DAS RHEINGOLD, STOCKHOLM, september 2006

MEDVERKANDE

Wotan: Terje Stenswold 

Donner: Johan Edholm 

Froh: Klas Hedlund 

Loge: Thomas Sunnegårdh 

Alberich: Kettil Hugaas 

Mime: Niklas Björling Rygert 

Fasolt: Hans-Peter König

Fafner: Lennart Forsén 

Fricka: Martina Dike 

Freia: Sara Olsson 

Erda: Anna Larsson 

Woglinde: Hilde Leidland 

Wellgunde: Susann Végh 

Regi: Staffan Valdemar Holm

Kungliga Hovkapellet, Stockholm. 

Dirigent: Gregor Bühl

Kungliga Operan, Stockholm

RECENSIONER

Göran Forsling: Richard Wagner, Das Rheingold at the Royal Opera in Stockholm (Music Web)

Originally Neeme Järvi was scheduled to lead this Ring cycle but he had to withdraw due to failing health and in his place the young German Gregor Bühl sprang in. He is no newcomer to Wagner: in Hannover, where he has been principal conductor since 1996, he has performed most of the operas, including the complete Ring. It was also obvious from the outset that he knew his Wagner. The remarkable prelude, “the birth of minimalism”, with its repeated “wave” motif, was built up from the almost inaudible start towards ever greater intensity, the waters of the Rhine running fiercer and fiercer, and the Royal Orchestra responded willingly. Bühl kept things moving without rushing. A well-balanced reading, full of life.

(...)

Martina Dike, who already has a long list of memorable role assumptions (see review of Don Carlos), was a splendid Fricka, her voice ringing out with magnificent ease and she is a good actor. As Freia Sara Olsson didn’t have much to sing but what little there was she did well and she acted movingly. Erda’s part is even smaller, but her “aria” Weiche, Wotan, weiche is on the other hand one of the sublime moments and Anna Larsson’s deep warm contralto was perfectly suited to it, just as artlessly affecting as when she sang the same part in a concert performance of Rheingold at the Stockholm Concert Hall a couple of years ago.

(...)

In the men’s department, the diminutive Klas Hedlund drew a finely etched Froh and his unforced lyrical tenor is always a joy to listen to, while Johan Edholm personified the choleric Donner with biting intensity. Thomas Sunnegårdh, excellent actor, found the right scheming tone for Loge, a part he has sung for many years around the world, his voice still in fine fettle. Fafner and Fasolt, bear-like in their brown costumes and with long hair and beard, were magnificently sung by Lennart Forsén and Hans-Peter König, the former with a roundness and beauty of tone that almost conflicted with the evil, while König has the most tremendously gigantic bass-voice one can ever expect to hear.

The black forces in Nibelheim were also well taken care of. Ketil Hugaas, the buffo bass par preference in Stockholm at the moment, adopted all his considerable skill to give a many-sided portrait of Alberich. A good actor with many colours in his not exactly beautiful but expressive voice. And young Niklas Björling Rygert, who is quickly claiming the role as the leading character tenor, was a perfect Mime, younger looking and younger sounding than most and a lithe actor.

On top of this Norwegian guest Terje Stensvold was a well-nigh ideal Wotan, physically imposing but showing all the different sides of Wotan’s many-faceted character. He sang with firm tone, blacker than most baritones, which is right for Wotan, but with impressively gleaming high notes – and he had a wonderful legato. Far from the speech-singing all to often heard in the role, this was a bel canto Wotan. 

(...)

Sofia Nyblom: Rhenguldet (SvD)

Loges gnistor ger glans åt Hovkapellet, som dirigenten Gregor Bühl leder i en romantiskt sprittande tolkning av Wagners Rhenguldet. Bente Lykke Møllers scenbilder skimrar löftesrikt, särskilt öppningen där tre krinolinklädda sjöjungfrur förstrött åser hur skolpojken Alberich stjäl sagans guldboll och försvinner ner i mattan i kvällens enda teatertrick. 

(...)

Ketil Hugaas Alberich förblir en skurkkliché, stämman trist nyansfri när han förbannar Ringens makt....

(...)

I finalen sätter Thomas Sunnegårdhs finurlige Loge fyr på härligheten, drömmen om romantiken smälter i regnbågsdiset. Men sagoberättaren får gärna släppa loss leklustan inför nästa byggsten i det allkonstverk som är Nibelungens ring - först när man tror på sagan, kan den bli riktigt kuslig.

(...)

SIEGFRIED, STOCKHOLM, september 2006

MEDVERKANDE:

Siegfried - Lars Cleveman

Mime - Niklas Björling Rygert

Vandraren - Terje Stensvold

Alberich - Kettil Hugaas

Fafner - Lennart Forsén

Brünnhilde - Katarina Dalayman

Skogsfågeln: - Marianne Hellgren Staykov

Kostym: Bente Lykke Møller

Ljus: Torben Lendorph

Koreografi: Kristin Kåge

Filmer: Mats Bäcker and Johan Forslind

Regi: Stefan Valdemar Holm

Dramaturge: Stefan Johansson

Kungliga hovkapellet

Dirigent: Gregor Bühl

RECENSIONER:

Göran Forsling: Wagner, Siegfried at the Stockholm Royal Opera, 16.09.2006 (MusicWeb)

Dramaturge Stefan Johansson calls it a satyr play – whatever the terminology it is a great macabre (...).

