Customer Reviews

Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This Weimar production changes the Ring from a mythological drama as conceived by Wagner into a family saga.

Staging is minimal and claims to include all the props mentioned in Wagner's score and usually omitted (Fricka's rams cart, Grane represented by a women dressed in black, etc): plus obscure elements (once understood they are all relevant to the family saga concept).

The preludes to each of the operas accompany a silent drama filling in the gaps to flesh out the family saga concept. Also Hagen appears as a baby in Rheingold, and in Siegfried as a young man in a substantial silent part. They all start with various versions of the Norns' music that Wagner composed prior to the final version at the beginning of Gotterdammerung.

This is an ensemble version of the Ring and parts are switched between singers from opera to opera, resulting in a varying quality of singing.

The best performances are by Christine Hansmann (Fricka), Erin Caves (Loge and Siegmund) Kirsten Blanck (Sieglinde), Frieder Aurich (Mime) and Johnny van Hal acting a rather one dimensionsal Siegfried.

There are three Wotans and two Alberichs. In Rheingold Mario Hoff is Wotan and Thomas Mowes (Alberich), and they reverse their roles in Siegfried where Mowes develops a terrible wobble (surely not vibrato!) in his lower register. Renatus Meszar is the Walkurie Wotan and a fine Hagen. These singers succeed by a combination of acting and singing, rather than vocal performance alone.

Catherine Foster sings Brunnhilde throughout and gives arguably the best performance in the set with a fine clear voice that shines through the orchestra.

The acting throughout is good.

The somewhat understated conducting by Carl St. Clair works fine for this performance and the Blu Ray 1080i video and sound are fine.

CONCLUSION - For some Wagner lovers this will be a Ring too far, but if you like a challenge and buy into the radically different family saga dramaturgy this as an absorbing and possibly unique production (albeit with flaws) where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

A trial rental could be a good idea before deciding to purchase.

I bought this because it looked interesing. Very strange, definitely low budget production. Hard to get past Das Rhinegold. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone to watch. Listening is quite nice. The sound is great. Some singers have a very annoying wide vibrato. Wagner is probably turning in his grave, more like spinning.

I rarely write brief reviews, but this release deserves nothing more. Aurally, it is quite good, without being exceptional. Catherine Foster brings a fine Brunnhilde, and Johnny van Hal a good Siegfried, amongst a cast that, vocally is quite good. Orchestra and chorus also sound well, with the conductor, Carl St. Clair, showing a good grasp of the work.

But at this point, they seem to have exhausted their funds. The sets generally appear to have been made by an amateur company, and one is left to wonder if there was a director present at all stages there are so many places where the cast seem to move aimlessly, unsure of where they are supposed to go. The conclusion of Gotterdammerung must represent the worst staging ever presented. Nothing happens.

Technically, the sound (PCM Stereo and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) is fine and the 16:9 1080i image reasonable.

In summary: musically quite good, but in no way outstanding; visually, a disaster.

The conducting is good. The singing is a big rough in places but generally good. What's the catch? This is the WORST staging of the ring I have ever seen. I have trouble imagining how such an abomination could ever have been produced. The whole thing views like a Monty Python skit. Best watched with a towel covering the screen above the sub-titles.

During the past decades we have become used to all sorts of ego trips by stage directors who felt they had what it takes to re-invent the Stage Festival Play for Three Days and a "Pre-evening", Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner. We have seen the Valkyries as paratroopers, Wotan as an alcoholic bum, Siegfried as a clown, the Norns in front of a nuclear power plant and other fine allegories. Some of those re-writings of Wagner's instructions have even led to a few astonishing trouvailles, where you could honestly say, yeah, he's got a good point there. I think that as long as these self-celebrations come with a minimally honest intention to deal with the complex world of the Ring, we should remain relaxed and enjoy the show as much as we can.

That said, there are and should be boundaries, dictated by respect for the intentions of the composer. We know that Wagner saw opera and the music drama as a Werkstatt, a workshop to serve the work with fantasy, flexibility and invention. This does by no means give a carte blanche to people who think they have what it takes but unfortunately don't. The so-called "Weimar Ring", hmm... `directed' by Michael Schulz is really a fraudulent package, because it should be labeled: "Der Weimarer Ring", after motives and ideas from Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung, by Michael Schulz. That would be honest and true. But what is dished up here, disguised as Wagner's work, clearly falls into the category Schmierentheater, the German second cousin of Regieoper and Regietheater. The transfer on stage of Wagner's score (with its exact instructions) and Wagner's genial construct is so abstruse and unsuccessful that I won't bother with detailed comments. Luckily the singers and the relatively dim and lacklustre orchestra are only about a star above the one-star production and therefore don't create a lamentable mismatch. At the end of "Siegfried", after holding two inverted glasses to his forehead to signify horns, the hero and his new found girl friend hide under a banquet table. They should have stayed there.

