[2/5/2012] Storms that set three great operatic scenes in motion (continued)

The opening of Die Walküre at La Scala, 2010 -- quite beautifully conducted by Daniel Barenboim, with singing of a sort from Simon O'Neill as Siegmund and Waltraud Meier as Sieglinde. (We even have subtitles in French. We always try to provide semi-full service here at Sunday Classics.) The whole of Act I has been posted, continuing here with Part 2 (of 7), in which John Tomlinson makes his entrance as Hunding. (Tomlinson had been Barenboim's Wotan at Bayreuth in the late '80s and early '90s. Here -- now 64! -- he returns to his natural bass repertory.)


LET'S START WITH THE STORM THAT ACTUALLY
OPENS ITS OPERA: ACT I OF DIE WALKÜRE

When Wagner finished Act I of Walküre, he knew that he had done something special. In February 1865 he wrote to his champion Franz Liszt: "The score of Act I of Die Walküre will soon be ready. It is extraordinarily beautiful; up to now I have done nothing even approaching it."

We might note that this, although the second of the four operas of the cycle The Ring of the Nibelung, is actually designated by the composer as the "First Day" of the Ring's three days -- the preceding Rhinegold having functioned as a Prologue. Let's just a couple of snippets from the end of The Rhinegold, omitting all the complications that have stood in the way of the god Wotan leading his wife, Fricka, and the other gods across the rainbow bridge to his newly built "eternal work," Valhalla.

WAGNER: Das Rheingold: Scene 4:
(1) Wotan, "Folge mir, Frau. In Walhall wohne mit mir"

WOTAN: Follow me, wife. In Valhalla reside with me.

(2) Entry of the gods into Valhalla
George London (b), Wotan; Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded Sept.-Oct. 1958

Now on to the opening of Die Walküre.

WAGNER: Die Walküre, Act I orchestral introduction

Inside a dwelling

In the middle stands a mighty ash tree, whose prominent roots spread wide and lose themselves in the ground. The summit of the tree is cut off by a jointed roof, so pierced that the trunk and the boughs branching out on every side pass through it, through openings made exactly to fit. We assume that the top of the tree spreads out above the roof. Around the trunk of the ash, as central point, a room has been constructed. The walls are of rudely hewn wood, here and there hung with plaited and woven rugs. In the foreground, right, is a hearth, whose chimney goes up sideways to the roof; behind the hearth is an inner room, like a storeroom, reached by a few wooden steps. In front of it, half-drawn is a plaited hanging. In the background, an entrance door wit a simple wooden latch. Left, the door to an inner chamber, similarly reached by steps. Further forward, on the same side, a table with a broad bench fastened to the wall behind it and wooden stools in front of it.

A short orchestral prelude of violent stormy character introduces the scene. When the curtain rises, SIEGMUND, from without, hastily opens the main door and enters. It is towards evening; a fierce thunderstorm is just about to die down. For a moment, SIEGMUND keeps hhis hand on the latch and looks around the room; he seems to be exhausted by tremendous exertions; his raiment and general appearance proclaim him a fugitive. Seeing no one, he closes the door behind him, walks to the hearth, and throws himself down there, exhausted, on a bearskin rug.

Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded Oct.-Nov. 1965

Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim, cond. Teldec, recorded live, June-July 1992

New Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, cond. EMI, recorded 1969


NOW WE MOVE ON TO THE OPENING OF THE FINAL
ACT OF THE "SECOND DAY" OF THE RING, SIEGFRIED

Again, let's start with the very end of Act II, in which Siegfried, prompted by the Woodbird, sets off joyously to a mountaintop rendezvous with what will be his first woman.

WAGNER: Siegfried: Act II conclusion


Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded May and Oct. 1962

WAGNER: Siegfried: Act III Prelude

As I tried to suggest in Friday's preview, when we heard the orchestral openings of Acts I and II, Siegfried is a wonderful piece to explore at leisure on one's own, filled as it is with such an astonishing assortment of strange and wonderful kinds of music. The thundering opening of Act III sets the stage for Wotan's final encounter with the earth goddess Erda. When I first acquired the Solti-Decca Siegfried recording and discovered this scene I must have played it a zillion times on my crummy little portable record player. All these technologies later (I own it now on LP and open-reel tape as well as CD), I still think Solti and the Vienna Phil whip up one grand storm. For the Barenboim performance I suggest cranking up the volume a bit; it may be that the mellowing effect of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus's submerged-orchestral-pit acoustics aren't doing the music any favor here. Finally, Goodall once again probes deeper and wider.

A wild spot at the foot of a rocky mountain, which rises steeply at the back on the left. Night, storm, lightning, and violent thunder, which soon ceases, while the lightning continues flashing among the clouds.

Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded May and Oct. 1962

Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim, cond. Teldec, recorded live, June-July 1992

Sadler's Wells Opera Orchestra, Reginald Goodall, cond. EMI/Chandos, recorded live, August 1973


FINALLY, THIS SNOWSTORM, WHILE LESS VIOLENT, AFFECTS
THE BEHAVIOR OF EVERYONE IN ACT III OF LA BOHÈME

Again, I think hearing the end of Act II butted up against the start of Act III provides a graphic illustration of the dramatic transformation that occurs at the midpoint of the opera. Act II ends on a note of joy as our Bohemians celebrate Christmas Eve at the Café Momus.

PUCCINI: La Bohème: Act II conclusion


Chorus and Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome), Leonard Bernstein, cond. DG, recorded May-June 1987

PUCCINI: La Bohème: Act III opening

The Beecham-RCA-EMI and Serafin-Decca recordings are my favorite Bohèmes, and two of my favorite opera recordings, but here Karajan seems to me to capture an especially wintry feeling.

