By Klaus P. Richter, Munich
For the first anniversary of the Isarphilharmonie, the Munich Philharmonic gave us an extravagant trip to the Rhine. She led us from the cheerful Rheingau ambience in Schumann’s “Rhenish” symphony to the dark Rhine myth of Wagner’s “Ring”. Philippe Jordan, the evening’s maestro, created something like a mental connection between the fourth movement of the Schumann symphony with its solemn trombone choirs in Cologne Cathedral Homage and the abysmal trombone pomp of Wagner’s “Götterdämmerung”.
While the first movement was lively but lackluster in sound, in the fourth movement Jordan deepened the E flat minor ambience to solenner depth and harsh urgency. The Philharmoniker’s exquisite brass coloring already hinted at Wagner’s colossal wind intoxication. It began with “Siegfrieds Rheinfahrt”, the orchestral prelude before the first act, still quite subdued. But when the “most noble hero” fell in “Siegfried’s Death and Funeral March” from the third act, he unfolded with concentrated power. And with it the Philharmonic as a veritable Wagner orchestra.
But the brightest splendor and deepest drama came from the Philharmonie with the performance of Camilla Nylund. The world-famous Finnish soprano, who has already sung Elisabeth, Sieglinde, Eva and Elsa in “Lohengrin” in Bayreuth, has now made her concert debut as Brünnhilde. In her final song from “Götterdämmerung” – a catastrophe finale that sets glowing Eros as the last signature about the end of the world and death by fire: “Siegfried! Siegfried! Look! Your wife greets you blessedly” – she put her signature of an overwhelming vocal Eros. Three Wagner infected, united in a great moment: Camilla Nylund, Philippe Jordan and the great orchestra of the Wagner city of Munich.