By Frances Henry

First, a disclaimer…. I did not see the live performance of this Ring but watched it on my computer streaming through Bose speakers, so the sound was good as was the video.

Therefore, I do not want to discuss the whole production but only one aspect of it which struck me very force fully: this production was full of great male voices! (I was not so overwhelmed by the female performers so will not include them)

Aside from a miscast Siegfried in Klaus Florian Vogt, and a good but not great Gunther, and adequate giants, the remaining male characters were marvels of vocal sound and interpretation.

I will single out the most outstanding performers who, in my opinion, reached seriously great musical heights. The most outstanding of these were: Chrisopher Purvis as Alberich, Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke as Mime, bass David Leigh as Fafner and Hagan.

In their major individual roles as Alberich and Mime, Purvis and Ablinger-Sperrhacke, both veteran singers of these characters, portrayed an amazing understanding of what makes these usually nasty, evil characters human beings. Their interpretations both together and apart made the audience understand why they had to become evil …both in various ways had been rejected by ‘society’. I looked forward to all their scenes together as well as the scenes with one of them and Wotan.

Singing a double role as both Fafner and Hagen brings me to a new young singer just starting the beginning of a great career… David Leigh who along with Chris Purvis were also guests of our Wagner society recently. His Fafner was grim but not overly fearful and more attention was based on his singing. This young man also portrayed the evil depth of Hagen’s character in ways surprising to such a beginning performer.

But reaching the most spectacular heights of vocal production was also a former guest of our society a few years ago, bass baritone Tomasz Konieczny as Wotan. Words fail me in describing his brilliance! He is without doubt the best Wotan I’ve ever experienced. What makes him so outstanding is not only the beautiful timbre and almost golden quality of his voice but also his interpretation of this difficult and different character. Wotan is a very complex character who moves through various stages in his ‘life’ and his place in the complex Ring. His music is also gorgeous to sing and nowhere is this more evident than in the great Farewell to his daughter. Konieczny understands the changing Wotan so well and expresses him vocally with great power but also great beauty of sound.

I feel I should say a final word about Klaus Florian Vogt a wonderful singer and a fabulous performer in many roles, just not Siegfried! Although his voice has deepened somewhat, his vocal and physical boyishness does not appeal to this role

The staging was simple, occasionally quite startling but sticking close to the text. No regie theatre here, thank goodness! The smaller size orchestra playing in a smaller sized hall in Zurich sounded beautiful and the strong but also very sensitive conducting of Gianandrea Noseda made one believe he has been conducting Wagner all his life!