"Siegfried" - Act 1: Forging Song - The Metropolitan Opera

[maadjuh1900]

I saw Götterdämmerung a few days ago

I am a big Wagner fan

And I went to the met production from Das Reingold

Too bad enough I had to miss Die Walkure and Siegfried so I was very enjoyed to see this little piece on youtube

It isn't much but it's something

Lucky for me we had the possibility to go to Götterdämmerung where I heard this amazing voice of Jay Hunter Morris for the first time and it blew me away

his sound is just a little bit more special compared with others

[kenhig]

Per the Met website the dates of the encore HD theatre showings of Siegfried and Gotterdammerung have not yet been determined. I suspect they may be planning to schedule all four close together.

[ChildFallenStar]

does anyone know if there will be and encore in 2012 for al four cause I mised them but desperatly want to find it..



[2corgwyn]

I saw the symulcast and loved it. I am a Jay Hunter Morris fan for life. You just watch his career take flight. Good Luck to him.

[yortko1]

I was in the Met audience on the 27th Oct performance of this opera about 7 or 8 rows from the front. Jay Morris sang intellligently so as not to overwhelm his fine tenor. All the others were good too and I disagree about Voigt. I thought she sang well. Per the production I can confirm there was laughter as the huge scene machinery creaked, crashed and boomed during onstage scene changes.

[KaiHDragosh]

Je l'ai vu en direct d'un cinéma de ma ville qui proposait une retransmission, je ne peux qu'applaudir la performance, Le chanteur qui faisait le rôle de Mime était tout à fait extraordinaire, et Jay Hunter Morris fut aussi magnifique. Savez vous ce qui fait le plus "bizarre" à ceux que je cotoie? Un adolescent de quinze ans qui aime l'opéra, ils en conaissent peu, et aucun qui n'apprécie Wagner!

[ElizabethProvencio]

MY FAVORITE PART OF SIEGFRIED!!!! Jay is awesome. :D

[Tjalfi999]

I am a metalhead. I listen to metal. This is awesome.

[iwpoe]

I'm biased because I was enchanted by Siegfried Jerusalem's portrayal, but Morris just looks like he's ready to go to sleep. This is one of my favorite scenes in Wagner, and indeed, in all of opera; would it kill him to have some energy?

[lawdoc89]

@iwpoe

In the web clip, I agree. At the performance on 11/5, he was vigorous, and whacked that sword and anvil with more energy than Jerusalem, He had stepped into this role on about 2 weeks notice, so he wasn't comfortable with this production as of the trailer. His Broadway background really showed at the 11/5 performance.

[iwpoe]

@lawdoc89 I'll have to check him out on the encore. Have they announced a date yet?

[planclops]

Awesome opera!! By any chance, could someone put up translations or subtitles?

[terwilligerjones]

I couldn't agree more. I was gobsmacked by the machine and its effects. Bravo. And Jay Morris was beyond description. My only quarrels were with Deborah's voice. I'm a real fan, but...she was weak. My second quibble was with Fafner. He looked like a Macy's parade balloon. Contrasted with the glories of the Machine and the Morris, Fafner looked comical and out-of-place.

[TheLovingAesthete]

Powerful but soft and warm voice! Wonderful!

[MCHEATH]

@HeidelbergSoprano Sie haben Ihre Meinung und ich habe meine, wäre es eine langweilige Welt, wenn wir alle die gleiche Meinung. Ich hoffe, mein Deutsch ist richtig?

[MCHEATH]

@MCHEATH Vielen dank

[MCHEATH]

@HeidelbergSoprano It is a difficult role and his acting is okbut his intonation is not good. I heard the complete performance and thought the Mime was brilliant a fine actor and heldentenor. JHM maybe did jump in at the last minute but he was the cove/under study so was familiar with the production etc. I can only comment on what I heard but it is my opinion others will differ.

[MCHEATH]

@HeidelbergSoprano Very serious and having earned a good living as a professional singer for 10 years - being able to sing in tune is a bsic requirement for any singer whatever language you sing in and no matter how difficult the music.

JHM has already sung the role with San Francisco so he is not new to the role,

[lucavigg]

For me, the two stand out performances were JHM and Eric Owens as Alberich.

At the IMAX in London we had a few small interruptions to the transmission and some sound sync problems but it was an incredible performance nonetheless.

I'm a bit concerned that JHM is going to be overwhelmed by this "Understudy saves the day" narrative that's very popular at the moment. I sincerely hope that he hasn't come to Wagner too early in his career and peoples future expectations don't affect him.

[WotanCullen]

Ich liebe die Energie, die Jay Hunter Morris in diese Szene bringt.

I love the energy, wich Jay Hunter Morris gives to this Scene.

[savoirgai]

it is an aria, however, Wagner perversely recalling his admiration of Bellini....

