Maazel at the Met

Forty-five years since his last appearance, Lorin Maazel finally returned to the pit at the Metropolitan Opera. And after such a long absence, he seemed intent on elongating the experience as much as possible.

Maazel, the New York Philharmonic’s music director, opened his run at the Met on Monday, January 7 with a performance of Die Walküre, the second opera in Richard Wagner's Ring cycle, in which tempos fluctuated between sluggish and glacial. Wagner’s orchestra serves an important role, commenting on the story and heightening its drama, yet interludes consistently slowed to a crawl and when combined with the director Otto Schenk’s static action on stage, they sapped all momentum. Even the wild, windswept preludes to Act II and Act III (“Ride of the Valkyries”) sounded measured and tame.

Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, in a venomous performance as the manipulative Fricka, was superb. She cut through the orchestra, revealing Fricka’s disdain for her unfaithful husband, Wotan. Overall, however, the cast was a disappointment, and Maazel’s pacing did them no favors. James Morris brought compassion to Wotan, but over time his bass voice has lost power. As Siegmund, tenor Clifton Forbis seemed over matched by his demanding role; as Sieglinde, Siegmund’s twin sister and lover, soprano Adrianne Pieczonka proved more effective, conveying youthful passion and vulnerability. Soprano Lisa Gasteen struggled as Brünnhilde, Wotan’s powerful daughter: high notes, particularly in her famous Valkyrie Battle Cry, were inconsistent, and she strained to project and sustain long phrases. As a bland Hunding, bass Mikhail Petrenko lacked any terror or darkness.

Even the Met orchestra suffered in Maazel’s hands. Following such an inconsistent tempo can be a challenge, and after a tight opening act, its performance became littered with poor tone quality and fuzzy ensemble. The brass section in particular was pushed to the limit; fatigue was likely to blame for its increasingly abrasive, ugly sound.

Maazel is one of his generation’s greatest conductors, but he seemed to be in his own world. With singers and musicians gasping for breath, he stubbornly maintained his deliberate pace. This performance should have been Maazel’s triumphant return to the Met, but his idiosyncratic conducting made it little more than protracted self-indulgence.

(Photo by Chris Lee)