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'Siegfried' tenor stays sharp for nearly five-hour performance
John Treleaven and David Cangelosi
Dan Rest/Lyric Opera of Chicago
Mark Kanny can be reached via e-mail or at 412-320-7877.
Tenor John Treleaven sang the title role, one of the most brutally demanding in the operatic repertoire. His triumph could hardly have been more complete or more tiring. His character sings for nearly the entire five hours of this opera, yet Treleaven's sharply focused voice still sounded powerful and fresh for the passionate concluding scene.
Siegfried is the child of Siegmund and Sieglinde, who met in the first act of "Die Walkure," provoking a crisis in the community of gods in this story derived from Norse mythology. Siegmund was killed at the end of the second act of "Die Walkure," the previous opera of the "Ring," while Sieglinde died in childbirth before "Siegfried" begins.
Siegfried already is a young man as the third opera begins. Davis said Wednesday that he considers the first act of Siegfried to be akin to a Scherzo -- with a contrasting middle section framed by more rhythmic and humorous music -- that is the form of the third movement of most symphonies.
Davis used scrupulous dynamics and articulation to deftly point to the humor in the outer parts of the first act, as Siegfried quarrels with Mime, who has been raising him. David Cangelosi sang Mime with vivid characterization in purely vocal terms and also was uncommonly acrobatic as the brother of Alberich, whose quest for the wealth and power of gold ignites the operatic cycle's conflicts at the start of the first opera, "Das Rheingold."
In the middle section of the first act, Mime's cleverness holds his ground for a while, but ultimately is no match for Wotan's wisdom during an exchange of riddles, in which James Morris continued to be a towering strength as the chief god Wotan.
The second act was exceptionally well staged, during which Siegfried kills the surviving giant Fafner, last seen in the first opera, who has been transformed into a dragon to guard the gold payment for building the god's new home, Valhalla. When some of the dragon's blood splashes on Siegfried, he gains the ability to understand the language of birds, charmingly portrayed in pantomime by women dressed in green.
The act concludes with Siegfried learning from one of the birds that he will find Brunnhilde on a mountain protected by a ring of fire. The passage contains some of the most exquisite nature music ever composed. The excellent woodwinds of Chicago Lyric's orchestra provided pastoral liveliness.
Morris was a singing actor of tremendous dramatic range in the first part of the third act, first calling upon earth goddess Erda for wisdom but finding conflict. Then, when Wotan attempts to block Siegfried from finding Brunnhilde, the young hero's sword shatters Wotan's spear. Wotan departs, never to return.
The Lyric Opera audience enjoyed the thrilling and rare experience of well-matched vocal power in the final scene, when Jane Eaglen's Brunnhilde and Treleaven's Siegfried sang with intense passion of the mutual love they've discovered.
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