Surprisingly, the Ring
is not all that well represented on
DVD. Until the Chereau/Boulez/Bayreuth
cycle was reissued, Levine and the Met
dominated the field with a wooden production
whose main virtue is that it was "traditional".
Yet the Ring is meant to be Gesamtkunstwerk,
a visual as well as musical experience.
My own favourite Ring cycle on DVD is
the Sawallisch Stuttgart production,
currently only available in Japan, though
the CD version is readily available
elsewhere. Thus, any new Ring cycle
on DVD is worth checking out.
This Rheingold is the
first in the series. The pedigree of
this cast is in no doubt. Graham Clark,
Gunther von Kannen and Falk Struckmann
are all Ring veterans. The producer,
Harry Kupfer also needs no introduction
- hes done many a Ring before. Indeed,
this particular version was originally
staged by him in Berlin. A safe bet
then, although any Kupfer production
is bound to be challenging.
The first Act is stunning.
The floor appears to be mirrored, to
create the illusion of water. Light
reflects off it, making vivid the image
of "Rheingold" sparkling in
the depths. The Rheinmaidens really
do seem to be swimming, bathed in the
glow of their golden treasure. How beautiful
this must have appeared in the gorgeously
baroque setting of the Liceu! The singing
was effective, too, high spirited and
seductive as it should be. No wonder
Alberich - no dwarf, he's von Kannen
was so taken. An ingenious change
of flooring makes for the change of
scene. The Gods enter with suitcases
a classic Kupfer touch. Conservatives
need not worry, for the styling is surprisingly
traditional. The Gods' garb would not
have been out of place in 19th
century Bayreuth and they're even garlanded.
The real touches of modernism are in
the stage-set itself, and even this
is totally in the service of the plot.
Hölle and Youn become the giants
Fafner and Fasolt in costumes that evoke
feats of industrial engineering. Their
huge robotic legs seem to be made of
riveted sheet metal. Yet they are builders
of vast edifices, after all. Both have
the vocal heft to match. If their movements
are cumbersome, it's evoked in the music,
too.
The stage-set itself
plays a major role. It uses the whole
stage area, vertically as well as horizontally,
opening up space in ways never available
to Wagner himself. He would have loved
this, for it vividly conveys a sense
of multi-layered worlds, the Rhine,
the earth, and Valhalla all existing
together on different planes. The levels
are linked by the World Ash trees, whose
enormous roots grow out of the Rhine
where the Rheinmaidens cavort. At times
it is obscured by a giant, tubular corridor
that crosses the stage diagonally. This
creates an interesting mix between the
organic and the artificial, freedom
and servitude, symbolised by the industrial
underworld where the Nibelungs toil.
As Kupfer himself has said, the Ring
is a universal fable, one valid reading
of which focuses on the destructive
effects on Nature of man's aggression
and preoccupation with material greed.
Stage lighting, too, plays an major
role in this production. The sets are
great works of engineering floors
rise and fall but the lighting adds
subtle comment throughout. A grid-like
screen covers the back of the stage.
The lighting makes it illustrate many
purposes. In the finale, for example,
it is back-lit with coloured lights,
portraying Wagner's Rainbow Bridge,
as the Gods enter Valhalla.
Nonetheless, it is
the music we come back to, again and
again. Absolutely outstanding is Graham
Clark as Loge. Here Loge is a streetwise
dodger, vaguely resembling a character
from A Clockwork Orange, or a demented
Struwelpeter. His mastery fills his
singing with strange, understated menace.
He makes treachery alluring, convincing
Mime and Wotan to do no good, and fooling
Alberich into losing the Ring and Tarnhelm.
He reaches a kind of sinister apotheosis
in the scene where he dangles a fresh
apple before the Gods, who will die
without its sustenance: Clark sings
and moves with snakelike venom, evoking
yet another primeval tale with resonance
to this reading of the Ring. He alone
is worth the price of this DVD, for
he is one of the immortal Loges.
The rest of the cast
are strong, too. Gunter von Kannen is
a powerful, hypnotic Alberich, whose
voice conveys a sense of strength and
authority which makes his curse on the
Ring convincing, even though he is outwitted
by Loge and Wotan. He is no weakling,
and his revenge is great. Falk Struckmann
as Wotan sings and acts with grandeur,
but in this opera his character is not
as well developed as it will become
later in the cycle. Lioba Braun makes
Fricka a surprisingly rounded and vivid
personality, coquettishly playing up
to Wotan even though she is by no means
a passive wife. Occasional weaknesses
appear in some of the lesser roles,
but as part of a greater whole, they
do not detract.
Another criticism is
that however breathtaking this production
may have been in real life, it does
not translate completely on film. I
suspect that this is a matter of film
direction, for some angles might be
better presented, and there is too much
overall darkness, unrelieved by brighter
film focus. However, recorded in "surroundsound"
this is a musically satisfying experience
even though the orchestra may not be
one of the greatest. The singing is
well above average, as is the acting
and presentation. Traditionalists need
not fear Harry Kupfer and his team (set
design: Hans Schavernoch, lighting:
Franz Peter David). There's enough convention
to be familiar and the modern touches
are highly appropriate to the plot and
its development. I am looking forward
very much indeed to the next three parts
of this cycle. It may well prove to
be the definitive Ring cycle on film.
Anne Ozorio
Symphony
Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu/Bertrand
de Billy 
OPUS
ARTE OA 0910 D [2 DVDs: 159:00] 
