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The Performer
Wotan. He’s the Hamlet of the opera world. A role coveted by many but performed by few. Wagner created a monster. a power-crazy god who'll stop at nothing to get what he wants. and baritones the world over line up to play him. Currently standing at the front of that queue. is Matthew Best. Having carved a niche for himself in the twin worlds of singing and conducting. Best now feels the time is right to step into the mighty shoes of Wagner’s manipulative rat.
‘It couldn’t have come at a better time.’ says Best. ‘It’s something I've had my eye and thoughts on for a very long time.
but wouldn’t have been ready to Matthew Best: 'The most important
tackle until now because of the role I WI" ever sung
size. complexity and sheer physical demands of it.’
A major player in Rlzeingold and Die Walkure. Wotan finally becomes the victim of his own greed in Siegfried and disappears off the map. But not before he’s clocked up theft. kidnap. womanising. adultery. treachery and murder among his list of achievements. How does it feel to play such a loathsome figure?
‘Well. I don‘t mind loathsome in stage terms because I‘ve actually played a few before.” says Best. thinking of his roles in Tosca and F idelio. ‘They were different. one was a psychopath and the other was a professional thug. but one can draw on certain elements of that and I quite enjoy that kind of character.‘
50 while the amoral Wotan languishes in the sewer. Best is scaling a pinnacle of his career. ‘This project has enabled me to tackle one of the most important, if not the most important role that I will ever sing.‘ he says. ‘But performed in a sensible way over a realistic period of time with people that I know. so hopefully. fingers crossed. we’ll be able to make something of it.’
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The Set Designer
‘1 think you only get asked to do the Ring Cycle once.’ says German-born designer Hildegard Bechtler. ‘I'm certainly very thrilled and honoured. But it’s a big decision to make and it‘s a bit of a terrifying period at the moment.”
Despite having cut her teeth on countless theatrical and film productions over the past twenty years. Bechtler has good reason to be nervous. The realm inhabited by the Ring residents features a fantastical landscape of rivers. fiery mountain-tops. castles and forests: some in heaven. some on earth. Add to that a short lead-in time and the necessity to work on four productions at once. and you begin to see her point.
‘We started very slowly and spent a lot of time discussing it.’ says Bechtler. ‘The first brief to deliver Rheingold came in January. but we had to produce very rough sketch models for the total Ring at the same time. because to do one without knowing how you will end it is impossible.’
But then Bechtler is convinced that none of this would have been possible were it not for her strong working relationship with Tim Albery. Her first job in the theatre was alongside the director. whom she calls ‘an old collaborator and a trusted one‘ and they've worked together extensively ever since.
Team spirit has also helped them overcome the odd practical difficulty; namely trying to fit Wagner's epic universe onto a small proscenium stage. ‘Other theatres have huge underneath stages. you just drop one down and roll another one on.‘ says Bechtler. “But when you're putting the Ring into the tiny Theatre Royal and the slightly larger Festival Theatre you really f have to think about the logistics
« of storage and scene changes. It s ' quite dauntinO. but very exciting.‘
18 THE ll8T FESTIVAL GUIDE 17—24 Aug 2000