As a Wagnerian and lover of opera the role of Wotan in the Ring cycle is a key character in Wagner's music. Up until now Han Hotter held the reins for this role until now with the advent of Bryn Terfel.
In the mid Twentieth Century there were a number of great voices that held the stage as Wotan, King of the gods from Der Ring Des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner. Hans Hotter more than any other gave that role its greatest strength in that era. He great performances can be heard on the famous recording of the Ring conducted by Sir Georg Solti for Decca Records.
However, now comes along Byrn Terfel and I am amazed not only at his command of the role musically but also is profound stage presence. Bryn is an English man form Wales and has a quiet and calm life with his wife and children in the region. Mr. Terfel has been engaged by Covent Garden over the past few years in leading Wagnerian roles. His performance as Wotan in Die Walkure in 2005 was perhaps one of the finest performances that Covent Garden has ever had.
Here in Chicago at our own Lyric Opera we have had the pleasure of his outstanding voice and marvelous stage presence in leading Ring Cycle roles, it is, however, Wotan that is his strength. The reason for this is due to his ability to carry through the long musical lines while at the same time keeping the stage action in focus, for rarely does Wotan participate in much action in the Ring except perhaps in Das Rhinegold on his journey to Nibelheim with Loge the god of fire and cunning.
The great weakness in Wagnerian operas is their static stage action which is often over shadowed by the loud and powerful orchestral. Wagner rarely uses melody in the conventional sense to create phrases and arias like you have in all other operas. Wagner uses the voice to compliment the orchestra; therefore, you do not have a lead melody but a combination of voice supplementing the orchestra. For Wotan this is most certainly the case and perhaps his finest music is in the first act of Siegfried where he is talking with Mime. The music in the act is in my opinion some of the finest and most intelligent music ever composed but unless you see it in the context of the drama the music does not come to full measure. Mr. Terfel magical covers this gap between stage action and melodic line and gives us a dynamic and powerful interpretation of Wager's lead mythic role.
In the mid Twentieth Century there were a number of great voices that held the stage as Wotan, King of the gods from Der Ring Des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner. Hans Hotter more than any other gave that role its greatest strength in that era. He great performances can be heard on the famous recording of the Ring conducted by Sir Georg Solti for Decca Records.
However, now comes along Byrn Terfel and I am amazed not only at his command of the role musically but also is profound stage presence. Bryn is an English man form Wales and has a quiet and calm life with his wife and children in the region. Mr. Terfel has been engaged by Covent Garden over the past few years in leading Wagnerian roles. His performance as Wotan in Die Walkure in 2005 was perhaps one of the finest performances that Covent Garden has ever had.
Here in Chicago at our own Lyric Opera we have had the pleasure of his outstanding voice and marvelous stage presence in leading Ring Cycle roles, it is, however, Wotan that is his strength. The reason for this is due to his ability to carry through the long musical lines while at the same time keeping the stage action in focus, for rarely does Wotan participate in much action in the Ring except perhaps in Das Rhinegold on his journey to Nibelheim with Loge the god of fire and cunning.
The great weakness in Wagnerian operas is their static stage action which is often over shadowed by the loud and powerful orchestral. Wagner rarely uses melody in the conventional sense to create phrases and arias like you have in all other operas. Wagner uses the voice to compliment the orchestra; therefore, you do not have a lead melody but a combination of voice supplementing the orchestra. For Wotan this is most certainly the case and perhaps his finest music is in the first act of Siegfried where he is talking with Mime. The music in the act is in my opinion some of the finest and most intelligent music ever composed but unless you see it in the context of the drama the music does not come to full measure. Mr. Terfel magical covers this gap between stage action and melodic line and gives us a dynamic and powerful interpretation of Wager's lead mythic role.
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