It is the first mass scene in Wagner's Ring: Siegfried leads Brünnhilde to the Gibichungenburg and Hagen summons all his men. From the side stage there is literally a deafening blare of horns, but conductor Ed Spanjaard allows the play to continue. And rightly so: the orchestra has a spark. The whole stage is filled in an instant and the choir swells in strength, louder and louder, ever louder, until the ecstatic apotheosis:
Gross Glück und Heil lacht nun dem Rhein
As the chorus moves from left to right, director Antony McDonald looks on amused, but his assistant Richard Jones sees that the choreography of the crowd is not quite perfect yet. He runs towards the stage, shuffles a bit and then raises his thumb. Meanwhile, technicians and lighting technicians take notes, dramaturge Helen Cooper squeezes a bottle of water and talks to intendant Guus Mostart, who is bidding farewell to the Reisopera after this production.
Something is happening here, but what? The tension is palpable, but at the same time everything seems to be going according to plan. There is still plenty of time.
Spanjaard twice has the choir re-sing a few lines and then returns to the beginning of the scene. Again, the horns sound too loud.
And again. Here, not an army is being convened, but an entire country.
After the fourth excess of decibels, it sounds dry from the orchestra pit: "How does it sound in the hall?"
"Too loud!" shouts his constantly moving assistant.
"What?"
"TOO LOUD!"
It is the last orchestra and stage rehearsal of Götterdämmerung, the longest opera from Wagner's Ring. The orchestra pit is that of the Wilminktheatre, built like Wagner's theatre in Bayreuth with the enormous demands of these monster operas in mind, and the best opera hall in the Netherlands according to Ed Spanjaard. The orchestra pit is also the largest in our country, so that not only the Gelderland Orchestra fits in effortlessly, but also the dozens of 'borrowed forces' of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra. In addition, the stage is so large that the Reisopera's choir can move around effortlessly. More than that: for Götterdämmerung it has been supplemented by two Bulgarian choirs to meet Wagner's megalomaniacal demands.
Once the chorus has disappeared into the wings, Spanjaard resumes rehearsal with the final scene of the second act. Not knowing that Siegfried has been deceived by Hagen and Gunther, all revengeful feelings come to Brünnhilde. The three of them decide to kill Siegfried. We are after fourteen hours Ring finally at Siegfrieds Tod - the starting point for Wagner.
The scene runs remarkably smoothly, although Kirsten Blanck was contracted only a month ago after Judit Németh's unexpected cancellation and sings the leaden role of Brünnhilde for the first time. Nor is there any sign of this when later the third scene of the first act is run through. Blanck frolics a bit with Daniela Denschlag (Waltraute) as Ed Spanjaard gives the orchestra a few more directions. The scene between the two sisters is interrupted twice by the conductor, with minor mistakes being immediately fixed. A half note here, a slightly different tempo there, a small adjustment in dynamics.
Salt, snails?
No. The cliché is that Wagner is all bombast, but Spanjaard is out to prove it: Wagner is in the subtlest details.
Spanjaard began the rehearsal with yet another scene: the beginning of the third act. But not with a hundred men in orchestra pit, but with only the harps. Up to five times, he wants to hear only the harps and patiently explains what he has in mind.
And his approach works. When the orchestra gets a break after an hour and a half, Spanjaard is having tea, those very harp sounds resound from the tub.
Those harps were allowed to go home early a little later. Just like the rest of the orchestra. Except for the horns. For that, Spanjaard uses the last half hour of rehearsal. The bar is raised higher and higher.
Two more pre-genres follow, the dress rehearsal and on 30 September everything has to be right. What no one thought possible will then become reality: the National Travel Opera will complete the complete Ring. An achievement of stature. But it is a Ring with a sour aftertaste. For however well the first three volumes were received, a performance of the complete Ring, originally planned for the Wagner year 2013 is not coming. This much became clear even before the first Rutte cabinet made drastic cultural cuts.
However, Zijlstra's draconian measures have far greater consequences than not being able to stage an entire Ring: the very last part of the tetralogy also heralds the departure of almost the entire workforce.
Set designers, make-up artists, the costume workshop and most everyone else in the background - resignations have been requested for all of them. The oft-praised choir, one of the few professional ones in the Netherlands, is also disappearing. A small core that will operate as a production house remains.
When the Reisopera embarked on the greatest adventure of its existence, it could not have imagined how appropriate precisely this opera is as a finale. For how dark and grim Götterdämmerung also is - the in Das Rheingold all contested Valhalla goes up in flames and all the gods meet their end - the closing bars offer hope. Indeed, there the Siegfried motif and the redemption motif clash, with the clear winner being the redemption motif, with a promise of a new world.
What will that new world look like for the National Touring Opera? I am going to follow it very closely.
Nationale Reisopera: Richard Wagner - Götterdämmerung. Wilminktheatre Enschede, 30 September, 3, 6, 9, 13, 16 October.
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