Wagner also gave extensive and highly detailed directions for the stage directions and artistic directions of his day, as found in his diaries. He grew quite frustrated when the artists did not present his exact and demanding directions (even the colors used in costumes). Cosima notes some of these frustrations in her journal and quotes Wagner as saying on Sep 23 1879 "having invented the invisible orchestra I now feel like inventing the invisible theater" after an artist failed in an attempt
@WagnerNietzsche regarding post modern stagings and Wagner's thoughts. Wagner himself wrote in "The Public in Time and Space:" "Almost every operatic rigisseur has at one time attempted to trim 'Don Giovanni' to the day, whereas every intelligent person should reflect that not this work must be altered to fit our times, but ourselves to the time of 'Don Giovanni' if we are to arrive in harmony with Mozart's creation."
1.I thought the Rhine maidens were the ones supposed to be swimming? Was I wrong? 2.Granted, the theme that appears in Walküre Act 3 when Sieglinde finds out she is pregnant appears only once more in the Ring, at the end of Götterdämmerung. If the universe has been destroyed, will it be repopulated by Brünnhilde and her son? Is it Siegfried's son? Don't forget, Brünnhilde was Siegfried's aunt. If she has a son with her son, will it be as smart as its father or even more stupid?
@theropodia Absolutely right. I saw only Die Walküre live in Copenhagen a couple of years ago, and I was appalled though the singing was quite good, except for Hunding. And oh yeah, one Walküre was missing (unfortunately the one who sings the top part), so the ho-jo-to-ho in "the ride" didn't feel quite as exciting as it should. But you know, the Danes are easy going. But I found the production abysmal because of the director's complete disregard for the words and the score.
No puedo decir que me disguste el resto de esta escenografía, pero me parece un completo error el momento en que Wotan arranca las alas de Brunilda. La música y la imágen muestran emociones totalmente opuestas, no tiene sentido.
I can easily understand why Decca have chosen to present us with a preview with hardly any singing. The vocal performances of The Copenhagen Ring are - with a few exceptions - substandard.
I don't care much for the production either. For instance: Wotan breaking off Brünnhilde's wings is simply terrifying but seems geared towards shock value rather than the emotion in "der Augen leuchtendes Paar" etc. And it's not the only gory episode in this production either.
kenhiggin and wagnietche, chereau was an ass. he has ruined opera since his factory/victorian Ring model of 1976. Lets take all the magic out of the Ring--make them stripper transvetites, right? Nothing to do with Wagner's libretto that is for SURE. Phatomfantom, you got it right--these techno thug directors did NOT write the opera!! yet they are trying to reinvent it! FOOLS! And we as watchers/listeners suffer visually if not, thank god, musically.
OH MY GOD. Was that what I think it was at .33? I really don't know what to say about this production...its TERRIBLE...NO, IT STINKS. Danish Opera outdoes the infamous Patrice Chereau in modern factory Ring models...Valkyries drinking champagne in Victorian dresses. ...heroes in rumpled Euro suits. By all means, lets strip all the magic out of the mythos of Wagner's masterpiece. I am so ashamed of my ancestor's opera production. This is a real 'lowdalowkay" and "skiterak" production
Just rented this from Netflix and I can't get beyond the production. If the visuals don't mean anything and have nothing to do with the story or music, I'd rather listen to the Solti CD's. One gigantic waste of time and energy, and the closeups of this silly productions are actually funny, especially in Siegfried. Don't worry Wangerites, in time The Ring will reside back in the river Rhine.
Definitiv eine sehenswerte Ring-Inszenierung. sehr nah und ohne krawel. Beste Fricka-Performance ever. wunderbare Erda, zum Brüllen komische Gutrune. Leider wird Hagen erbärmlich gesungen.... und Siegfried....nun. Insegsamt eine hübsche weibliche Sicht auf den Ring, ich bleib trotzdem bei Götz Friedrich.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
What self-appointed arrogance to dismiss the INTENT of the creator! Wagner fashioned an incredibly interdependent artwork between word, music , and stage.....
and now more Eurotrash! Complete crap.
