# Who has seen the "Colon Ring"?



## Parsifal1954 (May 6, 2013)

I just received the Colon Ring I ordered from Germany (it is released in Europe much sooner than here in the US). I'm at the end of the the Walkure now. First, I believe the cuts are terrible. I think if someone cannot stand Wagner for 16 hours, does not deserve Wagner. This is an insult to the composer to cut his work in half. But on the other hand I loved the concept. I wished they have done in in full without cuts. Some of the singers are terrible. Some are ok. Updating the time to Argentina during the rule of the generals in 1970's is a great idea. The Rhinemaidens as Argentinian mothers whose children are stolen is great. I heard that Katerina Wagner was supposed to direct it but she quit. She said the theater was not ready to produce the Ring. She also had other engagements in Germany (an Audi commercial!) I think when she saw the concept as a kind of "Leftist" with showing the picture of "Che" when Siegfried is slained, made her quit. Poor Richard Wagner who was a revolutionary himself. What would he say about his grand grand daughter to quit "Che" for "Audi"?! Who has seen the Colon Ring? What do you think of it?


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Che? 

...........


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## dionisio (Jul 30, 2012)

What?!...


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

One more pathetic modern attempt at art. Also, is does not surpirise me that the people who flaunt Che's picture, do not stop at changing the staging and take a stab at the music as well. It's what those "revolutionaries" do: destroy as much as they can.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Colon?

https://www.google.com/search?q=colon&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

Do you mean Köln, Germany, known in English and French-speaking countries as Cologne?


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

And here I was expecting Wagner filtered through _The Human Centipede_.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

waldvogel said:


> Do you mean Köln, Germany, known in English and French-speaking countries as Cologne?


Ahhhh... _*Köln / Cologne*_
Ahhhh... _*Köln*_


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Don't cry for me but I believe we are in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at the Teatro Colón.

Blast it, can't get the link to linkify. Paste this into your browser. (Oh. There it is). So, this is about the documentary:

http://www.dw.de/the-colón-ring-wagner-in-buenos-aires/a-16745392

And this is about the production. "Abridged version"? "Single day"? "... seven-hour version is a serious alternative for opera houses and audiences alike."?????

Weep, ye Muses.

http://www.dw.de/the-ring-in-teatro-col%C3%B3n/a-16259409

Best Regards, :tiphat:

George


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Crudblud said:


> And here I was expecting Wagner filtered through _The Human Centipede_.


something for Calixto Bieito to ponder!


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## dionisio (Jul 30, 2012)

Crudblud said:


> And here I was expecting Wagner filtered through _The Human Centipede_.


That was also my first thought.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I don't know about cutting the ring but I do think Wagner would've been a far greater artist if he had allowed some editing of his sometimes interminable libretti. He would have increased the effect of the 'wonderful moments' if he had cut some of the 'awful quarter hours'. He didn't appear to know the secret of when 'less is more'.


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## tyroneslothrop (Sep 5, 2012)

DavidA said:


> I don't know about cutting the ring but I do think Wagner would've been a far greater artist if he had allowed some editing of his sometimes interminable libretti. He would have increased the effect of the 'wonderful moments' if he had cut some of the 'awful quarter hours'. He didn't appear to know the secret of when 'less is more'.


Heaven forbid!  Wagner needs no cutting! Not even a measure!


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Is this the one Katharina Wagner was involved with? The opera house probably needs to be burned to the ground now, so it may be purged of unrighteousness and redeemed.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Couchie said:


> The opera house probably needs to be burned to the ground now, so it may be purged of unrighteousness and redeemed.


colon cleansing?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

deggial said:


> colon cleansing?


going too far..:lol:


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

I know, sorry  can't resist a pun! 

:lol:


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## Hoffmann (Jun 10, 2013)

DavidA said:


> I don't know about cutting the ring but I do think Wagner would've been a far greater artist if he had allowed some editing of his sometimes interminable libretti. He would have increased the effect of the 'wonderful moments' if he had cut some of the 'awful quarter hours'. He didn't appear to know the secret of when 'less is more'.


That reminds me:

_Emperor Joseph II: My dear young man, don't take it too hard. Your work is ingenious. It's quality work. And there are simply too many notes, that's all. Just cut a few and it will be perfect.

Mozart: Which few did you have in mind, Majesty? _


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## Parsifal1954 (May 6, 2013)

Hoffmann said:


> That reminds me:
> 
> _Emperor Joseph II: My dear young man, don't take it too hard. Your work is ingenious. It's quality work. And there are simply too many notes, that's all. Just cut a few and it will be perfect.
> 
> Mozart: Which few did you have in mind, Majesty? _


And Rossini said the same thing to Wagner about his Tannhauser. "Young man, you write too many notes"!

And Wagner said this about Rossini's storm scene in Wilhelm Tell (in comparison to his Flying Dutchman): "Storm in a tea cup"!


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

If they did just half the Ring in Buenos Aires, it would be the Semi Colon Ring . Groan !!!!!!!!


