Leb' wohl du kühner, herrlicher Ring! Götterdämmerung at the Teatro Real conducted by Friedrich Suckel.

 

Madrid, February 11, 2022.

I didn't expect to return, but after being invited by a friend, I couldn't ressist another chance to see the Götterdämmerung current production at the Teatro Real again. So, I bid farewell to the Ring, until the next time I have a new opportunity.

During this week, several changes have affected the cast. On the performance of February 7, Ricarda Merbeth was replaced by Catherine Foster, and Christa Mayer sang the First Norn. In addition, the maestro Pablo Heras-Casado has announced that due to Covid, his assistant Friedrich Suckel is going to replace him until his recovery.

For last night's performance, Lauri Vasar has been replaced by Markus Eiche as Gunther, and finally Claudia Huckle could reprise her double role as First Norn and Flosshilde. 

Assistant at such important places like Bayreuth or Baden-Baden, Friedrich Suckel has succeded by picking Heras-Casado's baton. His conducting has revealed as a great surprise. Suckel has conducted the Teatro Real Orchestra by making it sound in a different way than Heras-Casado Casado. His tempi seemed to be slower than the main conductor, but he has made the orchestra to sound brighter, more epic and very inspired. The Siegfried's Journey through the Rhine interlude sounded vivid, the strings with a more shining sound. On the other hand, brass hadn't their best night. Despite this, the Funeral March was by far the best moment of the night, with the orchestra playing it so powerfully. The chorus sounded as good as usual, with the line "Hagen, was tust du" sounding very breathtaking, after Siegfried's death.

Markus Eiche sang by far a better Gunther than Lauri Vasar. Eiche's voice is bigger, and has a beautiful, liederistic tone (that is why he is a major performer of Tannhäuser's Wolfram), giving his role a touch of nobilty and elegance, though the orchestra sometimes surpassed him.

Claudia Huckle, after being replaced in past performances by Anna Lapkovskaja, Marina Pinchuk and Christa Mayer, was a superb Flosshilde. Her voice was the biggest of the Rhinemaidens and her contralto-like tone alongside her generous volume, made her one of the best supporting singers of the night.

The rest of the cast was mostly at the same level like 2 weeks ago. Andreas Schager reprised his amazing, vigorous Siegfried. Ricarda Merbeth also her lyrical Brünnhilde, with a passionate singing. Stephen Milling improved his Hagen, sounding (making an effort, though) dark, making his voice to be heard throughout the hall and portraying his roles evil quite well. Martin Winkler, Amanda Majeski and Micaela Schuster reprised in an excellent level their respective roles as Alberich, Gutrune and Waltraute.  

As Robert Carsen's production is concerned, I have told everything in my previous complete review about this performance. Maybe, we could add that we have seen a production with an interesting idea, but not always easy to put on stage. Some action could be missed at the end, despite the spectacular fire and rain onstage. Carsen's visión has staged what now has become a serious warning: if we mistreat nature this way, it could easily wipe us. 

The audience has enjoyed again, judging by the comments heard after while living the theatre. Even I saw kids (which is  brave) with their parents, sit close to me. And unlike the one who got asleep in the 2004 production,  these ones didn't. Even when still several Götterdämmerung performances left, we wagnerians are already longing to see another Wagner opera on stage. Which will be the next Wagner opera in Madrid? When? I wish it was Meistersinger, not staged at the Teatro Real since 2001. But one thing is for sure: we will never forget this Ring, which defied the global pandemic in all of its stages, putting Madrid in the world operatic map.

Thanks to taganana.blog for making this possible. This review is dedicated to him.

Update: I chose a title to bid farewell to this Ring, but since I don't speak German I made a mistake for German speakers. I changed the gender to masculine, which truly goes with the word Ring. 

My reviews are not professional and express only my opinions. As a non English native speaker I apologise for any mistake. 

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