I wonder how many posts there will be with this title!
Proper, considered review over the weekend.
Just a quick reaction now. Oh, by the way, I met Lisa Gasteen, Bryn Terfel and Antonio Pappano.
I think tonight's performance overall was not quite as good as last Friday's, but, to be honest, that would have taken some beating. I think the cast were probably as fired up as the audience and determined to make it a special night. Tonight's was extremely good, though. Funnily enough, I found different highlights tonight than last week. I think I cried even more this week than last week. It is such an incredibly sad story. Indeed, someone was saying that when Plácido addressed the Wagner society on Wednesday evening, he said that Siegmund is one of the saddest roles he's played. He tells this story of this incredibly sad, tragic, lonely childhood. Then he meets his twin sister, Sieglinde, they fall in love to the most erotic music*, and the next day he gets murdered by his own father. I'm welling up just writing this.
And then there's Act 3, when that horrible, nasty, brutal Wotan totally rejects his favourite daughter, Brunnhilde, and says he wants nothing to do with Sieglind and the grandchild who will be Siegfried. And that whole scene between Wotan and Brunnhilde is just so moving.
Bryn was completely magnificent tonight (although he seemed to tire slightly towards the end of Act 3). People say he improves during the course of a run. I can't wait until Monday! Shame it's not staged. I was chatting to a Bryn fan, who says it just won't be the same without his spear. I shall miss Nothung, Plácido's sword.
I just love that bit at the end of Act 1 when he grabs the sword and names it. I don't think his performance tonight was quite up to last week's - still utterly wonderful, though. I overheard someone say they reckon that Siegmund is Plácido's best role - his signature role? A brave assertion to make. I've developed a 'thing' about his legs, his thighs in particular. I think he died even better this evening than last week, more rolling around the floor. In opera, when all's said and done, it's really the death scene that matters most(!). But I don't suppose we'll get much rolling around on the floor in the concert version. Shame.
Mrs Pappano (who seems a really nice person) says Monday should be 'fun'!
* okay, not as erotic as Tristan und Isolde, but close...
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