DVD of "Rheingold" that I watched recently (Kupfer production)

[barry guerrero]

OK, get your spears out, and don't trip over that ash-tree (not ashtray).

I watched a Harry Kupfer production of "Das Rheingold" last night, performed at the Liceu theatre in Barcelona. It's on the Opus Arte label, and Bertrand de Billy, a Frenchman, was the conductor (he conducts the Vienna Radio Orch. quite often - ORF). The singers were all a bunch of no-names, totally new to me. The only real stand-out character/singer amongst them as Graham Clark as Loge (and Loge is really the most interesting character in Rheingold anyway - sort of a court jester type). Clark was excellent, both as an actor and singer. But I'm looking for comments on the Kupfer production.

Apparently, this was modified from the Kupfer production that you see on the Barenboim Ring cycle. Kupfer seems to deliberately bring out the humorous aspects of the Ring. I like that, because I basically view The Ring as a comedic social commentary. I really believe that Wagner had a deliberate sense of humor. I also like it that Erde wasn't presented as some kind of earth-boring toad - she was really quite beautiful, and rose from the ground on an elevator (and sort of seated on a kind of thrown, as I remember). She was both wise and beautiful; someone you might want to listen to.

The Giants weren't all that tall, but were presented as sort of mechanical Japanime type characters. They had thick, mechanical legs, as well as mechanical arms and hands (pinchers). They're faces were totally human - exposed, in other words. That was an interesting touch. When Fafner kills Fasolt, he just sort of clubs him with one of his mechanical arms. It's one of those Wagnerian fight scenes that's hardly a fight at all - more comedic tom-foolery, in my opinion.

On the negative side, the rainbow bridge was nothing to write home about - just mostly colored lights. However, Loge really played up the scene fabulously. The opera ends with Loge pulling the curtain closed himself - a nice touch.

Barry

[Amphissa]

So, you didn't mention the Rheinmaidens. What is a Rheingold without Rheinmaidens?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSCjLyv89_s

More seriously -- other than Clark, are the no-name singers up to the task of Wagner? Do the sets attempt to conform to Wagner's settings, or is it a modern spartan staging? I'm not sure I'm ready for Wagner as comedy. I'll have to think about that. I'm pretty new to Wagner.

 

[barry guerrero]

Oh no, you couldn't call this traditional in the Levine/Met. sense of the term at all. At times, the staging was quite spartan and stark. But there were some interesting touches. For example, the ash tree gets smaller as the opera goes along (the booklet gives some interpretative explanation for this). I just thought that that was interesting.

The Rheinmaidens were a bit on the sauftig side. Maybe that was noticeable simply because their costumes were a tad too snug. But they did a great job of teasing Alberich, and acting a bit like tarts. They sang quite well.

Wotan was not a great singer, and neither was the Alberich. But Alberich was good at being pathetic, once Wotan and Loge abducted him, and kept him tied up for long awhile. Freie, Wotan's wife, wasn't a great singer either. But she was good at being whiney, which is pretty much all she does, since she's trying to get her dumb sister pried away from the giants. The only way she can help to get that accomplished is to just whine a lot, as well as nag Wotan a lot.

I liked the complexity and vulnerability of this particular Wotan, Falk Struckmann, brought to the part. But that might have had more to do with Kupfer's direction, than what Struckmann brought to the table on his own. He was fallible, but clearly had to make some important decisions on the spot. I think he conveyed that really well.

I get the feeling that this might have been the sort of production that Mahler might have liked. It was innovative - at times, Euro-trashy, even. But the message was clearly conveyed. The singing wasn't always great, but the acting was anything but wooden and stilted.

[Leo K]

By the way, is a good DVD set of The Ring a good way to get into these operas?  I would love to get into the Ring someday.  I really liked the Levine production in the past...I prefer the more conservative productions I think, but I've always found these operas hard to get into for some reason...I've tried to follow along with the libretto while listening to records, but I never end up getting past Das Rheingold!


--Todd

[barry guerrero]

"Die Walkure" has a very long scene where Wotan just moans and complains to somebody (I forget who; one of the women, I believe). I would suggest skipping over that scene, or just watch "Siegfried" first (then go back to "Walkure"). In "Walkure", there's a lot of good love music during the Siegumnd/Sieglinde scene (they're related, of course). The opera ends with Wotan putting Brunhilde asleep - surrounded by a ring of fire (enter Johnny Cash) for having been naughty and disobeying his orders.

When you get to "Gotterdaemerung", just skip the entire first act (I think it's called a Prologue, even), where the stupid Norns just retell the whole story from the beginning, more or less. But make sure that you've watched the first three operas beforehand. Otherwise, "Gotterdaemerung" won't make a lot of sense to you.

