WAGNER: Die Walkure - Sir Simon Rattle / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Willard White / Eva-Maria Westbroek / Eva Johansson / Robert Gambill) [2008]

Updated version with a strong use of symbolic staging and acting. Tells the story in a very clear and entertaining way.Picture quality 5Sound quality 5Sets 5 - symbolic sets using items from the late 20th century. E.G. 5 candles and a spotlight represent the magic fire.Music making (orchestra) 5Direction (camera work) 5Singing/Acting - Siegmund 5/3, Hunding 5/5, Wotan 5/5, Sieglinde 5/5, Fricka 5/5 and Brunnhilde 5/5.Costumes 5 - modern European clothing.Highly Recommended if you like the use of symbolism.

This Blu-Ray film of Rattle's 2007 Walkure can be summed up in 3 words-dull, dull and dull.The recording is superb-sound and vision-but there it ends. The production is marginally preferable to watching paint dry, but is about as dull! It has a real "economy drive" feel about it. Much of the singing is technically fine-Gambill has moved up from the baritone ranks and looks and sounds a fine Siegmund, one of the best recorded in fact, and Westbroek who seems to be the Sieglinde of choice at the moment is very fine also, and although the Hunding looks young (there is nothing in Wagner's text to say he shouldn't)he sings with beautiful tone and great assurety. It is entirely because of the first act singing that I award the set 3 stars. Willard White is a fine imposing truly bass Wotan, with the inevitable strain in the upper register but he copes with this well, and is a pretty decent Wotan.Johansson as Brunnhilde is, I'm afraid, dire-she is unable to sustain any legato and wobbles her way (vocally) through the part. While she is not quite as bad as Linda Watson on the recent Thielemann cd set, she's getting there. Eva Johansson certainly tries hard to act her way through the vocal deficiencies, but for me, coupled with overall dullness of the production I find it hard to tolerate.The rest of the cast is serviceable-some squally Valkyries (nothing new there!), but liveable with.Lastly we come to the major disappointment-Rattle and the BPO. I among those who are bitterly disapponted at what Rattle has done in reconstructing the Berlin Philharmonic. Of course they play with the highest competence-but with none of the "life" you expect from this great orchestra.Rattle's reading is competent but not inspired, and the BPO play well of course and are well recorded-but on a "blind listening" you would be hard put to guess it was the BPO. For me, there is far too much of "the emperor's new clothes" about Rattle -and I would characterise this reading as-wait for it-dull! Until recently there was little alternative on Blu-Ray, but La Fura dels Baus have produced a Ring that is truly memorable, vocally and visually (not always for the right reasons!) but never dull. I never thought I would find myself preferring a Walkure conducted by Mehta (I'm not a fan!) with a Spanish Orchestra (outshines and and outplays the BPO TOTALLY)but such is the case. Whatever that Walkure is-it's not dull!!! This set-only for unreconstituted Rattle admirers (I was one once).3 stars is generous, but the Act One cast deserve credit. Stewart Crowe

