Thread: Just attended Melba's launch of "Das Rheingold" (from the Adelaide Ring Cycle 2004)

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Post by Christine Tham October 26, 2006 (1 of 11)
The Melba Foundation was kind enough to invite me to the launch yesterday, at the Australian Club.

The event was well attended, not just by patrons of the Foundation (representing some of the Who's Who of the Australian arts world) but some of the cast and crew as well (including Lisa Gasteen).

We were treated to a nice little mini-recital by some of Melba's artists, and that was an unexpected bonus.

One of the good news from my perspective was an announcement by Maria Vandamme that the label is planning to re-release some (most?) of their back catalogue on Hybrid SA-CD (including surround mixes). This should be good news for SA-CD fans - the re-releases will feature new cover artwork which looks much better than the current ones (in my opinion).

Now that I have my review copy of Rheingold, expect a review on sa-cd.net in the next few weeks.

Post by JohnFerrier October 26, 2006 (2 of 11)
Christine Tham said:

The Melba Foundation was kind enough to invite me to the launch yesterday, at the Australian Club.

The event was well attended, not just by patrons of the Foundation (representing some of the Who's Who of the Australian arts world) but some of the cast and crew as well (including Lisa Gasteen).

We were treated to a nice little mini-recital by some of Melba's artists, and that was an unexpected bonus.

One of the good news from my perspective was an announcement by Maria Vandamme that the label is planning to re-release some (most?) of their back catalogue on Hybrid SA-CD (including surround mixes). This should be good news for SA-CD fans - the re-releases will feature new cover artwork which looks much better than the current ones (in my opinion).

Now that I have my review copy of Rheingold, expect a review on sa-cd.net in the next few weeks.

The link below depicts a striking realization of the Ring. Is the Adelaide Cycle 2004 currently available on video?

http://inkpot.com/concert/adelaideringpage1.html

Post by Christine Tham October 26, 2006 (3 of 11)
JohnFerrier said:

Is the Adelaide Ring Cycle 2004 currently available on video?

http://inkpot.com/concert/adelaideringpage1.html

Unfortunately, no, and I don't think there are currently any plans to make it available on video (even though the last cycle was captured on camera - but that was for closed circuit playback to Adelaide residents).

There was a 1-hour "making of documentary" that was shown on ABC Television about a year ago - that's well worth watching if you can get hold of a copy.

You can try writing to the State Opera South Australia to express your interest.

Post by JohnFerrier October 26, 2006 (4 of 11)
Guess this forum has buzzed about this for awhile. Don't forget your review.

"Das Rheingold is coming!"
http://www.melbarecordings.com.au/content/view/215/51/

-

Thanks for a link to the review in your post below.

Post by Christine Tham October 26, 2006 (5 of 11)
JohnFerrier said:

Guess this forum has buzzed about this for awhile. Don't forget your review.

You may want to check out my review of Die Walkure:

/showreviews/3888#3704

But nothing beats attending the live performances, which we did in 2004. The sets were truly jaw-dropping amazing - the pictures on the web site that you link to simply does not do it justice. They really broke the rules - using real fire (every one in the audience could feel the sizzling heat from the pyrotechnics - I was afraid the theatre was going to burn down) not to mention real water.

What's not apparent from the pictures is the amazing use of hydrolics to lift bits of the stage up and down. For example, the end of Walkure when Brunhilde is lying down on a seemingly bare stage and Wotan proceeds to "light" the Magic Fire around her - real flames start spurting out.

And then you realise part of the stage is slowly lifting up - a circle surrounding Lisa Gasteen - and when it's halfway up a second part broke off to make a gigantic Ring that turns towards the audience ... the whole audience collectively gasped in admiration. And that's simply one of the many examples - i could go on and on - Siegried's battle with the dragon is another striking example. No DVD will ever capture the magnificence of the production.

We did a backstage tour prior to the performances and saw some of the mechanisms involved in the sets - truly amazing stuff.

Post by Chris October 27, 2006 (6 of 11)
JohnFerrier said:

The link below depicts a striking realization of the Ring. Is the Adelaide Cycle 2004 currently available on video?

http://inkpot.com/concert/adelaideringpage1.html

Hello there John,
I'm not quite sure if I would agree with you that the images I found depict a striking realization....
They remind me too much of too many other ridiculous modern opera productions where the stage director, and/or producer either can't read or understand the music at all, or decides to completely ignore what's already clearly stated in the libretto as to where and when the opera is set.

