My top 3 would be
1. Bayreuth 1991 - 1992, Barenboim/ Kupfer
Probably the best musical performance on DVD.
2. Metropolitan Opera, 1990, Levine/ Schenk
Mostly for the excellent sets and costumes.
3. Bayreuth, 1980 - 1981, Boulez/ Chereau (centenary ring)
First complete filmed ring (I think, please correct me if wrong) and is responsible for introducing me to Wagner.
I am surprised nobody has voted for "The Machine," but then there has not been enough participation in the thread to even get half the choices a vote. I like the singing in The Machine, but I can't help but cringe frequently whenever the machine is working and I picture a false step by a singer causing them to fall into the maw of the machine and be severed in two.
Looks like I am down these two for possible second cycles after my Levine 1990 cycle:
Pierre Boulez, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, 1980–1981.
Daniel Barenboim, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, 1991–1992
I am surprised nobody has voted for "The Machine," but then there has not been enough participation in the thread to even get half the choices a vote. I like the singing in The Machine, but I can't help but cringe frequently whenever the machine is working and I picture a false step by a singer causing them to fall into the maw of the machine and be severed in two.
Looks like I am down these two for possible second cycles after my Levine 1990 cycle:
Pierre Boulez, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, 1980-1981.
Daniel Barenboim, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, 1991-1992
The Boulez is justly famous/infamous. If you want to explore Rings, it's a must, though as mentioned in another thread it's not traditional and probably not the best first Ring you watch. But it should be in the next group.
The Lepage Ring is ok but to my ears it is marred by too many poor singers in important parts. Voight is adequate at best and grim at worst, Terfel barks his way through the part and his voice, which used to be a beautiful Verdi voice, is as rough as a badger's behind. Blythe is ok but as wooden as a door and Jay Hunter Morris, and I realise he was drafted in at short notice, is not a Siegfried for the Met. I realise I am being a bit harsh but I think the earlier Met Ring is much better vocally and I like the traditional staging. Regrettably no recordings of the Bayreuth fifties productions exist so it is what it is. The Chereau Ring was a groundbreaker and isn't nearly as über-modern as you would think. My choices would be it or Met 1.
Does that mean I should cancel my plans to go to Weimar in 2019?
It could also be noted that the Boulez/Bayreuth Ring was recorded in 1980. There was no Ring cycle performed at Bayreuth in 1981.
The one marked as Levine 2011 is actually Levine/Luisi 2010-2012. Rheingold is from 2010, Walkure from 2011, both conducted by Levine. The latter two are both from 2012, conducted by Luisi.
Does that mean I should cancel my plans to go to Weimar in 2019?
It could also be noted that the Boulez/Bayreuth Ring was recorded in 1980. There was no Ring cycle performed at Bayreuth in 1981.
The one marked as Levine 2011 is actually Levine/Luisi 2010-2012. Rheingold is from 2010, Walkure from 2011, both conducted by Levine. The latter two are both from 2012, conducted by Luisi.
Daniel Barenboim, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, 1991-1992, is on my do-not-buy list after seeing a You Tube clip of it with a Rhinemaiden cavorting with Alberich like a dog in heat--on all fours too! The Boulez was not much better with Alberich putting his head up the Rhinemaiden's skirt. The 1990 Levine handled the Rheinmaidens interaction with Alberich in very good taste.
So, at this point I am only considering The Machine as a second DVD Ring set. I was comforted in learing that in 46 performances with the Machine, nobody was killed or seriously injured. I guess if I get too tense watching it I can always chant, "Its only a video. Its only a video." Also, in The Machine, the actors are wearing traditional costumes, which is a significant plus. The only thing holding me back is price. Tell me there are no crude actions like a dog in heat or heads up skirts in The Machine.
Daniel Barenboim, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, 1991–1992, is on my do-not-buy list after seeing a You Tube clip of it with a Rhinemaiden cavorting with Alberich like a dog in heat--on all fours too! The Boulez was not much better with Alberich putting his head up the Rhinemaiden's skirt. The 1990 Levine handled the Rheinmaidens interaction with Alberich in very good taste.
So, at this point I am only considering The Machine as a second DVD Ring set. I was comforted in learing that in 46 performances with the Machine, nobody was killed or seriously injured. I guess if I get too tense watching it I can always chant, "Its only a video. Its only a video." Also, in The Machine, the actors are wearing traditional costumes, which is a significant plus. The only thing holding me back is price. Tell me there are no crude actions like a dog in heat or heads up skirts in The Machine.
So, at this point I am only considering The Machine as a second DVD Ring set. I was comforted in learing that in 46 performances with the Machine, nobody was killed or seriously injured. I guess if I get too tense watching it I can always chant, "Its only a video. Its only a video." Also, in The Machine, the actors are wearing traditional costumes, which is a significant plus. The only thing holding me back is price. Tell me there are no crude actions like a dog in heat or heads up skirts in The Machine.
Yes the costumes in the Lepage Ring are "traditional", they are pretty close to the original costumes used in 1876 for the first complete Ring ever:
Of course Wagner hated them because they looked completely ridiculous. And they still do today. Cosima Wagner noticed:"The costumes are reminiscent throughout of Red Indian chiefs and still bear, along with their ethnographic absurdity, all the marks of provincial tastelessness. Wotan's hat is a veritable musketeer's hat"
I think Bryn Terfel wears a musketeer's hat just like that in Siegfried. But if people like that stuff, the Lepage Ring is a good choice.
