Wagner: Das Rheingold
movie
View on VideBits →This is a beautifully conducted and thoughtfully staged performance of the first opera (the prologue) in Wagner's Ring Cycle. As soon as the clouds of mist have dissipated, while the daring, long-held opening chord is still reverberating, the screen clears to show not only the River Rhine and the three maidens (dressed like prostitutes in this production) assigned to guard the gold hidden there. It also shows an enormous dam (not mentioned in Wagner's text). This is the underwater base of a hydroelectric plant, and its presence tells us two things immediately: that this production takes the story out of the vaguely medieval fantasy world in which Wagner had placed it, and that a basic theme of the four-opera cycle would be power. Alberich, the Nibelung, is willing to renounce the love of women, after stealing the gold from the Rhine, to become the ruler of the world. Another basic theme is greed.
Cast & crew
Donald McIntyre · Fritz Hübner · Heinz Zednik · Helmut Pampuch · Hermann Becht · Ilse Gramatzki · Martin Egel · Matti Salminen · Pierre Boulez · Siegfried Jerusalem · Brian Large · Richard Wagner
Studios & networks
Deutsche Grammophon · Unitel Classics