“Siegfried” soars in DSO Ring cycle
Thursday night’s performance of Siegfried under the baton of Fabio Luisi marked the third chapter of Wagner’s epic Ring cycle presented by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in its continuing complete rendition of the tetralogy. It follows on performances of the previous chapters given earlier in the week, (and a performance of Siegfried on October 5). As in the preceding events, the opera was presented as a concert with minimal staging to enhance the underlying story.
Siegfried introduces the title character and principal hero of the cycle; whom the gods hope can break the curse of the ring. As with Tuesday’s performance of Die Walküre, the singers enacted their roles spectacularly, taking advantage of the opera’s multiple scenes to explore greater depth and nuance in their characters.
Mark Delavan continued his captivating portrayal of the conflicted Wotan. The baritone drew upon his rich voice to express fury and impatience with Mime, to convey his disdain for Alberich in his mocking taunts outside Fafner’s lair, and to suggest to Erda his determined acceptance of the fate of the gods to Erda.
Daniel Johansson brought a brash naïveté to the character of Siegfried throughout much of the opera, deploying his tenor to infuse this quality with shades of arrogance when quarreling with Mime in Act I, a level of unlikely playfulness in his confrontation with Fafner, and scornful hostility toward Wotan as the Wanderer in Act III. Once he breached the magic fire surrounding Brünnhilde, Siegfried’s brashness was replaced by measured caution, fear, and finally reverence as he beheld the vision of the Valkyrie.
Tenor Michael Laurenz captured Mime’s craftiness and scheming, but also his cowardly nature, evident in the character’s conflicts with Siegfried, Wotan and Alberich, all of whom Mime both fears and hates. Similarly, Alberich’s bitterness at the loss of the ring and his fleeting hopes for retrieving it along with his treasure and power came through clearly in Tómos Tómasson’s robust baritone.
Lise Lindstrom portrayed Brünnhilde as initially ecstatic upon her awakening, her soaring soprano expressing both her affection for Siegfried and her distress at the loss of her immortality before ultimately giving in to her deepening love for the hero.
As in Das Rheingold, Tamara Mumford’s contralto imbued Erda with an aura of mystery that is now marked by a measure of resignation reflecting her knowledge of the fate of the world. Andrew Harris’s powerful bass showed Fafner gaining a haughtiness and overconfidence since his transformation into a dragon, qualities that ultimately contribute to his undoing at the hands of Siegfried. Rounding out the cast was Valentina Farcas as the Woodbird, warning Siegfried of Mime’s treachery and leading him to Brünnhilde’s mountaintop with her sparkling soprano voice.
Once again, Fabio Luisi’s skillful conducting faultlessly matched the sounds of the DSO with the story being enacted among the singers on stage. The orchestra came to the fore during the exhilarating battle between Siegfried and Fafner, but also added distinct atmospheres that went beyond the emotional tone of a given scene.
The preludes to Acts I and II were potently marked by the menacing and grotesque sounds of brass and winds in the lower registers evoking Nibelung caves, dragon lairs and other dark spaces. In contrast, strings and winds in the upper registers supplied befittingly calm textures punctuated by bird calls during the Forest Murmurs of Act II, culminating in David Matthews’s depiction on English horn of Siegfried’s attempts to imitate the birds with his pipe, followed by Daniel Hawkin’s brief solo turn providing the hero’s signature horn call.
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Ring Cycle continues with Götterdämmerung at 2 p.m. on Sunday. dallassymphony.org
