Wagner in a Covid-stricken America: Götterdämmerung by Trilogy:aoc in Newark

 

Three years ago, the Trilogy Opera company started its own staging of Wagner's Ring, presented in New Jersey for the first time in the State history. Trilogy, (also known as Trilogy:aoc) known for its productions of black composers and operas concerning the African-American community, embarked itself in 2017 in the acid test par excellence for every theater: the vast musical epic who is one of the milestones of Western culture. They started with an interesting Rheingold, and since then one journey per year.  Trilogy, managed by the bass Kevin Maynor, is made up of mostly black singers, though they count also with any singer regardless of their ethnics (the Nibelungs in their ring were white).

In Spring 2020, the cycle was supposed to finish with a scheduled Götterdämmerung at Newark Museum, but the Coronavirus pandemic forced to postpone the performance, as well as musical life was ceasing all over the world. Four months later, America has been seriously hit by the pandemic, resulting in a health, political and social crisis. On the other hand, as a result of racist, violent attacks from the police have resulted in protests nationwide for real equality, with the Black Lives Matter motto as its most visible symbol. In such background, with all American musical life shut down at least until 2021, Trilogy could finish their Ring at last on August 3, 2020, in an open-air concert version at the University Heights Amphitheatre in Newark. For the rest of the world, it has been streamed on Youtube.

As for the rest of the Ring, the version performed was the Jonathan Dove and Graham Vick reduction, which leaves the opera in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Safety measures and social distancing have been present during the performance: both audience and performers have had to fulfil this requirement, which has affected in every sense the show. The orchestra had to be divided: strings had to be placed in one side of the scenery and Winds and percussions on the other one, which sometimes resulted in some lose of the sound. Singers sang in the middle also separated and using the mask while they weren't singing. Under these circumstances, the maestro Leslie Dunner did his best to conduct this majestic score. 

The only scenical props were the omnipresent ring and a stone representing the bottom of the Rhine, at the end illuminated in blue and with the Rhinemaidens turning around it in victory. The, for this occasion, all-black cast had accomplished singers. Rod Dixon has an interesting baritone-toned voice for Siegfried. Manna Knjoi has a dramatic soprano voice with a good middle register for Brünnhilde, giving a solemn, beautiful rendition of her character's final inmolation. Kevin Maynor, manager and cast member of this Ring, is a well sung Hagen with a dark-bass powerful and experienced voice, great volume and entonation, conveying very well the altiveness and dangerousness of the character. The great surprises of the evening were the soprano Kimberly Lloyd as Gutrune with her charming, seductive-toned lyric-soprano voice and the mezzo-soprano Chantelle Grant as Waltraute with her powerful, big-volumed voice, and dramatic performance, with amazing low notes. Greg Rahman and Jonathan Green sang good renditions of Gunther and Alberich, respectively, as well as the Rhinemaidens sung by Pamela Jones, Geraldine McMillan (who sang Fricka in the past journeys and whose low notes surpassed her fellow singers) and Karmesha Peakes.  The chorus was made up of six choristers: three males and three females.

With this performance, Kevin Maynor and Trilogy have made history for many reasons, for which we should give them all the credit: for having performed the first Ring made in New Jersey, just one or two hours from the luxury of the Metropolitan Opera House; for performing, probably, the first Götterdämmerung ever after the global lockdown, and last but not less for daring to perform in a time when all major opera houses are closed due to this pandemic which is hitting specially hard the United States, giving the audience a great time with Wagner's supreme music. 

Here is a link to see the complete performance.

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