The Boulez Gotterdammerung DVD is one of my all-time favorite films, including all non-opera cinematic films. Well deserving of every minute of its 45-minute standing ovation.
Found this interesting presentation of Wagner Ring cycles on DVD. The image and list below it are from https://wagnersring.net/. Looks like they have one less than my list, but that last one (Ettinge) does not look familiar.
1979 Bayreuth Festspielhaus Patrice Chéreau / Pierre Boulez DVD
1987 Metropolitan Opera Otto Schenk / James Levine DVD
1991 Bayreuth Festspielhaus Harry Kupfer / Daniel Barenboim DVD/Blu-Ray
1999 Amsterdam Pierre Audi / Hartmut Haenchen DVD
2003 Stuttgart Various / Lothar Zagrosek DVD
2004 Barcelona Harry Kupfer / Bertrand de Billy DVD
2006 Copenhagen Kasper Bech Holten / Michael Schonwandt DVD
2008 Weimar Michael Schulz / Carl St. Clair DVD/Blu-Ray
2009 Valencia Carlus Padrissa / Zubin Mehta DVD/Blu-Ray
2010 Lubeck Anthony Pilavachi / Roman Brogli-Sacher DVD
2010 Teatro alla Scala, Milan Guy Cassiers / Daniel Barenboim DVD/Blu-Ray
2012 Frankfurt Vera Nemirova / Sebastian Weigle DVD
2010-12 Metropolitan Opera Robert Lepage / James Levine & Fabio Luisi DVD/Blu-Ray
2013 Mannheim Achim Freyer / Dan Ettinge DVD (German subtitles only)
Found this interesting presentation of Wagner Ring cycles on DVD. The image and list below it are from https://wagnersring.net/. Looks like they have one less than my list, but that last one (Ettinge) does not look familiar.
2013 Mannheim Achim Freyer / Dan Ettinge DVD (German subtitles only)
From what little I can see of the image, it looks quite similar to the (in)famous Los Angeles Ring which was also done by Freyer. To my knowledge it was not filmed - for which we may be duly thankful.
Yes, his Mannheim Ring was an adaptation of the LA Ring. The LA Times described it this way:
This season, Freyer has returned to "Ring" territory by directing a production in Mannheim, Germany. The staging is sort of new: Freyer has brought back many of the same costumes and much of the same clown-like makeup design seen in L.A. But the sets are remarkably different, as are the lighting and overall feel of the production.
Not that I want it, and it has no English subs, but I have no problem buying Region 2 DVDs as I don't play them but rather burn a .iso image file of them using Brasero, which apparently only works with UNIX based operating systems such as Linux. Then I play the image file using VLC media player, not my disk drive.
... almost all the productions available on DVD (the Levine/Met production being a notable exception) are "updated" or "relevant to modern times" or "irreverent" - in other words, rubbish perpetrated by producers with too much ego and too little understanding of Wagner's work. So I prefer to listen to audio and imagine the stage action, which definitely does not turn the Rhinemaidens into crack whores or Mime's cave into a tower block on a dodgy housing estate.
The Levine/Luisi "Machine" Ring is easily my favorite visually, but one of the most frustrating musically. Never been as fond of the Boulez/Chereau Ring as others, which is more a satirization of Wagner's Ring than Wagner's Ring.
I feel the same way about the Boulez. I like the performances just fine and I am generally a fan of Boulez's conducting (if not his music) but the production has never satisfied me.
I might suggest he was referring to Castorf's Ring (the current production at Bayreuth), except that was still a year and a half in the future at the time that article was written. I'm not sure it's an accurate description of the characterization of the Rhinemaidens in that production, but I could see someone referring to them that way.
I do not qualify to vote, as Boulez Ring is the only production I have watched in full, but based on different viewings "here and there", I highly doubt any other performance would be able to compete with it both visually and vocally. Levine I follows close but I have my reservations about Behrens (love her, but not in this Ring). Gwyneth Jones was not an ideal Brunnhilde back in 1980 either. We can only regret Eaglen hasn't recorded it while she could.
For those who are interested in DVD Ring Cycles, you may be amused by Sing Faster! The Stagehands' Ring Cycle. It depicts the goings-on backstage of the San Francisco Opera's staging of the Ring. I wrote a review on digitallyobsessed.com some years ago. Amazon reviewers seem to love it too. Be warned, it's short (57 minutes).
I have it. The Kupfer production is in many ways similar to his Bayreuth staging with Barenboim...though I do prefer what he did at Bayreuth, and the casting, conducting, and orchestral playing on that one are superior. I think the Bayreuth is the clear winner of the two; in fact it's my favorite Ring production on video, overall.
My favourites are the Chéreau, Kupfer, and Copenhagen Rings. Each have some weak links singing-wise but overall they are pretty strong, well directed and character-focused. The Chéreau was my first full Ring and it's very approachable (and by today's standards really nothing Wild). The Copenhagen Ring is an excellent example of how to modern that isn't cheap and minimalist. The sets are wonderfully detailed and realistic.
I agree. I've seen Die Walküre from 2019 (MOoD), and while the production as a whole is good, I think the earlier cast is better.
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