# Wagner fans: Ring Cycle production by Fura del Baus and Carlus Padrissa?



## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Here, Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will premiere its 4-year Ring Cycle next fall with Das Rheingold in what seems to be a fairly avant garde production by Fura del Baus company under the direction of Carlus Padrissa. Here's a link to a DVD of the same production to put you on the right track:

http://www.wagneropera.net/DVD/Rheingold/DVD-Rheingold-Fura-del-Baus-Mehta.htm

In stills in the HGO flyer I received, many singers seem to be hanging from elevated cages or harnesses that are apparently raised or lowered during the staging, and stuff like that, reminiscent of collaborations between Philip Glass and artist Robert Wilson (both whom I really like).

And although I'm not a strong Wagnerian I do appreciate the Ring Cycle and would enjoy seeing a production live for the first time. Is anyone familiar with this particular production, the one with lots of what seem to be elevator cages and harnesses for the singers?

A rousing and energetic production is okay by me, even for traditional operas like Wagner, and I really enjoyed watching the recent Met Ring Cycle on PBS. But if something is too far out, it gets in the way of the opera itself.

Who's seen this particular production or has read about it? I'd appreciate any opinions, whether you personally saw the production or simply read about it. If you can find reviews or whatever, please post the links. Thanks!


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

katdad said:


> A rousing and energetic production is okay by me, even for traditional operas like Wagner, and I really enjoyed watching the recent Met Ring Cycle on PBS. But if something is too far out, it gets in the way of the opera itself.
> 
> Who's seen this particular production or has read about it? I'd appreciate any opinions, whether you personally saw the production or simply read about it. If you can find reviews or whatever, please post the links. Thanks!


I haven't _seen_ it, but I saw a documentary about it on Sky Arts and that I found to be a lot of fun. Fura puts on these overly busy productions - one that bewildered me was Gluck's Orphee, which is supposed to be all about simplicity but they did all this funky stuff with swirly projections and dancers hanging from the ceiling and mad colours and whatnot (kinda like Cirque du Soleil meets opera) that I even forgot if it was sung in French or in Italian. However, with The Ring I think the whole high-tech angle makes a lot more sense, what with the gods being remotely wheeled around on giant robot legs*. I say you should catch it. I know when I'm going to actually sit down with The Ring that's the production I'll use.

*reminded me of Teenage Ninjas' Krang:









check it out:


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## badRomance (Nov 22, 2011)

Having watched it on youtube, I personally thought the Fura del Baus/Mehta production was visually spectacular. More interesting than the MET Ring. But the tempos seemed slower to accommodate the stage work; also I felt the MET Ring had better singers with the exception of Brunnhilde.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

badRomance said:


> Having watched it on youtube, I personally thought the Fura del Baus/Mehta production was visually spectacular. More interesting than the MET Ring. But the tempos seemed slower to accommodate the stage work; also I felt the MET Ring had better singers with the exception of Brunnhilde.


I think badRomance has hit the nail on the head - who is singing? That will make a difference.

I have this production on DVD and a lot of it is visually very spectacular, with the projections. I have two problems with it:

The gods are in a kind of crane-forklift truck contraption, I think to emphasise their elevated nature. But in Wagner's Ring the gods have very human natures, failings and interactions, and this simply cannot come though in the staging if they are all stuck in little cages.

The costume for Brünnhilde is the ugliest thing that has ever been imagined. If I'd been Siegfried I'd have learned about fear even BEFORE I woke her up.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I have the Mehta Valencia Ring on bluray, and it might be different than on YouTube. The sound is INCREDIBLE. Every singer is strong, and on my projection system it looks amazing. I normally don't like modern reinterpretations, but with this one, the reinterpretations weren't arbitrary. The orchestra in the Mehta Ring excels.


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## dionisio (Jul 30, 2012)

I hasn't very fond of Metha's reading of the Ring. I don't know why but there was something lacking in it.

About Fura del Baus staging, i have to confess that i liked the Rhine maidens scene in the beginning of Das Reihngold, as the journey to the Nibelheim and the Magic Fire. Honestly to say, i was expecting a much more shocking staging from Fura Del Baus.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

dionisio said:


> I hasn't very fond of Metha's reading of the Ring. I don't know why but there was something lacking in it.
> 
> About Fura del Baus staging, i have to confess that i liked the Rhine maidens scene in the beginning of Das Reihngold, as the journey to the Nibelheim and the Magic Fire. Honestly to say, i was expecting a much more shocking staging from Fura Del Baus.


There were some scenes that I found they didn't do justice to. The forest murmurs scene was distinctly not magical and gorgeous, for one.