These directors should never have been allowed out of the sandbox.
Just watched the "Valkryie" DVD. Sieglinde is the one who pulls Notung from the tree. The Copenhagen Siegfried is, apparantly, a pussy. Another thing, in "Rhinegold," Fasolt is in a wheelchair. This is the best comedy since "Springtime for Hitler."
Well, at least we know which is the worst Ring Cycle. The clincher is that the Rhinegold is--somehow--a guy with his weiner hanging out. Truly, communists should not be directing Ring Cycles. I guarantee a Nazi is not responsible for this Ring production!)
tristanchord, I see it differently. What seems like a cruel act happens because of Wotan's love to Brünnhilde. Music and words, such as music and action do not necessarily express the same. On a subconscious level there is more than the music promises. Verdi was a master in being at odds between what singers said and the music played. That's what differs a serious piece of art from sheer entertainment...
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Of all the idiotic, slimey communist "interpretations" of the Ring, this production is the current leader. Was that guy swimming around naked, semi-erect? And there's no way I'm buying them wings being strong enough to elevate Brunhilde. And I'm actually shocked that the baby wasn't of black African descent. (You missed that one, comrade.) Overall, an absolute desecration of what is supposed to be a masterpiece. In my humble opinion.
Directors should LISTEN to the music if they want to direct opera. That bit where Wotan violently snatches the wings from Brunhilde and she falls down crying is completely at odds with the music at this point. This is gorgeous music expressing Wotans love for his daughter and his sadness at never seeing her again. The whole wing snatching business would have played a lot better earlier in the act when Wotan is angry.
There is difference between doing an interesting interpretation and just going overboard with abstract ideas and staging that go against the music and composer and just get in the way
Because it would be sooo boring, wouldn't it? How many times can we watch the valkyries wearing horn- helmets? Of course there are many stupid interspretations but for me it's always exciting to watch the new ones, to compare them, etc.
But the ideas of the Composer shouldn't be respected? If I want to watch Opera, I want to see the original setting. The music and the setting are one, and I say it again: the ideas of the Composer should be respected!
To change that is the same thing as destroying a painting by an artist...
Wagner was a genius as a composer, but not as a stage designer. Why should we respect something which is rather mediocre? Why don't try to change it to something more suitable to this great music?
For me, the opera (and also theater) works are not the closed wholes. For example "the Ring of the Nibelung" was not really closed when wagner finished the composing. It's still open and we are free to create the new understendings of wagner's work and show them in the new, modern productions.
Wagner - as most composers actually - was well aware that his original setting was intended for the first performance and nothing else. Secondly Wagner hated his original setting as you can verify in his collected writings. Thirdly opera isn´t a museum. To compare a painting to a living and breathing form of art like theatre or opera just shows your lack of artistic knowledge, nothing else. So please, do the spirit of Wagner a favour and keep your petty opinion for yourself
If you want that, you´ll get a museum. Theatre is a living form of art. As Wagner said himself: "Kinder, mach Neues!" No composer in the whole world would like you to stage their operas in the same way over hundreds of years. You need to transform, to reread, to interpret. As Schelling said, this is the true definition of a piece of art: Its openness to interpretation is endless
I saw the whole cycle LIVE, and it was an incredible experience. Kasper Holten's production will go down in history.
BUT, coincidentally, it's most unfathomable moment is featured on this clip, at 1'40'' - 1'50''. Why does the brass, and then strings, RUSH through this, the most sublime moment of the entire cycle?? I understand the principle of subjectivity, but that was a wasted moment by any taste, a huge sense of anti-climax, as though the motif had escaped the notice of the conductor.
