though Wagner does not make it easy for us to. There is a subtle way
the tenor can help us out, despite the sometimes hateful language and
actions of Siegfried, and make us regard him with more sympathy and
give him a lot of slack. Jerusalem did it in the Met production---
played Siegfried as an innocent who knew no better than the ways of
the forest, and who showed remorse when he had to kill both Fafner
and Mime. And he did his best to interject a boyish charm to the
role, and came across as utterly believable, human and likeable. Jung,
on the other hand, seemed to actually play up the coarse and brutish
aspects of Siegfried. I could easily imagine him pulling the wings
off insects and torturing the bears and the birds of the forest. He
not only cleaved the anvil, but wielded Notung as if he were a
character in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, smashing the sword down
again and again and again. Aside from the constant and brutal abuse
of Mime, he kicked Fafner's dead body, kicked and shook the tree in
impatience to hear the bird's song, and in short acted like an
enraged and rabid animal. The most chilling thing he did, though,
was to walk close to the dying Fafner, unconcerned and uncaring, only
curious about his own past. I'm sure this was calculated only to
show that he indeed had no fear, but to me, the way it was done wasmost disturbing. He was almost intimate with Fafner, putting his
hand on the giant, almost as if in possession of him, but totally
indifferent and cold to his suffering, and Fafner with Notung stuck
in his chest with the blood running down....then when Fafner died and
Siegfried killed Mime and hung him on the tree, my blood was chilled
anew when Siegfried started singing the lyrical, longing music set to
the Forest Murmers....all with the two dead bodies in evidence a few
feet away. The incongrousness of this was jarring and a little
revolting. I found myself grieving for Mime in this production...and
so wishing that there had been a sudden plot change and Siegfried had
drunk Mime's potion! As it is, I am dreading Act 3, and don't know
if I want to see this sociopath wake Brunnhilde or not (let me
guess...he shakes her and kicks her)....much less see the final
portion, which I'm sure will be more like a rape scene than anything
else.
Why did Jung have to play Siegfried like a Nazi? I thought we
were trying to get away from that sad and inappropriate connection
anyway....this production does not help the cause one little bit.
I give this production three stars because it has its merits, but is totally lacking in garnering any sympathy for its main character. Message 131 of 131 | Previous | Next [ Up Thread ] Message
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