Die Walkürie at the Met: This Ring Thing is Looking Up

OK, my opinion on Das Rhinegold still stands. But apparently for Die Walkürie, Mr. Lapage felt the Machine was more or less under control and was able to focus more on his singers. Either that, or the singers got fed up with waiting, and did their own Personenregie. Bryn Terfel was convincingly blustery and brow-beaten by Fricka, who at least got to emote facially. I was worried about both of them going over the edge—the edge of the Machine, that is. Deborah Voigt gave me a few moments’ cause for concern, too. (It didn’t help that I’d seen her fall in the documentary.)

Vensday Wagner Vexation: Wagner's Dream? Or Bob's Machine?

Das Rhinegold: Still Life with Machine

After watching the documentary on Robert Lepage's Ring Cycle on PBS Monday night, and most of Das Rhinegold on Tuesday, I can't help but wonder: What would the opera have been like if M. Lepage had expended as much creative energy directing his singers as he did worrying about the Machine?