Coincido Oegaziz, las ideas trabajadas en esta puesta son sumamente interesantes. Me pareció muy bella la imagen del hombre nadando en la pecera, la desnudez en el marco de las reglas de etiqueta, "la naturalidad" que transmite es enorme. Las Valquirias como cuervos también es genial. Y la escena en la que Wotan le arranca las Alas a Brunilda me sacudió... GENIAL
Wagner also gave extensive and highly detailed directions for the stage directions and artistic directions of his day, as found in his diaries. He grew quite frustrated when the artists did not present his exact and demanding directions (even the colors used in costumes). Cosima notes some of these frustrations in her journal and quotes Wagner as saying on Sep 23 1879 "having invented the invisible orchestra I now feel like inventing the invisible theater" after an artist failed in an attempt
jcwilson6 1 month ago
@WagnerNietzsche regarding post modern stagings and Wagner's thoughts. Wagner himself wrote in "The Public in Time and Space:" "Almost every operatic rigisseur has at one time attempted to trim 'Don Giovanni' to the day, whereas every intelligent person should reflect that not this work must be altered to fit our times, but ourselves to the time of 'Don Giovanni' if we are to arrive in harmony with Mozart's creation."
jcwilson6 1 month ago
1.I thought the Rhine maidens were the ones supposed to be swimming? Was I wrong? 2.Granted, the theme that appears in Walküre Act 3 when Sieglinde finds out she is pregnant appears only once more in the Ring, at the end of Götterdämmerung. If the universe has been destroyed, will it be repopulated by Brünnhilde and her son? Is it Siegfried's son? Don't forget, Brünnhilde was Siegfried's aunt. If she has a son with her son, will it be as smart as its father or even more stupid?
VivaRenata 8 months ago
Abonimal! The director is a fool and cares naught for the singing...
theropodia 8 months ago
@theropodia Absolutely right. I saw only Die Walküre live in Copenhagen a couple of years ago, and I was appalled though the singing was quite good, except for Hunding. And oh yeah, one Walküre was missing (unfortunately the one who sings the top part), so the ho-jo-to-ho in "the ride" didn't feel quite as exciting as it should. But you know, the Danes are easy going. But I found the production abysmal because of the director's complete disregard for the words and the score.
VivaRenata 8 months ago
GHASTLY!!
windstorm1000 9 months ago
EUROTRASH CONCEPT ~
Focus on gluetumus Maximus, Flaccid, bobbing genetalia, Maidens in high heels on those treacherously narrow steps - one misstep and disaster!
NO FOCUS ON THE VOCALS - cheap tricks do not make a great produciton.
dessay1 9 months ago in playlist wagner
@dessay1 don't forget naked men swimming in fish tanks. whoops never mind, you did mention genitalia.
harryharryballs 9 months ago
No puedo decir que me disguste el resto de esta escenografía, pero me parece un completo error el momento en que Wotan arranca las alas de Brunilda. La música y la imágen muestran emociones totalmente opuestas, no tiene sentido.
tenso37 10 months ago
This look wonderful. I felt her pain when she lost her wings.......
jamesaellis 1 year ago
EXCELLENT STAGING.
AfroPoli 1 year ago
I can easily understand why Decca have chosen to present us with a preview with hardly any singing. The vocal performances of The Copenhagen Ring are - with a few exceptions - substandard.
I don't care much for the production either. For instance: Wotan breaking off Brünnhilde's wings is simply terrifying but seems geared towards shock value rather than the emotion in "der Augen leuchtendes Paar" etc. And it's not the only gory episode in this production either.
hardtimesincountry 1 year ago
kenhiggin and wagnietche, chereau was an ass. he has ruined opera since his factory/victorian Ring model of 1976. Lets take all the magic out of the Ring--make them stripper transvetites, right? Nothing to do with Wagner's libretto that is for SURE. Phatomfantom, you got it right--these techno thug directors did NOT write the opera!! yet they are trying to reinvent it! FOOLS! And we as watchers/listeners suffer visually if not, thank god, musically.
windstorm1000 1 year ago 2
OH MY GOD. Was that what I think it was at .33? I really don't know what to say about this production...its TERRIBLE...NO, IT STINKS. Danish Opera outdoes the infamous Patrice Chereau in modern factory Ring models...Valkyries drinking champagne in Victorian dresses. ...heroes in rumpled Euro suits. By all means, lets strip all the magic out of the mythos of Wagner's masterpiece. I am so ashamed of my ancestor's opera production. This is a real 'lowdalowkay" and "skiterak" production
windstorm1000 1 year ago
No no...Brunhilde is supposed to be dead at the end.
langleywil 1 year ago
@langleywil Exactly...
