Lyndon Terracini discusses the 2013 RING Festival
October 16, 2011 | Author insider
In a packed room at the Goethe-Institut in Woollahra, Sydney, Artistic Director of Opera Australia, Lyndon Terracini provided members of The Wagner Society (NSW) with an update on plans for staging Wagner’s epic DER RING DES NIEBELUNGEN in Melbourne in 2013.
The discussion was a Special Event planned by The Wagner Society for its October meeting. The meeting commenced at 12.30 pm with the viewing of a video of the second half (Acts 3,4 and 5) of the 2010 Deutsche Oper production of RIENZI. For the screening around 25 members were present, but when the appointed hour (2 o’clock) came for the presentation by Mr Terracini, the audience rapidly swelled to around 100 eager Wagnerites.
Lyndon Terracini, a delightful raconteur, was in a relaxed yet ebullient mood and delivered a very exciting overview of some of the proposed plans for the Melbourne RING.
The RING
His vision is for Opera Australia to take its place as a truly International opera company by finally performing a well overdue series of RING Cycles. This will not only benefit the demands of the opera going public, which has felt short changed by the infrequent performance of Wagner operas, but also to place the company, its artists, creatives,and orchestral musicians on a track leading to regular performances of these works, to extend them, and take them to the next level. He hopes the RING productions will be able to be repeated in RING Festivals in Melbourne every 3 years. The 2013 RING will hopefully be repeated in 2016 and 2019 before considering a new production. Accordingly, he feels it is of particular importance that the new RING will be a staging that will last the test of time, and will be eminently suitable for repeated stagings. This will be a no gimmick RING !
Accordingly after much deliberation, Neil Armfield was chosen for his excellent ability to clearly tell the narrative of a work, as has been proven time and again with his work with the company, including his productions of TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, PETER GRIMES and his Janacek cycle.
He explained his appointment of Richard Mills as conductor of the RING at some length. Mr Mills has been a controversial appointment for the RING gig, due to a lack of experience conducting Wagner. However, Richard Mills worked with Lyndon Terracini in presenting a concert performance of Wagner’s TRISTAN UND ISOLDE for the 2005 Brisbane Festival. The Australian Youth Orchestra was used featuring various soloists, including John Treleaven, Lisa Gasteen, Bruce Martin, Bernadette Cullen, David Wakeham, Barry Ryan, Jaewoo Kim, and Lionel Theunissen. The performance was a great success and won a Helpman Award that year. Terracini feels that as he is also a composer, he views music with different eyes to a conductor, and has a greater sense for pacing works and preparing an orchestra for performance.
Terracini also hopes that the development of a RING Orchestra (consisting of a core of players from Orchestra Victoria, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and elite members of other major orchestras on leave to participate in this extraordinary music) will also lead to a long term culture and excellence in performing Wagner’s works. The State Theatre at the Victorian Arts Centre which is set to have major renovations, will have its orchestra pit enlarged to take the orchestra of 110 players required.
Participation of many of the current roster of singers is also viewed as a long term project to develop a culture and increased expertise in these works. Some younger singers will cover and rehearse major roles such as Wotan as an intensive learning experience for future years and their development.
In short, it is all about setting the ground work for an impetus, culture and performance excellence in staging Wagner’s RING and other works for the long term.
Although he was reticent to name the designer, the film and theatre designer, Robert Cousins is working closely with Neil Armfield and the staging has been thought through to mid-SIEGFRIED at this time.
Casting already announced includes English soprano Susan Bullock as Brunnhilde, Finnish bass-baritone Juha Uusitalo as Wotan, American Heldentenor Gary Lehman as Siegfried and Australian Helden baritone John Wegner as Alberich. It will come as no surprise to learn that Australian and Internationally renowned helden tenor – Stuart Skelton will be singing Siegmund (probably the worst kept secret in opera circles). No other casting was offered and surprisingly was not requested from this particularly excited and well informed audience. Opera Insider believes Daniel Sumegi has also been cast as Hagen and Fasolt.
The RING FESTIVAL
With financial assistance and enthusiastic collaboration, Victorian Events and Tourism will assist in a true Arts Festival supporting the RING and the music of Wagner.
