The only time Vogt imagined returning to the horn was during the pandemic. But his background as an instrumentalist serves him well. Simone Young, who is conducting the “Ring” at Bayreuth, said of Vogt in a phone interview, “When he’s on the stage, it’s rather more like having an orchestral soloist than a singer, in terms of the way he follows, phrases and anticipates.”
Among Vogt’s Wagner roles, his interpretation of Lohengrin captures the part’s enigmatic beauty; his Parsifal makes plausible the protagonist’s development from carelessness to empathetic wisdom. His Walther, in “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg,” has a lightness that emphasizes the character’s distinct, intuitive musical ability.
As written, Siegfried alternates between childlike innocence and jock menace, though the buff-voiced tenors who sing the part often neglect its softer side. In Vogt’s interpretation of the role for the Zurich Opera House, he allowed the character’s bumbling to show through, leading to moments of gentle, moving comedy.
When Siegfried first discovers the sleeping Brünnhilde, he famously sings, “This is no man” — a silly line when belted. But Vogt made it timid, showing an adolescent overwhelmed as he realizes for the first time how beautiful other people can be.
Vogt’s flexibility as an actor derives from his mastery of the score. “He doesn’t come from acting, and you can tell,” Homoki said. “He’s a musician, and the first thing he does is make music. He knows exactly what he’s singing, but at first he’s like a blank sheet of paper.”
As a result, Vogt is unusually attuned to Wagner’s quieter moments. Even in the composer’s most heroic roles, “there is very, very much piano to sing everywhere,” he said. “It just isn’t done.” He also carefully balances the volume of the highest and lowest notes of his phrases. Because of that balance, his phrases occasionally lack contour, but his words are easy to understand. Vogt communicates even Wagner’s contorted sentences with rare immediacy.
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