The Doge Abides

Plácido Domingo to sing Simon Boccanegra with the Opera Orchestra of New York.

Plácido Domingo in the Metropolitan Opera
production of Simon Boccanegra

The Opera Orchestra of New York has revealed its "secret" production of the 2012 spring season, starring Plácido Domingo. 

And it's...Simon Boccanegra. The opera will be performed in concert at Avery Fisher Hall on March 7. This will mark the OONY's first performance of Boccanegra. OONY music director Alberto Veronesi will conduct.

The title role in Boccanegra has long been considered a pinnacle of the baritone repertoire. Mr. Domingo, who began his 50-year opera career singing in that range, added the role to his repertory in 2009. 

Simon Boccanegra had a complex genesis. Verdi wrote the original version of the opera in 1857. The confusing plot and lack of action did not sit well with the public, and the opera vanished from the stage. In 1881, at the urging of librettist Arrigio Boito, Verdi revamped the opera, restructuring the story and adding the climactic Council Chamber scene to the end of Act I.

Although the OONY has a reputation for bringing little-heard works and unusual versions of operas to the ears of New Yorkers, this will be a performance of the 1881 revision of the opera. It is also Mr. Veronesi's second appearance leading the OONY, following a 2010 double bill of Massenet's La Navarraise and Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana at Carnegie Hall.

The opera gained new life in the repertory in the 20th century, becoming a favorite of great Verdi baritones Tito Gobbi and Piero Cappucilli. It is regularly seen at the Metropolitan Opera, where Mr. Domingo sang the role in the winter of 2009. 

Earlier in his career, Mr. Domingo was frequently heard in the role of Gabriele Adorno, the revolutionary firebrand who is determined to knock the Doge off the throne of Genoa. In this performance, Gabriele will be sung by Massimino Giordano. The role of Amelia, Simon's secret daughter and Gabriele's love interest will be sung by Ana Maria Martinez in her Opera Orchestra of New York debut.

This performance will mark the 71-year old singer's only Verdi appearances of the season. It is also his third performance with the Opera Orchestra of New York, following a 1973 Francesca di Rimini and Massenet's Le Cid in 1976. 

Götterdämmerung It

When Wagner meets Def Leppard.

It's hysteria, I tells ya. Original art elements © 1987 Def Leppard/Phonogram Records
Photo of Ms. Voigt by Brigitte Lacombe © 2011 The Metropolitan Opera.

This morning, I was thinking about the unlikely confluence of Richard Wagner and...Def Leppard. So without further ado, here's a parody of Def Leppard's 1987 pop-metal classic "Armageddon It", re-written as a playful plot synopsis of Wagner's Götterdämmerung, which has its premiere tonight at the Metropolitan Opera. Enjoy.

"Götterdämmerung It", a parody of "Armageddon It" by Def Leppard.
Parody lyrics by Paul Pelkonen © 2012 Paul Pelkonen.
Original song written by Def Leppard and Robert 'Mutt' Lange © 1987 Bludgeon Riffola/Phonogram Music.

Ya better take this Ring 'cos I'm going now
Gonna kick some butt down by the Rhine
We'll sing a full-volume "Heil" when I'm heading out
And then you give me back your noble Grane

You got it? It's Götterdämmerung.

You say that Siegfried soon will be comin' here
And you know that Hagen's got a big plan

You know ya can't stop it,
So don't knock it,
You know we'll get it.

Hey it's Götterdämmerung.
Götterdämmerung.
Cos he'll bring us the Ring.

Give him that memory potion (every little bit)
Make him drink every drop (every bit of it)
Then we'll slip him the notion (oh c'mon live a bit)
That your sister is hot.

Yeah but are you Nibelung? It's Götterdämmerung.
Son of Nibelung? Yes Götterdämmerung.

We're gonna go up there with the Tarnhelm
And switch places so she won't know who's who
And then I'll kidnap her and you'll marry her
and have a big wedding hullabaloo.

You got it? It's Götterdämmerung.

But when she figure it out she'll be mad as heck
And then she'll plan to have him stabbed in the back

You know ya can't stop it.
So don't knock it.
You know he'll get it

Hey it's Götterdämmerung.
Götterdämmerung.
Cos I'll wind up with the Ring.

[Repeat Bridge]
[Repeat Chorus]

C'mon, Hagen, get 'im!

[Steer-horn solo]

Give me, give me give me the Ring
Because if I don't get it, Dad won't let me sleep
Pull it, pull it pull it off his dead hand
'cos this was my whole stupid plan
('cos this was my whole stipid plan!)

Is the opera done? It's Götterdämmerung
Yeah it's almost done, it's Götterdämmerung.
Oh crap now she's got the Ring.

Pile up all of those logs now--every little bit
Put Siegfried on the pyre--every bit of it
And I'll take back the Ring now--cos I'm keepin git
Ride my horse through the fire--Oh it's Götterdämmerung.

