At the Pacific Symphony’s “Das Rheingold,” Nathan Berg as Alberich with the Rhinemaidens. Photo courtesy of Pacific Symphony/Doug Gifford.
In Saturday’s (4/12) Culture Orange County (California), Timothy Mangan writes, “We are pleased to report that the Pacific Symphony’s production of Richard Wagner’s ‘Das Rheingold,’ which opened Thursday night at Segerstrom Concert Hall, features helmets with horns. Wagner without horned helmets is somehow lacking …. And they were good helmets, with very good horns…. One was pleasantly surprised, once again, by how well ‘Rheingold’ holds the stage, not as socio-political commentary (which it is), but as a theatrical entertainment…. The individual characters all speak (well, sing) from a deep cauldron of emotion and motivation, and the orchestra, rarely mere accompaniment, offers a wealth of commentary, doom and gloom, and splendid visions…. The production … is part of the Pacific Symphony’s annual opera offering, given a semi-staged presentation. Over the years, the semi-staged part of the equation has been rather ambitiously undertaken … The singers gave pleasure, and sounded as if they were enjoying themselves…. Carl St.Clair led the orchestra with a steady hand. Having conducted a ‘Ring’ cycle in Weimar … he has long wanted to bring ‘Rheingold’ to this orchestra’s opera series … and this being his last season as music director he finally did it. Throughout the two and a half hours, he never lost sight of momentum.”