[MCHEATH]

Bad intonation

[stringquartet]

wonderful show. saw today in a packed theater today. looking forward to Gotterdammerung 2/11/12

[AlexFireflyer]

Saw it today in Live HD!It was sooo greattt!!!! :D

[BlackAcesBlackEights]

Just saw this from the Met, grand tier, very lucky we got the seats.

Unbelievably awesome. Anyone who hates "the machine" has never seen it working. Yes, creaks or whatever, but the music is unbelievable, it's SO much better than that stale older set, and the fire .... the fire is AWESOME! And the music when Brunnhilde wakes up? Unbelievable! Cameras everywhere, but not distracting or anything. Glad everyone who saw it in theaters liked it.

[lawdoc89]

@BlackAcesBlackEights

The gizmo is OK, but nothing special. Saw the broadcast, which had too many close ups, and appeared dark. Morris has a great career ahead of him. But really, a great cast only spoiled by the Brunnhilde who blew the C at the end. She couldn't hold it, so only kept it an 8th! Mime is great, the Wanderer an interesting performance.

Don't get why so many of the Mets like that hack Voigth. She will ruin Gotterdammerung when she crashes on that role beyond her ailities.

[Fegen]

Saw the HD live broadcast from the Met today in a local movie theater.

The entire cast was excellent today 11/05/2011.

[karifrid]

Bravo Morris. I am just home from the cinema,live from the Metroploitan opera. I liked Mimi best of all the singers,but others did a good job . I am starting to sing more Wagner arias,thinking about his birthday ,1813. (Verdi also born that year.)

I sing this aria in a video I made lately. Four Wagner arias AND Nessun dorma,to PROOVE I STILL HAD A VOICE after four Wagner arias in 20 minutes. This aria was number four...I hope to get more jobs as a singer,even Wagner. karifrid, Kári Friðriksson.

[bwink239]

The more I've been looking around at other performances of this aria, ranging from classic to recent and studio to live, the more I realize how much we romanticize this role and aria. I would say that we have not yet had the perfect Siegfried who could hit every pitch perfectly over Wagner's orchestra while interpreting the role correctly. Every recording has a flaw. From that POV, I am more willing to accept this rendition. It is not my favorite, but my favorites are flawed too- they all are.

[waltermontani]

deboluccio......

[mathieugv]

I've been the the premiere and it was much more better than this. Sound capture is probably weak and no serious acting is made here...

[GabiSchnaut]

Never heard and saw such a horrible Siegfried :-( Das ist eine einzige Katastrophe! Schade!

[Bluesimmons42]

Morris sounds good here, but he somehow seems to have lost all of the energy and vigor that I remember him bringing to the acting side of the role this summer in San Francisco. I was really impressed by the boyish excitement that he was able to bring out as Siegfried puzzles out his past and forges the sword but all of that seems to be missing from his performance here! I wonder what happened...

[VelvetCat1]

@Bluesimmons42 Let's not forget, after all, this is only a dress rehearsal. Hope in the actual performance, he will have, indeed, that electrifying energy.

[45antar]

he surely never saw an anvil in his life and doesn't know a

man has muscles not only in his vocal cords...

[FantasiaMagia]

All he did was "stand and deliver". Disappointing.

[bwink239]

I don't know quite what to think of this. He can sing over the orchestra, but I don't like his interpretation. I feel like he is trying to turn this into a lyric aria, which it isn't. Mostly, I miss the youthful arrogance and fearlessness of Siegfried seen in some other interpretations. By trying to deliver a subtle and mature performance, Morris looses that aspect of the role- the aspect which allows siegfried to kill Mime and the Dragon, destroy Wotan's spear and cross the enchanted fire.

[colorguarddrummajor]

@bwink239 I agree completely.

[bwink239]

@colorguarddrummajor The thing that perplexes me most about this performance is that it almost sounds like he is trying to sing Puccini, yet he is clearly heard over the orchestra. This is a juxtaposition that I've never heard before. On the one hand, the fact that he can sing lyric passages over a Wagnerian orchestra is just about the most impressive thing I can imagine. On the other hand, it's just not "Nothung". Nothung is not a lyric aria, it is a dramatic one.

[Jaydoggy531]

@bwink239

This is only in rehearsal for one, and for two he's a last minute replacement. After this rehearsal, I think the full performance will be something much more to look at and hear.

[bwink239]

@Jaydoggy531 I certainly hope you're right. I am still excited to go to the live in HD broadcast. This is only one aria- and yes, I have an interpretation that I prefer, but maybe when in the context of the opera it will make more sense.

[Jaydoggy531]

@bwink239

From what I've read of the reviews, he's a most-welcome surprise.

[colorguarddrummajor]

Plus, the way he's performing it, it looks like, "well, my director told me to stand here and crank this thing, so that's what I'm going to do". It was very flat. 

[colorguarddrummajor]

Flat in respect to the acting.

[wenarto]

whoah, thank you.