Coming to a fiery end

First there was a small bonfire in front of the stage, just right for roasting marshmallows if you happened to be seated in the pool circle. Then came a couple of ominous smoke bombs in the crown above the stage. Finally, substantial flames burst out of the tops of the speaker towers.

The Hollywood Bowl, though, withstood it all Sunday night. This was nothing more than its idea of a “Gotterdammerung” good time.

You have to admire the sheer audacity of John Mauceri’s programming the third act of Wagner’s “Gotterdammerung” (The Twilight of the Gods) in such a setting. The conductor was loaned the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the occasion, in place of his own Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Leading Wagnerian singers were engaged. And Christine Brewer, the young soprano who made a vivid impression as Isolde in the Philharmonic’s “Tristan Project” last season, confirmed Sunday that she is well on her way to becoming the Brunnhilde of choice.

But what a concept -- some poached salmon, a good Riesling, brownies and then the end of the world! That is not to say that the final act of “Gotterdammerung” -- the culminating 80 minutes of Wagner’s epic 17-hour, four-opera “Ring” cycle -- doesn’t make striking sense at the Bowl or anyplace else in apocalyptic times. This is the act in which worlds collide. The ruling powers, the gods, are brought down by their own arrogance. They go up in flames, and a new world order begins as mortals now realize they have to take responsibility for themselves.

It’s a fascinating coincidence that James Levine will be conducting the same act with the Boston Symphony at the orchestra’s summer home in Tanglewood on Saturday night. And let me tell you that being in a large amphitheater that bursts into flames, however contained, does get your attention these days.

Still, there are huge challenges in bringing off this act. The first, obviously, is playing catch-up, and at that Mauceri is very good. For 20 minutes, he gave an urbane, virtuosic summary of how the drama got to where it was and where it was going.

The second challenge is bigger. How do you maintain the interest that Mauceri piqued?

Opera at the Bowl, with its new shell installed last year, now means with video enhancement but not yet with sur-, sub- or any other kind of titles. It means close-ups of non-acting singers who don’t necessarily benefit from television’s special treatment. Mauceri does look good on-screen when he is happily conducting light music. Here we saw him harried.

Then there is amplification, which Sunday favored the singers and kept the orchestra somewhat under acoustical wraps. In the theater, such balance would have been fine, but in a concert, Wagner, as the “Tristan Project” proved, is also significantly about the drama of the orchestra. The good news, though, is that more modifications of the speakers and the addition of damping material around the Bowl have eliminated the echo and generally improved matters.

As for the performance, it was a singers’ night and especially a women’s night. Brewer is magnificent. The “Ring” ends with Brunnhilde singing 20 of the most radiant moments in all of opera, and from Brewer flowed a great stream of Wagnerian climaxes. She possesses what few others possess, which is enormous power and compassionate expressivity. She has still to grow into this complex character, and my guess is that she will.

Christian Franz was Siegfried. He is one of today’s main heldentenors and proved reliable and dramatically urgent in a straightforward way. Kurt Rydl, a veteran bass, was the kind of evil Hagen who can give you the willies. But he’s been giving the willies for a long time -- this was his 180th Hagen, he told Mauceri -- and it shows in his voice. Christine Goerke was a very strong Gutrune; Alan Held, a less strong Gunter, her spineless brother. The three Rhine maidens were not appealing. The men of the Pacific Chorale made for timid vassals.

Mauceri’s conducting was more dramatically limp than it usually is in opera, but he kept the act together, which is no small accomplishment under any circumstances, let alone those at the Bowl.