Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen

"Rheingold"
In Patrice Chéreau's illuminating, violent Bayreuth production of Das Rheingold, Wotan wears the brocade coat of feudal times while the Rhine seems to be a reservoir with a modern power station - but, as Chéreau states, it "could also be many other things... a menacing construction, a theatrical machine to produce a river, an allegorical shape that today generates energy: perhaps a mythological presence, the mythology of our time... The gods' ascent to Valhalla (is) a defiant flight into the future."

"Darsteller"
Wotan - Donald McIntyre
Donner - Martin Egel
Froh - Siegfried Jerusalem
Loge - Heinz Zednik
Alberich - Hermann Becht
Mime - Helmut Pampuch
Fasolt - Matti Salminen
Fafner - Fritz Hübner
Fricka - Hanna Schwarz
Freia - Carman Reppel
Erda - Ortrun Wenkel
Woglinde - Norma Sharp
Wellgunde - Ilse Gramatzki
Flosshilde - Marga Schiml

Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele
Leitung: Pierre Boulez
Laufzeit: 143 Minuten

"Walküre"
The second part of Patrice Chéreau's epoch-making Bayreuth "Ring" is a radical re-imaging of "die Walküre", unprecedented in its psychological penetration. "This Wagnerian drama", says Chéreau, "which is at once classical theatre and domestic comedy, enables us to interpret the myths in terms that are both anecdotical and sublime ... With Wagner one is dealing with a drama tuned virtually white-hot by the music." "Nothing ever seen before on television has given a better insight into Wagner's genius." (The New York Times)

Darsteller:
Siegmund - Peter Hoffmann
Hunding - Matti Salminen
Wotan - Donald McIntyre
Sieglinde - Jeannie Altmeyer
Brünhilde - Gwyneth Jones
Fricka - Hanna Schwarz
Gerhilde - Carmen Reppel
Ortlinde - Karmen Middleton
Waltraute - Gabriele Schnaut
Schwertleite - Gwendolyn Killebrew
Helmwige - Katie Clarke
Siegrune - Marga Schiml
Grimgerde - Ilse Gramatzki
Rossweisse - Elisabeth Glauser

Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele
Leitung: Pierre Boulez
Laufzeit: 215 Minuten

"Siegfried"
"The central part of the "Ring" tetralogy is precisely this: a hero has been created who would actually have had all the attributes of freedom, but nobody remembered to tell him..." (Patrice Chéreau). "One can only marvel at how enthrallingly Chéreau has made visible every ramification of this malignant idyll and bitter comedy. In its faithful service to this fabulously polished staging Brian Large's video direction is a model" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).

"Darsteller"
Siegfried - Manfred Jung
Mime - Heinz Zednik
Der Wanderer - Donald McIntyre
Alberich - Hermann Becht
Fafner - Fritz Hübner
Erda - Ortrun Wenkel
Brünnhilde - Gwyneth Jones
Der Waldvogel - Norma Sharp

Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele
Leitung: Pierre Boulez
Laufzeit: 228 Minuten

"Götterdämmerung"
In 1976 French director Patrice Chéreau's cenentenary staging of Wagner's "Ring"-Cycle unleashed the greatest scandal in Bayreuth Festival history but, by the end of its last performance in 1980, this epoch-making production was acclaimed with an hour and a half of thunderous applause. "Götterdämmerung presents a world in which no values exist any more. The only refuge is in the past" (Chateau). "The videotaped Bayreuth Ring succeed triumphantly."

"Darsteller"
Siegfried - Manfred Jung
Gunther - Franz Mazura
Alberich - Hermann Becht
Hagen - Fritz Hübner
Brünnhilde - Gwyneth Jones
Guntrune - Jeannie Altmeyer
Waltraute - Gwendolyn Killebrew
1. Norn - Ortrum Wenkel
2. Norn - Gabriele Schnaut
3. Norn - Katie Clarke
Woghilde - Norma Sheep
Wellgunde - Ilse Gramatzki
Flosshilde - Marga Schmil

Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele
Leitung: Pierre Boulez

Chor der Bayrether Festspiele
Leitung; Norbert Balatsch
Laufzeit: 248 Minuten

Bonus-DVD: "Der Ring des Nibelungen - The Making Of"
The partnership of Boulez, Chéreau und Peduzzi put Wagner's "Ring" back where it belonged - at the centre of controversity. By the time it was last seen on the stage of the Festspielhaus in 1980, the production had taken its place as one of the historc achievements of the Bayreuth Festival. Working closely with video director Brian Large, Chéreau re-rehearsed his staging for the films taped at that time to recreate the experience on screen and to preserve career-defining performances from the original cast, headed by Donald McIntyre, Gwyneth Jones and Manfred Krug.