Opera North’s concert staging of Wagner’s Ring Cycle continued last night with Die Walküre, the “first night” proper of the cycle after the “preliminary evening” of Das Rheingold. Following the godly power struggles that play out in Das Rheingold, there is a change of emphasis in Die Walküre, which takes us into an intense family drama – of the fourteen singers, one is Wotan himself, then there are his ten daughters, his son and his wife: only Hunding, Sieglinde’s wronged husband, is outside the clan.

An equally tense drama must have been playing out in Opera North’s offices on Saturday morning, when Annalena Persson was forced by illness to pull out of the role of Brünnhilde. Where to find a replacement soprano for this huge role at such short notice? American soprano Kelly Cae Hogan was flown in from Germany, and despite the fact that she had had almost no rehearsal, and was singing from a score, she gave an unforgettable performance. Her first war-cry entry, her arm raised high, was thrillingly demented, and absolutely secure and confident, a statement that if she was going to sing Brünnhilde at the last minute, she was going to do it properly, and with style. Her singing was incredibly exciting to listen to, and carried easily to the back of the hall, even when she was lying on the floor, propped on her elbows and looking down at the music.

There were strong performances too from the rest of the cast, many of whom were singing with Opera North for the first time: the only cast member remaining from Das Rheingold was mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston, who was part of the magnificent line-up of Valkyries. Alwyn Mellor was a warm and earthy Sieglinde, emphasising that whilst she may have been the daughter of a god, she was also human, and her scene with Brünnhilde when she learns that she is carrying Siegmund’s child was very moving. I also enjoyed Clive Bayley’s rather terrifying Hunding and Katarina Karnéus’ cool anger as Fricka. Béla Perencz sang the role of Wotan very well, and he was particularly good in Act II when he came across as a slightly bewildered family man, torn between the demands of his wife and his favourite daughter, but in Act III his performance lacked emotion, particularly during his great lament at the end as he says farewell to his beloved Brünnhilde.

The intimacy of the storyline makes huge demands on the singers, the central cast of six having to carry four hours of singing against that massive orchestra, and there were a few moments where voices got tired. The orchestra were on great form, and did a good job of putting across all the nuances of the story – even more important in a concert performance when there is minimal acting. They did sound as if they were running out of steam by the end though, particularly as the opera ends gently, with no final burst of fireworks to rouse tired arms and lips. After an initial wobble with the first statement of Wotan’s leitmotif, there was some truly excellent brass playing, in the quiet moments as well as in the noise. The overture, depicting Siegmund’s flight through the forest, was wonderful, full of menace and energy, giving a sense of panic, helped by the video screens which showed the runner’s-eye view of the trees rushing by in a confused blur.

Perhaps because there is less action in the storyline that needs to be put across, the projected sequences, on three large screens above the orchestra, were not always as effective as they had been in Das Rheingold. Sometimes the surtitled text was hard to read, and the whirling confusion of the fight scene made me feel slightly nauseous. Opera North’s production team had obviously decided that the projections should be suggestive, rather than actually contributing to the narrative; I think this was the right way to do it, although there was some debate in the interval about whether the sword should have remained so obviously embedded in the tree after Siegmund had triumphantly removed it.

Overall, this was a great performance all round, but Kelly Cae Hogan stole the show. If this is how she sings Brünnhilde when standing in at the last minute, she is a truly impressive singer, and I would love to hear her again. She fully deserved the rapturous applause.

Jane Shuttleworth | 18 juin 2012

Less can be more when it comes to Wagner, and Opera North’s “austerity Ring” – now on its second instalment in its second year – continues to enthral and amaze. First and foremost this is because its musical standards remain consistently high, though it also owes much to its director, Peter Mumford, whose concert staging tells us more about Die Walküre than most full-scale productions by getting rid of everything but the essentials.

Three vast screens suspended above orchestra and singers carry surtitles, plot summaries and video projections that underpin the narrative. The camera whirls through a snow-bound forest as Siegmund flees his pursuers, and water turns bloody when he dies. The fire that burns on Sieglinde’s hearth elides her domestic captivity with Brünnhilde’s more elemental imprisonment later on. The singers are in evening dress, though Hunding (Clive Bayley), being prosaic, wears a suit, while Wotan (Béla Perencz) sports a frock coat to show he’s boss.

