Admin

Organization

Singer

Nancy Fabiola Herrera

No role specified

Mark Munkittrick

Conductor

Lothar Zagrosek

Stage director

Jossi Wieler

Sergio Morabito

Tenor

Jon Fredric West

Siegfried

Heinz Göhrig

Mime

Baritone

Wolfgang Schöne

The Wanderer

Bass

Bjørn Waag

Alberich

Attila Jun

Fafner

Contralto

Helene Ranada

Erda

Soprano

Lisa Gasteen

Brünnhilde

Lighting designer

Dieter Billino

Costume designer

Anna Viebrock

Set designer

Dramaturge

Orchestra

Staatsorchesters Stuttgart

Staatsoper Stuttgart

Stuttgart

Germany

Opernhaus

Der Ring des Nibelungen: Siegfried by Richard Wagner, from Staatsoper Stuttgart, 2002. Directed by Hans Hulscher, conductor Lothar Zagrosek. Starring Jon Frederic West, Heinz Göhrig, Wolfgang Schöne, Björn Waag, Attila Jun, Gabriela Herrera, Helene Ranada, Lisa Gasteen. Performed in German.

The third part of the Ring Cycle focuses on Siegfried, the child of Sieglinde and Siegmund. His upbringing wild and free, he has never learned the meaning of fear. As he struggles to break free from his past and to forge his own destiny, the fateful possession of the Ring passes to him. He acquires his father's sword, kills the dragon Fafner, and wakes the sleeping Brünnhilde. As the Wanderer (Wotan in disguise) tries to bar his way, he brushes him aside and breaks his spear, thereby destroying his power. "Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito turned out the funniest Siegfried I have ever experienced. Lisa Gasteen's voice was lovely and communicative… Wolfgang Schöne made a marvelous Wanderer while Heinz Göhrig created a more sympathetic Mime than usual. His singing was excellent." (Seattle Opera Magazine. The Staatsorchester Stuttgart is conducted by Lother Zagrosek. Soloists of the evening are Jon Frederic West, Wolfgang Schöne, Björn Waag, Attila Jun, Gabreila Herrera, Helene Ranada and Lisa Gasteen. This rendition took place in the Staatsoper in Stuttgart in 2003 and was directed by Jossi Wieler.

Jon Frederic West's Siegfried is positively spiteful in his treatment of Mime, and exhibits an occasionally brutal thirst for power. Nonetheless, his performance still leaves us marvelling at his heroic feats. The impressive cast - including Heinz Göhrig, who is exceptional as Mime - breathe life into the fateful story of the designs of the gods and the quest for the ring.

The third part of the Tetralogy, "Siegfried," performed at the Stuttgart Opera and conducted by Lothar Zagrozek, is as far removed as possible from a reinterpretation Wagnerian mythology.

"Four operas, four directors." It was as a response to this original artistic idea that Wagner's Tetralogy was produced in 1999-2000 on the stage of the Stuttgart Opera under the direction of the Austrian conductor Lothar Zagrosek and was later filmed in 2002-2003. The Rhinegold (the Prologue) was entrusted to Joachim Schlömer, The Valkyrie to Christof Nel, Siegfried to Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito, and lastly the last day of the Ring, the Twilight of the Gods to Perter Konwitschny.

After the choreographer-dancer Joachim Schlömer (The Rhinegold), it was a man from Stuttgart, Christof Nel, who directed The Valkyrie. These two are also the most irreverent scenographers working in Germany. The combination of a zany atmosphere with that of a downbeat housing estate complete with a dismal Formica kitchen, a floor strewn with utensils and grotesque characters are the stamp of their universe which they aren't afraid of projecting within "Siegfried" as well. The effect is quite striking.

The Tetralogy performed in Stuttgart created a sensation, however, Siegfried is certainly the most original of the four parts: in it there remains nothing of the epic Wagnerian grandeur. Everything is focused on the realism of the action and the cynicism and violence of the characters that come closer to evoking the atmosphere of Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange than the Romanticism of Bayreuth. At any rate the journey is well worth the detour. On stage, the performance of the singers matches the ambition of the project and the lyricism of Lothar Zagrosek is enthusing.

Siegfried Wagner,Richard

Approved

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