This performance is a seamless combination of recordings made at two live performances in 2002 and 2003. It comes from the Staatsoper Stuttgart with the Staatsorchester Stuttgart conducted by Lothar Zagrosek. The music is performed wonderfully well by the orchestra and cast. There are one or two niggles with the vocal performances, but very few. The only slight disappointment is Renate Behle as Brunnhilde, who is not as powerful either vocally or dramatically as the best modern day rivals. Apart from this the cast are very good indeed. Outstanding are Tichina Vaughn as Fricka, Robert Gambill as Siegmund and Angela Denoke as Sieglinde. Tichina Vaughn is the consummate wronged goddess. Her stage presence is incredible, she dominates Wotan from the outset and really puts him in his place with a dramatic performance of power and subtlety. Vocally too she is superb, rich warm and powerful, my favourite Fricka of all that I have seen on DVD. She makes what is often a throwaway insipid role in this opera into one of the outstanding highlights. The twins Siegmund and Sieglinde are played with rare dramatic power and sensuality by Gambill and Denoke and the opening Act is electrifying when one gets past the drab and uninspired setting. Vocally Denoke is excellent. Gambill is variable but has real power and an excellent quality in the upper ranges which leads to a genuine heldentenor performance. There are no weak links in the rest of the cast. Rootering seems to be deliberately underplaying Wotan in a sort of world-weary view of the role which is appropriate in this opera. Attila Jun is vary good as Hunding with a really dark and powerful bass voice.The drawback of this production is the setting, which is very dull with little in the way of set or props. The main set elements appear to be walls with a large opening window and a table and two chairs. The costumes too are modern dress, which largely work if you like that sort of thing, but they add absolutely nothing to the drama and Siegmund looks absolutely ridiculous at his first appearance in shorts and a hoodie. He is far too old and flabby for such an outfit and it just makes him look like a sad old man trying to get down with the kids. This type of costume dates very rapidly and already has in this case - apart from just looking ridiculous anyway. The costuming of the Valkyries in what looks like teenage schoolgirl outfirts (remeniscent of St Trinian's) with sets of paper and fabric wings that they can take on and off actually works quite well. This is in some respects a Eurotrash production but the musical performance is excellent, the drama is generally very good and there are enough intriguing ideas in the production and costuming to make it well worth a look.

Rattle avrebbe meritato dei cantanti migliori. Ogni tanto qualcuno azzecca una nota.

