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If you’ve got it, flaunt it Vienna
Staatsoper
06/15/2025 - & June 25*, 2025, June 4, 14, 2026
Richard Wagner: Siegfried
Andreas Schager (Siegfried), Michael Laurenz (Mime), Iain Paterson (Der Wanderer), Jochen Schmeckenbecher (Alberich), Kwangchul Youn (Fafner), Anna Kissjudit (Erda), Anja Kampe (Brünnhilde), Ileana Tonca (Das Waldvöglein)
Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, Philippe Jordan (conductor)
Sven-Eric Bechtolf (stage director), Rolf Glittenberg (sets), Marianne Glittenberg (costumes), fettFilm (videography)
A. Kampe, A. Schager (© Wiener Staatsoper/Michael Pöhn)
After enduring visually underwhelming productions of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre days earlier, I expected more of the same: great voices and orchestra in a disappointingly uninspired production. Unfortunately my prediction was accurate. Bland productions are legion but exquisite orchestral playing and beautiful singing are rare, so this production at least had this going for it. The Wiener Philharmoniker playing Wagner, especially under Philippe Jordan, is an incomparable experience.
Rolf Glittenberg’s sets for Siegfried’s opening scene were more elaborate than his previous ones in this decidedly uninspired Ring cycle. Mime’s dwelling and workshop is a nineteenth century state‑of‑the‑art atelier featuring twelve countertops replete with gadgets that may or not belong to a blacksmith. One wonders who the customers might be for this forger in the wild. Wolves? Bears?
Michael Laurenz’s Mime was even more impressive than in Das Rheingold. Of course, the role is much longer and involves a broader range of emotions. His cowardice and unctuousness vis‑à‑vis the visiting Wanderer was delicious thanks to his exceptionally perfect diction and acting. Alas, Iain Paterson’s diminished vocal prowess was more evident than in the previous two operas. Before the beginning of Act II, an announcer apologized on his behalf, attributing his condition to seasonal allergies. The veteran singer, who is no stranger to the role, compensated for his deficiencies with excellent acting. Despite Paterson’s weak voice, his authority was palpable, judging from Mime’s convincing state of terror.
The ensuing scene between Mime and Siegfried was a beautiful sonata for two tenors, between Laurenz’s lyric and Schager’s dramatic. The antipathy between them was well‑portrayed. Schager marvelously conveyed Siegfried’s innocence, and not only in this scene. While initially endearing, the naive child routine soon got on my nerves. It was appealing in Act I, amusing in Act II but by Act III it was unbearable. Of course the most remarkable attribute of the present Siegfried is Schager’s clarion dramatic tenor. Admired last season in Vienna as the best Tristan in Calixto Bieito’s production of Tristan und Isolde, Schager’s vocal health is truly enviable, especially as Siegfried, a role known to wear out even the most robust of tenors.
The sets for Act II’s opening scene were imaginative: a stylized forest replete with animals, such as deer, boars and wolves, crawling up the wall. This was aesthetically pleasing compared to Glittenberg’s other sets for this Ring, though it only worked in the opening scene. The ensuing scene with the dragon was underwhelming; the terrifying beast was nowhere to be seen, only a video of a reptile’s yellow and black eye was shown. The “hypnotic” effect of the dragon’s eye was more soporific than scary. Fortunately, South Korean bass Kwangchul Youn’s deep bass was more effective. As he lay dying, Fafner transformed back into a giant. Dressed in a coat resembling snakeskin and three times as tall as Siegfried, here was finally a memorable and potentially terrifying scene. Unfortunately, it was ill‑timed, as it was only seen as the dragon was dying. The final scene of Act II, with Mime’s perfidious attempts to snatch the ring from the victorious Siegfried, was entertaining thanks to Laurenz’s exemplary acting and Siegfried’s nonchalance, as by then he’s able to read the Nibelung’s inner thoughts.
In Act III, Erda does not appear as a huge worm as in La Scala’s recent production, but as a hybrid of a caterpillar and a ghost. Dressed in white with long white hair, Anna Kissjudit’s Erda was outstanding both vocally and dramatically. Recently heard as the witch Jezibaba in Rusalka in Berlin, twenty-nine-year-old Kissjudit is a vocal phenomenon, reminiscent of Marilyn Horne in her prime. Her impressive low notes produced shivers, but due to Paterson’s diminished state, the scene wasn’t as compelling as it should have been. An imperious Wanderer is supposed to command Erda; here he was more of a supplicant. One felt sorry for the Wanderer in his scene with Siegfried. Before any confrontation between the Wanderer/Wotan and his grandson, it was clear that it was hopeless for the older man.
Unfortunately, the final scene, Brünnhilde’s awakening, was visually forgettable: instead of lying on a rock above the rest of the stage, sleeping Brünnhilde was laying at the bottom of the stairs covered in white sheets reminiscent of those used to cover cadavers after a traffic accident. Even the Valkyrie’s armour was missing.
Despite the visual insignificance, this was a vocally electrifying finale. Anja Kampe’s glorious dramatic soprano was a perfect fit for the role. After all, she was the mesmerising Isolde in the aforementioned production of Tristan und Isolde. Moreover, Kampe is a brilliant singing actress able to subtly colour her words. Her partner had the most powerful dramatic tenor around. Vocally, this was one of the most memorable final scenes of Siegfried I’ve ever experienced. Yet, something was still not right.
Schager is a truly impressive singer, endowed with a dramatic tenor that would be the envy of many. The trouble with Schager is his tendency to sing forte and fortissimo. Like the “Everready bunny,” he never seems to tire. Schager is a true force of nature, but hearing such loud singing over long periods is tiring. I’m aware this is blasphemy, as opera lovers are supposed to adulate big voices. The problem is that no one can sing in a nuanced fashion while singing fortissimo. Schager’s forte singing is acceptable in his bickering with the Mime and in his confrontation of the dragon Fafner, but it simply does not work in the final scene where the innocent discovers “woman.”
Imagine a boy discovering in a short space of time the existence of another gender, interacting with a member of that mysterious gender and feeling new and strange emotions. Yes, he is likely to be sexually and emotionally excited, but he’s also likely to feel vulnerable and shiver deep inside, Alas, none of that vulnerability transpired from the inexhaustible Mr. Schager. Pity. What miraculous singing this could have been with a hint of subtle expressivity.
Ossama el Naggar
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