Solti's recent Ring
John Grabowski
I've read in several places that Solti's recent Ring staging was one of
the greatest disasters in opera history.
......What exactly happened?
John
Tony Movshon
>I've read in several places that Solti's recent Ring staging was one of
>the greatest disasters in opera history.
>
AFAIK, Solti's last performances of a staged Ring were at Bayreuth in
1983, in a production by Peter Hall. The Hall production was certainly
controversial (I saw the Gotterdammerung and it was pretty wretched),
and I believe there were differences between Solti and the Festival
which led to him not returning to conduct in Bayreuth after 1983.
Considering the disasters with which opera history is littered, I don't
think this episode qualifies as one of the greatest.
Tony Movshon
Center for Neural Science New York University
http://www.cns.nyu.edu mov...@nyu.edu
Ron Nadel
>>I've read in several places that Solti's recent Ring staging was one of
>>the greatest disasters in opera history.
>>
>>.......What exactly happened?
>AFAIK, Solti's last performances of a staged Ring were at Bayreuth in
>1983, in a production by Peter Hall. The Hall production was certainly
>controversial (I saw the Gotterdammerung and it was pretty wretched),
>and I believe there were differences between Solti and the Festival
>which led to him not returning to conduct in Bayreuth after 1983.
I listened to this performance and recorded it from the radio. This
performance was a complement to his now legendary recording from the 50s and
60s. I found that in most places where I thought Solti was weak in the 1st
recordings, he was stronger in 1983; and where he was strong in the early
recordings he was weaker in 1983. Since I really love the early recordings
and find little weak in them, this means that the 1983 performance was not
that great.
The "disaster" label is certainly a bit of an over-reaction, but I do remember
that Solti was roundly booed - easily heard over the broadcast. Solti was
reportedly very upset over his reception and vowed to never conduct at
Bayreuth again.
Ron
Kang Howson-Jan
Ron Nadel wrote:
> The "disaster" label is certainly a bit of an over-reaction, but I do remember
> that Solti was roundly booed - easily heard over the broadcast.
...which is to say that it got the _average_ reception of just about any
Ring in the last 20 years ( :-) )! Can anyone think of a new
Ring production anywhere (big or small centre) that did not get jeered
during this time?
--Kang Howson-Jan
Derrick Everett
I attended the premieres of two of the operas in the Norwegian Opera's
recently completed "Ring" (Siegfried in 1995 and Götterdämmerung in 1996).
On both occasions there was enthusiastic applause, cheering, stamping of feet
and a standing ovation during the curtain calls of the last act, not least for
the production team. Not a jeer to be heard.
Direction (no street-signs) by Mike Ashman, costumes (not bathmats) by Katrine
Hysing, lighting by John Bishop, conducted by Heinz Fricke.
--
- Derrick Everett
- Check out my home page: http://www.sn.no/~deverett
Peter J. Ullman
Ron Nadel wrote:
>
> In article <4q3p77$l...@news.nyu.edu> to...@cns.nyu.edu (Tony Movshon) writes:
>
> >>I've read in several places that Solti's recent Ring staging was one of
> >>the greatest disasters in opera history.
> >>
> >>.......What exactly happened?
>
> >AFAIK, Solti's last performances of a staged Ring were at Bayreuth in
> >1983, in a production by Peter Hall. The Hall production was certainly
> >controversial (I saw the Gotterdammerung and it was pretty wretched),
> >and I believe there were differences between Solti and the Festival
> >which led to him not returning to conduct in Bayreuth after 1983.
>
> I listened to this performance and recorded it from the radio. This
> performance was a complement to his now legendary recording from the 50s and
> 60s. I found that in most places where I thought Solti was weak in the 1st
> recordings, he was stronger in 1983; and where he was strong in the early
> recordings he was weaker in 1983. Since I really love the early recordings
> and find little weak in them, this means that the 1983 performance was not
> that great.
>
> reportedly very upset over his reception and vowed to never conduct at
> Bayreuth again.
>
> Ron
Was Solti booed or the production? I bet it was the production and not
the music.
Taylor
> Since I really love the early recordings
> and find little weak in them, this means that the 1983 performance was not
> that great.
Would someone be so kind as to
tell me(1) the performers and (2)
the year recorded for each of the
4 operas in Wagner's Ring . . . (Solti's
that is).
Jay
Tony Movshon
>Would someone be so kind as to
>tell me(1) the performers and (2)
>the year recorded for each of the
>4 operas in Wagner's Ring . . . (Solti's
>that is).
From memory:
Rheingold, rec 1957. London, Flagstad, Svanholm, Neidlinger, Waechter
(I forget the giants)
Siegfried, rec 1962. Windgassen, Nilsson, Hotter, Stolze, Neidlinger, Boehme,
Sutherland
Gotterdammerung, rec 1964. Windgassen, Nilsson, Frick, Fischer-Dieskau, Watson,
Neidlinger
Walkure, rec 1965. King, Nilsson, Crespin, Hotter (I forget Hunding).
All with the Vienna Philharmonic, of course.
Michael Haupt
Derrick Everett (deve...@sn.no) wrote:
: I attended the premieres of two of the operas in the Norwegian Opera's
: On both occasions there was enthusiastic applause, cheering, stamping of feet
: and a standing ovation during the curtain calls of the last act, not least for
: the production team. Not a jeer to be heard.
