La Nonne / La Nonne Sanglante “Mae Heydorn was the star turn as the nun”
Erda / Das Rheingold Longborough Festival Opera “a gorgeously sung Erda from Mae Heydorn”
“But almost the most beautiful singing of the whole evening, and the most magical touch, comes from the Erda, Mae Heydorn.”
Erda / Siegfried /Longborough Festival Opera Three singers in smaller roles were mightily impressive: Mark Stone’s power-hungry and vengeful Alberich, Simon Wilding’s unusually poignant Fafner and Mae Heydorn’s bewildered Erda which she sang with focussed intensity and contralto richness.
A richly sonorous Mae Heydorn as the earth Goddess Erda is marvellously matriarchal.
The cast is impressive too. As Siegfried, Bradley Daley strongly conveys the central character’s transformation from naïve, cocky and ungrateful wild child to mature hero who – despite having slain the dragon Fafner, destroyed Wotan’s spear (the symbol of his power) and crossed a ring of fire – only learns fear in the final Act, on casting his eyes on the sleeping Brünnhilde. His balance of boyish and manly traits at the start of the production could do with nudging more towards the former, but the voice is suitably heroic. Mark Stone’s Alberich and Mae Heydorn’s Erda offer darker-toned contrasts.
Mae Heydorn was mysteriously compelling.
Mark Stone’s wild mop-haired Alberich, guarding the treasure, and Mae Heydorn as Erda, the earth goddess and mother of Brünnhilde, are both impressive.
Mae Heydorn’s apparition as Erda made its mark.
Mae Heydorn is an Erda who, once again, makes fine capital out of her too brief appearance.
His Act III meeting with Erda (a splendid Mae Heydorn) is suitably terrifying as he stands on a rock with his staff, and she appears behind him within the frame clutching her own.