Wagner's Valhalla

[eyeresist]

For people who have read reviews (for example, here, here, and here) of the Mariinsky ring just finished in London and are thinking it can't have been that bad.  You're right: it was worse.  An embarrassing shambles that should never have been allowed on stage.

Judging only from the pictures at your linked reviews (curtain calls only), I'd say things didn't look too bad, in terms of costume and set. I've certainly seen (pictures of) more misguided productions (e.g. the Kuhn cycle).


In other news, I took delivery today of my first complete Ring boxset! 

I got the Neuhold, because it's modern, generally well reviewed, and amazingly cheap.

I think first thing I'll do is make a quick and dirty comparison with my Solti Rheingold and Furtwangler/EMI Walkure, just to see how things measure up. Then I'll dig out the libretto and start thinking about how I can make a Ring-sized hole in my schedule over the next couple of weeks.

[jlaurson]

Judging only from the pictures at your linked reviews (curtain calls only), I'd say things didn't look too bad, in terms of costume and set. I've certainly seen (pictures of) more misguided productions (e.g. the Kuhn cycle).

I believe the Mariinsky Ring didn't so much suck because of the staging (which I've not seen), but because the orchestra and perhaps the conductor, too, have simply no way with the music. I suffered through their Parsifal not too long ago, and it was an excrutiatingly bad performance; all musicians lost, no purpose, nor arch. Astonishingly terrible.

In other news, I took delivery today of my first complete Ring boxset!  

I got the Neuhold, because it's modern, generally well reviewed, and amazingly cheap.

I think first thing I'll do is make a quick and dirty comparison with my Solti Rheingold and Furtwangler/EMI Walkure, just to see how things measure up. Then I'll dig out the libretto and start thinking about how I can make a Ring-sized hole in my schedule over the next couple of weeks.

I'm so glad you have those to compare to... Because Neuhold/Karlsruhe is, i.m.o. "cheap", not "inexpensive". Not so much priceless at "$25,-, but worthless, given the superb competition at prices very nearly as low. Even the "Naxos" cycle (Zagrosek/Stuttgart) boasts far superior singing (and costs only $32 on the DVDs [highly questionable productions]). Clemens Krauss 1953 (recommended) runs only $35, ditto Furtwaengler's at La Scala (not actually recommended in part because of sound). Knappertsbusch 1956 (recommended) can be had for less than $40. In modern sound, with great singers (and singer-heavy), there's the "GDR-Ring" with Janowski (recommended, studio, RCA, $48), that's also available for <$50. (Ditto the Kopenhagen DVD set, if you count that.)

Admittedly I wouldn't spend ~$60,- on Boulez (CD only; the DVD set is a must-have, though) or Levine, but just above $60 are Sawallisch (EMI, live, recommended), Boehm (Philips, semi-live, top recommendation), and Haitink (EMI, underrated). Having searched for them only now, I am, admittedly, surprised that Sawallisch is still at above $60,- but then again, just four, five years ago, it was a tricky undertaking to get any quality RING for under $100.

[eyeresist]

I guess I'll have the chance to make my own judgement soon I have the 5-disc EMI best-of the Haitink cycle, which certainly sounds very well (especially the anvils and screams in Rheingold), but is less than perfect vocal-wise, namely one Eva Marton.

[jlaurson]

I guess I'll have the chance to make my own judgement soon I have the 5-disc EMI best-of the Haitink cycle, which certainly sounds very well (especially the anvils and screams in Rheingold), but is less than perfect vocal-wise, namely one Eva Marton.

Yep, she does stand out like a sore thumb. That wouldn't happen if one took a cast of only sore thumbs. 

[Haffner]

The Krauss '53 set features fantastic singing performances, and is overall one of the best Ring renditions ever, in my humble estimation. As you probably already know, it's mono sound (and not recorded particularly well), but it's good to have a mono rendition if you're diehard. The singing alone is well worth the measly price.

