The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Category: Der Ring des Nibelungen

  • SF Opera’s Ring Media Round-Up

    SF Opera's Ring Site | Production Web Site Reviews of San Francisco Opera's Der Ring Des Nibelungen (Scene 4 of Das Rheingold pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) are trickling in. Cycle Reviews: San Francisco Examiner | The Mercury News | San Francisco Classical Voice | Berkeley Daily Planet Götterdämmerung Reviews: San Francisco Chronicle | Not…

  • SF Opera’s Die Walküre Cycle 1

    * Notes * As with the previous installment of Der Ring des Nibelungen at San Francisco Opera, Die Walküre (Act I pictured left, photo by Cory Weaver) has beautiful playing from the orchestra and a powerful cast. Donald Runnicles drove a propulsive performance with very bright and exultant brass. The woodwinds were plaintive, especially the clarinet…

  • Götterdämmerung at the Bayreuther Festpiele

    * Notes * The second cycle of the Frank Castorf’s new Der Ring des Nibelungen at Bayreuth ended with Götterdämmerung on Monday. The proceedings were somewhat less nonsensical than the Siegfried, at least there were no gunshots interrupting the music. The turning set included döner kabob and produce stands, two different sets of stairs, a neon…

  • Siegfried at the Bayreuther Festpiele

    * Notes * A second performance of the new Siegfried at Bayreuth was held on Saturday. It seems that Frank Castorf put more time into this opera than the previous two of Der Ring des Nibulungen, and the results are unfortunate. The action is set at Bahnhof Alexanderplatz in Berlin and an alternate version of Mount…

  • Die Walküre at the Bayreuther Festpiele

    * Notes * Frank Castorf's new Der Ring des Nibelungen continued with Die Walküre at Bayreuth last night. The production continues to be dramatically vacuous. The set looked to be a large barn situated in Azerbaijan, which did transform into an oil derrick for Acts II and III. The live video captures are distracting, at times…

  • Rheingold at the Bayreuther Festspiele

    * Notes * The second cycle of Frank Castorf’s Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuther Festspiele opened yesterday with Das Rheingold. The production is a hodgepodge of Americana that does not give the characters any place to go. The action takes place at a Texan motel and gas station, all carefully arranged on a turntable.…

  • Götterdämmerung at the Met (Cycle 2)

    * Notes * The second Ring cycle the Met this season came to a rather disappointing conclusion with Götterdämmerung yesterday. Though there were many fine individual contributions to the piece, in the end both playing and staging fell short. Robert Lepage’s production was not consistent with the earlier parts of the cycle. Why should Grane finally…

  • Siegfried at the Met (Cycle 2)

    * Notes * The second Ring cycle this season at the Met continued last night with Siegfried. The production, directed by Robert Lepage, proved to be even more traditional than its most recent predecessor. Here we have both bear and giant serpent, and so many of Lionel Arnould's projected images are literally from the text. The…

  • Die Walküre at the Met (Cycle 2)

    * Notes * The second Ring cycle this season at the Met continued with a matinée of Die Walküre (Act II, Scene 1 pictured left, photograph by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera) yesterday. The limitations of "The Machine" became more apparent in this opera. Robert Lepage's direction is restricted by how the set moves and where people can…

  • Das Rheingold at the Met (Cycle 2)

    * Notes * A second Ring cycle began with Das Rheingold (Scene 4 pictured left, photograph by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera) last night at the Met. Robert Lepage’s production involves a series of about 24 jointed panels that can be arranged in many different configurations. Known as “The Machine,” Carl Fillion’s set is not unlike a huge…