AtheneNikephoros 1 year ago
Comment removed
Maddy4Me 1 year ago
Just rented this from Netflix and I can't get beyond the production. If the visuals don't mean anything and have nothing to do with the story or music, I'd rather listen to the Solti CD's. One gigantic waste of time and energy, and the closeups of this silly productions are actually funny, especially in Siegfried. Don't worry Wangerites, in time The Ring will reside back in the river Rhine.
jimwigler 1 year ago
Definitiv eine sehenswerte Ring-Inszenierung. sehr nah und ohne krawel. Beste Fricka-Performance ever. wunderbare Erda, zum Brüllen komische Gutrune. Leider wird Hagen erbärmlich gesungen.... und Siegfried....nun. Insegsamt eine hübsche weibliche Sicht auf den Ring, ich bleib trotzdem bei Götz Friedrich.
Mirgrautsvordir 2 years ago 3
Excellent stuff.
Ragnaroekk 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
What self-appointed arrogance to dismiss the INTENT of the creator! Wagner fashioned an incredibly interdependent artwork between word, music , and stage.....
and now more Eurotrash! Complete crap.
These directors should never have been allowed out of the sandbox.
phantomfantom 2 years ago
Calm down, Mr. Swimsuit competition.
ernestalba 2 years ago
@phantomfantom
EUROTRASH IS ZEFFIRELLI.
Ragnaroekk 2 years ago
@phantomfantom I was told today that the director is an integral part to the interpretive process, not the artistic creation; wagner did that!
imaisie 2 years ago
Let the Danes stick to making glass vases and leave Wagner well alone.
Stellavox 2 years ago
Some interesting details, no convincing conception. Too limited on Brünnhilde ...
petatap 2 years ago
Just watched the "Valkryie" DVD. Sieglinde is the one who pulls Notung from the tree. The Copenhagen Siegfried is, apparantly, a pussy. Another thing, in "Rhinegold," Fasolt is in a wheelchair. This is the best comedy since "Springtime for Hitler."
flattilre 2 years ago 2
Well, at least we know which is the worst Ring Cycle. The clincher is that the Rhinegold is--somehow--a guy with his weiner hanging out. Truly, communists should not be directing Ring Cycles. I guarantee a Nazi is not responsible for this Ring production!)
flattilre 2 years ago
Comment removed
lyghdha 2 years ago
tristanchord, I see it differently. What seems like a cruel act happens because of Wotan's love to Brünnhilde. Music and words, such as music and action do not necessarily express the same. On a subconscious level there is more than the music promises. Verdi was a master in being at odds between what singers said and the music played. That's what differs a serious piece of art from sheer entertainment...
Altonahh10 2 years ago
Wotan may have loved Brunhilde, but he was henpecked. He was afraid of the old lady. I wish Loge was in all four operas.
flattilre 2 years ago
P.S. Nonetheless, thanks for posting this!
flattilre 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Of all the idiotic, slimey communist "interpretations" of the Ring, this production is the current leader. Was that guy swimming around naked, semi-erect? And there's no way I'm buying them wings being strong enough to elevate Brunhilde. And I'm actually shocked that the baby wasn't of black African descent. (You missed that one, comrade.) Overall, an absolute desecration of what is supposed to be a masterpiece. In my humble opinion.
flattilre 2 years ago
FUCK YOU, idiot. I'm a fuckin' left-winged and proud of it, and this is the second best Ring after Chéreau.
Sieglinde84 2 years ago
Loved the Chereau Ring. Wish I could see more of this one.
kenhiggin 2 years ago
Directors should LISTEN to the music if they want to direct opera. That bit where Wotan violently snatches the wings from Brunhilde and she falls down crying is completely at odds with the music at this point. This is gorgeous music expressing Wotans love for his daughter and his sadness at never seeing her again. The whole wing snatching business would have played a lot better earlier in the act when Wotan is angry.
tristanchord85 2 years ago
was that a real baby they used??
ouinonyes 2 years ago
Yes - or rather two. As far as I know the twins.
