Burn, baby: Gotterdammerung in HD

It probably comes as no surprise to anyone, but "Götterdämmerung" blew me out of the water last night. It was one of the most bombastic performances i've ever seen. I don't know why people whine about Wagner being pedantic and boring when his work simply clobbers you over the head with its greatness.

Musically, it was impeccable. The Met Orchestra under Fabio Luisi was ON, Deborah Voigt was ON, Jay Hunter Morris was ON, everyone was just (say it with me) on. Morris especially rocked the house-he's a very good actor as well as a great singer. He was appropriately bouncy (I found myself thinking "Oh, Siegfried" in wry amusement more than once), and I thought he handled the magic potion and its antidote very well. I loved the way he stumbled when he first drank it, and how he kept shaking his head as though to clear water from his ears, when his memories of Brunnhilde tried to surface. Siegfried is such a lovable meathead that you kind of have to forgive him for being such an idiot. I loved his ridiculous flower crown during Act 2: it struck me as a symbol of the tragedy of the whole thing, that he seriously has no idea what is happening as he blithely cavorts with Gutrune.

I also loved his interaction with the Rhinemaidens. The shy wave he gave them when they first popped up was hilariously teenage-boyish. And when Hagen stabbed him, and all his memories came back! Morris really played that scene well; it was simply stunning, especially with how the music echoed Brunnhilde's awakening in the previous opera. It was all so sad and beautiful that I was undone.

Deborah Voigt's Brunnhilde was also fabulous. I know that many people have panned her in this role, but I found her utterly believable. This Brunnhilde runs the gamut of all emotion: from love and cheekiness to bewilderment and grit to traumatized outrage and finally peace. Deborah Voigt had me in tears during the Immolation Scene-tears and chills. The dignity with which she walked onstage during Gunther and Hangen's fight just took my breath away. I think she deserved every single one of those bouquets thrown at her during the curtain call and more.

Let's see: Gunther and Gutrune. I kind of found myself wishing that Brunnhilde would take a potshot at Gutrune, because Wendy Bryn Harmer played her as such a devious, bitchy woman. That was what I got from her, at least. She reminded me of one of those high school brats who knows she's up to no good, and is having a good time until things start to go wrong. And Iain Paterson's Gunther was so much fun to hate: loathsome, spineless, self-pitying loser that he was.

Hans-Peter Konig is one of my favorite basses ever. His Hagen was a delight: you almost feel sorry for him. Konig's voice is rich and dark and powerful, and he is such a good actor that I'm not surprised they brought him back for every single one of the Ring operas. Irrevocably, unutterable fabulous.

I know that pretty much everyone has panned Robert Lepage's production, but I like it. I like The Machine. Yes, it's clunky and unwieldy, but it's still fun and innovative and interesting. It's appropriately grandiose, I think. And the way they use the CGI in the background is actually quite interesting. Anyway, it's the actors who drive the show, and they all did a wonderful job. That, too, is Lepage: he is not just responsible for the Machine, but for all the movements of the singers onstage, and let's face it, they're very good. I'm hardly a Ring connoisseur, but I feel that when you have a semi-traditional production that manages to avoid the stranger stagings (such as setting the whole thing during the Industrial Revolution, or whatever), the last thing we need to worry about is the way the set rotates.

Besides, this Cycle gave us the likes of Terfel, Kaufmann, Westbroek, Blythe, Voigt, Morris, Konig, Meier, Owens, and heaven knows who else. Really, when you have such awesome singers singing their hearts out, why fuss about the set?

This concludes my first ever Ring Cycle. I went into each of these operas with no expectations and came out blown away. For a first-timer, the Met's new Ring was a brilliant introduction to Wagner's weird, wild and wonderful world.