"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.