The Bayreuth audience is a very special one. :-)
--
per aspera ad asthma, Michael
E-Mail: gl...@appl2.hrz.uni-siegen.de
or: ha...@wad.org
Derrick Everett
Michael Haupt wrote:
>
> Derrick Everett (deve...@sn.no) wrote:
> : I attended the premieres of two of the operas in the Norwegian Opera's
> : recently completed "Ring" (Siegfried in 1995 and Götterdämmerung in 1996).
> : On both occasions there was enthusiastic applause, cheering, stamping of feet
> : and a standing ovation during the curtain calls of the last act, not least for
> : the production team. Not a jeer to be heard.
>
> The Bayreuth audience is a very special one. :-)
>
Those of us who attend the Festival already know this.
Jon Conrad
Peter J. Ullman <p_ul...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>> Solti was roundly booed - easily heard over the broadcast. Solti was
>> reportedly very upset over his reception and vowed to never conduct at
>> Bayreuth again.
>>
>> Ron
>Was Solti booed or the production?
Both. Booing of the production team and conductor is almost traditional
at Bayreuth now for the first summer of any RING. (not that it isn't
sometimes deserved)
>I bet it was the production and not
>the music.
Nope. His conducting was also disliked; also, as musical director for
the whole production, the audible part of the casting was his
responsibility as well (the conductor and stage director do the casting
together at Bayreuth), and this was felt for the most part to be a
substandard cast.
There's a whole book about this production: THE RING by Stephen Fay.
He's very pro- the whole production team, but even so, some interesting
stories come through.
One thing against Solti: part of the deal the conductor and director
agree to with a Bayreuth RING (which runs for 5 consecutive summers
before being replaced) is that they will return each year and work on it
some more. Having agreed to do this, Solti didn't: After the season
was over, he sent Wolfgang Wagner a note from his doctor, certifying
that his ill health would prevent him returning. (He did not, of
course, give up conducting elsewhere for the next few years.)
Jon Alan Conrad
Charles Ehrlich
The 1983 Solti Ring was recorded by Decca, but never released. For the most
part, this was a good decision as the cast was sub-standard.
However, the Walkuere was about the finest I have heard. I know it got booed
because the staging was odd and the direction was static. I did not see it, so
I only know what I heard - very dramatic singing. I very much hope Decca can
be persuaded to release this recording.
The cast was:
Siegfried Jerusalem (Siegmund)
Jeanine Altmeyer (Sieglinde)
Matthias Hoelle (Hunding)
Siegmund Nimsgern (Wotan)
Hildegard Behrens (Bruennhilde)
Brigitte Fassbaender (Fricka) - [although I may remember wrong here]
Behrens was actually the weak link - her voice kept cracking. In her case, she
sounded better in the other two operas. Nimsgern - who was very expressive and
almost a mean, ambitious, and haunted Wotan (quite a portrayal!) fell ill and
only sang in the first Rheingold and Walkuere. I have never heard a darker but
almost warm Hunding - his is not the evil charicature that normally appears in
this role. There is not much in this role to make it easy to develop a
character, but Hoelle actually put a human here. Jerusalem's voice was in its
prime.
Rheingold was dreadful - nothing to recommend it. The voices were weak and
expression-less, and the orchestral playing was unexciting.
Siegfried was also not good. It didn't help that Solti's choice for
Siegfried got stage fright and canceled, leaving Manfred Jung in the title
role.
The orchestral playing in Goetterdaemmerung was poor. However, there were
stand-outs in the cast: Behrens as Bruennhilde and Aage Haugland as Hagen.
Bengt Norup was a reasonable Gunther (he was also the understudy for Nimsgern
as Wotan, and did alright if unexceptionally in that role).
But -DECCA ARE YOU LISTENING?- I hope this Walkuere is released someday.
Charles Ehrlich
Wolfson College (Oxford)
<c...@calculus.wolf.ox.ac.uk>
[NOT the account I've posted from]
Charles Ehrlich
In article <4r9t4m$r...@news.ox.ac.uk>,
Charles Ehrlich <ehr...@ermine.ox.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>The orchestral playing in Goetterdaemmerung was poor. However, there were
>stand-outs in the cast: Behrens as Bruennhilde and Aage Haugland as Hagen.
>Bengt Norup was a reasonable Gunther (he was also the understudy for Nimsgern
>as Wotan, and did alright if unexceptionally in that role).
Before I get flamed for this, let me say that I am well aware that Wotan does
not appear in this opera. I meant in the others, of course. :^)
Charles
Byungik Kahng
ehr...@ermine.ox.ac.uk (Charles Ehrlich) writes:
>The 1983 Solti Ring was recorded by Decca, but never released. For the most
>part, this was a good decision as the cast was sub-standard.
>However, the Walkuere was about the finest I have heard. I know it got booed
>because the staging was odd and the direction was static. I did not see it, so
>I only know what I heard - very dramatic singing. I very much hope Decca can
>be persuaded to release this recording.
>The cast was:
>Siegfried Jerusalem (Siegmund)
>Jeanine Altmeyer (Sieglinde)
>Matthias Hoelle (Hunding)
>Siegmund Nimsgern (Wotan)
>Hildegard Behrens (Bruennhilde)
>Brigitte Fassbaender (Fricka) - [although I may remember wrong here]
......
I enjoy Altmeyer's Brunnhilde a lot in Janowski's RCA ring. Can
anyone give me an information on her discography?
Byungik, Urbana