Träume Center
This is Ring week here at parterre.com, cher public, and to kick of the communal watching festivities, La Cieca (not pictured) invites you to watch tonight’s prologue to the prologue, the documentary Wagner’s Dream. The Susan Froemke film is scheduled for PBS at 9:00 pm.
“Fool, those were reviews for the original WORKS”
If you carry on like that parterre will become as bad as opera-l. You can disagree with someone without calling them names. It devalues everyone who participates here, in my opinion.
Cherished Grim--
Fine, we’ll try and maintain the decorum of a proper tea party at Swinbrook.
Given that it’s basically a video version of a coffee table book, I thought “Wagner’s Dream” was remarkably even-handed, and a good reminder that no one sets out to make bad art on purpose. I’d like to point out, though, that Jay Hunter Morris made his Siegfried role debut at SFO on May 29, 2011, not that fall at the Met as the documentary implies.
I saw only the HD Walkure telecast, and found it far less entertaining and involving than the Zambello version at SFO, still fresh in my mind at the time. (I prefer my valkyries as parachuting Amelia Earharts rather than a row of broads on over-sized exercise machines--I hope that doesn’t make me sound too elitist.)
I look forward to catching up with the rest on PBS this week, to see how the rest of the cycle fares. I’m glad to know in advance, however, that Grane is played by the mutant love-child of the War Horse puppet and a mechanical bull, so I can brace myself and overlook that detail when the grand finale arrives.
How will I ever get my husband attend a Ring performance again! He had to sit through the Walkuere because of my crush on Jonas (bitching all the time) and now he is sitting in front of the box laughing himself silly watching Rheingold!
This production of Rheingold is BORING and ugly so far! Direction is non- existent. I am still in the second scene with the gods. Very static.The machine encumbers the action and drama. They just stand there on their planks like statues and look bored with the whole effing thing. Costumes are beyond atrocious. NO MAGIC AT ALL!
I can see why Levine became sick--having to conduct this crap.
It looked to me like a comic book that a teenage boy would like and had about as much depth. Lepage = arrested developement?? Or is it dumbing down?? But loved Jimmy, Eric Owens and some others. Terfel not so much for most of it. This is my first impression of the production as I did not see it in the theater or in HD, trying to preserve memories of some other stagings, notably the Lehnhoff/Conklin Ring for San Francisco in the 80s. Now to rest up for tomorrow.
Vezzosa: “comic book “is right. The worst part is that the whole thing is so static. It’s like a concert performance on a Disney set.
Next time book Patti LuPone rather than Patti LePage.
Gurls, console yourselves for tomorrow night brings Jonas! That means YOU, Fragende Frau!
Cammie, good night, dearest. The only way I can enjoy this Rheingold is by just listening. Watching spoils the whole thing.
xoxoxo