Added: 2 years ago
From: losangelesopera
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  • BOOOOOooo! Got to turn every damn thing into a comic book!

    Christ, not even Wagner is immune. I'm sure their thinking is: "If

    we don't dumb it down, we won't get those fat asses away from

    their TV sets"!

  • Hey guys what is the third song called? The one with the weird blue and black guy singing alone.

  • Star Trek TOS Let this be our last battlefield.

  • this is not opera it already became circus.........costumes are ridiculous and the entire staging

  • I endured LA Opera's Ring Cycle....what a waste except for Domingo and Fink. They were the only bright spots in an otherwise ridiculous production.

  • The sets, the costumes are ridiculous. Obviously the stage and costume designer do not have the first clue about Opera and must be on LSD. The performers must have felt like idiots. Certainly idiots designed this crappy production.

  • Pfooooey!

  • Did anyone see the Met's production of Die Walkure? THAT is how to be creative with the set and the performance. Made the story so much easier to get into WITHOUT distracting from the music or the acting. The performers here look so uncomfortable with these costumes. How am I supposed to feel empathy with Wotan when he is an expressionless doll from a Tim Burton movie?

  • @mgrant121 I just saw video of the Met's new "Ride," complete with terrified Valkyries as they slowly slide down the set. LA Opera's "Ride" was breathtaking, and the Met's was...not.  Maybe it's better in person, but I was expecting the Met's to be thrilling, especially with that giant piece of set.

  • @munkyb True, the ride of the valkyries wasn't spectacular. Using the machine as the primary, and pretty much the sole piece of set was certainly a minimalist approach. A lot was done with video projections onto the machine that made it seem more than just a series of see-saws. I highly suggest watching the entire performance when it comes out on DVD or whatever.

  • I actually attended the full cycle, and while the blocking was frustratingly static, the costuming and scrim work were actually way cool. So, don't knock it unless you've seen the full effect.

  • like Wagner himself once said, "I have invented the invisible orchestra, now I want to invent the invisible stage!"

    Innovative and modern is one thing but ...the form here explodes any relation to the content...is loses any relation to human nature which would be OK if the genre were not drama.

    This staging requires different music...let Wagner remain a representational artist please you manic World-War aesthetic monstrosities!!

  • Someone has been watching too much of the cartoon network. Fortunately, Wagner's music carries the day and these "anime" productions.  What crap.

  • I'm guessing this is the same director as 'Alice in Wonderland' by Unsuk Chin?

  • Some of the most gorgeous music ever written, the most ridiculous production ever. Wow, one would imagine that not since the Nazis overran Bayreuth have so many dunderheads gathered to put on a Ring of the Nibelung.

  • But please come on! Are you supposed to sit for like 5 hours and watch a boring scenografi? I think this looks great and would do anything to see it :)

  • This was my first Ring Cycle. I found the LA Opera production utterly enthralling and it watching all four operas was literally the highlight of 2010 for me. I'm glad there are different visions of the Ring available. I can't wait to see the San Francisco production this summer and I hope to check out the Met production next year. As far as I'm concerned, any Ring is a great Ring. :)

  • James Conlon, you should be ashamed you were associated with this weirdo production--just goes to show Bayreauth doesn't have a corner on ideot concepts. the costumes --if that's what you call them? what the hell can one say? its the Ring in a insane asylum. Or star wars at Oktoberfest! So GLAD I did not waste money to see this--BUT you can't destroy Wagner's magnifi. music, thank G. for that, atleast. Feel so sorry for the singers trapped in this nonsense. "F" to the stage dire & cost.

  • Great production. DOWN with stupid productions like the old MET RING.

  • This is not what this is supposed to be. It's supposed to be Nordic Mythology, not a futuristic slap to Wagner's face. This is supposed to be a classic, which this appears not to be.

  • What the Hell!!!!

  • Shouldn't Sieglinde know where east is without a sign?

  • pauvre wagner!

  • Oh, my God. I'm only 18 seconds in and we have cheap plastic light sabers and people dressed up like Vogons from the BBC broadcast of "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (but not nearly as entertaining). What a monstrosity.

  • this is not at all a "modern" conception. The American Houses are way too traditional...even the MET. If they are looking for "modern art"< why the never program LULU, DIE SOLDATEN, The Devils of Loudun, Le Grand Macrabre, The Mask of Orpheus, Un re in ascolto, or The Prisioner, just to mention a few od them...or even better to Commision XXX century Operas?

  • Lightsabers?

  • What the hell is this?!

  • Lots of ignorance in these comments. I was at this production and it was quite spectacular.

  • @jdizzlesaxmaster I was NOT at these performances in LA, but have seen the RING in the major houses including Bayreuth. This one looks great.

  • So Alejandro Jodorowsky's Dune was finally realized.

  • @pinkyluvluv : I'm offended. An opera of this musical quality, and a production exhibiting such a high degree of artistic abstraction and fantastically expressed emotion through such an unconventional medium really calls for the liberal consumption of large amounts of psychedelic mushrooms.

    Maybe a good coupla tabs on top of that, too.

    This production was so damn cool.

