It may be heresy against the doctrine of the Gesamtkunstwerk – Wagner’s idealised synthesis of all the arts – but the more one sees of concert-based cycles emanating from the north of England, the more one is led to wonder if the Ring really needs a theatre at all.
That gauntlet was thrown down by Opera North’s acclaimed semi-stagings, born out of austerity and lack of elbow room for extra harps and tubas, but subsequently acclaimed as a new paradigm for Wagnerian performance. The Hallé Orchestra’s cycle has been more sporadic and out-of-sequence – it’s been seven years since Götterdämmerung was spread over two nights at the Bridgewater Hall. But having begun at the end, Mark Elder and his forces now have the chance to address the beginning.
In terms of staging, the Hallé doesn’t begin to compete with the digital enhancements of Opera North’s extravaganza: the props budget provided little more than a couple of thrones and bolt of gold lamé fabric to signify the fabled treasure. It could have been Donald Trump’s tablecloth – then again, the Rhinemaidens are subject to harassment by Samuel Youn’s Alberich, a sex-crazed, power-mad dwarf who cannot resist grabbing whatever he sees.
Everyone loves a villain, especially at this time of year, and Youn’s performance put you in mind that the Ring, with its population of dunderheaded giants and industrious dwarves, is not a million miles from pantomime. Youn’s eye-popping transformation into a toad was a priceless moment of comedy: more importantly, he had the most commanding voice of the evening, with a range of colour that ran from dark and rich to thin and wheedling, while always remaining charismatically evil.
He was matched for malign plausibility by Will Hartmann as Loge, Wotan’s slippery chief-of-staff, whose semi-divine status was signified by delivering asides from a box in the auditorium. The intimate, conversational style he was able to adopt was the single greatest benefit of betraying Wagner’s wishes and placing the orchestra behind the singers, as it instantly solved the balance issues that can cause many fully staged Rings to degenerate into bellowing contests between vocal heavyweights.
Iain Paterson has certainly entered that category, having been scheduled to become Bayreuth’s new Wotan in 2020. But the revelation here was how softly he was able to sing: his chairman of the gods became a dry, debauched high-roller who treats Valhalla like a pet scheme for a new casino.
But the Hallé’s Ring is a project designed to put the orchestra centre stage. Elder’s great achievement is to recognise that, for Wagner, conducting was synonymous with connectivity; and his shaping of the epic journey from the waters of the Rhine to the rainbow bridge was imparted with the seamlessness of a fantastical dream. Why spend all that extra money on lighting and scenery when the imagery can be as lucid as this?
