Features

Berkeley Opera Mounts Brilliant Wagner Adaptation

By OLIVIA STAPP Special to the Planet
Tuesday March 09, 2004

Finally, after 25 years as an amateur community opera, the Berkeley Opera has taken a first step toward becoming a small professional company. By presenting Wagner’s Ring at Berkeley’s Julia Morgan Theatre in a three-and-a-half-hour condensed version designed to be produced by small companies, the opera makes this work accessible to the general public at a reasonable price. Jonathan Khuner, the artistic director, took a risk and broke the ground for further explorations in this direction. Cast with professional singers rather than local amateurs, and staged by the brilliant young stage director Mark Streshinsky, with stunning projections by both Streshinsky and Jeremy Knight, the general quality of the production was well above what has previously been seen at the Berkeley Opera. Hopefully it will be the dawning of a new age for this company.  

Director Khuner chose a reduction of the work that had already been performed at the Nuremberg Pocket Opera. It was created by David Seaman, conductor at the Welsh National Opera. Seaman took as his goal the telling of the tale itself, eliminating back narrations, musings, repetitions, and segments written for large orchestra. There are only eight singers in the Berkeley production, appearing as different characters identified by similarity in psychological prototype and voice. For example, Marie Plette sings the sweet Woglinde, the innocent Freia, the winsome Forest Bird, and the vulnerable Sieglinde. Clifton Romig appears first as the ambitious Wotan, later as power-hungry Gunther, and finally as The Wanderer. Similarly, the orchestra members must play two or more instruments as well as perform as soloists, reflecting and commenting upon the drama. 

The music and text, except for a few brief transitional chords, are directly from Wagner’s score. It is a formidable task for everyone involved, as both the singers and the orchestra members must perform throughout the opera, all the time. The challenges of presenting scenes from the Rhine to Valhalla—from forests to dragon’s lairs to the circle of fire to the final apocalypse and rebirth of the world—were masterful visual components that could stand on their own as artistic achievements. They served to powerfully propel the drama forward. 

The three sopranos (Marie Plette, Catherine Cook, and Christine Springer) shone forth in all their incarnations. While Marie Plette’s voice glows with extreme beauty and Catherine Cook’s luscious sound was perfect for Fricka, the revelation of the evening was Christine Springer. Here is a singer born to sing Wagnerian heroines—commanding presence, authoritative sound, and trumpeting high voice. Indeed, all three singers are rarities—they are born Wagnerians, who give life to the declamatory style in impeccable German.  

Another discovery was Jo Vincent Parks, who used his rich tone with both eloquence and subtlety as Alberich and Fasolt. With the exception of Marie Plette, who is already embarking on an international career in this repertoire, the extraordinary capabilities of these artists would still be unknown had they not been given this opportunity by Jonathan Khuner.  

The rest of the cast, Clifton Romig, William Pickersgill, Roy Stevens, and Gary Ruschman, were all excellent as well.  

There were the predictable opening night glitches onstage, but these should be smoothed over in future performances. The orchestra was four rehearsals short of an opening night, due to the exceedingly severe financial constraints under which this production was mounted. It may be hoped that the day will come when the superb conductor Khuner will have enough money to pay for the orchestra he deserves, and the time needed to rehearse them adequately. It is testimony to Khuner’s and Streshinsky’s love of art that four evenings of such a work could be produced on less money than a major company might spend to build 10 costumes. 

 

Olivia Stapp is a retired Metropolitan Opera Soprano and former director of Contra Costa County’s Festival Opera.o