Glyndebourne Merry Widow BBC FOUR

[MickyD]

I saw a truly dreadful Swan Lake on French TV last night from the Dresden Opera. You would never have known from the images alone what the ballet was.

[Saint-Loup]

Yet the standard of 'classic' operetta productions has actually risen in Germany lately.

The last operetta I saw there was 'Fledermaus' at the very-good-second-division Opera Halle. It was, to quote you again, rendered "funny" and "relevant" for populist consumption, and was several times interrupted by energetic booing and shouting, from the knowledgeable audience (who of course the director would dismiss as stick-in-the mud tradition fetishists and likely AfD voters)

The intendant of this house is the Englishman Walter Sutcliffe. He did not direct 'Fledermaus' however, having recently offered his public a 'Tales of Hoffmann' transformed through his solemn condescending Cambridge Marxist Mansplaining vision into three episodes from German history. The singer playing Antonia looked lovely as Leni Riefenstahl, but...



btw has anyone else on this forum seen the current 'RIng' at Bayreuth?

[Ein Heldenleben]

The last operetta I saw there was 'Fledermaus' at the very-good-second-division Opera Halle. It was, to quote you again, rendered "funny" and "relevant" for populist consumption, and was several times interrupted by energetic booing and shouting, from the knowledgeable audience (who of course the director would dismiss as stick-in-the mud tradition fetishists and likely AfD voters)

The intendant of this house is the Englishman Walter Sutcliffe. He did not direct 'Fledermaus' however, having recently offered his public a 'Tales of Hoffmann' transformed through his solemn condescending Cambridge Marxist Mansplaining vision into three episodes from German history. The singer playing Antonia looked lovely as Leni Riefenstahl, but...



btw has anyone else on this forum seen the current 'RIng' at Bayreuth?

Sadly not but welcome Saint-Loup by the sound of it a fellow Proustian and Wagnerian!

[Belgrove]

btw has anyone else on this forum seen the current 'RIng' at Bayreuth?

Yes I have Saint-Loup (and welcome to the Forum), and will be going again in the summer, much to dig out.

[Saint-Loup]

Sadly not but welcome Saint-Loup by the sound of it a fellow Proustian and Wagnerian!

Thank you - and Belgrove - for the welcome: yes, Proustian and Wagnerian amid other eclectic enthusiasms. Recently returned to England and Radio Three after many years abroad, most recently in Germany.

R3 was my musical education when I listened all day while studying another subject at Uni. Interesting to take up the relationship again after so many years. Like me it has undergone changes, some good others not.

Belgrove, I wonder if you've already offered your views on the Bayreuth Ring here or elsewhere. I try to be an open minded sort of fella who seeks the merit of productions, but this one upset me.

[Belgrove]

Belgrove, I wonder if you've already offered your views on the Bayreuth Ring here or elsewhere. I try to be an open minded sort of fella who seeks the merit of productions, but this one upset me.

It was deeply upsetting and unsettling, but it was also the most thought provoking, stimulating and exhilarating Ring I’ve seen. It made distortions to the original ‘scenario’, which means it’s not a Ring for novices. But those thoroughly familiar with the Ring would find that this production concentrated and intensified many of its overt and latent themes - it’s very nasty! The liberties that were taken were, after much reflection on my part, justified and their implications carefully thought and carried through. At the outset, abstracting the Rheingold to something that everyone wants but can’t keep, Youth, was bold and leads to very dark places, places that are in the news at this moment. The Ring is big enough to contain many mansions and will always find themes that speak to the times.

It was fantastic to finally visit Bayreuth, that acoustic is a miracle.

[Saint-Loup]

The Ring is big enough to contain many mansions and will always find themes that speak to the times.

It was fantastic to finally visit Bayreuth, that acoustic is a miracle.

Agree with the above. To the rest of your post, intrigued respect. Even if lucky enough to get tickets again I could not afford to go back during the lifetime of this Ring (or indeed my own), but would enjoy, I suppose, the opportunity to think it all though again if it ever came out on DVD or a stream somewhere. Although for anyone thinking of 'teasing out' meaning, the programmes notes were brutally determined to do the work for you in advance.

Well, The Chéreau gig many years ago caused a similar stir but looks mainstream now. I was lucky enough to see the Leipzig Ring twice in the past decade and this too, was provocative and unsettling but without the knicker-tugging, the cosmetic surgery bandages and the knitting needle. Both musically wonderful of course, with the Gewandhaus orchestra having the edge over the Bayreuth band, and the Socialist-Classic house on the Augustusplatz as unique in its way as the Shrine on the Mount.

[LHC]

Agree with the above. To the rest of your post, intrigued respect. Even if lucky enough to get tickets again I could not afford to go back during the lifetime of this Ring (or indeed my own), but would enjoy, I suppose, the opportunity to think it all though again if it ever came out on DVD or a stream somewhere. Although for anyone thinking of 'teasing out' meaning, the programmes notes were brutally determined to do the work for you in advance.

Well, The Chéreau gig many years ago caused a similar stir but looks mainstream now. I was lucky enough to see the Leipzig Ring twice in the past decade and this too, was provocative and unsettling but without the knicker-tugging, the cosmetic surgery bandages and the knitting needle. Both musically wonderful of course, with the Gewandhaus orchestra having the edge over the Bayreuth band, and the Socialist-Classic house on the Augustusplatz as unique in its way as the Shrine on the Mount.

The Schwarz Ring cycle is available to stream on DG's Stage+ streaming site if you want to revisit it. The recordings are from 2022 when it was premiered. The Castorf and Chereau ring cycles are also available to stream on the same site along with several other Bayreuth productions.

[Saint-Loup]

The Schwarz Ring cycle is available to stream on DG's Stage+ streaming site if you want to revisit it.

Thank you LHC.

I will 'man up' and take a look.