With Götterdämmerung last night, the curtain came down on Cycle 2 of the Mariinsky Theatre's Ring of the Nibelung — which actually finished in advance of Cycle 1. Almost every aspect of the cycle was similarly convoluted, from the constant rotation of singers in and out of parts to the often profoundly befuddling action onstage. Nonetheless, the week had its vocal highpoints; three for me were the Loge of Vasily Gorshkov, the Brünnhilde (Walküre) and Waltraute of Olga Savova, and the Sieglinde of Mlada Khudoley. More observations will follow in The New Yorker, alongside reports on other Lincoln Center Festival events (Philip Glass's Book of Longing, George Benjamin's Into the Little Hill) and the first week of Mostly Mozart (looking very strong this year, with Paul Lewis playing Beethoven concertos, the St. Lawrence Quartet playing late-night late Beethoven, Mark Morris reprising his Mozart Dances, and Golijov's St. Mark Passion descending on the city once again). Above is another image of David Michalek's Slow Dancing, juxtaposed surreally with Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night Swing.
