Saw a filmed performance of Richard Wagner’s Siegfried at the Nova on Sunday. The Metropolitan Opera’s 2011 production. Fell in love with Siegfried for the first time. This after seeing the two Adelaide Ring Cycles. American Edward Cook as Siegfried in 1998 and Canadian Gary Ridout in 2004. A niggling suspicion that one of those may have been substituted at the last minute – happens a lot with Siegfried, the hardest tenor role in the whole operatic repertoire. And my two box sets: the legendary Pierre Boulez Ring Cycle with Manfred Jung (1980) and the earlier James Levine 1990 Met production with Siegfried Jerusalem in the title role.
Jay Hunter Morris, who was brought in at the last minute, when the person originally scheduled to sing pulled out (as I said, happens often) was fantastic. Jay hails from Paris, Texas and has the most gorgeous southern drawl in real life. As he points out in the Making Of .. DVD, you don’t just rock up to sing the role of Siegfried. He had been working on it for four years when he got the call to come to New York. But come he did and what a great performance he puts in, after minimal rehearsal time. As Deborah Voigt who plays Brunnhilde points out in the same Making Of… DVD, he brings a great theatrical sensibility to the role, and as she also notes there’s lots of chemistry happening on the stage when he finally awakens her from her slumber.
Siegfried is such a hard role because the singer has to take the character from naïf in the forest ( simpleton, angry adolescent – describe it as you will) through to romantic leading man material (yearning lover) over the course of the opera. Which is very long! And while he is growing in maturity he has to undertake all sorts of derring do actions – forging swords, slaying dragons and dwarves, befriending birds, looting caves, seeing off crusty old men who stand in his way. It’s hard to make this character sympathetic without some suspension of belief on the part of the audience.
My favourite in the role before the wonderful Jay was Siegfried Jerusalem (great name). Maybe that was because his was the first performance I saw. It matters I think, your first performance of the Ring. Such a colossal experience. Mind you that didn’t follow for my favourite Wotan who remains the Australian John Wegner from the 1998 Adelaide Ring. For me the performance is the thing. My musical ear, deaf as I am, is not attuned to picking up flaws in the singing. So it is how the singer expresses the nuances in character that attracts me. And how well they illustrate the big themes in the story.
Jay Hunter Morris takes us on the whole journey, childishly swinging his feet as he listens to Mime spinning his lies, looking soulful as he wonders about mothers and fathers, full of bravado encountering Fafner, appreciating the nature all around him as he listens to the forest murmurs, full of restless energy as he rushes to Brunnhilde’s rock, impatiently brushing aside Wotan as he stands in his way. His performance on the rock is wonderful. Pleased with himself for his courage passing through the flames, frightened, bewildered, amazed through the slow uncovering of Brunnhilde. Some humour, soon overtaken by the awakening itself and then the toing and froing of the wooing. Really splendid.
This Siegfried is a wonderful production, with great performances all round – but Jay Hunter Morris in the singularly difficult title role is the stand out. Do get along to see it if you can.
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Janie says
I have reposted to FB Jenny. Lovely review – much more nuanced than my own summation (as a new to The Ring observer of course) that JHM characterisation of Siegfried was very amusing but over the top camp…as of course is the whole story
Jenny Doran says
Hope you become a Ring – once you get into it, hours of fun!