Die Walkure at Deutsche Oper Berlin

There were some strange things going on during the Deutsche Oper's production of Die Walkure, but fine singing wasn't one of them. The singers were uniformly excellent. Heidi Melton's Sieglinde stole the show with her huge, expressive voice and powerful singing (and I'm not just saying that because she gave me my ticket). She was never once drowned out by the orchestra, as were some of the others. Further, she's a good actress, and brought across Sieglinde's hope and fear and grief very well. I definitely can't wait to see her perform again.

Torsten Kerl, as Siegmund, was a little less vocally powerful; the orchestra sometimes drowned him out. Still, he had a nice rich tenor, and made a good Siegmund. The direction had him moving jerkily, like an animal, and at one point I think he actually sniffed Sieglinde-I had a really good seat, so that wasn't distance messing with me. But, well, whatever. It worked. Attila Jun's Hunding was suitably powerful and frightening, and his deep basso voice really brought home his command of the role. Scary, scary man. Catherine Foster's Brunnhilde was the strongest singer of the Valhalla set, although Greer Grimsley (Wotan) and Daniela Sindram (Fricka) were also fabulous. In short, the singers were very expressive and vocally fantastic.

The Valkyries were absolutely terrifying, but we'll get to them shortly.

If you haven't watched the trailer I posted above, then please do before you read any further. Watched it? Okay, let's go.

This has got to be one of the strangest sets I've ever seen, period. The whole opera is set in a post-apocalyptic bunker (District 13 from the Hunger Games books sprang to mind), complete with flashing lights, dropping bombs, and a scale model panorama of a bombed-out Berlin for Wotan to contemplate. I'm not making this last part up; you could see the Reichstag. Wotan wore all white, although it looked grubby and worn, even moldy. The thought "an all-white Nick Fury" sprang to mind during his monologue, making me grin a little. Fricka wore a sheet, a Marie Antoinette wig, and a tired-looking fur; Siegmund had a coat that made him look like a bear. Hunding looked like a Nazi (I keep trying to think of a better description for his uniform, and failing). Siegline was the most normally dressed, in a skirt, peasant blouse and apron. Brunnehilde and the Valkyries had black leather and studs and Eighties hair.

Does that sound like a band name to you? Brunnhilde and the Valkyries. It totally should, because that's what they looked like. I've never seen anything quite so fantastically camp. The women playing the Valkyries had some fierce voices going on. The set just didn't do them any favors. They looked like a goth girl band circa 1984, all big hair and punk rock leather and chalky white face paint. It was awesome. They rose out of the ground like Lady Gaga's backup dancers, swung around their spears, leaped upon the gurneys containing the bloodied bodies of the heroes they'd collected, and generally behaved like a pack of teenagers at a Siouxsie and the Banshees concert. They sold it, though.

The confrontation between Brunnhilde and Wotan was suitably heartbreaking and terrifying, and both of the singers owned it completely. Poor Brunnhilde. I keep wanting her to tell Wotan to jump in the river and stomp off to become a vigilante, but she never does.

I have some problems with the storyline of Die Walkure. Not the twins hooking up (stranger things have happened in mythology), but largely with the Wotan/Brunnhilde dynamic. For the life of me, I'll never understand why Wotan feels he has to punish her so harshly. Really, I think he's a bit of a bastard about it. She disobeyed him, sure. But did backing up her brother really warrant her being abandoned on a fire surrounded rock, to be prey of anyone who felt like "taking" her? (I'm always appalled at the connotations of that phrase.) No. I have no sympathy for Wotan; he brings all of his woes upon himself. I'm totally on Brunnhilde's side when she decides to torch Valhalla in Gotterdammerung.

Also, Fricka is a bitch.

All that said, this was an excellent performance, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Next time you come to Berlin, you'll definitely be in for some fun if you decide to check it out.