It's curious, although perhaps fitting that Die Walküre would emerge as Wagner's first work to be released on Blu-ray. After all, this opera is about transitions. Rather than advancing the Ring narrative linearly, Die Walküre tells its own story and still stands as the turning point in the Ring cycle. It sets into motion a sequence of events whose effects become known by the later consequences revealed in Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. Consequently, Die Walküre can stand on its own requiring nothing logically prior to it. But enough of that. Let's get to the Blu-ray.Wagner in high definition. Let me just say that this is a home video medium that can finally begin to do justice to his work. The video on this disc, filled with numerous close-ups that draw the viewer in, is superb even while falling short of reference quality for the Blu-ray format. The audio, presented here in DTS HD 5.1 is crystal clear and fully dynamic in its range. Experiencing the 1080p image on a 100" home theater screen with high-end audio is like being in the opera house, but at the same time more intimate - sort of like being on stage with the performers and feeling their parts as they do. It is a very personal and profound experience. This is the way opera, and Wagner in particular, is meant to be experienced.The performance is from the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2007 and is part of a Ring cycle that will conclude in 2009. Reviews have been generally positive and there is optimism for continued success in the remaining operas. There has also been controversy, mostly over the production. So what else is new?The minimalist staging of Stéphane Braunschweig will not appeal to everyone. In fact it may appeal to very few. The stark well-lit sets offer a confusing mixture of style that is imaginative, but dull and occasionally absurd (Wotan actually puts his daughter to sleep across three red French Louis XV parlor chairs). At the curtain call the audience was generous to Braunschweig with polite applause. He was lucky.The costumes designed by Thibault Vancraenenbroeck are equally bizarre. Siegmund and Sieglinde don matching floor length white Victorian capelets as they run off together into the night. With his battered army fatigues underneath, Siegmund looks downright clownish in the attire. Wotan wears the same coat in black. Hunding looks like James Bond. Only Brünnhilde with traditional helmet and shield looks appropriate for her part.Fortunately, the singing fares much better. The highlight of the performance is Eva-Marie Westbroek as Sieglinde. From unhappy housewife, to excited lover reunited with her brother, to horrified witness of a brutal killing to exalted mother-to-be, Westbroek covers the full range and captures every nuance both vocally and dramatically with great aplomb. When she sings O hehrstes Wunder, one expects all the angels in heaven to rally to her cause.The oft-maligned Robert Gambill plays a weary, battle-scared Siegmund. It seems operagoers either love this guy or, well, they don't. In any case he usually delivers what one expects so generally he neither surprises nor disappoints. Depending on your view, Gambill is either fortunate or unfortunate (by means of comparison) to be paired with Westbroek. Physically they are a believable couple with considerable onscreen chemistry. Vocally, however, Gambill is no match for Westbroek. Nonetheless, any fair and balanced criticism of his performance should not be overly harsh. He is able to sing with great tenderness in Winterstüme wichen dem Wonnemond.Mikhail Petrenko plays Hunding not as a burley woodsman, but as a coldhearted KGB assassin. Right from his opening line to Sieglinde, Du labtest ihn? (Did you help him?), we know he is lethal. When he took a brief bow with the others at the close of act one, he remained in character and gave the audience the same icy stare that made Sieglinde tremble at the very sight of him. His singing was adequate, perhaps even more than that, but all I remember about him was the menacing look of a born killer.We first see Wotan as the silent observer of Siegmund and Sieglinde in Act 1. Dressed in a gray suit, he stands and sometimes sits off to the side in one of the aforementioned red chairs where he looks the part of a business manager watching rehearsal. When he appears at the beginning of Act 2, Wotan is seated at a table playing war games with toy figures. Really. Fortunately Sir Willard White - made all the more fearful and imposing by wearing a glass eye - has the stage presence to quickly overcome this childish and misguided start. He delivers a powerful portrayal of Wotan although his stage presence is at times more impressive than his singing.Brünnhilde is played with a slight wobble by Eva Johansson. Still, she demonstrates fine vocal range. She was forceful without too much strain when required and still capable of poignancy and subtlety in her third act duet with Wotan. Dramatically, Johansson can be prone to some exaggerated movements and facial expressions that are not flattering in a Blu-ray close-up; this is a shame because she is otherwise attractive and a welcome addition to the Wagnerian sopranos corps.The mountaintop gathering of the Valkyries is staged on a platform of steep steps where the girls are carrying fallen heroes (dummies dressed in battle gear) up to Valhalla. It's not as bad as it the image may convey and some clever lighting effects that create snow peaked mountains at least make the scene appear outdoors. Hojotoho is meaningfully delivered and Rattle has the Berlin Philharmonic in full splendor for this big orchestral moment.It would be hard to imagine the BPO giving a more inspired performance under the baton of another conductor. I would not have thought that beforehand. Rattle is in full command and intuitively seems to know just where to add the right dramatic musical punch to bolster the narrative. The BPO really delivers the goods here. This is playing of a very high caliber that is ideally suited to the advanced audio capabilities of Blu-ray. It makes one even more eager to hear the next installment.No one will declare this a definitive Walküre even for home video. The production value is far too weak and some of the vocal performances are uneven. On the other hand, Westbroek is magnificent and probably unequaled on any home video format. Rattle and the BPO are similarly hard to beat. Those two things alone would make this performance worth viewing. When you throw in the real star, Blu-ray, it becomes essential viewing. This presentation is far and away the best that a Wagner opera has ever looked and sounded outside of the opera hall itself.

Très rermarquable version de la Walkyrie, magnifiquement abstraite, à comparer avec celle de Chéreau. Le chant et la direction de Rattle sont d'une grande précision.L'édition bu-ray rend justice à la mise en scène de Stéphane Brauschweig et aux acteurs-chanteurs.

Diese Aufnahme habe ich nun schon X-Mal gesehen.Und wer sie mit mir gesehen hat, der hat mir Tage und Wochen danach mitgeteilt, dass sie ihm noch immer durch den Kopf geht.Da ist jedes beschreibende Wort fehl am Platz.Gruß,F.L.P.S.:Ich habe die BlueRay-Version. Und wer die Möglichkeit hat, sich dies mit dem DTS-Master auf einer adäquaten Anlage und in HD anzusehen, der tue das.Leider sprechen meine Nachbarn nicht mehr mit mir - ... war'n Scherz ... - aber würden sie nicht mehr mit mir sprechen, dann wäre diese Aufführung es wert gewesen.

La realizzazione dell'opera mi sembra molto soddisfacente sia dal punto di vista musicale che da quello scenico e registico. Un plauso particolare per la interpretazione di Sieglinde e la direzione orchestrale di Simon Rattle.