Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen / Patrice Ch?reau - Pierre Boulez, Bayreuth Festival (Complete Ring Cycle)
by Brian Large
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DVD details
Actor: Donald McIntyre, Fritz H?bner, Heinz Zednik, Martin Egel, Siegfried JerusalemDirector: Brian Large
Cinematographer: Peter Czegley
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: German (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Box set, Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 840 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-10-30
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Umvd Labels
DVD Reviews of Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen / Patrice Ch?reau - Pierre Boulez, Bayreuth Festival (Complete Ring Cycle)
DVD Review: Now on Deutsche Grammophon DVD set!
Summary: 5 Stars
This groundbreaking Chereau/Boulez Ring DVD set is now available from Deutsche Grammophon, and purchasable here on Amazon: The Ring of the Nibelung: Das Rheingold / Die Walk?re / Siegfried / G?tterd?mmerung
I consider this Chereau/Boulez Ring to be the perfect starter Ring. The singers/characters look exactly as they should, and sound lovely. The story is told in a very human, very relatable, and very understandable way and setting -- one that is very easy to get caught up in and be mesmerized by, even if you don't know the slightest thing about the Ring.
DVD Review: Twilight Of Wagner's Masterpiece: A Classic Butchered
Summary: 1 Stars
ABOUT THIS DVD: Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen Director Pierre Chareau, Conductor Pierre Boulez Centennial Bayreuth Opera production. CAST: Manfred Jung (tenor, Siegfried) Gwyneth Jones (soprano, Brunhilde) Fritz Hubner ( bass, Hagen) Franz Masura (bass, Gibechung) Jeanne Altmeyer (mezzo soprano, Gutrune) Gwendolyn Killebrew (soprano, Waltraud) ....Four Operas..Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung.
I have never given a 1-star rating to anything before but after watching director Patrice Chereau' Centennial production of Wagner's Gotterdammerung at the Bayreuth Opera (filmed in the 80's)I have to. This is by no means the best Gotterdammerung nor the way the opera should be staged or represented. While I'm sure there are worse productions (Peter Sellers is another abstract, post-modern nut job of an opera director)which probably have the Gibechung giants become Nazis or have even more minimalist staging "nothing" production values, this opera is weak and ineffective and downright boring. The three operas that lead up to this climatic final opera - Rhinegold, Walkure and Siegfried- are also lackluster and full of the same unorthodox, unconventional and terrible production elements. The general theme seems to be (and this is my personal theory) that the 19th century "look" of this production represents the time that Wagner composed this opera and the people of that century he was writing for. His message to them at the time was that it was imperative that Germany be unified into an Empire. By honoring the noble heroes and heroines of old Germanic myth, the greatest being this one drawn from the Volsung and Nibelung saga, he was urgently calling for heroism and zealous patriotism in 19th century Germany. But at the same time, this production seems to be suggesting that the explosive Industrial Revolution and rapid modernization of the late 19th century was killing old, more human values and alienating humans from one another, and worse, igniting greed and lust for power. It's not that I don't understand Boulez or his concept of the Ring, but it is not to my liking and it was the first time I have ever seen the Ring operas. Living in the desert that is California, I have no access to opera and least of all not traditional Wagner opera productions. In Wagner's time, the Ring operas that were staged at Bayreuth followed Wagner's original instructions as written. This is an old Norse/Viking saga and we are dealing with mythical beings - the King of the Gods, Wotan, his wife the frigid goddess Freya, the human lovers Siegmund and Sieglende Wotan's daughter the Valkyre and later ex-Valkyrie daughter Brunnhilde, the heroic semi-god/human hero Siegfried, and nasty dwarfs like Albrecht, Giants Fafner and Falsolt and the Gibechung and Nibelung race of giants. There is a rainbrow bridge that leads to the palatial home of the Gods Valhalla, a beautiful and eternally flowing river called the Rhine and beautiful sirens called the Rhinemaidens. In Siegfried, there is even a Talking Bird-Woman and a powerful fire-breathing dragon. You do not see any of them in this production. Since the fall of the Third Reich at the end of World War II, namely throughout the decade of the 50's, strange, modern, abstract designs appeared in Wagner opera productions. Wieland Wagner, the last member of the Wagner family, introduced bold new ideas to Bayreuth. The only good thing about his involvement with Bayreuth was that through him ethnic singers like African-American opera diva Grace Bumbry were able to sing at Bayreuth when prior to that only white/European singers sang there. Wieland Wagner welcomed modern stage productions and would have surely enjoyed Boulez' version. But not me.
