The Light Cinema's live HD broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera in New York allowed those in Bucharest to view on Saturday, November 5^th, 2011, the third part of Wagner's tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen - Siegfried -, with similar events for the first two parts in the previous season.

The new production of the entire cycle belongs to Canadian film and stage director Robert Lepage. It is very spectacular, based on the latest technology and electronically coordinated. The scenographic skeleton suggests an enormous keyboard which rotates around a central axis, wholly or fragmentarily, until it reaches the level of each key. The setting changes according to these movements which constantly generate new images and performance space with the help of projections and lighting effects.

Gerhard Siegel - The Star of the Evening

The overwhelming role of Siegfried - very long and extremely strenuous - was played by tenor Jay Hunter Morris: a beautiful, daring and talented blonde Viking, but with a voice below the role's calibre, modestly rounded. Soprano Deborah Voigt embodied statuary Brünnhilde, with an initially grand vocal sonority; however, it was affected along the way by the role's extremely uncomfortable texture. Bass-baritone Bryn Terfel appeared as Wotan - the Traveller: imposing, sovereign in portraying his character and in controlling his opulent, noble voice. But the star of the evening was, without a doubt, tenor Gerhard Siegel in the role of Mime: penetrating, focused voice, mordent pronunciation, complete confidence, amazing mobility of both vocal and physical expression.

The rest of the cast featured such talents as mezzo-soprano Patricia Barton - imposing Erda, bass-baritone Erich Owens - excellent Aberich, and soprano Mojca Erdmann - agile, luminous and winged voice in The Voice of a Woodbird. They were accompanied by the impressive orchestra led by Fabio Luisi, the new Pricipal Conductor of the Metropolitan: an attentive and efficient coordinator, a musician of vision to match the requirements imposed by the ample and complex Wagnerian piece.

'The Light Cinema' Broadcasts - an opportunity

In the end, what should be emphasized is the opportunity such broadcasts offer, that of watching detailed close-ups during the show and going backstage during the breaks, into the artists' dressing rooms to find out many 'fresh' and interesting things straight from the source.