In my opinion, "Siegfried" is fabulous! It has a lot of great music in the first act, as well as the famous "Forest Murmors" scene (lovely music); and, of course, all of the incredible love music between Siegfried and Brunhilde (who are related, naturally). There's also some very funny moments in "Siegfried", including how Wagner creates such a huge build up to when Siegfried is finally going to slay the stupid Dragon (who's actually Fafner, hoarding his gold), only to have the actual event over with in a jiffy!

I've grown to love the Ring, and I can sure see why Mahler did too. And yes, watching on DVD definitely helps.

Barry

[John Kim]

In my opinion, "Siegfried" is fabulous! It has a lot of great music in the first act, as well as the famous "Forest Murmors" scene (lovely music); and, of course, all of the incredible love music between Siegfried and Brunhilde (who are related, naturally). There's also some very funny moments in "Siegfried", including how Wagner creates such a huge build up to when Siegfried is finally going to slay the stupid Dragon (who's actually Fafner, hoarding his gold), only to have the actual event over with in a jiffy!

I've grown to love the Ring, and I can sure see why Mahler did too. And yes, watching on DVD definitely helps.

Barry

I agree. Siegfried may be, IMO, the most tightly constructed of all the Ring operas. It is dramatic and full of edge-of-your-seat tense moments as well as the lovely scenes Barry mentioned. I can't figure why it is not as popular as Walkure or Gotterdarmerung.

John,

[wagnerlover]

"I can't figure why it is not as popular as Walkure or Gotterdarmerung."

I like Siegfried a lot, but why Walkure is more popular is easy:  Act I of Walkure (Siegmund, Sieglinde, Hunding) is a beautiful one-act opera in itself, and you get it right away (and then you can leave if you want!).  In Siegfried, you have to wait over three hours before Brunhilde sings at all.  Walkure also has the Walkurentritt (twice!) and Wotan's farewell at the end -- the greatest hits of the Ring.  I read somewhere that Wagner thought Siegfried would be a moneymaker because its fairytale aspects would appeal to children! Nice try!

A DVD recommendation:  Act I of Walkure in the Bayreuth Centennial production (Boulez cond./ Chereau dir) is about as good (and hot!) as opera gets.  On the other hand in the Levine Met production the same act is the traditional fat opera singers standing there boring you to death.  Overall, though I do prefer the Met version but there are some parts where it's awful, and that's one of them.

By the way, next season (Spring-09) is the final showing(s) of the Met's famous storybook Ring.  I'll be there.

db

[Damfino]

I think I have seen some scenes from the production Barry writes about. I get a channel on DiSH called Classic Arts Showcase, which shows clips from concerts, operas, etc. It's a good way to see if a production looks interesting. Anyway, they were showing the Dawn/Siegfried's Rhine Journey section. I gotta say, it didn't work for me. The set was primarily a grid of squares that blinked on and off. Siegfried and Brunhilde, instead of embracing, were crawling in and out of what looked like pipes or culverts.  The constantly flashing squares came close to triggering a migraine attack. I do not know if it is the same production Barry refers to, but the credits said it was from Opus Arte, so I assume it was.

It seems to me that the opera world is full of directors now who want to call attention to themselves rather than serve the music and performers well. I don't have a problem with resetting an opera into a different period as long it relates to what the opera is about. Too many directors (IMO) just want to make a splash and be talked about, whether it works for the opera or not.

As far as Ring DVDs go, I rather like the Cherau/Boulez version best. I also like the Levine Met version, but have not seen it since it aired on PBS years ago. I guess I like the pacing of the Boulez version, the acting, singing. I also agree that Siegfried is the most kickass of the 4. Gotterdammerung is a bit of an endurance test. I always skip the norns as well.

BTW, the singer who plays Siegfried in the Cherau/Boulez version is a dead ringer for James Cagney.

[Amphissa]

The only complete set I've seen on DVD is the Levine/Met production. I felt like, the first time through, I wanted to see it pretty much as Wagner set the scenes, traditional staging, that sort of thing. And the Levine was widely agreed as the best of that approach.

Since then, I've seen a few videos of alternate approaches to individual operas within the cycle. I've seen Karajan's Reingold on videodisc and Rattle's Walkure. And I've sat through an endless variety of YouTube clips.

I still like the Levine/Met best overall.

However, I must admit that I cannot just listen to Wagner on CD. That's true of all opera for me. I must have the visual. Even if it is bad video. So I have no idea how the Levine/Met stacks up against the audio-only competition.

 

[barry guerrero]

"However, I must admit that I cannot just listen to Wagner on CD. That's true of all opera for me. I must have the visual. Even if it is bad video"

Yeah, that's pretty true for me too. Interesting.

Barry

[barry guerrero]

Amphissa,

What do you think of the Karajan "Rheingold" video? I've been thinking about possibly buying it. But then I watched a few brief excerpts on Youtube, and they really weren't that much to my liking, even though the singing was very good. However, you can't judge the whole thing by just a few excerpts, I don't think.

Barry