Opera - A hyper-elaborate cycle stays true to Wagner's intentions, writes Michael Portillo Der Ring des Nibelungen Seattle Opera House

''One of our Rhine daughters has eaten some bad fish and got sick," announced Speight Jenkins, general director of the Seattle Opera, before the curtain went up on Wagner's Das Rheingold. Finding a substitute voice was not difficult, but no understudy could be expected to master the actions required in this elaborate production. The three Rhinemaidens are suspended from a trapeze, pivoted at the waist to allow them to spin their bodies through complete circles or, by assuming a horizontal position, to imitate swimming. Gauze and lighting make it look as though they are indeed underwater.

The problem was solved by drafting in Gina Lapinski, an assistant director who had rehearsed the singers in their gymnastics. While she turned circles and mouthed the words on stage, Sarah Heltzel sang the part from the pit.

Stephen Wadsworth's production, first staged in 2001, is hyper-naturalistic. The forests, for example, are constructed with minute attention to detail. Every fern and rotten log has been crafted with botanical exactitude, drawing on the pine woods of America's Pacific north-west.

This production follows every one of Wagner's stage directions. Where the composer demands a dragon dripping venomous saliva, with a wicked flick to its horny tail, Wadsworth supplies it exactly. Brunnhilde addresses her last words to her horse, Grane. Most directors ignore that problem. Not Wadsworth. Twice, before our astonished eyes, a thoroughbred is led across the stage.

Seattle's climax of Gotterdammerung is a miracle of stagecraft. In the few moments that separate Brunnhilde's last notes from the end of the opera, the scene changes repeatedly. We see her consumed by fire; then we are back in the river with the swimming Rhinemaidens drowning Hagen; then the gods who are awaiting their end in Valhalla appear on a huge hydraulic platform, also to be devoured by flames; and, with the final chords, we return to the tranquillity of unspoilt nature and the forest scene. Every scene is dictated by Wagner, or faithful to what is implied by his music, but how often does anyone attempt to show it all?

Punters tend to love it. And, having endured many impenetrable interpretations around the world, opera-goers heave a sigh of relief that here is a Ring as Wagner intended it. There is no need to shut your eyes during this one (unless, perhaps, you like to imagine your Siegfried younger and your female leads slimmer than Seattle can offer).

Not that sticking to Wagner's stage directions renders the production unimaginative. In Die Walkure, Wotan and Fricka meet for their Act II row about whether the gods are bound to defend the institution of marriage in the very woodland hut where, moments earlier, the twins Siegmund and Sieglinde have commenced their adulterous and incestuous union. In Siegfried, Wotan lays flowers beneath the bloodstained rock where he unwillingly speared his son Siegmund to death. In Gotterdammerung, Siegfried will perish on a spear at the same spot. Such touches suggest a highly intelligent reading of the cycle.

This is not surprising, as Jenkins is one of the most knowledgeable Wagner scholars in the United States and has now spent 22 years at Seattle, a house that began performing the Ring in 1975. This was my fourth visit to Seattle to sample its work.

The orchestra under Robert Spano, conducting his first Ring, produced wonderful colour and excitement, with well-judged changes of tempo. Brunnhilde is sung again by Jane Eaglen, the British-born soprano who has worked with Seattle since 1994 and lives in the city. She produces her finest performances in this house where she is at home, and where directors take care to plan movements and even sets appropriate to a woman of her size. That sensitivity enabled her to dominate Gotterdammerung not just with the strength of her voice, but also with her charisma and stage presence.

Alan Woodrow, for years principal tenor at English National Opera, was Jenkins's choice to sing Siegfried in 2001, but injury prevented him from completing the season. Now, having performed the role around the globe, he attacks the piece with self-confidence, singing powerfully and lyrically, especially during Gotterdammerung. Richard Berkeley-Steele made a credible and sensitive Siegmund.

There was much excitement at the emergence of a new Wotan. Greer Grimsley has limitless staying power and a great richness to his voice that reminded some of George London. Naturally, this being his first Wotan, there is still room for expressive development, but he seemed to have begun that growth even over the course of the cycle.

Ring devotees should certainly have Seattle on their list. It returns in 2009.

Visit www.seattleopera.com for more details of performances and booking

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