The Passion of Opera

This post is just to address the overall arc of the Wiener Staatsoper's Fall 2011 production of Der Ring des Nibelungen . These observations didn't feel appropriate to describe in any of the reviews of the individual operas, but a review of the cycle as a whole would be incomplete without them. The set design was very mediocre. In the first three operas of the cycle it tended toward the abstract without actually going all the way down the rabbit hole. It is respectable that designers want to get away from the massive, grand sets and costumes with horns and metal bras. I imagine that there is a feeling among designers that they just can't top a "period" Ring set and that this well is dry. Nonetheless, if the decision is to go abstract, then full abstraction is probably requisite, rather than trying to make a literal interpretation feel abstract. This just leads to a sense that things were left out or skimped upon. Perhaps the greatest failing in the first three...

After having waiting 20 hours and witnessing 18 hours of opera over two weeks, I have finally finished the Wiener Staatsoper's production of Wagner's  Der Ring des Nibelungen . I will finish up my own cycle of four reviews by dedicating this post to  Götterdämmerung . It is well worth making general observations about the production of the Cycle as a whole (though some of these have slipped in already), particularly on account of the orchestra, but I will do this in a separate post. First:  Götterdämmerung . General information & synopsis:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Götterdämmerung Cast: Christian Thielemann | Dirigent Sven-Eric Bechtolf | Regie Rolf Glittenberg | Bühne Marianne Glittenberg | Kostüme Thomas Lang | Chorleitung Stephen Gould | Siegfried Markus Eiche | Gunther Eric Halfvarson/Attila Jun | Hagen Tomasz Konieczny | Alberich Linda Watson | Brünnhilde Caroline Wenborne | Gutrune Janina Baechle | Waltraute ...

Siegfried , like Die Walküre  is one of the linchpins of the Ring Cycle. Both of these operas are more recognized than Das Rheingold  or Götterdämmerung . While the performances in this production continued to be generally solid, Siegfried  did not feel as well put together as the preceding two operas in the cycle in the Wiener Staatsoper's production. The sets continued to be lackluster, and the voices, with some very notable exceptions, were neither as kind to the ear nor as consistent as in the other operas. Synopsis & general information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_(opera) Cast: Siegfried | Richard Wagner Christian Thielemann | Dirigent Sven-Eric Bechtolf | Regie Rolf Glittenberg | Bühne Marianne Glittenberg | Kostüme fettFilm | Video Stephen Gould | Siegfried Linda Watson | Linda Watson Albert Dohmen | Der Wanderer Tomasz Koniczny | Alberich Anna Larsson | Erda Wolfgang Schmidt | Mime Ain Anger | Fafner Chen Reiss | S...

Wagner's Der Ring der Nibelung  continued at the Wiener Staatsoper with a well-sung production of Die Walküre . With all elements of the production the same (singers, conductor, director, designer), it had great continuity. This meant the singing and the conducting continued to be excellent while the design still did not impress. General information & synopsis:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Walk%C3%BCre Cast: Die Walküre | Richard Wagner Christian Thielemann | Dirigent Sven-Eric Bechtolf | Regie Rolf Glittenberg | Bühne Marianne Glittenberg | Kostüme fettFilm | Video Christopher Ventris | Siegmund Eric Halfvarson | Hunding Albert Dohmen | Wotan Waltraud Meier | Sieglinde Brünnhilde | Katarina Dalayman Janina Baechle | Fricka Donna Ellen | Helmwige Ildikó Raimondi | Gerhilde Alexandra Reinprecht | Ortlinde Aura Twarowska | Waltraute Ulrike Helzel | Siegrune Monica Bohinec | Grimgerde Zoryana Kushpler | Schwertleit...

  Yes. Wagner. Here we go. This  Das Rheingold  was my first experience with Wagner of any kind at the Staatsoper and my first time seeing the Ring live. This performance was interesting to me because, looking at it beforehand, I recognized many of the performers as those that I had seen in R. Strauss operas and in Beethoven's  Fidelio , other operas that require voices comparable in size and stamina to those demanded Wagnerian operas. Oddly, many of these singers were not thrilling to me in other roles, flaws in their voices at times rather evident in this repertoire. The singing here, was, however, more or less excellent. The costuming and sets were, in general, mediocre with a few interesting things here and there. Still, the somewhat incomprehensible improvement of the singers even compared to repertoire with similar demands. General information & synopsis:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Rheingold DAS RHEINGOLD |  Richard Wagner C...