[Lilas Pastia]

I've always liked this humorous take on Wagner's Ring, "the only opera on earth that comes in a gigantic economy package":

Anna Russell. If you like it, check Youtube's parts 2, 3 and 4.

I don't know how to post Youtube clips, but that's the link, so off you go!

[duncan]

Did they need a new director or conductor?  What was needed to repair the problems?

I've had time to calm down and reflect a bit now ...

Overall, this was an embarrassing shambles that should never have been allowed on stage.  Some good individual performances couldn't disguise insulting lack of preparation and basic errors of stagecraft.

The concept, such as their was, of a universal mythology and the on-stage 'jelly babies' I could take or leave.  I've seen better and worse on opera stages.   Singing standards were very mixed, Olga Savova (Brunhilde in Walkure) pretty decent, Leonid Zakhozhaev (Siegfried in Siegfried) also quite acceptable, Olga Sergeyeva (Brunhilde in Siegfried) was so bad that I'd have been tempted to put her back to sleep, a wobbly shriek, caricature bad Wagner singing.  Larisa Gogolevskaya (Brunhilde number 3) woefully underpowered and almost lost it completely in the second act.   Acting was straight from the 1950s, some singers attempted an interpretation with varying degrees of success, others didn't bother.  There was almost no interaction between performers and absolutely no sense that there was any directorial hand at work, it was all up to the individual.  The prompter was intrusive throughout.  There were numerous technical cock-ups.  Brunhilde sauntered on half way through the third act of Valkyrie and lay down, in full view of the audience with seemingly no attempt made to disguise this.  Hagen didn't sing (forgot?) the final lines of the opera even though they appeared on the surtitles.  A fitting end.

It could have been much better if a real director had been given time to rehearse, the cycle was spread over the usual 6 days to give orchestra and singers time to recover between performances, which would have allowed a single (best) singer to take each role, allowing some continuity in performance.  I suspect Gergiev's ego wouldn't allow this.  

[eyeresist]

Okay, I've done a quick comparison between Solti and Neuhold Rheingold. The great disadvantage in Neuhold is the amazingly scrawny-sounding orchestra, which I think must be at least in part due to microphoning. Boosting the bass helps a bit, but they still sound thin whereas the singing sounds quite natural. Neuhold is also not nearly as energetic a conductor (though who is?), but supports the drama very well.

Singing: Solti's Rhine maidens had much more charm and Alberich a richer voice, but Neuhold's were acceptable. I think Neuhold had much better-sounding Fricka and Wotan (London was thin and gravelly and Flagstad just sounds much too old). Loge's were about equal, but Neuhold's did less shouting. Neuhold's Mime was decent but lacked intensity, and was vocally too similar to Loge for listening purposes. I don't remember much about the others, except Neuhold's Freia was frightful - fortunately it's a very small part. The same singer reappears as a Walkyrie in the second opera; don't know how that'll work out. As I'm not familiar with the libretto as yet, I won't venture further opinion on acting and characterisation.

So Neuhold won't be anyone's first choice, but for my purposes as cheap introduction to the last two operas, it will serve well enough.

[knight66]

Here is something fairly extraordinary I have found:

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/Beyond-the-Ring-The-Best-of-Wagner/e/723721309855

Also available from the Amazon marketplace for £12.75!

Mike

[Sergeant Rock]

Wow...it's been over three months since the last post in this thread 

This question probably won't revive it for long but I was curious if anyone else had pre-ordered the Thielemann Ring or plans to buy it when it's released.

Sarge

[Valentino]

No Sarge. I guess I'm fine with Solti, Keilberth (Testament), Karajan and Barenboim. Will probably get the Boulez on DVD someday, though.

Apart from that: Very interesting posts on the area where you live in that other thread. I found your throwing of that wedding band to the maidens quite fitting.

[Wendell_E]

This question probably won't revive it for long but I was curious if anyone else had pre-ordered the Thielemann Ring or plans to buy it when it's released.

Sarge

Lis has ordered it.

