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Das Rheingold at Opéra de Paris (Photo: Herwig Prammer)

Third time lucky for Paris. The announced Wotan, Ludovic Tézier, was unwell during rehearsals so withdrew from his role debut in Das Rheingold. He was replaced by Iain Paterson, a seasoned Wotan, who sang the premiere and then also succumbed to illness.  In stepped Nicholas Brownlee, not so experienced (though he is currently Munich’s Wotan of choice for their new Ring Cycle). By necessity, the staging was galvanised, and, to some extent, it needed an extra shot of something.

Calixto Bieito’s production is generally clear and he focuses on the ever-growing power expressed through technology and AI, a timely concept as the group of influential tech bros at the top of the pile grows ever more select and powerful, billionaires installed in positions of global influence as the rest of us flounder beneath them. Alberich is not surrounded by Nibelungen but keeps his brother Mime tethered by his nipples, (it is a Bieito production after all), as he works amidst a forest of cables assembling androids, focussing on one in particular (played by an incredibly supple Juliette Morel). Otherwise the direction is quite straightforward and once back from Nibelheim the action tended to be slightly generic at times. Some ideas are perhaps too simple – Fasolt in a business suit, Fafner in cowboy gear; some more inspired – Fricka as a Bored Housewife of Valhalla, caustic and obviously with an eye for a chap in a Stetson. But Rebecca Ringst’s monumental metal set keeps the action to the fore and the narrative is clear, culminating in an impressive entry up a vast ramp into the gods’ new home.

Das Rheingold at Opéra de Paris (Photo: Herwig Prammer)

Pablo Heras-Casado conducted with much finesse. The strings in the opening scene were delicate and even the brass was often reduced to a surprising softness. A couple of moments fell flat, the descent to Nibelheim didn’t convey much thrill, but generally the orchestra played magnificently. Brownlee’s Wotan was remarkable, with his rich bass-baritone ringing impressively into the auditorium, it is a noble sound. His acting was fluent, with no sign of jumping in. Ève-Maud Hubeaux strode restlessly as Fricka, refining her mezzo to echo the woodwind sounds from the pit. Brian Mulligan’s Alberich upstaged just about everybody; an agitated, oversexed, panicked character, a sense of the bullied becoming the bully. He sang with rare refinement, almost a bel canto take on the role, a contrast to his gleeful physical excesses. Kwangchul Youn and Mika Kares battled it out sonorously as the giants, Eliza Boom was a small-scale Freia, and Simon O’Neill, Florent Mbia, Matthew Cairns and Gerhard Siegel all scored hits as Loge, Donner, Froh and Mime respectively. Likewise the Rhinemaidens (Margarita Polonskaya, Isabel Signoret, Katharina Magiera) and Marie-Nicole Lemieux as an unusually relatable Erda.