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Thanks for the feedback. Remember, the singing here is not a factor at all, because the cast at HGO will be different from the DVD. I can say that HGO typically has excellent primary singers, and a nationally-ranked chorus and orchestra.

All I'm asking about is the production itself, whether it would be too "avant garde" and the staging get in the way of the music. And mostly I hear "it's good" with a few specific negatives but overall a plus, right?

Incidentally, here is the Rheingold cast -- Any ideas on these singers? Production is April 2014. And thanks!

Wotan: Iain Paterson
Loge: Stefan Margita
Alberich: Christopher Purvis
Mime: Rodell Rosel
Fricka: Jamie Barton
Erda: Meredith Arwady
Fasolt: Kristinn Sigmundsson
Fafner: Andrea Silvestrelli


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

They don't list who's singing other roles, like Donner. I especially enjoy his "hammer song" at the end of Rheingold, where he summons the mists and all, creating the rainbow bridge to Valhalla. Keen.

btw, I've got the 1990 Met DVD w. James Morris as Wotan, James Levine conducting. It's a fairly sparse production, not a lot of foofra, but nice staging, I thought. Good singing throughout.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

katdad said:


> Thanks for the feedback. Remember, the singing here is not a factor at all, because the cast at HGO will be different from the DVD. I can say that HGO typically has excellent primary singers, and a nationally-ranked chorus and orchestra.
> 
> All I'm asking about is the production itself, whether it would be too "avant garde" and the staging get in the way of the music. And mostly I hear "it's good" with a few specific negatives but overall a plus, right?
> 
> ...


I only know a Christopher Purves, in which case you would be in for a treat.

edit - did a little detective work and I see that Purves IS scheduled for Houston Rheingold. I'm a great fan of his, although so far I'm only familiar with him in Handel, Verdi and Benjamin.


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Well, it's not till spring of 2014 but if I'm still on this side of the green grass, I'll do the Rheingold thing.

btw, other operas in the 2013-14 season include Rigoletto, Aida, and Carmen. I try to never miss Rigoletto, being one of my top 4-5 of all operas, but budget may not allow me to see others except Rheingold.

Being cursed/blessed to live in Houston, there's all sorts of things to spend money on, far more than I could ever afford, so opera isn't the only venue that sucks up my dough.

I've set aside money, for example, for Rolling Stones tickets when they come here.

I also try to see a couple of the NFL Texans' games each season, and next fall there's the Formula One US Grand Prix in Austin Tx, which isn't cheap.

Plus my girlfriend and I want to return to SanFran for a week or so if possible.

Now if I could just sell my new novel for a gazillion bucks... (ha ha, dream on!)


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## Ebab (Mar 9, 2013)

I've seen the Valencia Ring on disk; I have some objections, but overall I believe the production was an honest and largely successful effort. The costumes were hideous, I must agree, and almost offensively disadvantageous to the appearance of some performers. - I guess the idea of the mobile cranes was to give the Gods the whole space of the three-dimensional stage; it worked to a degree (and the crane operators were fantastic), but the small platforms did limit the performers in their acting. Loved the Rhine-maidens' "aquariums", but especially the ladies' very agile performances! It was great to have them interact with the real element; when I read Wagner's stage directions (unfulfillable with any technology), agility, as of fish, seemed like the key element. The scenic solution to Siegfried's funeral procession was very convincing and satisfying.

I had the chance to see our Munich "Turandot", also staged by Carlus Padrissa of La Fura dels Baus, and I really _loved_ it! It was a _big_ spectacle (complete with 3-D projections), but always in the service of the play, and I think "Turandot" well carries, even craves for, some amount of spectacle. They also chose to end the opera as Puccini had left it - _without_ the "big" final love duet that seemed inevitable but "unwritable" - Padrissa found a very satisfying, and haunting, scenic solution.




























La Fura dels Baus these days, apart from the acrobatic work, seem like this testosterone-driven big boys' playground, always with the mechanics and the technology - but they absolutely make it work. Padrissa, I believe that now, loves opera; he tries to understand and find the scenic equivalents in his own specific realm.


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Thanks to everyone for the comments. I'll keep planning for Rheingold and hopefully will have a good review to share.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Need a conducting gig? Want to wave your arms around for a few hours? Actually quite a few?

"Opera Australia's Lyndon Terracini will be working the phones as he tries to find a conductor for the Melbourne Ring cycle, after Richard Mills unexpectedly quit last weekend. Mills was due to conduct three cycles of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen in November and December, in OA's first production of the four-opera work. Last Friday the company finished initial rehearsals for the first two parts, Das Rheingold and Die Walkure, after which Mills told Terracini he couldn't continue. Mills says the decision was his." A chemistry thing it seems...

http://tinyurl.com/mq6t3zo


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