Proposed activities includes:
* films about Wagner and the RING, including outdoor films at the Edge
* seminars on the RING and the music of Wagner
* pre-performance talks
* RING dinners
* a discussion on Wagner and his views on Jews
* brass bands marching through the streets of Melbourne playing music by Wagner
* performances of cut-down RINGS
* the use of a Spiegeltent as a ‘Festspielhaus’ at the front of the State Theatre as the centre for the Festival activities
* performances of music associated with Wagner by other composers
* concert performances of Wagner’s DIE FEEN and Marschner’s DER VAMPYR
At this stage the Wagner Festival is all about Melbourne. Activities are also planned for Sydney, but are not developed at this time.
OTHER COMMENTS
It was made quite clear that sadly, but quite appropriately Melbourne will be the site of large scale opera and Wagner by Opera Australia until such time as Sydney has an appropriate, large scale lyric theatre similar to the State Theatre in Melbourne and the lyric theatres in Adelaide and Brisbane. Sydney opera fans will have to travel to Melbourne to see performances of the RING, Richard Strauss’ ELEKTRA planned for 2014 and a planned future production of LOHENGRIN.
Some respite may be in store for Sydney with Lyndon Terracini and Opera Australia seriously considering occasional concert performances of opera. A particular project on which Terracini is very keen, is a concert performance of Wagner’s PARSIFAL on Easter Sunday some time in the future. The performance is already out for 2012, but may happen in 2013 or 2014. Concert performances of TRISTAN UND ISOLDE and Rossini’s GUILLAUME TELL are also under consideration.
All up, the presentation and discussion were very informative and extremely entertaining, and the audience was very appreciative of Lyndon’s candour.
As enthusiasm and excitement mount, final casting details for the Melbourne RING will be announced later this year when tickets go on sale.
So Lyndon Terracini has, once again, to defend his decision to hire Richard Mills to conduct the 2013 Ring. Each time the subject of this “controversial appointment” is raised, it sounds more and more like an apology (as it should). Obviously it is too late to revise the offer, but rumor has it that another conductor is being considered “just in case”. The argument that he being a composer is an advantage is absolute nonsense, and an insult to superior non-composing Wagner conductors. Quite the opposite- the non-composing conductor has had the time to study his Wagner, that Mr. Mills has been spending churning out commissions that will never be heard anywhere but Australia. But then Mr. Terracini should really define what he thinks a composer is- are we discussing Boulez conducting the Ring, or he who has had the seldom honor of having written “the vilest ting” one critic ever heard in the theatre?
The “maestro” himself is aware that “eyebrows were raised” when he was offered the job. (What about the heads that were shaken, and the shoulders that were shrugged?) Whose eyebrows? Obviously the eyebrows of those who know that this appointment is thoroughly irresponsible. So he’s seen Tannhäuser in Brisbane, and won the Helpmann (with all due respect to Sir Robert, this would be like expecting some attention by flashing a Logie around in Hollywood )- consider how (and how long) a serious Wagner conductor has spent preparing to conduct the Ring. Teaching the roles bar by bar, playing weeks, months or years of rehearsals, seeing different productions in large and small houses, knowing ALL the Wagner operas (the anecdote describing Christian Thielemann, as a repetiteur, playing Parsifal stage rehearsals from memory while studying another score, is legendary). As legendary as the “maestro’s” comments about the Ring being easier to conduct than Fledermaus or Figaro!!! Let’s not even touch on the subject of his knowledge of the language.
The frightening aspect of this is that he really seems to think that he can do it. Where does the audacity of someone like this, who has (except for the early 70s London sojourn) had a purely Australian career, come from? Maybe Mr. Terracini has the answer.
Thanks for your comment sinneyopra. Sounds as though the Mills appointment remains highly controversial. I agree whole-heatedly that great conductors do not need to be composers and the notion of an intensive journey working on the RING as a repetiteur and assistant conductor over many years is the usual path seen with the great Wagner conductors.
I believe Richard Mills has been working intensively studying the music for months in preparation, and will continue to do so during next year when he will not be involved with the preparation of any other operas. Work starts on the preparation of RHEINGOLD and WALKURE in April/May of 2013 and later in the year for SIEGFRIED and GOTTERDAMMERUNG.
Time will tell !
The appointment is scandalous. There is nothing in Mills’ domestic conducting career to justify his appointment as a RING conductor! The OA should buy out his contract and appoint someone who has, at the very, least assisted in a RING production.