Director Pierre Chereau and Conductor Pierre Boulez has changed everything to suit his directorial concept. Leave it to two Frenchies to destroy Wagner's masterpiece. Instead of rich, colorful, evocative Romantic/Nordic imagery, we have low lighting and a lot of darkness, minimal set design, a 19th century time period (and that I can tell from the costumes)and the few edifices we see are 19th century architecture. What the heck is this all about ? The worst part is that eventhough they are singing the libretto as written (i.e. Brunhilde summons her flying horse Grane.."Grane Meine Ross! during the Immolation Scene...and orders the Gibechungs to erect Siegfried's funeral pyre.."Starke Scheite"..) we do not see any of the things they are singing about. It is not as minimalist as some other operas but it is still far too modern for my tastes. As such, this particular production is suited for lovers of modern concept operas. But all I'm saying is that Wagner's Ring Des Nibelungen should not look like this and the better ones are always the ones that stick to the original concept by Wagner.
As for the singers, I like Manfred Jung's Siegfried. Blonde, handsome and noble, he epitomizes the Wagnerian hero even if the music for Siegfried taxes him to the point he is out of breath. Singing Siegfried is not easy and Jung is considerably underpowered next to the more striking Siegfrieds sung by tenors Wolfgang Windgassen, Jon Vickers and James King. He is more like Wagnerian tenor Rene Kollo, a strong lyric tenor with some dramatic abilities but not really enough to carry Wagner's music well and cut through large-scale orchestras. Fritz Hubner and Franz Masura are superb villains Hagen and Gibechung. They have secure, strong Wagnerian baritone-bass voices and are perhaps the only good singers in the cast, which is ultimately very disappointing and sad because the two most powerful singers in this opera should be the tenor and soprano in the roles of Siegfried and Brunhilde. Dame Gwyneth Jones' Brunhilde was hailed by critics as a great performance, not just in this production but in others. Why that is, I don't know. I don't really care for her voice. It's an unsteady, blowzy, grating soprano voice and to me, it doesn't feel right for Brunhilde. She is of course no Birgit Nilsson or Astrid Varnay, who vocally capture the true spirit of Brunhilde's character and Wagner's music for the character, and granted Gwyneth Jones is better than the light voice of Hildegard Behrens, but she is not singing Brunhilde correctly. Gwyneth Jones sang several Wagnerian heroines (Elisabeth in Tannhauser, Isolde, Senta)and she was considered to be a fine Wagnerian soprano by many but let's face it. That voice is not properly placed, the vibrato is far too wide, and she seems very nervous when she sings. I have heard her both in recordings and in video/DVD and at certain parts her voice cracks under pressure. The Immolation Scene is God-awful. Wearing a plain white gown with long elbow sleeves, and ranting and raving in that unsteady and shaky, awful voice of hers, it is the worst I've ever seen or heard. She makes it look more like a Mad Scene than anything else. At the end of this opera, the world is supposed to end, destroyed by fire and water, and Valhalla is supposed to be consumed by flames. But insstead we see a pillar of fire into which Brunhilde leaps into, and dry ice/smoke. A group of people in 19th century clothes stand around with silent and unfeeling expressions. It's unbelievably awful.
DVD Review: It's Comming Back!
Summary: 4 Stars
It is interesting to note that Deutsche Grammophon will be
issuing this DVD set on it's label within the next few months.
This production was considered quite "different" when it was
first shown back in the late 1970's. I personally found it hard
to watch at first. Once I got used to it I found that Patrice
Chereau and Pierre Boulez et al, had put together one of the
most moving productions of the "Ring" ever. Is this set better
than the Levine, MET DVD set? perhaps not. Better than some of
newer ones on the market? Without a doubt!! This DVD set makes
Wagners Ring Cycle a bit more relevant to us and is timeless.
Now if only Decca could see fit to re-release the Boulez,
Bayreuth CD set at midprice, as DG did with the Levine,MET CD
set.
DVD Review: One of the best opera dvds
Summary: 5 Stars
Can't make any detailed analysis. But I'd say that it's one of the very best dvds that I've come across. Even if I'm not a very devoted opera fan, the drama and the intensity of the acting and singing pulls me into its world. Doubtlessly an important document of a major operatic event.DVD Review: Won over by it
Summary: 5 Stars
I agree with most of Brian Hay's assessment of this dvd production. Nevertheless, I've perhaps derived even more pleasure from it, as it has completely changed my previous perception about opera as a fossilised art form. Both the singing and acting are great, and the drama, though a little odd at times, holds together very well. I can't dwell in depth about the technicalities of the singing and conducting, but suffice to say that I'm completely won over by it!
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