UllaNielsen 2 years ago
I lol'd when the Valkyries were drinking. Looks interesting, though. I might get this cycle.
schrodingasdawg 2 years ago
There is difference between doing an interesting interpretation and just going overboard with abstract ideas and staging that go against the music and composer and just get in the way
joshrosen66 2 years ago
Somebody needs to make an animated version of the Ring Cycle. I think that's the only way to realize Wagner's vision.
dion1949 2 years ago
It's been done, sort of: Check out "What's Opera, Doc?" starring Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny (sometimes as Brunhilde).
TheBeatBongo 2 years ago 2
This looks awesome! I can't wait to get it!!!!!!!
OperaBohemian 3 years ago
Why do directors always destroy the ideas of the composers? Why can't they repsect the original setting?
FredNor 3 years ago
Because it would be sooo boring, wouldn't it? How many times can we watch the valkyries wearing horn- helmets? Of course there are many stupid interspretations but for me it's always exciting to watch the new ones, to compare them, etc.
Brunnhilda 3 years ago
But the ideas of the Composer shouldn't be respected? If I want to watch Opera, I want to see the original setting. The music and the setting are one, and I say it again: the ideas of the Composer should be respected!
To change that is the same thing as destroying a painting by an artist...
FredNor 3 years ago
Comment removed
Brunnhilda 3 years ago
Wagner was a genius as a composer, but not as a stage designer. Why should we respect something which is rather mediocre? Why don't try to change it to something more suitable to this great music?
For me, the opera (and also theater) works are not the closed wholes. For example "the Ring of the Nibelung" was not really closed when wagner finished the composing. It's still open and we are free to create the new understendings of wagner's work and show them in the new, modern productions.
Brunnhilda 3 years ago
Wagner - as most composers actually - was well aware that his original setting was intended for the first performance and nothing else. Secondly Wagner hated his original setting as you can verify in his collected writings. Thirdly opera isn´t a museum. To compare a painting to a living and breathing form of art like theatre or opera just shows your lack of artistic knowledge, nothing else. So please, do the spirit of Wagner a favour and keep your petty opinion for yourself
WagnerNietzsche 2 years ago 8
Bravo!
kenhiggin 2 years ago
If you want that, you´ll get a museum. Theatre is a living form of art. As Wagner said himself: "Kinder, mach Neues!" No composer in the whole world would like you to stage their operas in the same way over hundreds of years. You need to transform, to reread, to interpret. As Schelling said, this is the true definition of a piece of art: Its openness to interpretation is endless
WagnerNietzsche 2 years ago
That looks awesome. If I could afford them I'd get the DVDs asap.
Skukkuk 3 years ago
I saw the whole cycle LIVE, and it was an incredible experience. Kasper Holten's production will go down in history.
BUT, coincidentally, it's most unfathomable moment is featured on this clip, at 1'40'' - 1'50''. Why does the brass, and then strings, RUSH through this, the most sublime moment of the entire cycle?? I understand the principle of subjectivity, but that was a wasted moment by any taste, a huge sense of anti-climax, as though the motif had escaped the notice of the conductor.
slothnik 3 years ago
Tony Duggan called this "the Wagnerian ride of your life." I'm ordering the DVD's tomorrow.
nibelungensohn 3 years ago
It was different and fantastic. Saw them all except Rheingold and now also owns the DVD-box. Watch it!!
erasmussen8337 3 years ago
This is.... different.
Bluehawk2008 3 years ago
the final of Die Walkuere was especially disgusting
podkivanok 3 years ago
interesting concepts
oegaziz43 3 years ago
Coincido Oegaziz, las ideas trabajadas en esta puesta son sumamente interesantes. Me pareció muy bella la imagen del hombre nadando en la pecera, la desnudez en el marco de las reglas de etiqueta, "la naturalidad" que transmite es enorme. Las Valquirias como cuervos también es genial. Y la escena en la que Wotan le arranca las Alas a Brunilda me sacudió... GENIAL
Anibaal 3 years ago