Götterdämmerung at the New York Met

The New York Met is an exciting place to visit at all times. You know that you will hear there the greatest voices in the world, though whether what you see on the stage will be music drama at the cutting edge is far from certain. Robert Lepage’s production of Götterdämmerung, which I saw on April 23, was traditional in conception, but nevertheless imaginative in terms of design, since Carl Fillion’s abstract decor matched, and moved well with, the music. Deborah Voigt was a commanding Brünnhilde but was not in the peak of form, vocally; and she and Wendy Bryn Harmer, who was overparted as Gutrune, were outshone by the sterling contributions from the males: Jay Hunter Morris (Siegfried), Hans-Peter König (Hagen) and Iain Paterson (Gunther).

An added bonus was to go backstage during the interval and there have a cuppa in the artists’ coffee room with Runi Brattaberg who was covering the role of Hagen. Poor chap, he had to stay until König had rolled out his last “Hi-Ho”; but he is still very young and will have his chance. And we had a splendid chat with a member of the orchestra who was not reluctant to talk about the differences playing Wagner under James Levine and Fabio Luisi.