Topic: Chicago Lyric Opera "Ring..." Production

[Haffner]

Anyone see this one? Was it filmed for (hopefully soon to be released) dvd? Was the production traditional?

[MishaK]

What season?

[Haffner]

What season?

I think it was the only 1996 production of the Ring there. Sorry about not being more specific, O.

[Wendell_E]

It was done in 1996, and revived in 2005.  I haven't heard anything about it being filmed.  Here are some pics from Rheingold and Siegfried:

[Wendell_E]

...and Götterdämmerung.

[Haffner]

...and Götterdämmerung.

Hey, this looks interesting! Thanks, Wendell!

[uffeviking]

There was a Ring in Chicago with Siegfried Jerusalem but I don't recall the year, it could have been in 1996. Any way to get the cast list?

Thank you!

[Wendell_E]

While I was looking for those pictures (which I didn't find at the LOC site, BTW), I found that the LOC site does have Performance/Cast Listings from 1954 through 2004 here: http://www.lyricopera.org/about/performanceArchive.asp

As it says, it does take a while to load, I'll go ahead and post the cast for that Ring you were asking about:

Das Rheingold
Richard Wagner
Mar. 11, 18, 25 / In German
Ameritech, Cynthia Wood and Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Claeyssens production.

 
Woglinde     Elizabeth Futral
Wellgunde     Emily Manhart
Flosshilde     Robynne Redmon
Alberich     Ekkehard Wlaschiha
Fricka     Marjana Lipovšek
Wotan     James Morris
Freia     Tina Kiberg
Fasolt     Matti Salminen
Fafner     Carsten Stabell
Froh     Stig Andersen
Donner     Alan Held
Loge     Graham Clark
Mime     Dennis Petersen
Erda     Nancy Maultsby
Conductor     Zubin Mehta
Stage Director     August Everding
Designer     John Conklin
Lighting Designer     Duane Schuler
Wig and Makeup Designer     Stan Dufford
Choreographer     Debra Brown
Puppetmaster     Lisa Aimee Sturz
 
Die Walküre
Richard Wagner
Mar. 12, 19, 26 / In German
Ameritech, Cynthia Wood and Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Claeyssens production.

 
Siegmund     Poul Elming
Siegmund     Stig Andersen (Mar. 26)
Sieglinde     Tina Kiberg
Hunding     Matti Salminen
Wotan     James Morris
Brünnhilde     Eva Marton
Brünnhilde     Jane Eaglen (Mar. 19)
Fricka     Marjana Lipovšek
Gerhilde     Elizabeth Byrne
Helmwige     Susan Neves
Waltraute     Emily Manhart
Schwertleite     Martha Jane Howe
Ortlinde     Penelope Daner
Siegrune     Eleni Matos
Grimgerde     Robynne Redmon
Rossweisse     Patricia Risley
Conductor     Zubin Mehta
 
Stage Director     August Everding
Designer     John Conklin
Lighting Designer     Duane Schuler
Choreographer     Debra Brown
Wig and Makeup Designer     Stan Dufford

Siegfried
Richard Wagner
Mar. 14, 21, 28 / In German
Ameritech, Cynthia Wood and Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Claeyssens production.

 
Mime     Graham Clark
Siegfried     Siegfried Jerusalem
Wanderer (Wotan)     James Morris
Alberich     Ekkehard Wlaschiha
Fafner     Matti Salminen
Forest Bird     Elizabeth Futral
Erda     Nancy Maultsby
Brünnhilde     Eva Marton
Brünnhilde     Jane Eaglen (Mar. 21)
Conductor     Zubin Mehta
Stage Director     August Everding
Designer     John Conklin
Lighting Designer     Duane Schuler
Puppetmaster     Lisa Aimee Sturz
Wig and Makeup Designer     Stan Dufford

NEW PRODUCTION 
Götterdämmerung
Richard Wagner
Feb. 17, 24; Mar. 9, 16, 23, 30 / In German
Ameritech, Cynthia Wood and Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Claeyssens production.