The cast grippingly lay bare the opera’s psychological and moral complexity. In some respects the evening belongs to Erik Nelson Werner’s Siegmund and Alwyn Mellor’s Sieglinde – glorious, the pair of them, their erotic rapture, heroism and guilt all entirely credible. Perencz occasionally lacks majesty, but descends convincingly from smug certainty to tragic self-knowledge and despair. His Brünnhilde, on opening night, was Kelly Cae Hogan, a late replacement for the indisposed Annalena Persson. She used a score and was occasionally tentative in the middle of the second act, though there were some thrilling things elsewhere. Richard Farnes’s conducting, meanwhile, is sensational in its sweep, detail and understanding.

Tim Ashley | 17 Jun 2012

This works as well as it did last year – a no-frills approach to Wagner that helps far more than it hinders. Forget fat ladies wearing Viking helmets. Here the intimacy, the surprising humanity of Die Walküre come to the fore in what seems more and more like an opera cycle narrating a complex, tragic family saga, focusing on a father’s inability to control his daughters.

Practical considerations, namely an orchestra pit too small to accommodate Wagnerian forces, have led Opera North to mount their Ring Cycle as a semi-staged production in Leeds’s spectacular Victorian town hall, after which it goes on tour to Salford, Newcastle and Birmingham. As with 2011’s Das Rheingold, Peter Mumford’s staging uses clever lighting and three vast video screens suspended above an augmented orchestra to join the dots – an economical, practical artistic decision that works supremely well. Staging Wagner in a manner that will please everyone is a near-impossible task. These screens fill in the gaps nicely, while the singers can act to varying degrees in front of the musicians.

A dauntingly long evening flies by – the orchestral playing is world class, and Richard Farnes‘s clear-sighted conducting is a marvel. You hear everything you need to, and the singers are rarely overwhelmed. It’s all beautifully paced, with an extended final scene played with touching sweetness, just at the point where you expect the musicians to be falling off their chairs with fatigue. Die Walküre is a more tender work than its predecessor, Despite the vast forces, the mood is often introspective and chamber-like. The most telling moments are the most human, small-scale ones – Wotan’s discussions with Brünnhilde, or Sieglinde’s exchanges with Siegmund and Hunding in Act One.

Opera North’s General Director Richard Mantle announced that Annalena Persson, due to sing Brünnhilde, had been laid low by a throat infection. Her replacement, American soprano Kelly Cae Hogan, had flown in from Berlin just hours before the performance. She’s a marvel – vocally impressive, impetuous and possessing just enough vulnerability. Her dynamic range is huge, and she looks the part. Her extended scenes with Béla Perencz’s Wotan are electrifying; you’d never guess that the two singers had only just met. Perencz’s Wotan is intriguingly different to Michael Druiett’s portrayal in Das Rheingold. He’s smaller, shiftier, nervier, his body language reflecting his unease at seeing his comfortable existence slowly starting to unravel. His scenes with Katarina Karnéus’s imposing Fricka are exquisitely uncomfortable.

There are only a few moments when you wish that the singers had the space to behave more credibly. Erik Nelson Werner’s Siegmund can’t help seeming slightly lost without a magic sword to grip on to, and he and his sister Sieglinde (Alwyn Mellor) would preferably edge a little closer together before they embrace at the close of Act One. But the video projections subtly illuminate the drama, as well as providing narration and subtitles. After the ethereal backgrounds of the first opera, Mumford’s opening arboreal shots are fast-moving, claustrophobic, vividly suggesting Siegmund’s panic as he races through the forest. There’s a lot of mud, water, and eventually blood – a pity that more fun wasn’t had with showing different images on different screens at the same time. Flickering flames recur several times, growing in intensity and brightness as Siegmund and Sieglinde declare their love, and glowing brightly in the opera’s final minutes as Brünnhilde lies encircled by fire.

All fantastic. But you really need to snap up a ticket for the music. Few of the singers are household names, but none of them disappoints. Wagner’s endless melodies seduce as they unfurl, and the woodwind playing never sours; bass clarinet and cor anglais proving exceptionally impressive. There are no massed anvils in Die Walküre but fans of underused instruments will enjoy a rare chance to hear a contrabass trombone and the steerhorn which blasts out near the end of Act Two. And the Ride of the Valkyries, the one moment in the opera where Wagner’s subtlety and good taste seem questionable, is a blast, the melody roaring out on bass trumpet as the eight Valkyries enter one by one and stand in formation. Farnes resists bombast, making the music swagger and soar. Delicious.

graham.rickson | 17 June 2012