A busty, helmet-clad warrior maiden, blond braids swinging behind her, belts the Valkyrie battle cry. This seminal scene, repeated in Bugs Bunny cartoons and throughout popular culture, occurs near the climax of Richard Wagner's epic opera, "Die WalkÂre."
The Washington National Opera's new production, in conjunction with the San Francisco Opera, the second of four operas in Wagner's "Ring" cycle, takes a brave new look at the classic German tale. Instead of fur pelts and winged horses, this "Die WalkÂre" has turned the Kennedy Center Opera House's stage into an American fairy tale.
"Once [director Francesca Zambello and her creative team] settled on our dominant themes, we decided to mine our own American 'mythology' for an organic visual language that both suits the 'Ring' and its symbols and enables American audiences to feel the same visceral immediacy that Wagner and the Greeks sought," Cori Ellison, literary editor for the WNO, stated in the production's program.
The complex story line flows with ease through these visual feasts. The nearly five-hour roller coaster starts at an American farmhouse, built around a giant tree, with deer heads mounted on the walls. The walls of the house later pull apart to showcase a huge moon projected onto the back screen.
The gods' fortress in the clouds, Valhalla, is instead a massive skyscraper, where a business-suit-wearing Wotan rules over the world from the head of his conference table.
The mountain pass to which Siegmund and his wife/twin sister, Sieglinde, escape is instead the seedy underbelly of a crumbling once-superhighway. Tires, debris and couches that look like they were ripped from an AU dorm lounge spatter this scene, reminiscent of some post-apocalyptic wasteland. In one memorable scene, fallen warriors from Valhalla, soldiers dressed in various military uniforms from the Napoleonic era on through modern fatigues, march across the stage like drones.
The final scene at the Valkyrie base looks like a bunker, at which the Valkyries parachute comes down behind a flurry of bombers and helicopters projected on a translucent screen. They bring heroes who have perished in battle - smiling head shots of the war dead - to hang on the ladders that lead up, supposedly to Valhalla. And the play's grand visual finale: a roaring wall of fire that leaps up along three edges of the bunker.
While Plácido Domingo headlines the show as Siegmund, his performance lacked full potential due to a cold. Nevertheless, his vocal prowess remained impressive, and though he struggled, he managed to hit and maintain some beautiful high notes. Even without his full vocal ability, his star power and extensive experience alone made the production a treat.
The strongest performance of the show was Linda Watson's BrÂnnhilde, the head of the Valkyrie warrior maidens and Wotan's favorite daughter, that is until her disobedience brings about her downfall. Watson's commanding physical presence and boisterous energy were bolstered by her powerful soprano, as enchanting as it was rousing. Her acting was gripping and emotionally honest, which is often a rarity in opera.
Alan Held also acted admirably, playing Wotan as a slick but strong Jack Nicholsonesque character. His deep, rich baritone-bass was as authoritative and deep as his character, and it readily captured the audience, especially in the scenes alongside Watson.
The orchestra of the WNO, led by Maestro Heinz Fricke, was a flawless element and often stole the show with the grandeur of Wagner's music.
Tickets to this novel production of a masterpiece have long been sold out, but if you are somehow lucky enough to obtain them, WNO's "Die WalkÂre" is sure to entertain and impress even non-fans of opera. As for opera buffs, the experience promises to be unforgettable.
