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The Ring Cycle.
 Richard
Wagner described The Ring Cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen) as
'a stage Festival Play for three days and a preliminary evening'.
It is opera's meister werk, which took Wagner nearly thirty
years to complete and is undoubtedly the longest and most complex
work ever composed for the operatic stage. It is also unique
in being a drama of ideas making timeless statements about the
destructive consequences of man's exploitation of nature for
his own ends and his greed for power.
It is fair to say that Wagner was the most intellectual of the great composers and his composing of the work drew upon, not only the writings of contemporary philosophers like Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, but also Teutonic myth and Greek tragedy. Therefore the Ring can also be seen as a timeless Chinese mirror of sorts, which can be interpreted from many sociological and political angles. Initially intended as a political metaphor of 19th century politics, as it grew, the work became more concerned with issues of human nature and what motivates them. In doing so, the work can be seen as a precursor of Freud and Jung.
For a work, composed of four operas (Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung) that are often played individually, there is remarkable consistency and uniformed ideas in the sixteen or so hours that the cycle takes to perform. Because of the length and complexity of the Ring, new productions are rarely attempted in their entirety. Normally companies tend to build up to a complete cycle over a number of years, or, as in the case of State Opera's acclaimed 1998 production under the British conductor Jeffrey Tate, they are imported - in that case, from the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. The new production will be the first to be produced and designed here in Australia and will take on a timeless approach to the work with a cast of both international and Australian singers under the baton of the Israeli conductor Asher Fisch. The Adelaide Symphony will repeat their marathon-accompanying task. The German born director Elke Niedhardt, known for her work with Australian Opera, as well as working on three European cycles, promises a spectacle indeed.
Wagner is still banned in Israel and remains untaught in the country's conservatoires due to the composer's rather vehement anti-Semitism and the fact that he was Hitler's favourite composer (he evidently carried a score of Tristan in his backpack whilst a soldier in World War I.), played at rallies and in concentration camps. So it was in 1992 when Fisch moved to Berlin to work with fellow Jewish conductor and Wagnerite Daniel Barenboim that he discovered the genius of Wagner's work. (Mind you, Barenboim created havoc when he decided to play the Prelude to Tristan und Isolde as an encore in Israel a number of years ago - a fact that Fisch attributes more to ultra-right Semitism than complaints from survivors of the Holocaust.) Since then he has worked his way through the works, conducting operas like The Flying Dutchman, Parsifal and others, at international opera houses in America and Europe.
Adelaide is indeed fortunate to be the city in which this distinguished Wagnerian will make his debut in the Ring. When Stephen Phillips at State Opera approached him for the job six years ago, he accepted the post without question. Similarly when the acclaimed Australian soprano Lisa Gasteen was approached to play the role of Brunnhilde, it was before her international fame in the role that followed triumphant performances at Covent Garden and Vienna. The other major protagonists have been similarly applauded internationally, which leaves little doubt that this Adelaide production will truly place us at the forefront of productions.
The Adelaide Symphony initially gave a series of acclaimed concerts last year with Fisch in the music of not only Herr Richard Wagner, but Strauss and Mozart, and then stayed on to conduct initial rehearsals with an augmented orchestra of 120 players, and to great effect. Since returning in September Fischer and the orchestra will have undergone a further sixty rehearsals before the curtain goes up on the 16th of November. Fisch has said he is "very pleased and very happy and relaxed because I know that they [the ASO] can play Wagner in the style I want and expect them to play".
The first fully Australian production promises to be very stylish and is already being referred to as 'the Armani Ring' and the conductor is particularly excited about working with such a glamorous cast of international experts. From what I can gather, Fisch's approach to the cycle is more symphonic than that experienced with Tate and that the string sound (rather than the formidable Wagnerian brass and winds) will be central to his interpretation. Reported by 'The Australian' earlier this month, Fisch is working to fit roles, voices and this production to the music: "If you come in as a conductor and have some kind of interpretation... that you know from past performances or recordings, and you try to impose it on your singers, you will never succeed. I am building this interpretation based on the singers that I have now."
Fisch feels that there is little you can do to prepare in advance for a production other than investigate the music. And that's what it comes down to, for he knows this music very well indeed. "I have been dealing with the Ring since I went to Berlin in 1992, so this is the culmination of twelve years' work."
The Ring Cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen) should be a spectacular experience.
Brett Allen-Bayes
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The Ring Cycle is now performing. Limited tickets are still available through BASS.
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