#Gwendolyn Killebrew

[ofgreatart]

“That almost religious era regarding beauty, which we experienced in our youth. The artist’s act, the emotion conveyed by the works, seemed to be the only undisputed objects of love, work, desire—the only means of redemption.”

‘for there, no subterfuge, no doubt, no interposition stood between us and our light. We had felt; and what we had felt gave us the strength to resist’

Paul Valéry, 1931: “That almost religious era regarding beauty, which we experienced in our youth. In that youth, art was seen as the only outlet, the only culture now possible for the highest sentiments. The artist’s act, the emotion conveyed by the works, seemed to be the only undisputed objects of love, work, desire—the only means of redemption; in short, the only certainties that were immediate, exempt from any critical impact, finally providing the strength of faith without requiring any belief.”

Paul Valéry, 1937: “Our certainty lay in our emotion and our sensation of beauty; and when we came together, (…) when we listened to the entire series of Beethoven’s symphonies, dazzling fragments from Wagner’s dramas, an extraordinary atmosphere was created. We emerged (…) as fanatics, devotees, and advocates of art; for there, no subterfuge, no doubt, no interposition stood between us and our light. We had felt; and what we had felt gave us the strength to resist all occasions of dispersion and all the trivialities and enchantments of life… We reunited with an illuminated soul and an intelligence filled with faith, as what we had heard seemed like a kind of personal revelation and an essentially personal truth. (…) The seriousness, the absolute value attached (…) to the mysteries and promises of art.”

Video: Gwendolyn Killebrew: Waltraute Gwyneth Jones: Brünnhilde The Ring of the Nibelung / Der Ring des Nibelungen ‘The sacred stem at his command was riven and raised in a heap round about the hall of the blest. The holy host called he together; the god on his throne took his place.’ Twilight of the Gods / Götterdämmerung Richard Wagner Bayreuth, Pierre Boulez, Patrice Chéreau (German: 'Des Stammes Scheite hieß er sie schichten zu ragendem Hauf rings um der Seligen Saal. Der Götter Rath ließ er berufen; den Hochsitz nahm heilig er ein.’)

[beckmessering]

scrambled review no.8

götterdämmerung / bayreuth 1980 / directed by patrice chéreau 

Characters

Siegfried (Manfred Jung) – has acquired an audible vocal maturity along with his character’s maturity. Sounds fuller and steelier compared to his beginnings in Siegfried, and changes his voice into a pressed, lower tone when kidnapping Brünnhilde. He’s cornered by the choir of Gibichung men in the wedding scene and exposed to mounting pressure to rid himself of the accusation of deeds he can’t remember, and finally swears his false oath with skyrocketing panic channelled into his voice instead of overblown self-confidence and adds an element of insecurity to the fatally confident hero.

Brünnhilde (Gwyneth Jones) – is fatally lovelorn until betrayed, after which she never once breaks the intensity of her gaze, her rage oscillating between cold and barely controlled after being defensive and almost cold to her sister Waltraute. With the betrayal, she turns vocally indestructible until she jumps into the flames and her “Ruhe, du Gott” during the immolation has all the weary heaviness that comes with the inevitability of the end of the world.

Hagen (Fritz Hübner) – took his line “frühalt, fahl und bleich” very seriously and looks exactly as prematurely aged, pale, and grey as the libretto demands. Seems tired of everything, including being angry and despising Siegfried even before they meet. The strength of his lower register disappears a bit during his “Hoiho!”, but is capable of confronting his father. He’s effective, but I have yet to find a Hagen who brings the full amount of possible loneliness and tragedy to the role.

Alberich (Hermann Becht) – could pressure his son a bit more strongly, also acting-wise. I really like Alberich’s single scene in Götterdämmerung, but it doesn’t quite deliver here, mainly because it’s sung too loudly. Personal preference, but I find that when it’s sung quietly, it delivers a hallucinatory quality from the realm between sleep and waking that perfectly suits Alberich’s nightmarish visit to his son that this version lacked.

Gunther (Franz Mazura) – an increasingly insecure, stiff-looking man who doesn’t understand what he’s gotten into until realisation dawns intensely and far too late. Looks delightfully uncomfortable with a red drink spilled on his hands, and vocally he holds his own against Hagen and Siegfried.

Waltraute (Gwendolyn Killebrew) – may wear the same dress as her sister, but she noticeably comes from a different world. There is a divide between the sisters – their relationship seems to come together only when they reminisce in memories of Wotan, but even then, they do so separately. Basically renders her delicately sung warning futile from the beginning and thus takes away some suspense from it, but adds tragedy in hindsight.