 
First Norn     Nancy Maultsby
Second Norn     Robynne Redmon
Third Norn     Susan Marie Pierson
Brünnhilde     Eva Marton
Brünnhilde     Jane Eaglen (Mar. 23)
Siegfried     Siegfried Jerusalem
Gunther     Alan Held
Hagen     Matti Salminen
Gutrune     Elizabeth Byrne
Waltraute     Marjana Lipovšek
Waltraute     Nancy Maultsby (Mar. 30)
Alberich     Ekkehard Wlaschiha
Woglinde     Elizabeth Futral
Welgunde     Emily Manhart
Flosshilde     Robynne Redmon
Conductor     Zubin Mehta
 
Stage Director     August Everding
Designer     John Conklin
Lighting Designer     Duane Schuler
Chorus Master     Donald Palumbo
Wig and Makeup Designer     Stan Dufford
 

[PerfectWagnerite]

It was done in 1996, and revived in 2005.  I haven't heard anything about it being filmed.  Here are some pics from Rheingold and Siegfried:

Boy the staging looks god-awful...Even worst than the Barenboim, totally similar to the whole bunch of Euro-trash Rings nowadays.

[marvinbrown]

It was done in 1996, and revived in 2005.  I haven't heard anything about it being filmed.  Here are some pics from Rheingold and Siegfried:

   
Somebody tell me how Siegfried is supposed to stab that "Fafner's skeleton" thing and taste its blood?  I tell you these modern adaptations of the Ring ...... ,  I saw one recently where Wotan was dressed in a three piece suit  what is going on at opera theatres all over the world?


  marvin

[knight66]

Postmodernism, ask Mr Osa.

Mike

[PerfectWagnerite]

   
Somebody tell me how Siegfried is supposed to stab that "Fafner's skeleton" thing and taste its blood?  I tell you these modern adaptations of the Ring ...... ,  I saw one recently where Wotan was dressed in a three piece suit  what is going on at opera theatres all over the world?


  marvin

It is very simple actually. Nowadays there is really no suitable Brunnhilde, Siegfried, Siegmund, or Wotan so they have to figure out a way to draw the attention AWAY from the vocals. Also there is no acceptable Wagner conductor nowadays other than Barenboim (he's not perfect but he is still much much better than whoever they run out there). Thus the more shocking the scenes the more you don't pay attention to the performance as much.

[Haffner]

It is very simple actually. Nowadays there is really no suitable Brunnhilde, Siegfried, Siegmund, or Wotan so they have to figure out a way to draw the attention AWAY from the vocals. Also there is no acceptable Wagner conductor nowadays other than Barenboim (he's not perfect but he is still much much better than whoever they run out there). Thus the more shocking the scenes the more you don't pay attention to the performance as much.

Do you mean that there aren't very many great singers anymore?

[marvinbrown]

Do you mean that there aren't very many great singers anymore?

 
     I guess what PerfectWagnerite means is that there aren't A LOT of GREAT Wagner/R.Strauss singers as there was in the past years , check this list out of all the REALLY GREAT Wagner/R. Strauss singers of the past: Hans Hotter, Elizabeth Shwartzkopf, Birgit Nielsen, Kristen Flagstaad, Kurt Moll,  Ludwig Suthaus the list goes on and on and on.........that being said I think very highly of James Morriss and Jesse Norman as Wagnerian singers (both Americans go figure)

  marvin   

[Haffner]

 
     I guess what PerfectWagnerite means is that there aren't A LOT of GREAT Wagner/R.Strauss singers as there was in the past years , check this list out of all the REALLY GREAT Wagner/R. Strauss singers of the past: Hans Hotter, Elizabeth Shwartzkopf, Birgit Nielsen, Kristen Flagstaad, Kurt Moll,  Ludwig Suthaus the list goes on and on and on.........that being said I think very highly of James Morriss and Jesse Norman as Wagnerian singers (both Americans go figure)

  marvin   

Although I didn't entirely like Jerusalem in the Met dvd "Ring...", I think he's overall a good singer. Maybe not for Wagner or Strauss' material...?

I also think Norman,and Morris are outstanding. I really loved Norman in the above mentioned "Ring..." and enjoyed Salminen's performance as well (maybe not entirely for his voice, though I mostly liked that as well).

[marvinbrown]

Although I didn't entirely like Jerusalem in the Met dvd "Ring...", I think he's overall a good singer. Maybe not for Wagner or Strauss' material...?

