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REVIEW: Strong singing cast and imaginative semi-staged production bring the opera to life.
We are pleased to report that the Pacific Symphony’s production of Richard Wagner’s “Das Rheingold,” which opened Thursday night at Segerstrom Concert Hall, features helmets with horns. Wagner without horned helmets is somehow lacking for this reviewer, missing a certain je ne sais quoi. And they were good helmets, with very good horns.
The costumes, overall, credited to Mattie Ullrich, were a mixed bag, though, some good, some not-so. The baby blue robes and blond wigs on Froh and Donner seemed a bit off, like “Game of Thrones” meets “Barbie.” Loge, in cardinal red, looked like he had wandered in from “Conclave.” The giants Fafner and Fasolt were dressed more or less as bikers (good), but I also desired stilts. Elsewhere, the attire was excellent to perfectly serviceable.
One was pleasantly surprised, once again, by how well “Rheingold” holds the stage, not as socio-political commentary (which it is), but as a theatrical entertainment. Given its length (about two and a half hours), its verbose libretto (Wagner needed an editor), and the fact that most of it is just characters standing around in a domestic drama talking (well, singing) to each other, you’d think that it would fairly creak along. But it doesn’t for the most part.
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