Anti-heroic Wagner

Zurich Opera's new Siegfried stars Klaus Florian Vogt as a lyrical lead

‘Lord of the Rings’ dragon (dead) with Rebeca Olvera (Woodbird), Klaus Florian Vogt (Siegfried), and Wolfgang Ablinger-Speerhacke-Speerhacke (Mime) Picture by Monika Rittershaus

Gianandrea Noseda was named Conductor of the Year by the German magazine, Oper! specifically for his conducting of the first two parts of Wagner’s Ring. A first-time Ring-conductor, Noseda has been building this new production at the Zurich Opernhaus over the past two seasons, with the theatre’s Intendant, stage director Andreas Homoki. I attended Das Rheingold in April 2021 - notable both for the theatrical flexibility of Homoki’s staging on a revolving set by Christian Schmidt, and the musical fluidity of Noseda’s Wagner with the opera house’s fine orchestra, steeped in a Wagner tradition that goes back to the composer’s exile in the Swiss city, where much of the Ring’s subject matter was penned.

Das Rheingold was a portentous debut for Noseda, whetting the appetite for the remaining instalments of his Tetralogy. Unfortunately, I had to miss Die Walküre last September, but I returned last week for Siegfried the Ring’s so-called scherzo, with one of the leading Wagner singers of the day, the German tenor, Klaus Florian Vogt, making his debut in the title role.

Mime (Ablinger-Speerhacke) and Siegfried (Vogt) Picture by Monika Rittershaus