Edinburgh International Festival Review: Siegfried
Simon O’Neill in the title role was magnificent: his tenor voice is light but it packs an emotional punch. Clad for the most part in cut-off jeans and flip-flops, O’Neill reminded us of how young the testosterone-filled Siegfried is. There was solid support from the fabulous Gerhard Siegel as Siegfried’s treacherous step-father Mime, and Iain Paterson. His Wotan/The Wanderer had just the right balance of menace and swagger. Clive Bayley as Fafner the dragon sang with pathos, Samuel Youn was a convincing conniving Alberich while Anna Larsson’s Erda was indeed earthy.
On the advice of a woodbird (Danae Kontora) Siegfried goes to wake his aunt Brünnhilde, an entrancing Christine Goerke whose soprano voice has such warmth in the lower registers, from her eternal sleep in a circle of fire. Their awakened passion, sealed with a lingering kiss, is the springboard into the final episode.