Conquering Wagner.

[Flosshilde]

There may well be surtitles, but who really wants to watch them?

Well, I find them quite useful, although if they aren't done well they can be unhelpful. I've been at performances where there have been no surtitles for long stretches, as if the translators had given up.

One of the problems with them in comic operas is that the joke's punchline often appears before it is sung, producing laughter at the wrong moment.

Re, the 'joke' in Siegfried - It often gets a laugh because of the 'buxomness' of the Brunnhilde. Who could think that Rita Hunter was anything but a woman, even in armour? Whereas Elizabeth Byrne in SO's production was slim enough to be mistaken for a man.

Actually, the whole thing is suspect. The only humans (or humanoids) Seigfried has seen are himself, in reflections in water, and Mime. He knows about 'mothers' because Mime has told him about his, & he's observed animals, but unless Mime's been giving him sex-ed lessons he wouldn't be aware of the essential observable differences between women & men. Although, his reaction is that Brunnhilde isn't a man, not that she is a woman, & he then goes on to suggest that she is his mother, so presumably his understanding is that there are 'men' and 'mothers', not 'men' & 'women'.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Although, his reaction is that Brunnhilde isn't a man, not that she is a woman, & he then goes on to suggest that she is his mother, so presumably his understanding is that there are 'men' and 'mothers', not 'men' & 'women'.

She's certainly old enough to be his mother.

[Bert Coules]

She's certainly old enough to be his mother.

Ah but since (as is well known) time is frozen inside a circle of magic fire, it all depends on how old Brünnhilde is when we first meet her in Walküre: she could be, say, in her late teens. A good match for the late-teen Siegfried...

I once saw Siegfried's Death, Wagner's first attempt at a Ring text (when it was going to be a one-night show) staged as a play. It was wonderful to see Siegfried and Brünnhilde played by athletic good-looking actors of the right age. How about a Ring production where there are two casts simultaneously on stage: actors who act (but don't mime) and singers who sing?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Has there ever been a suitably matched operatic pair of appropriate appearance and able to act and sing.
(Or should I take up flying-pig spotting?)

[Bert Coules]

I wish I'd caught Anja Silja's Brünnhilde: she played it in her early twenties, I think, and would have been something to see. Helge Brilioth's Siegfried looked fantastic and was perfectly OK vocally, and others have managed the same trick. There have been Siegfrieds and Brünnhildes who have successfuly suggested the characters, of course, helped by theatrical distance, but the current trend for filming stage performances (complete with sweaty, spitting closeups) does no-one any favours.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I always thought Rene Kollo looked the part, but his Brunnhilde, Gwyneth Jones, looked and sounded like Siegfried's grandmother.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

All this talk of Wagner in English has prompted me to place an order for the Goodall Mastersingers.

[Bert Coules]

Excellent! I don't think you'll be disappointed, though you might find yourself having to make allowances for the clunky translation, a marginally rewritten version of one decades old: we're a long way from Andrew Porter here.

You should also know, in case it matters to you, that the performance isn't absolutely complete: two (I think) small cuts were introduced after the dress rehearsal because of the late finish: from memory these are in David's act one recital of the modes and in Beckmesser's act two song in his scene with Sachs.

Some commentators have had reservations about the sound quality but the 1968 BBC broadcast (though mono, of course) is more than adequate. There are far worse recordings out there, and in any case the ears adjust very quickly.

I hope you enjoy it; I wish I were discovering it for the first time all over again.

[Mandryka]

The Levine/Met Ring features the comparatively telegenic pairing of Siegfried Jerusalem and Hildegarde Behrens. You may remember this being shown on C4 (hard to believe now, eh?) over the new year of 1990/91. Some people don't care for the naturalism of Otto Schenk's production, or Levine's conducting, but I think this is a pretty surefire safe bet for the newcomer.

Excellent! I don't think you'll be disappointed, though you might find yourself having to make allowances for the clunky translation, a marginally rewritten version of one decades old: we're a long way from Andrew Porter here.

You should also know, in case it matters to you, that the performance isn't absolutely complete: two (I think) small cuts were introduced after the dress rehearsal because of the late finish: from memory these are in David's act one recital of the modes and in Beckmesser's act two song in his scene with Sachs.

Some commentators have had reservations about the sound quality but the 1968 BBC broadcast (though mono, of course) is more than adequate. There are far worse recordings out there, and in any case the ears adjust very quickly.

I hope you enjoy it; I wish I were discovering it for the first time all over again.

I don't think it's a BBC recording, though a beeb recording of this production was made and presumably still exists. For one thing, the Chandos release is in (dodgy) stereo; for another, I'm sure if it HAD been a beeb recording, the sound quality would have been much better, even for early 1968.

I listened to this version on my ipod, while touring Israel; I'm sure I would've got into trouble if the army types on the buses had known what I was listening to!

[Bert Coules]

I don't think it's a BBC recording...

Well, the BBC is credited on the box, and the recording is marked "released by arrangement with BBC Audio and Music". Perhaps this is a private off-air recording of the broadcast?

...though a beeb recording of this production was made and presumably still exists.

Not in the BBC archives, alas, though they do still have the later relay from the Coliseum which restores the cuts but sadly has a Walther far less impressive than Alberto Remedios in the otherwise substantially unchanged cast.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I listened to this version on my ipod, while touring Israel; I'm sure I would've got into trouble if the army types on the buses had known what I was listening to!

Does this attitude still persist in Israel?

[bluestateprommer]

dates for Barenboim/Berlin Staatsoper Ring @ The Proms 2013

From Alex Ross' blog The Rest Is Noise, this tidbit from his compendium of 2013 productions of Der Ring des Nibelungen (emphasis mine):

Berlin Staatsoper: April 4-10, April 13-21, July 22-28 (at the Proms), Sept. 21-29

http://www.therestisnoise.com/2012/12/ring-2013.html

Mark your calendars :) . Happy Holidays in advance, whichever one applies to you, from this side of the pond.

[Bert Coules]

...July 22-28 (at the Proms)

Of all the Rings in all the world, they had to choose the one conducted by Barenboim...

[David-G]

This evening Zurich Opera are bringing The Flying Dutchman to the Festival Hall, with Bryn Terfel, Anja Kampe and Matti Salminen. I have a spare ticket (moderately priced). If anyone is interested, please PM me.

[Mandryka]

Does this attitude still persist in Israel?

Apologies, EA, for the VERY LATE response. Israel, from what I saw of it, is a bit of a cultural (not to mention literal) desert, but the bigoted attitude of many Israelis toward RW would appear to be very much alive, as any conductor who attempts to programme anything by this composer soon disocvers. I can believe, though, that all the fuss if caused by a minority of so-called 'intellectuals' who are able to shout above their weight.