Gregor Bühl definitely has the measure for this, the most complicated of Wagner’s scores, and holds together all the sprawling ends admirably. He opts for mostly fastish tempos which also means the Wagner’s brew is boiling at a high temperature and he is supported by grandiose playing by the orchestra, who are on a truly elated level of excellence at the moment (...).

But Björling Rygert has gone from strength to strength in a variety of character roles the last few years and here he caps anything he has done before. I praised his neurotic Mime in Das Rheingold a year ago but he has grown even more since then and besides his actual acting talent his voice has expanded; now he possesses a shining dramatic tone and a volume that challenged even Siegfried himself. I bet that in ten years time he will be a glorious Siegfried – but he shouldn’t hurry. As Mime he might well be a leading star in the big houses for years to come. Having lived with the part for 2½ years every word, every inflexion is in his system, as he said in an interview, complete with tics, and it is only to be hoped that he can separate Mime’s personality from his own. (...)

Terje Stensvold, whose Wotan was so impressive in the first two operas, was just as glorious and I would even go as far as saying that his singing was even more uninhibited here. A bass-baritone of imposing dimensions that can pour out golden tone at a volume that fills even the biggest houses, delivered with a steadiness that even the most world-famous Wotans should envy. (...)

Lars Cleveman (...) executed the part with aplomb, his steely tenor cutting through the orchestra like a welding flame. But he also showed another side of the character; after all, Siegfried has some human sides too, especially when he, in the Waldweben scene, wonders about his mother. Then he expressed this with warmly lyrical outpourings that not every Heldentenor could manage. (...)

Ketil Hugaas was an intensely expressive, black-voiced Alberich and Lennart Forsén once again proved that he must be counted among the best basso cantante singers around. He has little opportunity to show this as Fafner, where the main task is to sound as nasty as possible, but after Siegfried has penetrated his heart his last utterances are filled with melancholy and warmth. Anna Larsson’s warm and beautiful contralto makes her an ideal Erda, and her tall appearance adds to this impression. Marianne Hellgren Staykov was a really lovely Waldvogel, fluttering her wings and moving her head very bird-like. (...)

Katarina Dalayman at last was liberated from her shield and armour she was just as impressive as in Die Walküre. Her voice is not of that larger-than-life size of some famous dramatic sopranos but it has a glow of its own, it has beauty and she is an expressive singer and actress. That final scene contains some of most beautiful music Wagner ever wrote and she sang it with great feeling.

Sara Norling: Operan smider guld (Dagens Nyheter)

Operans mastodontprojekt med att sätta upp hela Wagners ”Ring” har kommit till tredje delen. Sara Norling möter drakdödaren Siegfried och vill se mer. Opera ”Siegfried” av Richard Wagner Scen: Kungliga operan, Stockholm Dirigent: Gregor Bühl Regi: Staffan Valdemar Holm Scenografi & kostym: Bente Lykke Möller Ljus: Torben Lendorph Medverkande: Lars Cleveman, Niklas Björling Rygert, Terje Stensvold, Ketil Hugaas, Katarina Dalayman, Anna Larsson, Kungliga Hovkapellet m fl

Mogens H. Andersson: Siegfried på Kungliga Operan (Operalogg)

Igår kväll var det alltså dags för Siegfried, näst sista delen av Wagners Nibelungens ring. Det är kanske lika bra att jag säger det meddetsamma Siegfried tillhör inte mina favoriter. Egentligen tycker jag att det är den tråkigaste delen av Ringen, med undantag av tredje akten. Det tycker jag vanligtvis.

I går kväll var jag inte så imponerad ens av tredje akten, men å andra sidan så var ju Wotan eller Vandraren som han egentligen heter, i sin verkliga toppform. Och det var mycket roligt att höra på.

Erik Wallrup: Operans bittra eftersmak (Göteborgs Posten)

Opera Kungliga operan Siegfried av Richard Wagner. Regi: Staffan Valdemar Holm. Scenografi: Bente Lykke Møller. Dirigent: Gregor Bühl. Erik Wallrup har sett en vacker Siegfried som säger förvånansvärt lite.

