Monumental in scale and scope, Götterdämmerung is a work to which it is hard to be indifferent. For many, the idea of an evening of fantasy opera lasting nearly seven hours is unimaginable, so uncongenial is the subject material and so great the attention span demanded. For Wagner fans - and Ring fans in particular - it's a riveting theatrical and musical experience, the zenith of opera as an art form. Last night at Covent Garden was my first live Götterdämmerung, spent in the company of around three thousand of those fans.
The lead roles of Götterdämmerung are generally thought to be Siegfried and Brünnhilde, but on this occasion, there was no question in my mind who was running the show. John Tomlinson bossed the whole thing as Hagen, the scheming evil genius whose plotting results in the disasters at the end, and I've run out of superlatives. As an actor, he displayed schoolboy relish in the cleverness of his schemes, juxtaposed with the studious brilliance of the evil scientist and unbridled delight in Machiavellian manipulation of people. Vocally, Tomlinson's quality of timbre and command of dynamics and line were of the very highest, aided by sensitive conducting by Pappano which allowed Tomlinson's voice time and space to breathe.
If I had any doubts about Pappano and the Royal Opera Orchestra in last week's Walküre, these were dispelled last night. The intensity never flagged, without a single moment in five hours of music in which I felt anything other than totally engaged. The orchestral high point was Siegfried's funeral march, in which the repeated pairs of drum beats hit me like rifle shots, to the backing of that huge Wagnerian brass. But there was much playing to admire, from the dark strings in the opening to a multitude of woodwind quotes to the evocative calls of Siegfired's hunting horn to the sound of no less than six harps that accompany the Rhinemaidens.
The singing was generally up to the high standards that one might expect of such a prestigious production, with no real weak links. Tomlinson aside, one moment was outstanding: the scene in which Brünnhilde disrupts her forced wedding to Gunther by accusing Siegfried of treachery. Susan Bullock was sensational, turning the furies of hell onto anyone within earshot. I didn't feel that she hit the same heights throughout, with singing that was lovely to listen to without having quite that level of impact. Similarly, Stefan Vinke has the right voice for Siegfried - the voice of a young, impetuous man with great strength - but I did wish for a more commanding presence. Vinke's acting was excellent, however, with Siegfried portrayed as rather blundering, heroic in strength but too uncaring and, in spite of Brünnhilde's best efforts, too unintelligent to play a true hero's part in influencing events. Peter Coleman-Wright gave us an equally unintelligent and slightly fey Gunther, thoroughly credible as the self-important coward who is easy prey to Hagen's manipulation.