Aunt Cieca is on the case
Once again we have an email from a budding member of the cher public (and you know La Cieca never could resist a budding member), so put on your thinking caps, cher hive mind, and offer a little advice:
I would like to learn more about the Ring cycle, I only know the orchestral “good parts” and wonder if you or your chers could recommend which DVD set I should try: The traditional Met production with James Morris, The Chereau/Bayreuth with Dame Gwyneth, or the newer Copenhagen with the flappers, naked swimmer and Valkyries on top of the Chrysler Building(?) Or another I don’t know about. I’m surprised the Seattle “green” Ring hasn’t been filmed and look forward to Robert LePage at the Met. But in the meantime….
In making your recommendations, cher public, please feel free to use YouTube and the Macy’s Accessory Wall, thoughtfully.
Try to find the WEIMAR Ring DVD – very thought provoking.
We have a review coming of the Rheingold from this cycle. I’ll get it up tomorrow, but in the meantime, here’s a preview:
What a quandry. I tend to think the more Regie productions, such as Chereau et al., make much more of an impact when the viewer has a baseline to compare them to, knows what the original stage directions and settings indicate, etc. But on the other hand, the Met Ring video, which doesn’t exactly carry out everything asked for but also doesn’t overtly contradict anything, is pretty dull in large parts, and might not keep the attention of a neophyte. It would be a great resource to have a more interesting but still largely traditional Ring on video.
If you want to SEE the opera the DVDs of the Levine cycle at the Met (1990) are probably the way to go. There are better singers but not all together in DVDs of the whole cycle.
The Chereau Ring is not only a great production with the most organic Brünnhilde there is, Dame Gwyneth Jones, but it is a cleaned-up treatment of the score. Boulez attempted to end rhythmic laziness in the Bayreuth pit that had amassed over the decades
I think for beginners a conventional staging and production is the way to go. If they want to ‘graduate’ to a more ‘unusual’ (bizarre?) staging later that would be up to them.
I don’t know about that. I cut my “Ring” teeth on the Chereau production and have a feeling the pretty but inert Schenk version would have sent me straight back to exploring alternate versions of Les Contes d’Hoffman.
I believe that if you are getting to know an opera, specially the visuals, the best way to start is with the basics; before you start adding layers.
I would start with the Met’s production, if only because it is a traditional setting. Nothing thought-provoking, just story telling that will help anyone learn the story without any added layers.
Once you have learned the story straight up, the sky is the limit. The Chereau ring is one of those that should be in any collection. There are also black and white videos from Japan that have some decent singing and great artists. Those, if found, would supplement any performance you have.
The think the cheapest thing (because these DVDs can be expensive) to do is subscribe to Met Player for a month for $14.95 and watch their Ring Cycle. Either that, or Netflix the Bayreuth Ring Cycle with Dame Jones. That’s what I did and I found both very very boring and I’m happy I did not buy the DVDs.
I would suggest you give the Chereau another chance. There’s a reason so many people love it and love the ring. The genius of these works is not always apparent upon one’s first exposure if you are expecting an unending drone of readily accessible highlights ala la boheme. When I first started listening to opera I sometimes found myself puzzled at the acclaim certain works received but trusted that it was warranted and that I was missing something. Lo and behold 99% of the time this was the case.
Definitely the MET Ring conducted by Levine. It’s the safest choice.
Thanks La Cieca for this topic and thanks in advance to those offering suggestions. I saw WNO’s concert performance of Gotterdammerung last night (first foray into Wagner territory) and was totally blown away. It was an evening where everything came together vocally and dramatically even without the backdrop of sets. It definitely makes me want to explore more. Irene Theorin’s Immolation scene was raw power that I had never before experienced on stage in my young opera life. She may not be the definitive Brunhilde, but she was able to pique my interest and excite me about repertoire that I previously shied away from. For that, she gets a brava!
well, patrice chéreau is not exactly achim freyer or calixto bieito — his was my first ring and i found it completely comprehensible and compelling as a story, and visually quite beautiful. i particularly like the set for brünnhilde’s rock, seen in la cieca’s post yesterday for dame gwyneth’s birthday.
really, aside from a few of the sets and costumes (the rhine, gibichungs, etc), it’s quite traditional, and doesn’t leap very far from the text. i think a lot of elements make it more compelling than a “traditional” staging can be (at least, the schenk, which is the only readily accessible one) — the contrast between gods/valkyries and men is striking and clear, without beating you over the head with it a la helmets and shields and shimmering breastplates. i can’t imagine a more moving final tableau, both in terms of the original text and the “concept,” which is rather subtly applied compared to the contemporary Regietheater practice.
the standouts in levine’s cast (morris above all, norman, jerusalem, behrens sometimes) almost make it worth it, but it’s a long, hard slog — for me anyway. i think chéreau is really a better place to start for a beginner. it moves faster, the acting and character development are at a higher level for the most part, and chéreau is just a much better storyteller.
It’s not Bieito, but if you are into the Ring for the richness of the plot/thematic elements as well, there are some fairly substantial alterations in Chereau, particularly in Siegfried, with how he treats the forging of the sword, the costuming of Alberich and Wanderer, etc. Those are the things I appreciated (or quibbled with) in Chereau precisely because I knew the original.
I’m not exactly one of La Cieca’s cher public, but that won’t prevent me responding to your request, “Budding Member”, whomever you may be.
First lesson, always look at the conductor and orchestra first when considering a CD or DVD of a mature Wagner work (i.e., the works after Lohengrin), not the singers. A Wagner music-drama is no Italian soap opera, nor is it a showcase for songbirds.
Now, to answer your question directly, there is available today NO worthwhile DVD of the Ring, most especially for a newcomer to the work. As others here have suggested, a newcomer would be better off with the Levine/Met DVD rather than with any of the other sets, inadequate as it is musically and dramatically, simply because the staging is pretty much what Wagner’s score calls for, the other stagings being nothing even remotely resembling what the score requires. And so I second their advice, and suggest you go for the Levine/Met DVD. There will be coming out this month some time a brand new DVD of the Ring with conductor Christian Thielemann on the podium with the orchestra of the Bayreuther Festspiele, and musically this is certain to be the absolute best DVD on the market as Thielemann is without question one of the greatest Wagner conductors of the past and this century. The staging, however, is yet another Eurotrash Regieoper offering, and almost certain to be as loathsome as the others already on the market.
Ah well. One can’t have everything, can one.
ACD
After some quick detective work (the “CD/DVD” notation on the Amazon site made me suspicious), I discovered this is NOT a DVD set, but a 14-disc CD set only. Good news, actually. That means Thielemann’s and the Bayreuther Festspiele band’s brilliant performance won’t be distracted from by that Eurotrash staging.
ACD
I’ve alerted Amazon to their misleading listing notation (viz., the “[CD+DVD]” notation), and suggested removing it. They’ve just eMailed me back thanking me for the correction, and assured me that the change to the listing would be made in the next day or two.
ACD
Is it possible, then, that the CD set includes as a supplement a DVD “making of” documentary or maybe some excerpts from the staged performances? I’ve received several CDs recently that included a bonus DVD. I don’t see much point in it, but this is how some of the deluxe packages are being put together.