High-tech Wagner? That's exactly what would have appealed to the old boy, who was fascinated by new possibilities. He was the man who dreamed up the mechanical dragon and wanted to crack the illusion of Rhinemaidens swimming. So in principle the new Das Rheingold at the Met with all that machinery and special effects fits that concept. But is it enough?
The Met Das Rheingold is screening in cinemas all over this week. Here's a review from NY:
"It will be no surprise to me, a year or five from now, when someone falls to her or his death from the guy-wires that configure so much of Robert Lepage’s new state-of-the-art (ah! But which art?) production of Der Ring des Nibelung. "
For more, please read the full piece in Opera Today.
HERE is my analysis based on the HD broadcast.
Lots of opera on screen and on radio this week. Catch the last day of WNO's Rigoletto with Keenlyside and David Soar on BBC Radio 3, which gets replaced at 1800 GMT Saturday by Jonas Kaufmann in Lohengrin from Bayreuth. In the regular Thursday opera slot, also BBC Radio 3, there's a very good Smetana Bartered Bride from Prague - very bright and sparky. Don't miss. On Thursday 14th the slot switches to Berlioz Damnation of Faust from Nederlandse Opera. What riches we have! All of these are available online, internationally and most on demand, so everyone can join.
1 comment:
It's old technology to fly people on stage - I've seen photos from the 20s and 30s, and I bet it was done in the 19th c. I'm not the slightest bit worried about someone falling to their death. I am slightly worried about someone being in the wrong place and getting crushed by The Machine, as the Met staff is calling it, though there are supposed to be built-in safety mechanisms to stop the thing while it's in motion.
The most serious Met stage accident I know of was when Hildegard Behrens got walloped by a piece of collapsing Gibichung Hall in the Schenk Ring - and that was because a stage-hand timed the collapse wrong, before Behrens left the stage.
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