Fly ravens to Valhalla--and tell Wotan it's
Time to light his own pyre--every bit of it
Time to burn down the castle--what a silly git
See the flames leaping higher--whoa hot isn't it?

See Hagen swimming--get a hold of the Ring now.
See Hagen drowning--Rhinemaidens pulled him down
See river flooding--this all happens so fast now
See world is ending--It only took six hours.

How to Survive the End of the World

A quick guide to Götterdämmerung.

Promotional image of Deborah Voigt as Brunnhilde in the Met's new Götterdämmerung.
Photo by Brigitte Lacombe © 2011 The Metropolitan Opera.

Gött-er-dämm-erung. Even the name sounds intimidating, pronounced with an "er" on the first syllabule and a slightly elongated nasal "a on the third. The English title, "Twilight of the Gods" also sounds kind of scary.

So you've decided to see it. Whether you're a die-hard Wagnerite with six Ring cycles under your belt or a novice going to the opera for the first time, here's a quick survival guide to one of Wagner's most imposing operas. Well, not that quick: Götterdämmerung is really long.

This is the last chapter in the Ring of the Nibelungs, a four-opera cycle dealing with the legends of Siegfried, Brunnhilde and various dwarves, giants and gods feuding over possession of a magic ring that allows its holder to rule the world. It's also a powerful evening of opera, with rape, betrayal, murder and redemption coming in surprisingly quick succession over the course of a long opera.

Here's an opera-goer's synopsis:

Although it is performed in three acts, the first part of Götterdämmerung is really a combined Prologue and Act I. At two and a half hours, it is long as a Puccini opera. There are no stops for applause, and no bathroom breaks. You can't leave the theater until intermission. In other words, pee before it starts.

The opening scene (a prologue to the Prologue) with the Norns may sound boring. It's not--there's some really neat music, but it's basically set-up for everything that follows. Wagner wrote this scene originally to explain everything that was about to happen to the audience--who Siegfried was. He later wrote prequels to the libretto for the original Siegfrieds Tod--and it is those prequels that make the first three parts of the Ring.

Next the tenor and soprano take the stage and sing a big love duet with lots of "Heils." As this is high, exposed music, you can soon assess whether these are singers that are worth your time or whether it's time to start rooting for Hagen. The duet is followed by the Rhine Journey, a mini-tone poem for orchestra that covers the scene change.

The action then moves to the Gibichung Hall. The descending theme of the Gibichungs marks the proper start of Act I, although the music never stops. This is your chance to see if the bass singing Hagen has a black, rounded tone in his instrument, necessary to express what an evil bastard this character is. Then Siegfried shows up, and promptly drinks a potion of forgetfulness. He then falls in love with the first available woman, Gutrune.

The toughest stretch of Act I comes in the scene known to Wagner geeks as "Hagen's Watch." The opera's bad guy sits himself down, and in a long bass aria, explains who he is and what his evil plan is to the audience. There is then a long orchestral passage while the scenery transforms before your eyes, from the Gibichung castle on the shore of the Rhine, back to Brunnhilde's fiery rock. 

Wagner follows these two slow passages with a long dialogue between Brunnhilde and her Valkyrie sister Waltraute, about how their father Wotan (king of the Gods) wants to kill himself and end the world. Things pick up again with the arrival of the drugged, disguised Siegfried, who is wearing the Tarnhelm, Elmer Fudd's original magic helmet. Disguised as Gunther, the poor tenor has to pretend to be a baritone in order to kidnap his soon-to-be-ex. This deception sets up the crisis in Act II. 

Here's the good news. If you've made it through these two long scenes, the rest of the opera (though long) is easy.

Act II is an hour, and gripping from start to finish. Hagen sings the Summoning of the Vassals, bellowing over a huge orchestral outburst. This brings the chorus onstage. There's a big wedding procession, and then Brunnhilde realizes that Siegfried was the one who kidnapped her. Her reaction isn't good. The act ends with a vengeance trio as Brunnhilde, Hagen, and Gunther (Hagen's wimpy brother) plan to murder Siegfried.

Act III is basically three scenes. It starts with the still-drugged, newly married Siegfried confronting the Rhinemaidens (with some pretty music) and is followed by the hunting party where Siegfried gets stabbed in the back. The tenor takes about five minutes to die. Next: the funeral music, which allows the orchestra to show off.

Finally, we come to the Immolation Scene. This is essentially a 20-minute scena for the soprano that sums up and wraps up all the plot points of the Ring before she jumps on her horse and rides it into Siegfried's funeral pyre. Hopefully, there's some cool conflagatory business going on for you to look at.

Once that conflagration happens it's home-stretch--there's just five minutes to go in the Ring. Sit back, enjoy the cascading chords as they resolve around you, and be proud--you've just made it through one of the toughest German operas ever written.