An Epic Achievement

During the last two seasons of Live at the Met in HD at the Cineplex, I enjoyed three of the four operas in Wagner's Des Ring der Nibelungen (I had to miss Götterdämmerung due to a scheduling conflict).  I was impressed by the versatility of the uniquely modern set in its ability to tell the story in a very traditional manner, and I was simply blown away by the quality of the singing cast.

Now the entire cycle is available on DVD and I've just finished watching it all.  No, not all at one time!  (even I'm not that much of a music nut!)  I watched an act at a time when I had free evenings over the last several weeks.  And I am even more impressed with the sheer strengths of this new Ring on every level.  It's not definitive (what Ring ever is?) but it's about as close to a definitive version as I think I am ever likely to see and hear. 

I've seen live stagings at the Canadian Opera Company of three of the Ring operas, and I've always been disappointed by the sheer weight of psychological symbolism dragged out into the open and rammed down the audience's throat.  Sometimes, the meaning (if any) of the stage director's interpretation is so unclear and the choice of visual images so unhelpful that the staging simply ends up swearing at the music.  A noted directing teacher once told me that a wonderful intellectual concept which doesn't carry across the footlights to the audience needs to be cut right out of the production, and I totally agree!  (rant for the day)

That certainly isn't the case here.  This production, staged and directed by Robert Lepage, simply uses very modern technology to try to show us the Ring as Wagner wrote it.  The main tool is the huge "machine" which dominates the entire Met stage, and the dizzying array of digital projections which appear on its surfaces. 

Right at the outset of Das Rheingold, Lepage's approach gives the most dramatically effective solution I've ever seen to the cursed problem of how to make the Rhinemaidens sing and swim at the same time.  Later on, in Die Walküre, Lepage provides an equally effective solution to the galloping horses of the Valkyries.  Most productions, including the ones I have seen staged, have simply sidestepped the problem by ignoring the horses altogether, even though the eight Valkyries are singing about them. 

And how could I not mention that overwhelming entry of the gods into Valhalla?  For the first time I have ever seen or heard of, a stage director has actually comes up with a staging concept that does full justice to the grandeur and splendour of Wagner's music at this point.  If you haven't seen the show yet, I'm not telling what it is -- the surprise is everything on the first viewing.

These are only a couple of examples of how this unique set becomes almost another character in the performances.  But at the same time, "the machine" does not dominate or control the show.  Indeed, watching on home video, I was less conscious of the set's movements and changes and simply accepted them as part of the total picture.  The same went for the extraordinary projections, and lighting effects.

Aside from all these technical matters, the singing in this production is glorious.  Could there possibly be a more dominant, imposing Wotan than Bryn Terfel?  I think not, at least not in our times.  Jay Hunter Morris is a thoroughly impressive Siegfried, coming across as much younger than his actual age (most tenors struggle to get the young Siegfried down from middle age to 30 or so).  The Brünnhilde of Deborah Voight was splendid throughout.  Most of the remaining roles were cast with singers who are not famous international stars (an obvious difference from the Met's last video Ring of 20 years ago).  All acquitted themselves splendidly. 

What I found especially noteworthy is that there was so little "stand and deliver" singing going on.  These singers can all act as well, and what a terrific difference that makes to the dramatic power of the whole. 

The excellence of the Met orchestra, whether conducted by James Levine or Fabio Luisi, is clearly heard on the splendid soundtrack.  Even such dense and complex passages as the stormy prelude to Act III of Siegfried come out clearly, every part easily distinguishable and played with immense verve and precision.

I'm also filled with even more admiration than before for the splendid camera work.  Interestingly, the predominance of close-up shots was less disconcerting on a home screen than on the gigantic wall of a Cineplex auditorium!

The box set of DVDs comes with a considerable bonus, the 2-hour documentary Wagner's Dream which takes you right through the process of imagining, planning, staging, and performing this immense new cycle.  It's a fine documentary film in its own right, but also very enlightening in view of having seen the performances in the set.  The filmmakers even include such classic and horrible moments as the failure of the set to move during the entry of the gods into Valhalla at the opening night of Das Rheingold, or the moment when Deborah Voight slipped off the set at her first entry on the opening night of Die Walküre.  But as always, the show must go on, and so indeed it does.

I've always treasured my videos of the early 1990s cycle from the Met, and will certainly return to them.  But on many levels, this new issue is a contender for "best Ring cycle ever on video".  This should be must-viewing for any Wagner fan.