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Götterdämmerung at Regents Opera (Photo: Steve Gregson)

After performances of Caroline Staunton’s staging of Wagner’s Rheingold, Walküre and Siegfried in Freemason's Hall, another venue was required for the entire cycle. It came down to another ring - a boxing ring - to do the honours: Bethnal Green’s York Hall, a venue that played a part in the career of such (pardon the pun) heavyweight luminaires as Chris Eubank and Tyson Fury. Small wonder there is air-boxing in the staging.

It is vital to see the complete cycle, as Götterdämmerung brings Staunton’s visionary conception together. Throughout, Staunton makes a virtue of necessity. Clever stage transformations are impossible; much is left to the imagination. Staunton has stated that, from the beginning, the Tarnhelm was an idea rather than an object. The central conceit of a museum with the Woodbird (the excellent Corinne Hart) as museum employee, questions the nature of objects and their human-determined worth.  And it’s not just objects, but real estate’s value that is questioned (Valhalla). The prime dissonance grinding against this is love itself, and Staunton explores its place within this greed-driven, anti-meritocratic society.

Perspectives are constantly questioned: display/utility, or the Gunther/Siegfried transformation - Brünnhilde sees her suitor as Gunther. Staunton does not need the grand effect; lighting is often enough. The orchestral perspective is similarly reframed: conductor Ben Woodward’s reduction to 22 instruments deserves gargantuan praise, and in the smaller York Hall, the sound can be truly intense. Woodward paces the entire cycle well, ever creating momentum.

Götterdämmerung at Regents Opera (Photo: Steve Gregson)

There was some exceptional singing. Stealing the show was Simon Wilding's jet-black Hagen, a brutish creature of purest greed, surrounded by his fine chorus of vassals (not all of which looked as if they would survive long in the East End, however). Peter Furlong‘s tireless Siegfried was vocally impressive; but it was Catherine Woodward’s Brünnhilde that has the last word, a Grane-less Immolation of pure dramatic flair.  Oliver Gibbs made the role of Alberich his own throughout the cycle. If Andrew Mayor’s Gunther seemed less involved, both Gutrune (Justine Viani) and Waltraute (Catherine Beckhouse) carried their roles with confidence, and intensity.

We were, sadly, missing one great aspect of this Ring: Keel Watson, a Wotan of exceptional stature*.  It says a lot that the internationally-lauded Ralf Lukas, Wotan here, suffered across the first three parts of the Ring in comparison. Of the non-Götterdämmerung parts, James Schouten’s trickster Loge and Holden Madagame’s Mime again shone.

An absolute triumph, all brought together by Ben Woodward’s intimate knowledge of this score. Perhaps the final word to the orchestra: so many notes, so few players, so much energy. Bravo.

* (see my previous reviews, and Watson’s obituary in ON January 2024).