The only positive thing I took out of this attempt is the reassuring fact that conductors still resist the temptation to do with the score what directors are doing with Wagner's stage instructions: so far there have been no attempts to rearrange say the E-flat Major Rheingold beginning for sixteen harmonicas, (and change it to f-sharp, of course) or replace the Wagner tubas with mandolins. But who knows...

Wagner had modern views for the staging of the ring, that is before he met Ludwig the second. After he wrote the Libretto for Siegfrieds Tod, he wrote to Lizst, who was then living in Weimar, hoping to get some money. As the Ring progressed,when he had nearly finished Siegfried, Wagner thought that this opera, should be produced for three days in a field outside Zurich. People from all over Germany would watch. Then he would burn the stage down as well as the only manuscript of Siegfried. I think he simply wanted more money. Another scheme was to have the Ring performed in the seating area, and the patrons would sit on the stage. Maybe, he was frustrated, had a sense of humour or meant what he said. Reminds me of rock concerts.

This Weimar Ring is minimalist. All Wagners directions are adhered to. The stage area is grey and the panels are moved back and forth. This could mean that what is happening behind the screen,is deep within the individuals spirit. Also, a way for the particpants to get onto the stage. The stage director, Michael Schulz has an over all plan for the Ring.A petty bourgeois clan whose children are affected by the termoil. Men who create the problems in their mania for power and love, where women are treated badly. Their lives are determined by fate. Valhalla is merely an illusion having no chance of survival. The opening of Rheingold refers to Wagners childhood, when in a rain storm his puppet theatre was destroyed in a rainstorm.He hung on to his puppets in despair.Fate was the cause. This is the basis for the Ring to follow. Before the Prelude of Die Walkure Act 1, the opening in Valhalla by excerpts from Siegfrieds Tod, is stopped by Alberichs son, Hagen who screams. Children in this ring are disfunctional, because of their lack of proper parenting. They are outsiders. In Gotterdammering before the Norns enter, they become symbols of Ravens, placing red paint on the curtain.Also,at the same time teenagers fed up with the older generation, so they mistreat women. Grane the silent woman with long grey hair, is a symbol of a horse, but also a helper of Brunnhilde. Kicked by Hagen in Gotterdammerung as a horse, but then a woman. In that opera at the end, rain falls on women, they are free. When Fricka,confronts Wotan in Act 11 of Die Walkure, she has rams with her, humans with Rams heads. In Das Rheingold,there are supposed to be three Rhine maidens, but Shultz has added a few more. Wotan is seen sitting in the back ground in Die Walkure Everything has meaning in this Ring.I really like it, because it makes you think. Not like the other six, which are straight forward. The Levine, Barenboim,Chereau, Dutch and Copenhagen rings, plus the new Spanish production, the Valencia Ring.These are easy to understand.

To me this Ring gets to the bottom of Wagners Ring, for it is multi layed and encourages you to delve into your spirit. For in working out what this puzzle, Schultz has set, you realize the meaning is what you give it. This opera allows you to concentrate on the words, the music and singing and not be distracted by scenery. Wagner went into trances and was psychic, but he could never place what he saw on stage. That is why when he created the Theater at Bayreuth, before the first Ring in 1876, he could not be bothered by the designs and staging. His asistants were surprised.

I would give this Weimar Ring five stars, but Tomas Mowes as Alberich and Wotan Ruins it. He wobbles and his voice is dry. How the director could blunder like this is beyond me.I suppose he wanted to show that Wotan and Alberich were alike. The rest are marvellous. Mario Hoff as Wotan in Rheingold and Gunther is first class. Renatus Meszar a great Wotan and Hagen. Brunnhilde, Catherine Foster, is the find of the decade. Erin Caves as Siegmund and Kirsten Blanck are almost as good as the pair in the Copenhagen ring, and that is a compliment. Waltraude with the Walkures are a marvellous touch>She is played by Nadine Weissmann.The Walkure are played as young girls in their room. I have never seen the Walkure played so playfully. Directors forget, they are supposed to be young and playful. The conductor, Carl St Clair, plays the score briskly. I think the Prelude Act One must be the fastest yet on DVD,or Blu ray. I think of all the conductors I prefer Carls performance. Where do I place it. I think the Chereau is no one, and the new Valencia Ring near that, with Copenhagen and this Ring Behind it. The Dutch Ring third, and the Levine and Barenboim Forth. Both have great singers, but for many personal reasons they do not turn me on. It is merely subjective. What suits me , may not suit you. But without the awful performance of Mowes, this would have been my no 1. This opera is not for the traditionalists, but for those who want a ring that is totally different. I get the distinct impression, that if this Ring were a human being, it would get a through flogging and drummed out the regiment by some traditionalists.

Zone Worldwide. 1080i.16.9 Picture format. Pcm stereo and Dts-hd Master audio 5.1