AUDIO/VIDEO:

GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG, STOCKHOLM, september, 2007

MEDVERKANDE:

Siegfried - Lars Cleveman

Gunther - Gabriel Suovanen

Hagen - Hans-Peter König

Alberich - Kettil Hugaas

Brünnhilde - Katarina Dalayman

Gutrune - Lena Nordin

Waltraute - Helene Ranada

Första Norna - Helene Ranada

Andra Norna - Marianne Eklöf

Tredje Norna - Annalena Persson

Woglinde - Karin Ingebäck

Wellgunde - Susann Végh

Flosshilde -  Karin Lovelius

Dansare: Hervor Sjöstrand, Kristin Kåge and Elisabeth Crispin

Kostym: Bente Lykke Møller

Ljus: Torben Lendorph

Koreografi: Kristin Kåge

Filmer: Mats Bäcker and Johan Forslind

Regi: Stefan Valdemar Holm

Kungliga hovkapellet

Kungliga Operans kör

Dirigent: Gregor Bühl

RECENSIONER:

Musicweb: Wagner, Götterdämmerung: at the Royal Opera in Stockholm 15-09-2007 (Göran Försling)

Director Staffan Valdemar Holm, besides uncovering the inner selves of the characters, has also, as in the previous operas, played on the humorous possibilities. (…) The model is Fritz Lang’s Nibelungen films. Even on other occasions filmed sequences – in black and white – accompany the proceedings. (…)

Gregor Bühl has shown increasing understanding of Wagner’s scores and in Götterdämmerung he fired his forces to playing that was overwhelming in its dynamic potency. (…)

Lena Nordin, with a career of more than 20 years, made a vivid portrait of Gutrune, acting very convincingly in this vocally a bit ungrateful role.

As her brother Gunther, Gabriel Suovanen gave a touching performance of this weak and sensitive character. (…)

Kettil Hugaas confirmed through his short appearance as Alberich that he is a leading character singer today, (…)

Hans-Peter König’s Hagen was the most formidably sung since Gottlob Frick’s time – and that was 40 years ago. Visually he was more a genial landowner than the incarnation of evil, but that only made his cruel deeds the more abominable.

Lars Cleveman was the young Siegfried (…) he created a lively, cheerful and carefree boyish Siegfried and the brutality of his murder became even more disgusting than usual. He seems to have lungs of steel and vocal cords of the same material, allowing him to produce heroically ringing high notes. His stamina is also admirable.

On top of all this excellence Stockholm has a Brünnhilde probably without peer in the world today. Katarina Dalayman showed her credentials in a superb reading of the title role in Die Walküre a year and a half ago, after which she spent most of last year’s Siegfried in her dressing-room, waiting for the final scene. Now back in the spotlight, she was deeply involved and expressed the character’s contradicting feelings with lyrical sensitivity, razor-sharp vehemence and on top of that a nobility and warmth of tone that made her humanity stand out. At her curtain call she was deservedly greeted with standing ovations.

Expressen: Ragnarök/Kungliga operan (Karin Olsson)

(…) Förutom att man blir helt golvad av Katarina Dalaymans (Brünnhilde) valkyrievilda krigsgudinnesopran får man lov att skratta åt Rhendöttrarna som simmar till Wagners tramsiga musik i sina Beskowkrinoliner med koloraturerna som vågskum. De rör sig i en biosalong där Rhen skvalpar olycksbådande vårflodig på duken. De är roligt, men aldrig trivialt. Det är uppdaterat, men inte realistiskt. Mer drömspel än drama. (…)

Scenen mellan Brünnhilde och hennes syster (formidabla Helene Ranada) är minst lika gripande som den i Valkyrian, där Wotan öppnade sig för sin dotter, liggande i hennes knä. En bevekande familj och en självständig dotter som slår sig fri.

Man känner sig däremot inte överdrivet högtidlig eller berörd när Siegfried (Lars Cleveman i högform) och Gunther (onödigt manierade Gabriel Suovanen) ingår sin fosterbrödraed, och inte är man särskilt förkrossad när hjälten Siegfried dör av ett hugg i ryggen från Hagens spjut. Det vilar ett forskaröga på huvudpersonerna. Alberich (tordönen Ketil Hugaas) granskar sin avkomma Hagen (fortfarande helt enastående Hans-Peter König) med fascination och förskräckelse. Siegfried har vi lärt känna som en Kaspar Hauser.

Holm har gjort en gripande tolkning av syskonparet Gunther och Gutrune (helgjuten Lena Nordin). Halta och lytta lever de i ohälsosam isolation i en lobbyliknande miljö. Oförmögna att ta tag i sina egna liv placerar de med Hagens hjälp sina öden i händerna på den mycket opålitlige hjälten Siegfried.

Ragnarök är egentligen inte såmycket ett farväl till världen som ett triangeldrama där Brünnhilde och Gutrunerivaliserar om Siegfried och männen som vanligt bråkar om makten. Wagner tartill de gamla beprövade operatricksen: Kärleksdryck för att spräcka den starkakärleken mellan Brünnhilde och Siegfried, hämndtrio à la Verdi för att stegradramatiken ytterligare. Och han skickar in en osannolikt stark ochunderhållande manskör för bröllop och jakt. Operakörens förstärkta herrarblåser ut lokalen, Brünnhilde håller för öronen. (…)

Armchairconductor: Ragnarök på Kungliga operan i Stockholm (Olaf Reich)

Så har jag alltså sett sistadelen i Nibelungens Ring -Ragnarök - på Stockholmsoperan i regi av StaffanValdemar Holm. En - med vissa reservationer - storartad avslutning på hans ochdet övriga teamets uppsättning.

AUDIO-VIDEO: