High Life

HIGH LIFE 107 The finale of the Ring Cycle , Götterdämmerung is a Bühnenfestspiel in three acts. Alongside his Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , Götterdämmerung is one of the longest operas ever written, requiring just under five hours to perform, excluding intervals. Act I alone takes two hours, consisting of enough notes to be an opera unto itself. When Joseph II famously remarked that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, KV 492 contained too many notes, His Imperial Majesty had no idea what Wagnerites would happily undergo less than a century later. HK Phil fielded a Roman maniple of 120 musicians, comprising 95 from its own ranks and 25 invited from Europe and America. Predictably large, the brass section brandished the famed Wagner tuba, contrabass trombone and bass trumpet. The orchestral setting was Mahlerian, the music was profound, monumental and at times impenetrable, merging harmoniously with the voices of the lead singers and Bamberg Symphony Chorus. With a full fortnight of rehearsals, the orchestra delivered a well-drilled, precise and articulate performance, if slightly short of gallantry and effervescence. Maestro van Zweden is clearly a man with a detailed plan, having in recent years conducted and recorded Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Lohengrin and Parsifal, in addition to the complete symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms and Anton Bruckner.