Wagner's Valhalla

[knight66]

So not politically incorrect, just de trop.

I have the Furtwangler and as Andy suggests, Act 1 is particularly strong. I know of no other conductor who injects that amount of tension and stillness, stasis really, into the scene where T&I drink the potion.

His opening to Act two is also magical, evoking darkness, mystery and a kind of fever.

Mike

[AndyD.]

Meanwhile, I noticed this is set to be released October 19

OO .

I have an excellent recording here, though in the politically incorrect format which I rarely play ...

That Furtwangler is excellent, in my opinion. The Krauss is great for an old recording as well.

So not politically incorrect, just de trop.

I have the Furtwangler and as Andy suggests, Act 1 is particularly strong. I know of no other conductor who injects that amount of tension and stillness, stasis really, into the scene where T&I drink the potion.

His opening to Act two is also magical, evoking darkness, mystery and a kind of fever.

Mike

He said it! The 1st act of the Furtwangler is SO great, I am really considering spinning it tonight (it's my birthday).

[knight66]

A happy birthday. But perhaps Act 2 would be better and leave Act 3 for another day. 

Mike

[kishnevi]

A happy birthday. But perhaps Act 2 would be better and leave Act 3 for another day. 

Mike

And don't forget Siegfried Idyll to round it off.

Happy B-day!

[AndyD.]

A happy birthday. But perhaps Act 2 would be better and leave Act 3 for another day. 

Mike

I went and played 1, 2 and half of act 3. I'll finish it later today, I'm so busy admiring the Takacs Bartok.

And don't forget Siegfried Idyll to round it off.

Happy B-day!

Thanks to you and Mike! I had gourmet bacon cheeseburgers with steak mushrooms, homemade mashed potatoes, and fudge brownie Ben and Jerry's ice cream! Plus, George turned me on to the above mentioned Bartok.

[jlaurson]

Dortmund. Wagner - Bill Viola, Tristan & Isolde, Esa-Pekka Salonen / Philharmonia Orchestra

[Brian]

I am considering a November jaunt to Sevilla for a few days, during "reading week," and my interest got even greater when I noticed that Sevilla's classical concert hall will be playing host to, shall we say, an extremely unusual operatic event...

[Sergeant Rock]

I am considering a November jaunt to Sevilla for a few days, during "reading week," and my interest got even greater when I noticed that Sevilla's classical concert hall will be playing host to, shall we say, an extremely unusual operatic event...

Strauss's Rheingold....this I have to hear 

Sarge

[knight66]

I once saw a Prague Festival announcement of Britten's 'The Screw of Lucretia'

Mike

[Scarpia]

Thanks to you and Mike! I had gourmet bacon cheeseburgers with steak mushrooms, homemade mashed potatoes, and fudge brownie Ben and Jerry's ice cream!

Wont the bun get soggy when that ice cream starts melting?

[AndyD.]

Wont the bun get soggy when that ice cream starts melting?

[mc ukrneal]

Wont the bun get soggy when that ice cream starts melting?

No wonder Alberich was so ticked off all the time! 

[AndyD.]

No wonder Alberich was so ticked off all the time! 

Ample proof that soggy buns can lead to a life of thievery.

[knight66]

Ample proof that soggy buns can lead to a life of thievery.

You are after all merely paraphrasing Nietzsche with that thought.

Mike

[AndyD.]

You are after all merely paraphrasing Nietzsche with that thought.

Mike

I hoped somebody would see that.

[Sergeant Rock]

We saw Das Rheingold last Friday, using the combined resources of Ludwigshafen and Halle. The orchestra was our own Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and the singers from Oper Halle.

It was a proper Eurotrash production. The Rhine maidens were lipstick lesbians (lots of hot lesbo action to tease Alberich):



Erda was, for reasons that elude me, a prostitute dressed in lingerie and boots.