Like sinneyopera I too have reservations about Mills – Thielemann is magnificence personified in the Bayreuth pit but even he would agree the sound he extracts is much to do with the house and it’s inimitable accoustic. If Mills pulls it off on the other hand, he will be a deity in Oz forevermore. Can you give us a hint as to who is being considered as a “just in case” ? By now, there won’t be many competant AND experienced Wagnerian dirigents available given how many performances are slated worldwide in 13.
Dear Oz ringster and others,
I have no idea who the rumoured “just in case” conductor might be. It would be most unusual NOT to have a cover for the conductor – just as covers are required for the principal roles. I would also expect any cover conductor is appointed as just that, and not a shadowy figure waiting for Mr Mills to fail. Although Mr Mills is not primarily a musician who has worked in opera all his life working his way up from a repetiteur to a conductor, He is a dedicated musician and composer who has done his galley years conducting over 30 operas for many of the State Opera companies including Tristan und Isolde for the Brisbane Festival, and has been Artistic Director of the Western Australian Opera for over a decade.
He will not be alone in the musical preparation of the RING. No doubt he will have the entire resources of the Music Department of Opera Australia at his disposal to advise and assist, including:
Assistant Musical Director Anthony Legge who assisted on the Kupfer-Barenboim Ring cycle for five years and a new production of Die Meistersinger at Bayreuth. He also conducted rehearsals of the RING, PARSIFAL and DIE MEISTERSINGER at the English National Opera during his tenure there as Head of Music.
Repetiteur Kate Grolla – the recipient of a 2005 Bayreuth Scholarship.
Composer, conductor and repetiteur John Haddock who has previously been Head of Music at the Dallas Opera.
Conductor and repetiteur Brian Castles-Onion.
Conductor, concert pianist and repetiteur Tahu Matheson.
Repetiteurs Phoebe Briggs, Jennifer Marten-Smith and Stephen Walter
No doubt others may be added, as Opera Australia still has major seasons to prepare and stage during 2012 and 2013, including major works for the Verdi Bicentenary that also occurs during 2013.
My observations after hearing Mr Mills talking at a recent RING presentation are he is more than aware of the controversy over his appointment and the weight of expectation on the results, he is ABSOLUTELY dedicated to the study, preparation and rehearsal of the RING over the next 3 years at a cost of almost everything else.
Recent observation of him conducting his own work from the second row of the stalls, directly behind him, suggests he was confident, well prepared, and conducted his work well, delivering excellent playing from the orchestra and singing from the principals.
The question is not whether he can conduct the RING, but whether he will deliver an acceptable, or inspired performance. I hope the latter is the case.
Given his time frame for preparing himself for the task, if he cannot speak German, is not familiar with the complex preparation and every possible nuance of conducting this immense work – he should be by the time it is staged in 2013.
Although I too was extremely surprised by Mr Mills appointment, I feel we should have faith in the choice by Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini and support Lyndon, Richard Mills and the company in their immense task ahead.
1. Obviously you have not seen the current Bayreuth Meistersingers or you would NEVER EVER mention it on your site. Assisting Barenboim is just that, assisting, although the Harry Kupfer production was the best ever at Bayreuth in the modern era (but not as exciting and beautiful as the San Francisco Ring this year, but I digress).
2. Mills and anyone else cannot “learn” German in the time frame as well as “learn” the music. Have you ANY IDEA of what is required here?
3.You can rattle off a list of supposedly eminent musos as long as your arm – from what will be a super-critical audience, ONLY ONE of them will be in control of the orchestra throughout the performances themselves – Mills. Given his legendary temperament, somehow I can’t see him taking on board the advice of all your list of “experts” during the next three years without a major dummy spit or twelve.
4. The music world is littered with well intentioned “dedicated” conductors of the Ring who were forgettable when it came to the crunch. The mere fact you were sold on Mills ability to pull this off “after hearing him talk” speaks volumes for your judgement. Then again, you say “he should be (prepared) by 2013″. Pardon me for having a giggle.
5. “Hope” – and pray too, Melbourne. It’s 2013 after all, and soooo many other productions will be given around the world – a world record number in fact. The opportunity for comparisons between Mills and others will be unrivalled.