Das Rheingold Selected Scenes by San Francisco Opera

By Richard Wagner
The lust for power, the lure of gold, the sacred beauty of nature, the destructive impulses of man: These timeless themes dominate both American history and Wagner's Ring.
Provocative parallels are promised in Artistic Adviser Francesca Zambello's imaginative new staging of the massive, four-opera cycle, which begins with this mythic tale of mountaintop chicanery. This co-production with Washington National Opera uses imagery from various eras of American history—including, in this first installment, the California gold rush and the Roaring Twenties. Donald Runnicles conducts a cast headed by three great American singers: mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore and baritones Mark Delavan and Richard Paul Fink.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• classical
• San
• Francisco
• Opera
• Wagner
• Rheingold
• Ring
• Cycle

[acbulgin2]

@Capt777harris You're welcome. There seems to be at least one other done by Pierre Boulez on DVD. I think I got mine from Amazon.com. The one I have with the Met was produced by Deutsche Grammophon. Only world-class Wagner opera I have seen live was Parsifal in DC circa 2000. You know the Met is simulcasting live performances of their operas to local theaters in HD these days. Where do you live? I saw die Walküre recently in NC. They will be doing Siegfried & Götterdämmerung this fall.

[Capt777harris]

@acbulgin2 Very cool.  Thank you.

[acbulgin2]

@OperaBracelets Oh yeah, the original staging, spelled out by Wagner himself, is enchanting and of course a glorious self-parody of a kind. But to me, the staging and costumes are less important than how the singers and orchestra do their stuff. The music of course lies at the heart of it, and if that fails, nothing else matters much in my view.

[acbulgin2]

@Capt777harris It is available on video, or at least it used to be. I have the DVD set of the Metropolitan Opera's production of the cycle I believe recorded in the late 80's, 1989 I think. It is pretty good; of course the sound from these clips here is much better because they have gotten progressively better at recording live stuff what with tube preamps for mics and so on. It did cost me a lot, I think $100 or thereabouts. I bought it in 2002 or 2003 I think.

[Capt777harris]

@dchiapello Thanks. I actually saw a documentary last year on the 1990 SF production called "Sing Faster". I was there. I saw that production, and still think the 1985 and 1990 productions are the best.

[dchiapello]

@Capt777harris Search for the 1985 Ring. That was the original production, which they revived in '90 and, I think, '95. There are lots of clips from Gotterdammerung, but I didn't find any from Rheingold, unfortunately. That was a gorgeous production design, with its Palladian-styled Valhalla. And the thrill of watching it collapse at the end of Gotterdammerung! By the way, the cast in '85 was amazing: Gwyneth Jones, James Morris, Eva Marton, Rene Kollo, Walter Berry...

[papoocanada]

they're dressed for horseback riding .......what a mess, sucks

[OperaBracelets]

I prefer a traditional Ring but there is something about the settings-costumes-time periods from this Ring that absolutely intrigue me!

[kamion53]

looks more like "Nixon in China" with the wrong text then Rheingold.

[Capt777harris]

@Loismustdie26 Guess I was feeling pretty po'd about this vid. I saw the 1990 production first hand, and this ain't it. Truth be told I was just kidding =] Still, I wish I could find that Ring Cycle on video.