Wagner’s Ring tetralogy is opera’s equivalent to Lord of the Rings; indeed, it was a crucial inspiration for JRR Tolkien. Fantasy, myth and a veritable philosophy and politics tract roll into one; the composer’s concept of Gesamtkunstwerk (complete art work) aimed to mingle every aspect of performance at the highest level and to entrance a mass audience. Why, then, are most productions “controversial”? Why do punters pay hundreds of euros to go to Wagner’s own festival at Bayreuth only to boo the directors?
At the opening of the Royal Opera House’s new Siegfried last night, the third in the cycle, at least there were plentiful cheers for the director, Barrie Kosky. Accumulating with one opera per season, this staging has already made waves for its sober intelligence and its well-balanced handling of implied environmental disaster. Kosky never stands still, and Siegfried presents surprises galore, including a lavish meadow full of wildflowers for Brunnhilde’s awakening in Act Three.
The biggest surprise of all, though, is the lead tenor. The irrepressible Andreas Schager laughs and dances his way through the gargantuan title role, forging his sword on a steampunk contraption that seems straight from the pages of Heath Robinson. As he hammers, actual sparks fly from the weapon’s blade – to say nothing of the effect of his voice on our ears. Huge, bright, steely and joyous, this astonishing “heldentenor” (heroic tenor) could have sent the ROH roof flying halfway to Putney.
Andreas Schager was irrepressible in the title role (Photo: Monika Rittershaus)Even Kosky’s production is not without “controversial” elements, however. An elderly nude actress – implicitly Erda, earth goddess and mother of Brunnhilde – is a recurring feature and here she is turned, via a handbag and some feathers, into the Woodbird (soprano Sarah Dufresne dubs the singing offstage). The shock value has nevertheless worn off and the device feels overused.
Still, at least the production does not leave one listening with eyes closed. It happens. Especially at Bayreuth (I speak from experience). And it would be easy to blame Adolf Hitler.
Wagner died years before the fascist German leader was born, but when the Führer began to frequent Bayreuth in the mid-1920s, the composer’s family – especially Winifred Wagner, his English daughter-in-law – took him to their hearts. Wagner’s widow, Cosima, lived until 1930 and preserved her husband’s legacy; under her directorship, nothing could be altered one jot from his vision. In the Ring, this meant shape-shifting monsters, swimming Rhinemaidens, winged helmets, armour, rainbows and a final conflagration in which the world ends and is reborn. Hitler loved it. Ever since 1945, Bayreuth has been trying to escape his toxic legacy, along with Wagner’s own notorious antisemitism.
To generalise wildly, that means avoiding anything in staging that Hitler or Wagner himself might have liked. Spilling over into productions worldwide, this may underpin the rise of “Regietheater” (director’s theatre) in which a director’s will, the more extreme the better, took precedence over the needs of composer, conductor, singers and sometimes common sense, let alone the audience.
Elisabet Strid as Brunnhilde (Photo: Monika Rittershaus)Over the years, Wagnerites have come to expect this. Recently David McVicar’s production of the Ring at La Scala, Milan, drew adverse criticism for “faithfully retelling the story – without any discernible message” (according to Seen and Heard International). Yet Wagner is already chock-full of messages, all too relevant today, about power, politics, honesty and love, if directors would only let us hear them.
The Royal Opera House’s orchestra, conductor by former music director Sir Antonio Pappano, certainly let us hear Siegfried at its brightest, with a muscular, fine-textured, ideally paced performance, despite a slightly uneven cast. Elisabet Strid as Brunnhilde and Peter Hoare as the Nibelung Mime tried valiantly to match up to the stellar accounts from Schager and from Christopher Maltman as Wotan, his sound magnificently warm, velvety and all-encompassing.
Ultimately, however, the Nazis are not to blame for “controversial” Wagner. The culprit is Wagner himself. His music is so extraordinary and the experience of the operas so overwhelming that perhaps a theatrical stage can simply never match up. It would take Hollywood with millions of dollars worth of special effects to even begin to do it visual justice. This music sounds better than it can ever look.
Siegfried is at the Royal Opera House until 6 April 2026
Hence then, the article about hitler has ruined wagner forever was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Hitler has ruined Wagner forever )
Also on site :