TWILIGHT OF THE GODS – LA MONNAIE BRUXELLES
★★★★★★
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
REVIEW GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG: A STUNNING FINALE IN BRUSSELS
Director Pierre Audi and conductor Alain Altinoglu bring the Brussels Ring to a resounding close with a stunningly beautiful production of Götterdämmerung, which already develops into a visual and musical triumph in the first act.
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
An immensely strong cast of singers including Ingela Brimberg as Brünnhilde, Bryan Register as Siegfried, Scott Hendricks as Alberich and Ain Anger as Hagen deliver impressive vocal performances together with La Monnaie’s symphony orchestra, who play Wagner so beautifully that I hardly think I have heard it before.
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
Stage designer Michael Simons has placed the final part of the Ring in a sculptural universe of monumental, cubist set pieces that seem to float weightlessly in the stage space, as if frozen in the explosion of the world we know it will end with.
You are mesmerized for long periods by these magnificent, graphic tableaux and a spectacular lighting design that creates exactly the solemnity the work is intended. The performance is simply brilliantly executed with Petra Reinhardt’s semi-modernist costumes.
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
As in Siegfried, the skilled stage director Pierre Audi refrains from vandalizing innovations and delivers a loyal production with swords, torches, drinking horns and references to the Valkyries’ horses in heavy metal. During the intermission, you can hardly wait to move on.
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
The second act continues to impress. Swedish soprano Ingela Brimberg delivers a stunning dramatic and vocal performance as Brünnhilde in a razor-sharp power woman look a la Claire Underwood from House of Cards.
The prelude to the arranged fake wedding, which is one of Götterdämmerung’s key dramatic scenes, almost takes the roof off as around 60 robed clones take over the room and deliver one of the finest ensemble scenes I have seen in a long time. A top-level performance.
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
Sound levels at Wagner are rarely to be sneezed at, but at La Monnaie, one of the world’s most beautiful but not the largest opera houses, the sound comes together in a benevolent, compact acoustic that must be everything Wagner dreamed of when he created his monumental work.
The sympathetic conductor Altinoglu has been praised to the skies for his orchestral work with the earlier episodes of this Brussels Ring. I think it’s fair to say he excelled in this finale. Thank you for a great, rewarding opera experience that earns six stars from GOT TO SE THIS. And congratulations to La Monnaie, which has just been named Opera house of The Year 2025 by Oper Awards.