Production

The Gibichungs are a part of the capitalist world that Wotan advocates for as well, profiteers of this system that try to expand their influence by any means necessary. Unfortunately for them, Siegfried wears the clothes of a mythical hero that don’t belong between suits and black marble pillars. He doesn’t fit from the beginning; his world and that of the Gibichungs are both imperfect and can’t coexist and both burn at the end. Deciding moments of the story are excellently choreographed, such as the wedding scene, in which the chorus encircles Siegfried until he swears his oath.

Conducting

Boulez’ ebbing and flowing style suits Götterdämmerung very well. He still adds staccato very selectively, but the Valkyrie motif when Waltraute approaches sounds unusually metallic, perhaps indicative of the emotional distance between the sisters. The Hagen-Alberich dialogue is rushed (I swear this is the last time I complain about this scene. I just love it, okay) but the murder trio, excuse me, the Act II finale allows the distinct voices to ring out clearly instead of sounding soupy. The conducting in this Ring felt stylistically continuous throughout, evolving here and there, and most of all, it had a decidedly distinct sound.

Bottom line

A highly convincing end of the world – especially Brünnhilde brought with her just the right amounts of grit, strength and frailty to the story. Now I’m quite sad that it’s over and feeling a bit nostalgic, and I think that’s a very good sign.

[todayclassical]

August 26 in Music History

1687 Birth of Dutch composer Willem de Fesch in Alkmaar.  1726 Birth of composer Karl Kohaut. 1745 Birth of composer Francois Guichard.

1749 Birth of composer Johann Ernst Rembt.

1788 Birth of composer Aloys Schmitt.

1794 FP of Cimarosa: "Le astuzie femminili" Naples.

1813 Death of German composer Daniel Gottlob Türk in Claussnitz.  1815 FP of C. M. Von Weber's Clarinet Quintet in Bb, Op. 34, with clarinetist Heinrich Bärmann, in Munich.

1823 Birth of composer Wilhelm Troszel.

1828 Birth of composer Erik Anthon Valdemar Siboni.

1843 Birth of composer George August Lumbye. 1846 FP of Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah, composer conducting at Birmingham Festival in England.

1847 Birth of baritone Ippolit Pryanishnikov in Kerch.

1849 Death of French composer Jacques Mazas in Bézier. 

1860 Death of German composer Friedrich Silcher.  1867 Birth of Italian composer Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano.

1879 Birth of Russian-English violinist Michael Zacharevitch in Ostroy. 

1885 Birth of Sardinian soprano Carmen Melis in Sardinia. 

1887 Birth of Nicaraguan composer Luis A. Delgadillo in Managua.

1889 Birth of Italian conductor Franco Ghione in Parma. 

1894 Birth of American pianist Arthur Loesser in NYC.

1896 Birth of composer Richard Hammond.

1906 Death of baritone Eugen Gura. 

1911 Birth of composer Jacopo Napoli.

1913 Birth of Italian tenor Gino Sinimberghi, in Rome.

1915 Birth of British composer Humphrey Searle in Oxford. 

1915 Birth of Dutch soprano Gré Brouwenstijn.

1915 Birth of composer William Bardwell.

1918 Birth of American composer Paul Bouman in Hamburg, MN.

1922 Birth of composer Lazar Nikolov.

1923 Birth of German conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch, in Munich. 

1931 Birth of composer Dane Skerl.

1939 Birth of English conductor Nicholas Braithwaite in London.

1939 Birth of American mezzo-soprano Gwendolyn Killebrew.

1939 Birth of Austrian soprano Dagmar Koller, in Klagenfurt.

1947 Birth of French baritone Philippe Duminy, in Boulougne.

1950 Death of Italian baritone Giuseppe De Luca.

1954 FP of Alan Rawsthorne's Practical Cats based on texts of T.S. Eliot, for speaker and orchestra, at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.

1956 Birth of English composer and violist Sally Beamish. 1956 FP of B. Martinu's Frescoes of Piero della Francesca for Orchestra, at the Salzburg Festival in Austria.

1957 FP of Panufnik's Rhapsody for orchestra in London.

1958 Death of English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

1960 Birth of American Saxophonist Branford Marsalis in New Orleans. 1960 Birth of American composer and trombonist Monique Buzzarté.

1971 Death of American soprano Anita Rio.  1983 Birth of American composer Alex Temple in New Haven, CT.

2001 FP of André Previn's Tango, Song and Dance at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland; with Previn's future wife, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and pianist Lambert Orkis.

2002 Death of American bass-baritone William Warfield. 2003 FP of John Harbison's Cucaraccia and Fugue for four violas. Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, Madison, WI.