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jallanite · 05-12-2012, 08:34 PM

Die Walkürie: A Review

The film began at 10:00 am and ended a little after 3:00 pm and I have no memory of being bored in the least, though I did space out and miss short bits here and there.

Part of the reason for the length is that two intermissions were included: each including short bits of interviews and other documentary-type material followed by twenty minutes of shots of the stagehands setting up for the next Act and of the theatre audience, the cinema lights being turned on while this portion of the film ran.

Musically the production was superb, as most reviews of the live performance indicate.

The use of “The Machine” of stage setting had varied success.

Hunding’s hall was particularly disappointing. “The Machine” was up in the air for this set, providing a backdrop of what was supposed to be the upper part of the back wall of the hall. Below this backdrop the space was clear, looking out on a blank set which was supposed to represent the sky beyond the hall. I could not help thinking that with about half the wall missing, it must be extremely cold in Hunding's hall, especially as flakes of stage snow were falling during the beginning of the Act. That was rather distracting.

More distracting were the two centre panels of the machine which were placed much father forward in the set to represent the trunk of the tree around which the hall is built. The bark of the tree was created by a light projection onto the tree which worked well until either Siegfried, Sieglinde, or Hunding came between the tree and the audience which happened quite often. The projection was so bright that it then could still be seen over the bodies of the characters making it obvious that the bark on the tree was a projection or that for some reason the characters were supposed to be appearing as ghosts with the bark background showing through. Annoying!

The ride of the Valkyries was done through the machine by having the eight Valkyries each sitting on one panel of the machine, all facing the audience, the panels on which they were sitting bobbing up and down to simulate a gallop. Each Valkyrie dismounted by having the panel on which she was sitting slant down so that the forward part of the panel touched the floor of the stage. Then she slid down the panel. Meanwhile the dialogue indicates that all the Valkyries are not supposed to be riding together.

Admittedly no production of Die Valkürie has ever convincingly shown the horseback riding of eight Valkyries through a stormy sky on stage.

The machine did work well in the final entombment of Brünnhilde. But what we saw of the emergence of the fire barrier around Brünnhilde’s tomb was too complicated to describe properly to anyone who has not seen it without taking many times more space than I wish to devote to it. The machine seems to work best when used to show the impossible where there is no firm indication of what is happening in the audience’s mind. Then it looks spectacular.

05-12-2012, 08:34 PM	#8
jallanite Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 479	Die Walkürie: A Review The film began at 10:00 am and ended a little after 3:00 pm and I have no memory of being bored in the least, though I did space out and miss short bits here and there. Part of the reason for the length is that two intermissions were included: each including short bits of interviews and other documentary-type material followed by twenty minutes of shots of the stagehands setting up for the next Act and of the theatre audience, the cinema lights being turned on while this portion of the film ran. Musically the production was superb, as most reviews of the live performance indicate. The use of “The Machine” of stage setting had varied success. Hunding’s hall was particularly disappointing. “The Machine” was up in the air for this set, providing a backdrop of what was supposed to be the upper part of the back wall of the hall. Below this backdrop the space was clear, looking out on a blank set which was supposed to represent the sky beyond the hall. I could not help thinking that with about half the wall missing, it must be extremely cold in Hunding's hall, especially as flakes of stage snow were falling during the beginning of the Act. That was rather distracting. More distracting were the two centre panels of the machine which were placed much father forward in the set to represent the trunk of the tree around which the hall is built. The bark of the tree was created by a light projection onto the tree which worked well until either Siegfried, Sieglinde, or Hunding came between the tree and the audience which happened quite often. The projection was so bright that it then could still be seen over the bodies of the characters making it obvious that the bark on the tree was a projection or that for some reason the characters were supposed to be appearing as ghosts with the bark background showing through. Annoying! The ride of the Valkyries was done through the machine by having the eight Valkyries each sitting on one panel of the machine, all facing the audience, the panels on which they were sitting bobbing up and down to simulate a gallop. Each Valkyrie dismounted by having the panel on which she was sitting slant down so that the forward part of the panel touched the floor of the stage. Then she slid down the panel. Meanwhile the dialogue indicates that all the Valkyries are not supposed to be riding together. Admittedly no production of Die Valkürie has ever convincingly shown the horseback riding of eight Valkyries through a stormy sky on stage. The machine did work well in the final entombment of Brünnhilde. But what we saw of the emergence of the fire barrier around Brünnhilde’s tomb was too complicated to describe properly to anyone who has not seen it without taking many times more space than I wish to devote to it. The machine seems to work best when used to show the impossible where there is no firm indication of what is happening in the audience’s mind. Then it looks spectacular.