Boulez-Chereau Centenary Ring, 1976: Opinions?

[Conchis]

Nikolaus Lehnhoff


I didn't see much of it - it was broadcast on Channel4 and acts were interrupted for adverts! (The two giants' entry preceded by our being told that we couldn't fit quicker than a Kwikfit fitter: there must be many a regietheater producer kicking themselves for not thinking of doing this!)

I do have the EMI CDs of the production - and, whilst Hale is very, very good, Kollo and Behrens are both long past their prime: the end of Siegfried is a shoutfest, with the two performers incapable of projecting Musically over the Live orchestra - in spite of Sawallisch's best efforts on their behalf. Loud, enthusiastic cheers from the audience after the final chord, however, so it must have seemed good to experience in the theatre.

Thanks for the correction: it was indeed the work of Lehnhoff - one of the most maddeningly inconsistent opera directors around. I loved his production of Pfitzner's Palestrina at Covent Garden and at least one of his other productions at that venue but hated - with a vengeance - his ENO Parsifal.

Btw: I must correct you, though the confusion is understandable. Autumn and winter 1990 was a great time to be a Wagnerian (and a Thatcher-hater): after the showing of the Lehnhoff/Sawallisch Ring on BBC2, the Schenk/Levine Ring was shown on Channel 4 over Christmas. This 'traditional' production was definitely more my cup of tea than the Lehnhoff one. I'd listened to the Karajan Ring on records earlier that autumn but this was when the penny really dropped for me. An amazing cast (including Christa Ludwig's final - was it?- Fricka) and what seemed at the time an incredible production, although some of it probably looks a bit reppy now. I will NEVER forget the final stage image from the Met Gotterdammerung.

[ARBurton]

Ah I remember those telecasts - the Sawallisch Ring simulcast on Radio 3. Issued on vhs and laserdisc by EMI it was issued on DVD only by EMI-Toshiba in Japan. Began and ended with a character (Loge, I think) writing "Es war einmal..." ("once upon a time") across the curtains...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Thanks for the correction: it was indeed the work of Lehnhoff - one of the most maddeningly inconsistent opera directors around. I loved his production of Pfitzner's Palestrina at Covent Garden and at least one of his other productions at that venue but hated - with a vengeance - his ENO Parsifal.

A superb Katya Kabanova at Glyndebourne, too.

Btw: I must correct you, though the confusion is understandable. Autumn and winter 1990 was a great time to be a Wagnerian (and a Thatcher-hater): after the showing of the Lehnhoff/Sawallisch Ring on BBC2, the Schenk/Levine Ring was shown on Channel 4 over Christmas.

Gosh! Somehow the adverts and the regietheater production had got melded in my memory.