A great container of the world

When David McVicar became Sir in 2012, he had received the Grand Prix de la Musique du Syndicat de la Critique just a few weeks before. It was not just any award, for the prize was for his first Wagnerian Ring, presented at the Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg. It has been a long time, and 17 years (considering the appearance of the first Rheingold in that cycle) is perhaps enough time to metabolize the immense subject matter and tackle it again. At that time McVicar's reading was appreciated for avoiding intellectualistic excesses, adhering to the Wagnerian musical breath and trusting its human component: the torments of Wotan, the violence of Siegmund and Sieglinde's feelings, the filial suffering of Brünnhilde. The impression is that in his first Wagnerian cycle McVicar did not want to give too many socio-political characterizations, favouring instead a glimpse into time and cultures, as if all the gods were part of the world's great history. Hence a Hagen wearing a samurai costume, the African masks hanging on the walls, a Rheingold embodied by a dancer to whom Brünnhilde will give the golden mask that will fit his face perfectly and restore universal harmony, while the mask of Erda – Mother Earth – the greatest and most important, was the one that disintegrated. We caught up with McVicar in the midst of rehearsals for the new Scala Rheingold.

LB Staging a Tetralogy is one of the most long-term cultural tests one can still imagine in today's fast-paced world. Does a director already have to be clear about the final direction of the project right from Rheingold?
DM Certainly. This Ring I think is like an arc stretched toward conclusion. Right from the first bars of music, where you feel the river flowing, you have to imagine the epilogue. It would be impossible to think of such a work opera by opera. It must be said, however, that from Rheingold to the first full performance of the Ring more than two decades passed, during which Wagner changed profoundly, first a revolutionary anarchist socialist, then a disillusioned man who accepted the failure of his youthful ideals. Fundamentally, however, it remains that the Ring, beyond inconsistencies and afterthoughts, is a unified work, a great container of the world.

LB What resources have you drawn on, in addition to your already proven experience in the Wagnerian arena?
DM In my work as an opera director, which I have been doing for exactly 30 years, I always bring my training as an actor, which I claim with pride. All the operas I tackle, whether from the 18th century, which I adore, or the late 19th century, start with the singers. Don't get me wrong: there is always a conceptual basis in everything I do, but then on stage there has to be a reason why things happen, one after another. Conceptual interpretation is important, but it is not the main thing for me, because then it is the artists who go on stage and interpret a thought. So, it's essential how the artists invest themselves in the character and how they tell the story, so that it comes across clearly to the audience. This is really important. Anything that hinders the understanding of the story is to be eliminated, no more and no less.

LB Is working with experienced Wagnerian singers an advantage or does it offer less leeway?
DM Definitely an advantage. In my experience, Wagnerian singers – assuming we can consider that a category – are usually the most flexible because they are interested in going deep into the meaning of the word. In contrast, in the Italian repertoire, I notice less malleability, perhaps because there is more focus on the virtuosic aspect of singing. For that matter, there is also a practical reason: if you have to be onstage four or five hours, although this will not be the case with the Rheingold, it is definitely better to thoroughly understand every little gesture, every word, every meaning.

LB Will it be a more militant Ring than the first one?
DM The Ring is a great representation of the world and humanity. I think it is impossible today to keep away from issues like the environment or climate change, which Wagner already warned us about in a way. The whole world today is loudly telling us to turn back, otherwise ruin is certain. And when I think of the wars of our time, I dare not imagine how we will get to 2026, the end of the cycle. Fortunately, the show's scaffolding is flexible enough to accommodate new points. But the Ring is obviously much more than that. It is a great experience of love in all its forms, from the primal sexual impulse to the highest form of love that is selfless compassion for other human beings and for nature. The main difficulty of the four operas is not so much the length but the philosophical and poetic meaning of Wagner's librettos, which as a writer is definitely difficult to penetrate.

LB Of all the events in the Tetralogy, which one sticks out most in your imagination?

>DM Das Rheingold deals with very instinctive and primal human feelings: greed, prevarication, deception, erotic impulse. But nestled in Die Walküre I think is one of the most striking points, that of the relationship between Wotan and Brünnhilde. Wotan's parting from his daughter is something difficult to describe in words, just as her prayer, on an emotional level, finds few equals in the history of theatre.

LB What is your relationship with Wagner, regardless of the occasions when you are called upon to perform him?
DM I think he's a great man of the theatre, a visionary with some characteristics and ideological traits that are even loathsome, but most of all I think he's been a great beacon of inspiration for subsequent generations. I can't help but think how demoralized he might have felt when he saw his first Ring staged in 1876, something that might have looked more like Aida than his idea of future theatre. But his thought grew, developed, and today we are sufficiently equipped with knowledge to stage it properly.

LB There are also martial arts masters and “circus performers” in the artistic team of this production.
DM Martial arts come into play in Hunding's militarized society, but not only that. We will also have horses on stage, but they will be actors. There will be a lot of imagination. And the audience will be asked to use their imagination as much as possible.

Luca Baccolini
Translation by Alexa Ahern