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“Dudamel leads Das Rheingold,” blared the posters. But the most intriguing aspects of the performance of Wagner’s opera at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on January 18 (the first of three) were the set design and the cast.
Now 94 and still based in Santa Monica, architect Frank Gehry has continued creating his spectacular buildings worldwide. But as far back as 1983 he began working in set design. He has worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic before, but this was his first set for a full-scale production, in the hall he himself designed. He got credit: the subtitle of these performances was “Celebrating Frank Gehry”.
Disney Hall is not an opera house, it has no pit, so the orchestra must take first billing. Staging opera here is like Bayreuth in reverse; instead of hidden instrumentalists with the singers and stage taking precedence, the singers had to work from a series of raised platforms behind the gigantic band and along a lip between orchestra and audience (at the end, Loge whispered his “Wer weiss, was ich thu’!” into the conductor’s ear).
Still, the balance between singers and orchestra proved satisfactory. Gehry’s sets consisted of multiple beige wooden boxes and platforms mirroring the colours of the hall’s interior. There were glowing orange boxes for the gold — the one in the centre looked like an exit sign — and white and grey hangings for mostly abstract video projections and the hard-to-read titles.
This was a full production, not a semi-staged concert. The singers didn’t clutch scores. Alberto Arvelo was listed as stage director, along with a lighting designer and a dramaturge. Cindy Figueroa designed the sometimes elaborate costumes (lots of 19th-century frills and bustles for the ladies). Arvelo played it straight: no Regietheaterkonzept in sight. But the limitations of undertaking a full-scale production in a concert hall became evident when some of the big moments had to be fudged: the rainbow bridge was a particular disappointment.
The main interest among the singers was the first Wotan of the wonderfully named Ryan Speedo Green. He has sung small and midsized roles at his home base, the Metropolitan Opera, but then starred in Terence Blanchard’s Champion; now his European career is burgeoning. His bass-baritone suits Wotan’s range; he looked commanding and sang strongly without (so far) special insight.
Other notable singers included Morris Robinson as a stentorian Fasolt, Raehann Bryce-Davis and Tamara Mumford as the rich-voiced Fricka and Erda, and Barry Banks as Mime. Simon O’Neill made a sure if slightly underpowered Loge, and Jochen Schmeckenbecher a solid Alberich. The Rhinemaidens made a sweet trio, though they were placed too distantly at the end.
The Philharmonic played surely, after some slight unsteadiness. But conductor Gustavo Dudamel was less convincing. In my (limited) experience he has sounded bland in standard symphonic and operatic repertory. Perhaps his muted approach here had something to do with maintaining a balance between his gigantic orchestra and the singers placed mostly at the rear. But Wagner’s music just cruised along. The big climactic outbursts leapt out, of course, but again without special urgency.
My reservations aside, the sold-out Los Angeles audience loved him and the entire evening. We shall see how this conductor’s command of the standard repertory unfolds. So far, it seems a work in progress.
★★★☆☆
