Ivy Lin Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 REALLY try to see this on March 30 in HD. The cast is incredible. https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2019/03/die-walkure-casts-its-magical-fire-spell.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Interesting to read about Goerke: I thought her Ortrud last Summer at Covent Garden was not great at the top (putting it mildly) so I’m surprised her top was up to the challenge of Brunnhilde. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Does anyone know of any Encore screenings in the London area during next week (the weekend is full of ballet)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Sunday 31st, 13:30 at the Phoenix East Finchley Tuesday 2nd, 12:00 at either Stratford or Greenwich Picturehouse 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivy Lin Posted March 26, 2019 Author Share Posted March 26, 2019 40 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said: Interesting to read about Goerke: I thought her Ortrud last Summer at Covent Garden was not great at the top (putting it mildly) so I’m surprised her top was up to the challenge of Brunnhilde. Die Walküre's Brünnhilde doesn't have many forays into the upper register. Siegfried and Gotterdamerung are another story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Indeed - Walkure Brunnhilde is able to be sung by several dramatic mezzos. Siegfried is the one that's known as "the high one"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 1 minute ago, Ivy Lin said: Die Walküre's Brünnhilde doesn't have many forays into the upper register. Siegfried and Gotterdamerung are another story. Ah - hadn’t thought it through, I was lumping them in together! In many ways I really liked her Ortrud, but if I hadn’t known otherwise I’d have assumed she was a mezzo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 7 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said: Ah - hadn’t thought it through, I was lumping them in together! The only high bit of the Walküre Brünnhilde is the War Cry at the start of Act 2, which I am reliably informed that they all hate and are very relieved when it's over! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 16 minutes ago, Ivy Lin said: Die Walküre's Brünnhilde doesn't have many forays into the upper register. Siegfried and Gotterdamerung are another story. Ivy Lin, if and when you see Siegfried and Gotterdammerung I’d be really interested to hear what you think of Goerke in them: she has a lot to offer as a singer so I’d be pleased to hear if things are better than when I last heard her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, RuthE said: Tuesday 2nd, 12:00 at either Stratford or Greenwich Picturehouse Ha! Well done RuthE, after a bit of checking on the Picturehouse websites this turns out to be true. You might be interested to know that what I assume is the official website for MetHD in the UK does *not* show these Encore screenings:- https://www.metliveinhd.co.uk/ This web site does announce one such on Tuesday in East Dulwich - which however is not happening, according to the cinema website. This is a mess. Edited March 26, 2019 by Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 (edited) 58 minutes ago, Geoff said: This web site does announce one such on Tuesday in East Dulwich - which however is not happening, according to the cinema website. This is a mess. Yes it is... (I didn't initially find it when I Googled). https://www.picturehouses.com/cinema/East_Dulwich_Picturehouse/film/met-opera-encore-die-walkure Good to see that particular Picturehouse has started doing Met relays, as it's my nearest. When it first opened (it's a new addition to the Picturehouse chain) they didn't show them, presumably because they opened mid-way through a season. I'll look out for them in future, though it's cheaper (if you're available for the live feed, which costs more than encores) to find a Vue cinema. I'll probably end up at Islington Vue come Saturday afternoon. Edited March 26, 2019 by RuthE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivy Lin Posted March 26, 2019 Author Share Posted March 26, 2019 Right now I don't have tickets for Siegfried and Gotterdamerung but I am actively looking for them iwthout having to pay an arm and a leg for said tickets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 On 26/03/2019 at 14:25, RuthE said: Good to see that particular Picturehouse has started doing Met relays, as it's my nearest. Oh, have they? I hadn't realised. They've been doing ROH and Bolshoi relays more or less since they opened - I've been to a few there, when pushed (although the ice cream selection has been below par every time I've been in recent months) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 Ouch. Excuse me while I get the water out of my eyes! Worth noting that both East Dulwich and Stratford (and maybe Greenwich too, I haven't looked - don't like the screen they tend to do the live relays in) are cheaper on the Met encores than on the live ones - possibly because they count as daytime not evening, rather than anything else. In fact, I'd say Stratford is a bargain at any time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 Yes, I think £22 is standard for the encores at some of those Picturehouses compared with £32 for the live relay (both significantly cheaper for Picturehouse members). Still more expensive than £18.99 for a live one at Vue (plus a small booking fee, if not booking in person 75p I think). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivy Lin Posted March 30, 2019 Author Share Posted March 30, 2019 Hope the UK'ers enjoy the HD today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted March 30, 2019 Share Posted March 30, 2019 I did indeed enjoy it immensely, especially the orchestra. But for me Brunnhilde was the weak link! I didn't realise it was meant to be a comedy role... The daft 'effects' added nothing in my view and in some ways just distracted and detracted from what should be high points. Making singers wobble around on planks. Having shadow projections 'act out' in pantomime style what the singer is telling us. Silly. The simple domestic scene in Act 1 was far more effective, with the focus on the human drama - and what a fantastic performance by Stuart Skelton: spine-tingling. Ah well it all sounded really wonderful. I actually think it was very good value for money too. Staging Wagner is not a cheap activity- I am happy to pay up. Now what did people who really know about it think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 On 30/03/2019 at 22:54, Mary said: I did indeed enjoy it immensely, especially the orchestra. But for me Brunnhilde was the weak link! I didn't realise it was meant to be a comedy role... There's a lot of humour in the Ring, and I honestly don't think that Brünnhilde is the sort of person who takes herself too seriously, at least not for the first half of Act 2 before she comes to understand the seriousness of the problems Wotan has created and the consequences for herself and the people she loves. I think some of her early lines show us that she's light-hearted, witty, and sarcastic: - the "storm and strife" she warns Wotan of when she sees Fricka approaching looking like she means business (and she adds something along the lines of "You two deal with your marital problems; I'd rather watch some *real* fighting. Have fun!"). - as Fricka leaves: "That can't have gone too well if it made Fricka laugh..." - "How heavy my weapons feel! They felt so light when I was allowed to act freely" 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 Good points Ruth and I wouldn't be averse to flashes of humour. She doesn't didn't work for me. I found the constant 'simpering' rather grating. Hey ho - I liked about 75% of it! Did you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 Yes, generally I loved it. I take it you didn't see it the first time around, when all four operas were broadcast a few months apart? I thought the whole cast was really strong. Besides Stuart Skelton, who I probably wouldn't have gone to see specially (I don't dispute that he is an excellent Siegmund, but having recently heard him sing the role twice live, at ROH and with the LPO, that would have been enough for me) I would single out Jamie Barton as being particularly memorable as Fricka. I also really enjoyed the interval features - especially the one about the Ring's unique use of the brass section. I was already aware of the genesis of the Wagner Tuba and the fact that it was a doubling-instrument for horn players, but I had not been aware that the contrabass trombone and bass trumpet were such specialist instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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