I just came back from six weeks of live concerts and opera performances in Prague at both the National Opera,the State Opera and the absolutely gorgeous Estates Opera.
Musically and production-wise great evenings.
I saw Don Giovanni twice, Rusalka three times,Aida twice, Turandot twice The Magic Flute once, to mention but a few, and loved every minute of them all.
With one notable exception! Last week's premiere of La Clemenza di Tito in the otherwise wonderful Estates Theatre, where it was premiered under Mozart himself was a modern turkey roll version visually IMO.

Tito was set in a what looked like large white empty shoe-box or the childrens' skischool in the Alps minus t-bar lifts.
But there was a slope!
And I'm sure the singers would have appreciated a lift.
They looked exhausted from all the running up and down the shoebox in their high heeled shoes.
Apart from a hook from the ceiling the only prop was a chair they either sat on or carried around across and up the slope!

With unfitting modern clothes there was hardly anything except Tito's Laurel that hinted at the real plot.
After the second performance I had a chance to speak to the producer a German Herr Herrman.
Maybe he is a big name?
Do you or anyone else here possibly know what other operas he has put his personal stamp on?

Initially I lauded his intelligent use of space and depth.
Partly because it was the only thing I liked about the whole production, and partly to make him stay long enough to hear what I really felt like saying!
I then proceeded to ask him why we had moved away from ancient Rome to modern nowhere?
And why we had to be reminded of the third Reich in the last act where the servant was dressed in a "striking" Gestapo like all leather dress and boots outfit!

My final question to him why did he think Mozart had even bothered to set the opera in ancient Rome? Was answered with a grunt!
"Wunderbar" from Australia looks possibly even worse than Mozart in a shoebox.
What has it got to do with Wagner?
The Rhinemaidens look like third rate hookers!
What's wrong with many of these modern producers do they HATE Opera?
Anyway I'll probably buy the SACDs and enjoy them happily without pictures.
All the best Chris
ps I sat with closed eyes for most of the second performance.
The music is wonderful and the singers and orchestra where great.
ps 2 If someone tells me how to, I'll attach a photo if anyone is interested to know what I'm moaning about

Post by JohnFerrier October 27, 2006 (7 of 11)
Chris said:

I'm not quite sure if I would agree with you that the images I found depict a striking realization....
.
.
.

Although not a large fan of opera, my preference is for modern rendition. For example, I'd like to see a performance of Olga Neuwirth's "Lost Highway" when it soon has its US premiere. The images in the two webpages of the Adelaide Ring Cycle 2004 seem appealing to my tastes. I appreciated Christine's first-hand and behind-the-scenes accounts. Though not a connoisseur, I do have a handful of favorites of the past.

Also, just before reading your post, I noticed that Gramophone Magazine (UK) selected the Amsterdam Ring cycle as DVD of the month for October. (I don't happen to be a subscriber.) The editor indicates that their Götterdämmerung is mandatory. The images in the magazine also depict a contemporary version. Since traditional versions also exist, we are fortunate to have much to choose from.

Post by ramesh October 27, 2006 (8 of 11)
Chris,
without rehashing all the arguments for and against modern opera stagings, the Adelaide 'Ring' was successful primarily due to its spectacular sets, which outstaged in terms of 'shockumentary' value many recent European stagings. The traditional NY Met 'sword and sandal'/ early European 'Springtime for Hitler' sets would never have worked in Australia.

One has to look at the cultural reasons for this. The Adelaide Ring was the first in Australasia, although not the first in the Southern hemisphere ( Argentina's Teatro Colon ). The cultural level of the average Australasian with respect to European culture ranges from low to especially low. This has nothing to do with the cadre of the artistically talented, but the place of the arts in a society which identifies with sport and outdoor leisure. For instance, when I attended the Vienna Phil in Sydney last month, the concerts of which were 90% sold out prior to public booking ( as those with subscriptions to the ballet/opera etc had preferential booking ), some souls started to clap vociferously in the short pause before the coda in the finale of Tchaikovsky's Fifth. This was with the most classical-musical audience possible in modern Australasia.