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## Hoffmann (Jun 10, 2013)

I thought about signing up with an opera tour group to do the Colon Ring. Then, thinking about it some more, I realized I really was only interested in going to Buenos Aires, and dropped the idea.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

^ you should've gone anyway and scalped the opera ticket


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## msegers (Oct 17, 2008)

I've never seen or until now heard of this production, but the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires is a magnificent structure with a great history of performances. Someone told me that with the reversed seasons on the other side of the Equator, they could get the great singers during the off season in the Northern Hemisphere. In fact, you can purchase a CD-rom of "El Anillo: Der Ring des Nibelungen Teatro Colon 1962." When I first saw the title of this thread, I thought that was what was being referred to.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

msegers said:


> I've never seen or until now heard of this production, but the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires is a magnificent structure with a great history of performances. Someone told me that with the reversed seasons on the other side of the Equator, they could get the great singers during the off season in the Northern Hemisphere. In fact, you can purchase a CD-rom of "El Anillo: Der Ring des Nibelungen Teatro Colon 1962." When I first saw the title of this thread, I thought that was what was being referred to.


All the great singers appeared at the Colon .


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## msegers (Oct 17, 2008)

For another excessive Ring, check out the Copenhagen cycle. Its _Rheingold_ used to be on Youtube. It's gone now, but there is a generous assortment of clips from the cycle. In the first opera, the gold is played by a man in an aquarium, wearing nothing but gold paint. When the gold is stolen, his heart is torn out. I have read that in the "Immolation Scene," Brunnhilde gives birth.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

The Copenhagen Ring definitely has its moments although some will find the staging unpalettable. Some of the casting (and the dressing/inhabiting of the characters) is very good, particularly in Gotterdammerung with Hagen, Gutrune et al. The Act III Walkure has a very moving moment with Brunnhilde's wings. (Did I mention the Valkyries had huge wings?)

But back on topic, I'd love to see the Colon Ring, mainly because I'm fascinated by what people do to it, even what parts they might cut out. Didn't Simon Rattle do something similar with the CBSO in the 90's? I can't recall whether it was staged or concert.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

...if this had been ANY other forum, the name of this thread would have had me wondering...

Did anyone see the Ring from Frankfurt? It was released on DVD quite recently. I like the look of the Walküre, based on this video, and I think Terje Stensvold singing Wotan at the age of 71 is quite something (but a few hours of Lance Ryan as Siegfried maaay have driven me up the wall )


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## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

Terje Stensvold is a good Wotan in my opinion. I quite like his voice and he is a committed actor. The scene above is one of the better ones from the Nemirova Frankfurt Ring.

Lance Ryan does seem a bit odd....but who can sing the role well these days?


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## sharik (Jan 23, 2013)

Alexander said:


> The Copenhagen Ring


avoid it by all means, along with The Weimar Ring.


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## starlightexp (Sep 3, 2013)

From what I saw in the documentary on this rather unfortunately named production it looked like a hot mess. The whole rhinegold = babies thing, while I get it may be a political statement for them, was just ..urrgg. The whole thing was torturous from the footage they showed.


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## gellio (Nov 7, 2013)

Hoffmann said:


> That reminds me:
> 
> _Emperor Joseph II: My dear young man, don't take it too hard. Your work is ingenious. It's quality work. And there are simply too many notes, that's all. Just cut a few and it will be perfect.
> 
> Mozart: Which few did you have in mind, Majesty? _


Joseph II never said that. Much like the bulk of the film Amadeus, it is fiction.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

gellio said:


> Joseph II never said that. Much like the bulk of the film Amadeus, it is fiction.


In an article in the Guardian on reception of music of the time, Jan Swafford writes: "The famous complaint of Emperor Joseph II about The Marriage of Figaro -- 'too many notes, Mozart' -- is generally perceived to be a gaffe by a blockhead." Given Swafford's reputation, I conclude that the emperor is at least widely thought to have said that, or something like it. So the Amadeus scene wasn't entirely fictional.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/jun/04/classicalmusicandopera

Added: I heard or read this story long before Amadeus came out.


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## gellio (Nov 7, 2013)

KenOC said:


> In an article in the Guardian on reception of music of the time, Jan Swafford writes: "The famous complaint of Emperor Joseph II about The Marriage of Figaro -- 'too many notes, Mozart' -- is generally perceived to be a gaffe by a blockhead." Given Swafford's reputation, I conclude that the emperor is at least widely thought to have said that, or something like it. So the Amadeus scene wasn't entirely fictional.
> 
> http://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/jun/04/classicalmusicandopera
> 
> Added: I heard or read this story long before Amadeus came out.


I was _Abduction_ not _Figaro_ and it went like this:

''Too beautiful for our ears, my dear Mozart, and monstrous many notes.'' - Joseph II.

The emperor never said anything to the effect about removing a few and it will be perfect.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

gellio said:


> I was _Abduction_ not _Figaro_ and it went like this:
> 
> ''Too beautiful for our ears, my dear Mozart, and monstrous many notes.'' - Joseph II.
> 
> The emperor never said anything to the effect about removing a few and it will be perfect.


Certainly not that I've ever heard, outside of the movie.


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## gellio (Nov 7, 2013)

KenOC said:


> Certainly not that I've ever heard, outside of the movie.


It was also after _Abduction_ in the movie. Joseph was not the moron, Mozart was not the baffoon, and Salieri was not the jealous composer as portrayed in the film. The film did a great service to the world in terms of getting great classical music out to the masses, but it was largely inaccurate in its accounts of Mozart and Salieri's lives.


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