# Ring movie scenarios



## Zabirilog (Mar 10, 2013)

So, in the Difficult scenes-thread we started to think about a movie out of the Ring. How could it work? Who could be the director? Because for a movie there should be a 120 % cast, who could be there singers? And the conductor?
And if someone wants, the speculation of the budget would be quite interesting.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Well, we have to find a pretty big role for Danielle de Niese, I think ...


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## Zabirilog (Mar 10, 2013)

But what? She's lyric, and Wagner is Wagner...

Stemme is ok as Brünnhilde. Pape as Wotan, and Siegel as Mime...
Hopefully Kaufmann will make Siegfried one day. He'll be great in it. And also in our movie xD 
And Westbroek for Sieglinde.


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## Volve (Apr 14, 2013)

^THIS. Not doing a Ring movie without Kaufmann as Siegfried! But if you guys wait just a couple of decades, I can be your Wotan


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

Lars von Trier should direct


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Zabirilog said:


> But what? She's lyric, and Wagner is Wagner...
> 
> Stemme is ok as Brünnhilde. Pape as Wotan, and Siegel as Mime...
> Hopefully Kaufmann will make Siegfried one day. He'll be great in it. And also in our movie xD
> And Westbroek for Sieglinde.


Pape is lyric. I know he's been taking some big roles, but I haven't heard that he's done well in them. I mean, I understand why you want him, but isn't there a really stentorian bass we could get?


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## suteetat (Feb 25, 2013)

guythegreg said:


> Pape is lyric. I know he's been taking some big roles, but I haven't heard that he's done well in them. I mean, I understand why you want him, but isn't there a really stentorian bass we could get?


I think ever since Morris showed that you don't need to shout your way through Wotan and Wotan can be very lyrical, I am perfectly fine with his approach. His is definitely not a very stentorian voice. He was able to sing Figaro, Don Giovanni throughout his career while singing
Wotan as well. I would not object to bass like Hotter either if one is available. Pape voice penetrates the orchestra very well without forcing which I think would be an asset as Wotan.

Curious though, if not taking vocal into consideration, how would you imagine Brunnhilde should look like?
Youthful, tomboyish in Walkure? Amazonian warrior? Xena? Stemme seems to be an obvious choice but mainly
because she has to vocal capability and she probably is the best looking of all the Wagnerian soprano currently available
If you are a hollywood producer/director, what kind of looks would you look for, for Brunnhilde?


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

What an interesting question! I guess I am really talking too much here, since I'm really not a Ring fan, but my question would be, what's Brunnhilde's character and what kind of actress can bring that out best? I don't think the physical appearance is nearly as important as the ability to convincingly sell herself in the part by her acting. Well, that's a different thread currently running, isn't it? sorry. lol


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

A fillmed Ring with the soundtrack from a recording could realize all the special effects Wagner envisioned in his imagination . A young, handsome ,muscular,tall Siegfried , a real dwarf as Alberich ,a young ,gorgeous,sexy ,curvaceous blonde Brunnhilde, Sieglinde , Guntrune and Valkyries , valkyries actually riding on magic flying horses , Alberich changing into a dragon and toad in front of your eyes , etc. Plus a truly awesome final conflagration beyond anything possible on an opera stage . 
A live Ring like this would be impossible in terms of casting singers to ideal physical image .
The much-maligned recent Met Ring actually came closer to the visual ideal than any other production I've seen or seen pictures of in terms of special effects . I'm one of th emonority who actually liked it and don't think it should be scrapped prematurely . It wasn't perfect of course, but on the whole, it WORKED dramatically .


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## tyroneslothrop (Sep 5, 2012)

superhorn said:


> The much-maligned recent Met Ring actually came closer to the visual ideal than any other production I've seen or seen pictures of in terms of special effects . I'm one of th emonority who actually liked it and don't think it should be scrapped prematurely .


Hear, hear! I don't mind being in the minority on this one! _(Unfortunately, the machine is less than robust, which is probably why the Met Ring will be taking a long break... )_


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## Zabirilog (Mar 10, 2013)

I like the Kupfer costumes very much, but to a movie they're too modern. And Brünnhilde really has to be gorgeous, but I prefer a orange hair (mwahaha)..



guythegreg said:


> Pape is lyric. I know he's been taking some big roles, but I haven't heard that he's done well in them. I mean, I understand why you want him, but isn't there a really stentorian bass we could get?


I'd still go to Pape. But if someone else needed, Terfel perhaps? I know that he's more baritone than bass, but...


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Zabirilog said:


> But what? She's [de Niese] lyric, and Wagner is Wagner...


Let me ask a question. On film, they're all miked. Can't you cast her in it and just turn her up if she's too weak? Or is that just Not Done?


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## Zabirilog (Mar 10, 2013)

Okok that's true even the difference of dramatic and lyric is not just the volume.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

De Niese could be perfect as the forest bird in Siegfried . After all, Joan Sutherland sings it in the fanous Solti Ring . In fact, Sutherland originally was headed toward being a Wagner soprano before her husband Richard Bonynge got her into the repetoire she's famous for today .


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## suteetat (Feb 25, 2013)

guythegreg said:


> Let me ask a question. On film, they're all miked. Can't you cast her in it and just turn her up if she's too weak? Or is that just Not Done?


Probably but I think it would sound wrong though. Granted microphone can help a lot but you probably need singer who is almost there like M. Price in Isolde or Domingo in Tannhauser or Tristan. I don't think microphone/amplification would make Kathleen Battle sound like a proper Brunnhilde or Isolde. She should be able to hit all the notes without forcing her voice but the tonal balance probably would not sound right and you won't get the right kind of impact even if it is loud enough, I would think. Sarah Brightman could sing Eben ne andro lontana with a mike but it just does not sounds right especially after you hear 
a real spinto or dramatic soprano sings it. 
Lyric soprano would be ok for Forrest bird and may be Freia and Gertrunde? Can't remember exactly what they have to sing at the moment though


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## Zabirilog (Mar 10, 2013)

Gutrune is a nearly-dramatic role, but I'd not see it is a bad thing if a lyric soprano would sing it... And Superhorn, when you mentioned that Brünnhilde, Sieglinde and Gutrune should all be gorgeous, I agree with the two firsts, but maybe not with Gutrune:
It would be a bit humorous, if Gutrune would be a fat but young woman, whom Siegfried could never really love. It would 1. make Brünnhilde's agony even worst 2. make her and Götterdämmerung a bit funnier.
Bad idea, or?


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

They'd need a huge budget, like Avengers or The Hobbit. And preferably a director who has experience with both film and stage. It would have to be traditional with tons of CGI to finally make the vision right.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Actually, when Hagen gives Siegfried the potion to make him forget Brunnhilde, he starts raving about Gutrune a nd telling her how beautiful she is , so I don't think this would be a good idea .


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## Downbeat (Jul 10, 2013)

I am uninterested in the visual aspect of Wagner operas...I think his greatest genious is in the music, not production nor story nor libretto. I think he was well aware of this, too. All of this talk of philosophy and such was important to the point of obsession, but the music came the most naturally to him (perhaps that is why it is talked about the least in books...because it was not thought about as much due to inherent gift).


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