The Barrière d'Enfer [see below]

The curtain rises immediately after the opening chord.

Beyond the customs gate, the outer boulevard is formed in the background by the Orleans high road, half hidden by tall houses and the misty gloom of February. To the left is a tavern with a small open space in front of the customs gate. To the right is the Boulevard d'Enfer; to the left that of St. Jacques. On the right also there is the entrance to the Rue d'Enfer leading to the Quartier Latin. Over the tavern, as its sign board, hangs Marcel's painting "The Passage of the Red Sea" [from Act I], while underneath in large letters is the inscription "At the Port of Marseilles." On either side of the door are frrescoes of a Turn and a Zouave with a huge laurel wreath round his fez. From the ground-floor windows of the tavern facing the customs gate, light gleams.

The plane trees, gray and gaunt, which flank the customs-gate square, lead diagonally towards the two boulevards. Between the trees is a marble bench. It is toward the close of February. Snow is everywhere. As the curtain rises the scene is merged in the dim light of early dawn. In front of a brazier are seated, in a group, snoring custom-house officers. From the tavern at intervals one may hear laughter, shouts, and the clink of glasses. A custom-house official comes out of the tavern with wine. The customs gate is closed.

STREET SWEEPERS (eight basses) [behind the gate, stamping their feet and blowing on their frostbitten fingers]:
Hey there! Guards! Open up!
[The officials do not budge, so the sweepers thump the gate with brooms and mattocks and shout more vigorously.]
Hey there! We're from Gentilly. We're the sweepers!
[Stamping their feet] It's snowing! Hey there! We're freezing here!
CUSTOMS OFFICER [yawning and stretching]: I'm coming!
VOICES FROM THE TAVERN: Some find pleasure
in their cups.
On ardent lips
some find love.
THE VOICE OF MUSETTA: Ah! Pleasure is in the glass.
Love lies on young lips.
VOICES FROM THE TAVERN: Tra la la la,
Eve and Noah.
SIX DAIRYWOMEN [from the outer boulevard; exclaimed, not sung]: Hoop-là! Hoop-là!
[A sergeant comes out of the guard house and orders the gate to be opened.]
CUSTOMS OFFICER: Here are the dairywomen!
THREE CARTERS [from outside; cracking of whips; exclaimed]: Hoop-là!
[Carts pass along the outer boulevard, lit by large lanterns.]
SIX DAIRYWOMEN [quite close; exclaimed]: Hoop-là!
[The gloom gradually gives way to daylight.]
DAIRYWOMEN [in three groups of two, to the officials who admit them through the gate]:
Good morning! Good morning! Good morning!
[Six peasant women enter carrying baskets. It stops snowing.]
SIX PEASANT WOMEN: Butter and cheese!
[They pay the toll and depart.]
1st GROUP [from the crossroads]: Which way are you going?
2nd GROUP [from the crossroads]: To St. Michel.
1st GROUP: We'll find you there later?
2nd GROUP: At midday!
1st GROUP: At midday!
[They move off in various directions. The officials remove the bench and the brazier.]

Lucine Amara (s), Musetta; RCA Victor Chorus and Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham, cond. RCA/EMI, recorded in New York, 1956 (mono)

Gianna d'Angelo (s), Musetta; Chorus and Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia (Rome), Tullio Serafin, cond. Decca, recorded August 1959
Elizabeth Harwood (s), Musetta; Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. Decca, recorded 1972

The Barrière d'Enfer today
Still standing: the two identical neoclassical pavillons built in 1787 framing the Barrière d'Enfer (literally Gate of Hell; the name derived from the Rue d'Enfer and Boulevard d'Enfer, which ran there). It was one of the barrières d'octroi, or customs gates, established under the Ancien Régime at all the entrance points to the city of Paris for the collection of excise taxes on every manner of agricultural product being brought in. The barrières are considered to have been a prime grievance leading to the French Revolution, but they weren't immediately dismantled. After all, the action of La Bohème takes place around 1830. (The site is now the Place Denfert-Rochereau, in the 14e Arrondissement, served by the Denfert-Rochereau métro station.)


HERE'S WHERE WE CHEAT A BIT, WITH THE OPENINGS
OF THE OTHER ACTS OF WALKÜRE AND BOHÈME

As noted, we already heard the orchestral preludes to Acts I and II of Siegfried in Friday night's preview. I already prepared music files for the openings of the other acts of our other operas.

TO HEAR THOSE OTHER ACT-OPENERS, CLICK HERE


UPDATE: WELL, LET'S CHEAT A BIT MORE, WITH
ALL THE ACT OPENINGS OF ALL THREE OPERAS

WAGNER: Die Walküre: openings of Acts I-III (tracks 1-3)

Various soloists as the Valkyries in Act III; Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan , cond. DG, recorded Aug.-Dec. 1966

WAGNER: Siegfried: openings of Acts I-III (tracks 1-3)

Bavarian State Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch, cond. EMI, recorded live at the Bavarian State Opera, September 1989

PUCCINI: La Bohème: openings of Acts I (tracks 1-2), II (track 3), III (tracks 4-5), and IV (tracks 6-7)

Robert Merrill (b), Marcello (Acts I, IV); Richard Tucker (t), Rodolfo (Acts I, IV); Mary Costa (s), Musetta (Act III); Rome Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf, cond. RCA/BMG, recorded June 15-30, 1961


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