I also think Norman,and Morris are outstanding. I really loved Norman in the above mentioned "Ring..." and enjoyed Salminen's performance as well (maybe not entirely for his voice, though I mostly liked that as well).

  Haffner I have been meaning to ask you what about Seigfried Jerusalem's performance in Levine's Ring did you not like?  Was it his acting or rather looks and mannerisms on stage or was it his voice (singing)?  Personally I was a little put off when I first saw him cast as Seigfried but he grew on me. I had to remind myself that Wagner himself thought of Seigfried as obnoxious, conceited and perhaps even spoiled a role Jerusalem played quite well IMHO of course.

  marvin 

[Yasser]

Am I the only one who finds the Met Ring to be the most boring production of the Ring? True, the period and the setting are close to what Wagner had in mind, but the acting does not match the music, Levine's tempi drag and the singing with very (very very...) few exceptions is average. Morris sings Wotan without authority. Behrens doesn't have the voice for Brunnhilde. Jerusalem's voice is tired (he was in much better voice for Barenboim) and his acting is horrible (unless you consider waving his hands and having spit flying from his mouth while singing is good acting). There is nothing left in Christa Ludwig's voice except the annoying register and vibrato. These are just a few examples. The director seems to have left the singers on their own on the stage which resulted in action that does not correspond to the music. Check the other Rings on DVD. You will be missing much if you only watch/listen to the Met.

Yasser

[knight66]

Yasser, You are not alone, but it seems most other Rings frighten newcomers off.

Mike

[MishaK]

 
     I guess what PerfectWagnerite means is that there aren't A LOT of GREAT Wagner/R.Strauss singers as there was in the past years , check this list out of all the REALLY GREAT Wagner/R. Strauss singers of the past: Hans Hotter, Elizabeth Shwartzkopf, Birgit Nielsen, Kristen Flagstaad, Kurt Moll,  Ludwig Suthaus the list goes on and on and on.........that being said I think very highly of James Morriss and Jesse Norman as Wagnerian singers (both Americans go figure)

  marvin   

Well, marvin, you know, the past always has the distinct advantage over the present of having been around much longer.  You've listed many generations of singers there. But even so getting a star studded cast without any weak links for the Ring would have been as impossibly daunting of a task a few decades ago as it is today. The endurance of Solti's Ring as a reference recording lies precisely in the fact that the impossible was achieved in uniting in one set of performances an all-time dream cast. But even that Ring wasn't accomplished in one season. Solti benefits from catching Flagstad at the end of her career but still in good voice for Rheingold in 1958 and then having Nilsson in her prime for the rest of the cycle which went on well into the next decade. The present certainly has a few outstanding Wagnerian singers. I've been very impressed with Peter Seiffert and Rene Pape. Waltraud Meier never had a fantastic voice, but she was nonetheless the most intense Isolde I have ever seen. Nina Stemme needs some time to mature, but is coming along nicely.

[marvinbrown]

Well, marvin, you know, the past always has the distinct advantage over the present of having been around much longer.  You've listed many generations of singers there. But even so getting a star studded cast without any weak links for the Ring would have been as impossibly daunting of a task a few decades ago as it is today. The endurance of Solti's Ring as a reference recording lies precisely in the fact that the impossible was achieved in uniting in one set of performances an all-time dream cast. But even that Ring wasn't accomplished in one season. Solti benefits from catching Flagstad at the end of her career but still in good voice for Rheingold in 1958 and then having Nilsson in her prime for the rest of the cycle which went on well into the next decade. The present certainly has a few outstanding Wagnerian singers. I've been very impressed with Peter Seiffert and Rene Pape. Waltraud Meier never had a fantastic voice, but she was nonetheless the most intense Isolde I have ever seen. Nina Stemme needs some time to mature, but is coming along nicely.

  Oh I am not familiar with Peter Seiffert and Rene Pape.  Names to look out for then...thank you for pointing them out.  The Ring Cycle is easily the hardest opera to cast, so many characters with vocally demanding parts.  I am just concerned about all these NEW adaptations of the Ring that I must admit are difficult for me to digest. There always seems to be some new angle to every production like this Chicago Lyric Opera "Ring"....Fafner as a skeleton?? a futuristic take on the opera??   It just seems so far removed from what Wagner had in mind.  I could be wrong. If anybody has seen this production I would like to know........ Does it work?

  marvin