  • I got it.It's Star Wars,Cirque Du Soleil,and Alice in Wonderland all painfully mashed into one.

    Wagner would turn over in his grave if he saw this.Or laugh.or both.

  • @pinkyluvluv Wagner would have loved this. It's realization is splendid.

  • @rumpwrestler .I bet you didn't say that with a straight face.

    It's awful.But hey,one mans crap is another mans....

  • Too bad Wotan can't blow himself. If he could, I'm sure they would have put that in there, too.

  • Exactly right from this small sample. How have I come to grasp and love this in my very late 60's?

    I watched this without the sound as I was listening to a radio broadcast and detested it. When I added the sound it seems just right. Costumes seem to add to expressiveness. I like the 50/50 face paint on Siegmund also. Earthly mother and god father.

  • The only way to "appreciate" this production is to watch it while being sodomized by AIDS-infected midgets.

  • @Sammyjackson1488  Speak just for yourself, pal. Clearly you have no imagination like most Wagnerites....

  • @rumpwrestler

    So you have tried AIDS-infected midgets?

  • these videos don't do the production justice; it is quite spectacular to see it in person. Achim Frey is a genius; his years of study under Bertole Brecht are clearly evident.

  • This is the most awesome thing I've ever seen.

  • @TheCardiacShakespear Im sure you meant after you smoked weed lol.

    that sure must have been good stuff LOL.

  • This looks freaking retarded. You make the singers look and feel stupid, and make me feel stupid as an audience member. I hate you.

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  • @omtara ha ha ha I loved the part of "I hate you" awesome!! I totally agree!!

  • @omtara @omtara ha ha ha I loved the part of "I hate you" awesome!! I totally agree!!

  • Spear and magic helmut? Spear and magic helmut! Oh Brunnhilde you're so lovely....

  • Oh, God, this is such a hideous Ring production! The costumes are over-the-top, and the lighting effects are really distracting. At least the Kupfer & Chéreau Rings had some depth in their staging.

  • Oh god...what the hell is that staging

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  • to me, the costumes and the props make it more interesting to watch, but the music is absolutely AMAZING.

  • I'm just disgusted that there aren't any productions that actually resemble mythological Germany like the late 80's Met series. These stupid costumes are an abomination. Wagner would not be pleased, I think.

  • @aagjmb You obviously are no spokesperson for Wagner and you've read nothing about his "Music Theater of the Future". I read nothing ignorant remarks here by a pack of no nothings. How many times have YOU taught the RING in universities? Mine is limited, only four RINGS at four universities......They ought to ban such stupid productions as those at the MET.....

  • Dear Rump Wrestler: I think your name pretty much sums up my sentiments.

  • @aagjmb My name is just for you. SMILES, nitwit.

  • @aagjmb What a joke you are. Clearly you have so little imagination, you need to see a tree on the stage to know it's a tree. Or at least something for you to pee on.

  • When Vitalij Kowaljow sang the words ''Leb Wohl'' I nearly fell off my seat. It was the best sound I had ever heard from any singer, anywhere. He is the Wotan of our times, up there with London and Hotter without a doubt.

  • Horrendous costumes, and as for the music, not the worst, but I can tell instantly that Winterstürme is taken far too fast. Really...trashy.

  • Really awful to look at and it cost millions... Thanks God for CD's.

  • Yes! At least they don't 'F*ck' with the Music!

  • It´s like a bad mixture of Star Wars(light saber),Two-Face´s from Batman and the Wizard of Oz(costume).Nevertheless they have good voices in the production.

  • Vomitrocious! Why Do these so called Productions get weirder each time Like a Bad 'Xerox' copy of a bad 'Xerox' copy ! It's funny that they seem to do this mostly to' Wagner'! Bring back the 'Arthur Rackham' Inspired sets/costumes!

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  • Hmm, "modern"? - for an american audience perhaps. Looks rather convetional to me, nice idea though.

  • always these modern trash productions.

  • Oh dear - bloody pantomime again. As bad as 'The Russian Ring' (but the singing here is great.

  • I actually like the Star Wars/Star Trek design. Why not?

  • Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito are great with their "Siegfried" at Stuttgart. Perhaps the Weimar-Ring is a new experience (I have seen only some moments of it).

  • Eine witzige Persiflage oder Parodie! Offenbar fehlt unseren Politikern der Humor, daß sie nicht ebenso auftreten.

  • Georges Lucas au cirque Pinder...

  • Why does every design have to be literal interpretation? This amazing production is innovative in every way. Freyer creates another world where nothing is pretty and we see things that have never been seen before. Open up people, art is suppose to challenge and Achim Freyer does!

  • Worth every dollar i spent on the tickets!!! I already got my tix for Siegfried!! I have never seen a production of the ring like this. Its so sureal and psychedelic!! Props to Fryer for having such an amazing vision. Ive never seen anything like this!! Anyone on here look up other performences of the ring and you'll see this is the best one!!

  • Sorry, don't want to watch this ... better Star Wars or Chrereau or Konwitschny ...

  • . Faut voir les voix et la direction. Car on peut toujours fermer les yeux.

  • George Lucas would be proud. Luke... I am your father.