[jlaurson]

No Sarge. I guess I'm fine with Solti, Keilberth (Testament), Karajan and Barenboim. Will probably get the Boulez on DVD someday, though.

Apart from that: Very interesting posts on the area where you live in that other thread. I found your throwing of that wedding band to the maidens quite fitting.

Do get the Chereau some day. It's maaaaaahhhhvelous.


some reading, if you are interested.

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/09/chreau-ring-cycle-making-of.html
http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/09/chreau-ring-cycle-das-rheingold.html
http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/09/chreau-ring-cycle-die-walkre.html
http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/09/chreau-ring-cycle-gtterdmmerung.html

[jlaurson]

Wow...it's been over three months since the last post in this thread 

This question probably won't revive it for long but I was curious if anyone else had pre-ordered the Thielemann Ring or plans to buy it when it's released.

Sarge

I think release was postponed... no? but I had that Ring on CD (radio copies, don't tell) and in any case think it might be worth waiting for his next ring to appear. The one planned in Baden-Baden with the MPhil will probably be scrapped now, that they kicked him out in 2011... but there will be another one for sure, whether Dresden, Vienna, or Bayreuth. And while the conducting is phe-no-men-al, the singers add so little to the last incarnation that one reckons it can only get better. (But then I have never quite been a fan of whatshername... the blond American soprano. Linda Watson.)

[Superhorn]

  I haven't heard Gergiev conduct the Ring yet, but the Parsifal broadcast from the Met of Parsifal I heard a few years ago on WQXR was much,much better than the lackluster one you described. Maybe it was just an off night, which can happen with any one.
In fact, that Parsifal broadcast from the Met was terrific. I'd like to hear more of Gergiev's Wagner. I hope some of it will be released on CD and DVD. He may be erratic at times, but when he's at his best, his performances of whatever,not just Russian music, are unforgettable.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

This question probably won't revive it for long but I was curious if anyone else had pre-ordered the Thielemann Ring or plans to buy it when it's released.

Sarge

Looks like it's already been released here in the States, and on BBC Legends of all labels. Which could mean a radio pick up. Any idea what the sound is like?

[Wanderer]

Wow...it's been over three months since the last post in this thread 

This question probably won't revive it for long but I was curious if anyone else had pre-ordered the Thielemann Ring or plans to buy it when it's released.

Sarge

I'd pre-ordered it and have been listening to it on and off for about a week, although regrettably not with the utmost attention. Thielemann's conducting is phenomenal as already mentioned (the main reason I purchased this), the singing being mostly average. Bayreuth's acoustic as captured sounds very pleasant and natural. Judging from the cover photos, it's just as well this production made it to CD rather than DVD/BD.

[Valentino]

Do get the Chereau some day. It's maaaaaahhhhvelous.


some reading, if you are interested.

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/09/chreau-ring-cycle-making-of.html
http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/09/chreau-ring-cycle-das-rheingold.html
http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/09/chreau-ring-cycle-die-walkre.html
http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/09/chreau-ring-cycle-gtterdmmerung.html

Thanks for making me salivate.

[Sergeant Rock]

I think release was postponed... no?

I don't know. JPC has a release date of 18 Nov...today. But they don't list it as being in stock. Amazon DE doesn't have it in stock either. A mystery then...unless you have some insider information, Jens.

...in any case think it might be worth waiting for his next ring to appear

That might work for you but at my age that would be considered gambling 

Any idea what the sound is like?

No. And I'm not familiar with the label either: Opus Arte

Sarge

[jlaurson]

I don't know. JPC has a release date of 18 Nov...today. But they don't list it as being in stock. Amazon DE doesn't have it in stock either. A mystery then...unless you have some insider information, Jens.

I just very faintly remember receiving a press release about the delay of that release...  but now I can't find it, so I can't confirm, either.

No. And I'm not familiar with the label either: Opus Arte

Sarge

Yes, you are. It's the Opus Arte you know from DVD releases. Since they are Bayreuth's partner in releasing their DVDs, they are also their partner now in releasing the CDs. (The first time they have done so.)