For the first time since 1972, the Canadian Opera Company (COC) has performed Siegfried.  And, I can say, it was not worth the wait.

For Act I, the stump used in last season’s Die Walkure remains on stage. As the curtain opens, we see Siegfried sitting on the stump, with people and objects - which appear to be the remains of a destroyed Valhalla - hanging from the rafters.  This is to be the only thing that comes close to looking like a tree, or forest for that matter, in the whole opera.  The bear, which normally has a very short appearance in this opera, appears throughout the entire first act.  Mime, Siefgried, and the Wanderer all wear pyjamas.  The Wanderer, who Wagner says is supposed to wear a hat, does not wear one during the entire performance.  For the forging scene, we merely see Siegfried stand over a hole with hands, and a red light, coming out of it.  Even though we hear a hammer banging away on Notung at one point, we do not see Siegfried hammering.

Act II takes place with the people and destroyed objects still hanging from the rafters.  This is supposed to be the “forest.”  Fafner turns up as a six person pyramid, not a dragon as originally called for.  Siegfried stands a mile away from Fafner for most of their fight, and swings Notung around.  The fatal stab is between the two people in the middle of the pyramid.  The forest bird descends for the rafters from time to time, and looks more like an angel then a bird, for she is dressed all in white.  At the end of the act, when Siegfried is supposed to be following the bird, he merely stands at the front of the stage looking at the audience.  What is seen is completely different then what the music suggests.  Girard seems to be uninterested in what the music expresses.

Act III takes place with a circle of people lying on the stage.  This ring will become the fire later in the act.  I personally found it funny that the Wanderer tells Siegfried that he wears his hat when travelling (and that was a surtitle!), yet he does not have a hat on.  When the Wanderer tells Siegfried about the fire surrounding Brunnhilde, the ring of people stands up and they wave their hands above their heads.  A red light glows on them, to represent the fire.  When Siegfried goes to break through the fire, a few people simply move out of the way to let him through.  As the scene continues, the ring slowly moves to form a straight line at the back of the stage, and then slowly disappears leaving the two lovers alone on the stage.  This beautiful duet was a disappointment.  The singers, especially Christian Franz, spent most of the time singing to the audience, and not to each other.  When Siegfried sings the line to Brunnhilde to be his (“Sie Mein“), she is standing behind him, and he is singing directly to the audience.  At the end of the act, when the music depicts the lovers embracing, they slowly reach out and touch hands just as the curtain begins to fall.  Again, Girard fails to connect the stage action to the music.

I personally found the singing to be wonderful.  Christian Franz sang Siegfried like he was a young man, even though he spent most of his time standing, and had little acting to do.  Francis Ginzer was in full voice.  Peter Eglitis was a powerful Wanderer.  The orchestra, although smaller than what is called for, did a good job.  All in all, the singing, and orchestration were the only good points about the production.