With this level of cultural education, the organisers could hardly expect full houses based entirely on musical values which critics would expect in the major opera houses. So, this was why the singers were sourced from Australia, to tap into the patriotic impulse as a showcase of the best in Australian singing. Being a member of a local Wagner society, the gossip I heard a couple of years prior to the 2004 staging was that the sets were going to be spectacular. Most blockbuster events locally are sold on sensation. For instance, a major Monet exhibition in New Zealand had an advertising campaign based entirely on the fact that it was going to have the 'most expensive art ever on display in this country' : no mention of the aesthetic qualities.

Funding was achieved for this Wagner production because Australian arts administrators were skilful enough to persuade government and private donors that this would be a 'world class' event. The words 'world class' are bandied about with gusto downunder for everything from universities to stage shows, really as a marker of insecurity. All the rather elderly, culturally conservative people I know who attended the Adelaide Ring were agog at the sets. This was what they all talked about. No one mentioned the singers.

Post by Christine Tham October 28, 2006 (9 of 11)
ramesh said:

For instance, when I attended the Vienna Phil in Sydney last month, the concerts of which were 90% sold out prior to public booking ( as those with subscriptions to the ballet/opera etc had preferential booking ), some souls started to clap vociferously in the short pause before the coda in the finale of Tchaikovsky's Fifth.

...

All the rather elderly, culturally conservative people I know who attended the Adelaide Ring were agog at the sets. This was what they all talked about. No one mentioned the singers.

Well, "premature applause" is hardly a phenomenon unique to Australia - I've experienced it all over the world, including in London. Personally I think it's a good sign, because it implies that some members of the audience are being introduced to great music that is unfamiliar to them - to me, that is more heartwarming than an audience stuffed full of old cynical fogeys.

I don't really agree that the Adelaide Ring 2004 is successful primarily because of the sets. The sets are spectacular, but so are the singers - the weakest link for me is probably the orchestra. Certainly my experience whilst attending the performances was that the audience were praising the strength of the cast as much as the sets.

And I don't think the sets are as populist and low brow as your post may imply. Although there's a some broad brushed "Ocker" humour inherent in the design, there's also quite a few "in jokes" (particularly in Siegfried) that would only be meaningful to those familiar with Wagner's original stage directions - these gave me a good laugh (and judging by those around me, I wasn't the only one who "got it").

At the end of the day, the whole production had an inner logic that is fundamental to a successful Wagnerian interpretation (ie., cohesion and contextual integrity) - far more so than some of the anachronistic and overblown Zeffirelli style NY Met productions in recent times.

Post by ramesh October 28, 2006 (10 of 11)
Christine Tham said:

Well, "premature applause" is hardly a phenomenon unique to Australia - I've experienced it all over the world, including in London. Personally I think it's a good sign, because it implies that some members of the audience are being introduced to great music that is unfamiliar to them - to me, that is more heartwarming than an audience stuffed full of old cynical fogeys.

I don't really agree that the Adelaide Ring 2004 is successful primarily because of the sets. The sets are spectacular, but so are the singers - the weakest link for me is probably the orchestra. Certainly my experience whilst attending the performances was that the audience were praising the strength of the cast as much as the sets.

Hopefully, I didn't imply the sets were lowbrow when I used the word, 'spectacular'. The most lowbrow 'Ring' set I had the misfortune to attend was at Covent Garden, where Brunnhilde in Götterdämmerung walked around with a brown paper bag over her head to symbolise her submission. ( Nowadays it would be a burka, with Jack Straw as the prompter saying, 'take the bloody thing off'.)

Strangely enough, in Walküre, it's the orchestra which is very impressive.

Personally, premature applause for well known pieces performed in a wealthy country with free universal education, unless it comes from a child, is not a good sign. It is fartwarming, not heartwarming, for it signifies laziness, and is part of the commodification of culture where people cannot be bothered to get off their chumps, go to a library, and play the work at least once beforehand. Concert tickets are expensive, and unless it is an obscure work or premiere, the concert hall isn't the place to be introduced to new music, except for specific areas such as children's proms.

Today I chatted to the clerk at the local record shop. He was one of 50 applicants to the local university's three places for performance in classical piano. 5 applicants were white, 45 were East Asian. The white middle class where I live mass produces incurious children who do not appear to have the stamina to study an art form for a decade. They want to be spoonfed answers and 'art appreciation' without putting in the effort. Any effort which extends beyond a quick work out is then called elitism. The trouble is, to master anything which is complicated requires persistence, and the humility to be not satisfied by anything less . This is not snobbery, this is 'inner logic'.

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