Die Walküre on stage

Today got a pretty bad start, since the field of poppies, which as something new will be outside Hunding’s house, has been delayed for several weeks already, was even more delayed this morning due to a misunderstanding.

There was a feeling of depression all around and we were almost about to drop the field completely, which would be a shame after all the trouble making it (and since we finally got it after having wished for it in the two earlier productions in 2003 and 2004). But with our joined effort we got a hold on it, and eventually it turned into a surprisingly good day.

Stig and Gitta both did a good job improvising the arrangements for the new field of poppies. Now there will be less jumping around when they come out of Hunding’s house. But this only stresses the fragility of their love affair and I think it’ll work out fine. Stig and Gitta were really cool. They both threw themselves into it without hesitation. Today it is the only real rehearsal I attend at the first act (the next two rehearsals will be run-throughs), but we made it I think.
The difficult part is that the tree with the sword has to be lowered from the ceiling and hit a hole in the field so it will stay fixed when Sieglinde pulls out the sword. But it looks like it is going to succeed. Phew! Altogether it still looks like we have an extremely tight schedule on the Die Walküre. Now I am more optimistic than I have been for the last couple of days. The stage technicians worked very hard today and did a great job – even though they struggle with narrow space at the backstage and bay areas which are completely filled with the gigantic decors from The Tempest, Die Fledermaus, Das Rheingold and Die Walküre at the same time. When we present the whole Ring cycle (and La Traviata) next year the stages will really be packed with decors.