  • Wagner Meets Walt Disney. What do you expect from Los Angeles?

  • Vitalij Kowaljow sounds fantastic.

  • Yup, he does. I love hearing a bass Wotan; makes him sound more godlike.

  • I think it looks interesting. I can't say it looks exactly the way I would imagine a Ring cycle to look...But then, what's the point of having so many new productions of a 150 year old work if at least some of them don't strive to present it from a fresh perspective, to present familiar themes and characters in a new and unique creative world? I'm not saying I think it looks like unparalleled genius (though who knows? It might be)...But I'm reserving judgment until I see it.

  • Oh my God ... what hideous self indulgent clap-trap!

  • I completely agree. This is supposed to be a Nordic Mythology story. Not a French Star Wars Masquerade. Why are people trying to ruin beautiful operas with crazy staging and costumes. Such useless gimmicks detract from the beauty of the music and are disrespectful to the composer.

  • @jfbecks17 In Hell, you will have to watch that dreadful past MET Ring.

  • @rumpwrestler

    I would prefer to sit at an opera and be bored than to sit at an opera contemplating the immature thought process of the director. I have no idea how he came up with this. Oh wait yes I do, he was probably watching star wars and decided it was cool... How creative of him.

  • @jfbecks17  This production looks like fun to me. Disrespectful to the composer? he's dead. Who cares? And Domingo is responsible for getting this new RING to LA. Write to him with your traditional belly-aching. Then when your shuttle returns to earth, have a little adventure and don't feel so threatened.

  • @rumpwrestler

    Obviously with a comment like that you cannot be a musician, because that is a very disrespectful attitude to have. As Elisabeth Schwarzkopf said, "we sing for the composer". I'm sure Domingo has the same attitude. That aside, I do not mind productions to be off the beaten path -when they can be justified by the dramatic intention of the piece. Where is the validity of the lightsabers? The stage director liking Star Wars is not a good enough reason to destroy this opera.

  • looks misguided in the usual L.A. way

  • Hey, they are supposed to be rugged giants, capable of builiding Valhalla, not just two severely obese competitive eating champions.

  • I saw Das Rheingold and the dress rehearsal of Die Walkure at L.A. Opera. I was not pleased with any of the sopranos, and the Valkures all had wobbles, even though many were young. Unfortunately L.A. Opera is very political, and sometimes do not cast the real talent. Domingo sounds incredible for a 68 year old tenor, and yes the set and costumes were a bit too Modern and comical for such brilliant music. The orchestra saved the opera.

  • ha ha, who would have thought that wagner had starwars the opera in mind when writing die walkure!

  • this production looks like it was done by a four year old, thank god the orchestra sounds good. This production borders on unwatchable, and to defend by calling it "artsy" Seems very pretentious. The revolving stage does seem pretty cool though

  • how would you know?

  • I don't know. Wagner liked awesome things like Valkeries n' stuff.

    Maybe he would have been a huge star wars fan if he were alive today?

    Maybe he would have written an opera all about Jar Jar Binks?

  • Vitalij Kowaljow was absolutely out of this world. His whole performance, culminating in a 'Leb Wohl' of godly power and fatherly tenderness, was a joy to hear. Thank you Vitalij, all the fabulous cast, and LA Opera!!

  • I loved it! my second OPERA and I was delighted...recommend it

  • This only reinforces how sadly the Met's Otto Schenk production will be missed. How sad for Placido Domingo -he looks like the fourth member of Blue Man Group. This borders on the fine line of absurdity and vulgairty. This epitomizes the height of pretensiousness.

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  • Fascinating to hear the racist perspective. I had no idea the KKK were such admirers of opera. Perhaps if they (black woman and a white, blond man) had been painted blue - it would have been more believable?

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  • Sounds racist to me. Ever hear of suspension of belief? And this may come as a surprise to you but they would be fraternal twins - there might not be any resemblance. Newsflash - a brother and sister cannot be identical twins! umm it has to do with chromosomes - you might find that interesting. This Eurotrash production is somewhere between comic and pretentious. I just saw the final Met run and Adrianne Pieczonka and Placido Domingo resembled each other. You'll be happy no blacks were in it!

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  • Otto Schenk did a great job with the Ring at the MET - better than anything else seen.

  • When you watch it, it just fits. It's not weird or anything. It's just in keeping with the artistic style of director Achim Freyer.

  • Saw last nite's performance and I was enthralled! Placido Domingo is simply amazing! Highly suggest if you see this you EAT FIRST, it is a really, really long performance...

  • IT IS OBVIOUS tha PLACIDO has made a really clever reading on this opera. First the set is a "pastiche" or a "collage" of the icons of all 19th and 20th century in the intro of 21st century. His vision is a great philosophical dispute upon the legacy of Opera and the way it will go in the future. And of course, PLACIDO did it LOS ANGELES style. its brilliant. many americans may not understand this because they lack the education. Imagine they have Terminator as governor in CA... anyways... sorry

  • Oh PUH - LEEEEEZE !

  • Very impressive. Makes me want to see the Ring again as soon as I can.

  • I want to come to los angeles to see this ! :)

    beautful/tragic.

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