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Metropolitan Opera- Robert Lepage's Das Rheingold


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Certainly the last thing the Rhinemaidens should have to worry about is falling off their perch, although this wouldn't be the first production to make severe demands on them. :)

Who knows if by the time of the performance they were still scared, but as the documentary intro film showed, they sure were when first presented with Lepage's concept. Lisette Oropesa's expressions of fear and disbelief drew laughs.

ETA: Well I guess they were still scared: Athletic Rhinemaidens Dangle 30 Feet Above Met Stage: Interview:

“We all feared the flying, but singing while sitting down and moving became the hard part,” said Mumford, who sings Flosshilde.
“It’s really scary,” Oropesa said. “We try not to look like we are hanging on for dear life, especially after the director kept telling us not to dangle like dead fish.”

They sure are pros.

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The singers had to struggle against their very human fears of steep slopes and edges. These ladies did a marvelous job, but Lepage is asking too much here. Indeed, my overall objection to Lepage's concept is that he asked too much of all his singers.

I totally agree with you. That's exactly what I felt when I saw the 3 Rhinemaidens hanging in the air - as they couldn't move freely, they looked like collected butterflies fixed to the planks by a pin - and, especially, when all gods walking to the new palace - If I saw correctly, they had to walk up the vertical plank for some time before the planks were arranged horizontal. I couln't enjoy the ending scene due to sympathy and even some guilty feeling.

In addition to that the planks looked uncomfortable, inconvenient, and dangerous, I didn't think the texture of the planks - i.e., coldness - was in good harmony with the beauty of the voice, music, or, to me, the opera itself dealing with the myths.

Though I didn't like the staging much, the voices of Eric Owens(Alberich), Stephanie Blythe(Fricka) and Franz-Josef Selig(Fasolt) were so beautiful that I felt an urge to fly to New York over the Atlantic sea to hear them live.

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