The Ring that rules them all
- Source: Global Times
- [09:42 August 16 2010]
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A scene form Siegfried. Photo: Courtesy of Peng Qian
By Paul LePetit
Wagner's Ring Cycle is opera's Great Wall. Almost as large, as controversial and as dignified by years and applause.
The epic story, conjured from mixed mythologies and pure invention, and the sometimes sublime and sometimes sensational and unforgettable music, combine about the legends that are the basis of the opera, and have, in turn, become a legend.
And it is coming to China. The com-plete Ring Cycle is not a common part of international opera companies' reper-toires. It requires vast expense and a huge array of talent.
The four operas in the Ring Cycle - The Ring of the Nibelung (the nibelung were a mythological race of dwarves) - take more than 15 hours to perform over four days. It's a marathon but since it was first performed in its entirety in 1876 in Bayreuth, Germany, it has been the most addictive opera in the world.
Waiting list
Every year in Bayreuth there is the Ring Festival. More than 500,000 people from round the world beg for the 58,000 tickets on offer to see the four operas performed in Richard Wagner's original theater. Some keep putting their names down - there is a 10-year waiting list.
But why are these four operas so great? Not all agree about the greatness. Rossini commented that "Wagner has lovely moments but awful quarters of an hour," and Mark Twain opined: "I have been told that Wagner's music is better than it sounds."
First there is the storyline. Wagner broke the mold here by writing his own li-bretto (most operas are a combined effort between the composer and librettist).
From Norse sagas, German legends and poetry he created the story of a magic ring, made by an evil dwarf from gold stolen from the beautiful guardians of the Rhine, a ring that gave the owner power over the entire world.
He added the powerful Wotan, the king of the gods, his grandson, Siegfried, the powerful and determined valkyrie, Brunhilde (the valkyries are warrior maidens), a magical sword that is broken and then remade, and a series of passionate and angry encounters between the gods and mortals.
Some enthusiasts have tried compar-ing the Ring Cycle with The Lord of the Rings trilogy but author J.R.R. Tolkien always dismissed this (although his books included a ring that ruled the world and a magic sword). Tolkien famously said: "Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases."