The gods wore 30s style suits; Fricka and Freia were likewise costumed from the 30s, with Frieia wearing Krankenschwester headgear (that makes sense: she does keep the gods healthy).



The Nibelungen were depicted with video projection or, when they deliver the gold to Wotan, by a gang of children dressed in black. Alberich was appropriately sleazy, with long hair and no shirt under his suit jacket, and an obvious shoe fetish. He finds a high heel belonging to one of the girls, sniffs it, and becames inflamed with lust. Here he is, stealing the gold after he's spurned.



There was real water depicting the Rhine--lots of splashing around by the girls, and Alberich was completely soaked when he's pushed in. There was also real fire--quite startling at first: it ranged across the full width of the stage, the flames much higher than in the pic below (Loge had just snapped his fingers to dose the fire). We were in row five and could feel the heat! Fricka, Wotan, Donner and Froh in the pic, plus one of the kids who carried the giants' standards.



The giants were dressed like German journeymen "auf der Walz" (at least that's how they appeared to Mrs. Rock and me). Fafner to the left, Freia and Fasolt:



Donner had no hammer. Instead, when Wotan asks him to clear the sky, he lifted a grate, which triggered a fan that made it appear the wind had kicked up. Instead of a hammerblow, he slams the grate shut--effective sonically but not what Wagner asked for obviously. (He did ask for the lipstick lesbians...I'm pretty sure he did. If not, he should have  )



The right side of the stage was dominated by a huge black wall made up of numerous numbered boxes. We're unsure what that was supposed to represent. When Fasolt is murdered, the kids take off his shoes and put them in one of the boxes. Huh? Is it heaven? Is this where "soles" rest after death? 

Karl-Heinz Steffens conducted a well-paced performance. The orchestra played well, the climactic moments all one could wish for (although the horns sounded a bit tired at the end after two and a half hours without a break). Alberich had the most impressive voice among the men: the girls were really good (and good looking: slender, youthful). The acting was natural, not stilted. The first scene was very sexy, very funny, very moving too. I felt sorry for poor old Alberich. The final moments, the gods' ascent to Valhalla, was a disappointment, though: visually an anti-climax, the gods ascending on scaffolding like window washers, and no depiction of the fortress. But despite that I enjoyed the production in general. Being so close to the stage (in a relatively small theater) was interesting too; the voices clear and immediate, the orchestra (buried underneath the stage like at Bayreuth) never overwhelming the singers.

Walküre will be given next fall, with Siegfried and Götterdämmerung to follow in the spring of 2012.

Sarge

[mc ukrneal]

We saw Das Rheingold last Friday, using the combined resources of Ludwigshafen and Halle. The orchestra was our own Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and the singers from Oper Halle.

Sarge

Sounds like a lot of fun! Glad to hear you enjoyed it and thanks for all the pictures! I do hate it when you can't figure out some part of the imagery/scenery/symbolism during the performance. I spend too much time trying to figure it out instead of watching the action.

[Guido]

People always feel they have to do something to Wagner.  That said most "traditional" productions are also fairly terrible. Why do people think that minimal acting talent and virtually complete staticism will make for a more moving experience? I've almost given up seeing a production as beautiful as I imagine. Which are peoples all time favourite productions? Any really great ones on DVD?

[Superhorn]

   The best costumes in a Wagner production of all time were for the Rhinemaidens in the 1983
Ring at Bayreuth, where Solti conducted there for the first and only time- the girls were stark naked !
Cool !



                                                     


                             

[kishnevi]

It was a proper Eurotrash production. The Rhine maidens were lipstick lesbians (lots of hot lesbo action to tease Alberich):

Erda was, for reasons that elude me, a prostitute dressed in lingerie and boots.


Sarge

If it's a truly proper Eurotrash production, the reasons will always elude you.  Indeed, in a trulygreat Eurotrash production, nothing will make any sense at all. 

Thanks for the pictures and report.  Eurotrash or not, it sounds like a production worth seeing.