The Limitations of Magic

Of the four works that make up the Ring, Siegfried might be the most difficult to stage. While the third act can coast on vocal great performances alone, the second presents the director with the challenge of creating a dragon that looks if not terrifying, at the very least not ridiculous; and in the first act one is forced to contend with a series of largely undramatic episodes, peppered with large dumps of backstory, and culminating in the real-time reforging of Siegmund’s shattered sword. Given director Stefan Herheim’s previous successes in realising the most conspicuously magical episodes of Rheingold and delineating the subtle character drama of Walküre, one had high hopes that he might even be able to pull off the impossible task of creating a Siegfried that didn’t drag in its opening acts.

Alas, it was not to be. Mr Herheim’s new…