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Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen -- Metropolitan/Levine [DVD] [2002] [NTSC] |
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Staring:
Hildegard Behrens, Siegfried Jerusalem, Matti Salminen, Christa Ludwig, Anthony Raffell
Director:
Brian Large
Average Customer Rating: 
List Price: £70.99
Our Price: £45.38
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Amazon.co.uk Review
The James Levine cycle of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen is humane and emotionally powerful rather than monumental or spiritual; Levine is more interested in finding our sympathy for the characters than inspiring pity or terror. These are very traditional productions in which you see a rock where you need to see a rock, a dragon where the libretto says a dragon (the Metropolitan Opera has never been a place for experiment). What Levine and the Met can and do offer is excellent orchestral playing and some of the best singers in these roles in the world. Siegfried Jerusalem is boyish and naive and touching as Siegfried, and he is also surprisingly good as the detached mischievous Loge of Das Rheingold. James Morris is uniformly impressive as Wotan and makes the character evolve from the young ruthless god of the first opera to the tired old god of Siegfried, who seeks nothing more than his own necessary defeat and death. As Brunnhilde, Hildegard Behrens makes a convincing shift from goddess to woman, from callousness to tenderness and on to vindictiveness and self-sacrificing wisdom. Overall, this is an attractive Ring cycle, well-cast and beautifully played; others have greater strengths in some areas, but Levine is reliable across the board. On the DVD: Der Ring des Nibelungen has all four operas, which are also available individually, contained in a single box. All the DVDs come with a photo gallery of the Metropolitan Opera productions and with menus and subtitles in German, French, English, Spanish and Chinese. It's a little disappointing, though, that they are presented in American NTSC format, not European PAL, and the picture ratio is standard TV 4:3. On the plus side, they all have an excellent clear acoustic in the three audio options: PCM stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. --Roz Kaveney
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I am not sure how good this is, 2008-05-26
This is the Ring how Wagner imagined it would/should be. Every stage shot and directorial decision follows what 'The Master' had in mind and wrote down. The director is Otto Schenk and 2009 marks the last time this landmark Ring Cycle will be shown at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Hopefully, it will be filmed in glorious HD!
Nonetheless, having this on 'ordinary' DVD still preserves what is a most enjoyable and watchable version. There are recordings of this out there that are simply unwatchable (Naxos/Lothar Zagrosek) and others that will challenge your mind (DG/Boulez) and are highly recommendable, but for wanting to know what Wagner had in his mind, this is the one.
Having said that, some of it looks very silly. The transformation of Alberich in to a snake and a frog in Das Rheingold is handled very poorly whereas the procession of the Gods in to Valhalla at the end of the Preliminary evening is thrilling, partly because of Levine's determined tempi choices. Some say he is ponderous. I think he is fine.
The singing is superb on every level. James Morrison has made Wotan/Wanderer at the Met his own over the past two decades (much like John Tomlinson has at the Royal Opera House in London) and the performance he gives in these is captivating. The rest of the cast also live up to his high standards.
As an introduction to the cycle, this set is to be recommended. Sometimes it does get silly (maybe some of Wagner's requests are still beyond modern theatre productions in terms of technicality) I would also highly recommend the Boulez one from Bayreuth on DG, which presents an alternative view, and one that is also highly watchable.
MIxed bag, 2010-07-29
Being a serious stage Wagner opera fan I agree with much of the praise for the music and singing on this disc. However I was disappointed with the NTSC format resulting in a less than perfect visual experience. In fact everyone of the seven discs jumped or snatched throughout the whole opera. Unknowing about these technical matters, is this normal for a region 0 disc or are the technicians trying to put 941 mins of music and film onto too few discs? Or is the NTSC format just not for us? I would appreciate some informed comment.
 "Traditional" in the worst sense, 2009-08-02
This is the kind of stuff that will make people say that Wagner is tedious and pompous.
Levine's conducting is inspired and multicoloured but the staging is really boring. I know, many will say, this is how Wagner intended it. Personally, I prefer something more stimulating.
As for the singing, is generally good (I love James Morris!) but, alas, to me Behrens is the worst Brünnhilde on record and whoever claims the 'she is wonderful'' clearly does not mind her unbearable wobble, especially in Siegfried and Götterdämmerung.
With all my heart, avoid this 50yo wreck!
 mind-blowing!, 2009-03-14
History has been blessed with two great Ring cycles laid down for posterity, the audio recording of Solti and the Vienna Philharmonic and this audio-visual experience of Levine and the Met on 7 DVDs.
I've read some pretty churlish comments about the Levine readings, but being the Maestro he is, his performances just shrug them off like water off a duck's back. From the Rheinmaidens frolicking around at the beginning of Das Rheingold to the immolation of Valhalla in act III of Gotterdammerung, this is a Ring aimed directly at realising what Wagner himself imagined but was impossible in his day. And I feel it's appropriate that this should be conducted by Maestro Levine, arguably one of the great Wagnerians still active - though I wouldn't inflate his ego to the extent of suggesting he could quite fill Solti's shoes. James Morris is, likewise, one of the outstanding Wotan/Wanderers currently available to producers and conductors and his scenes opposite Behrens' Brunnhilde are utterly magnificent, almost the equivalent of Hans Hotter and Birgit Nilsson for Solti.
Some reviewers have also complained about the NTSC encoding of this set, but for me that is (dare I say it?) a necessary evil for a set performed in North America (last time I looked, New York was still part of that continent!) But faith, my friends! Connect your DVD player's video output to a 42 inch plasma TV and its audio outputs to a quality hi-fi surround sound amplifier with decent speakers and prepare to have your mind blown away! Or better still, borrow one of your grandmother's knitting needles, stand in front of that set-up and pretend you're Levine, the sense of power is awesome!
Safe, sound - but inspired, 2009-07-11
This is the recording for anyone appalled by the current fashion for productions of opera that assume the librettist is incompetent. It's Wagner both for Wagnerians and for conservatives (and conservationists) who want the Ring performed as Wagner himself might have appreciated it. Not only, are the settings impressive, but the performances are very high grade, especially those of Jessie Norman as Sieglinde and James Morris as Wotan. Hildegarde Behrens, after a problematic beginning, becomes a commanding Brunnhilde, while Siegfried Jerusalem's double act as Loge and Siegfried is very satisfying and Ekkehard Wlaschiha is as good an Alberich as you'll ever see. Levine's tempo occasionally becomes alarmingly slow, but his overall performance is rivettingly good, with the backing of a virtuoso orchestra.
If you've never seen a complete Ring - or if you know only modern conceptualist productions - this is the one to buy.
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Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Exempt
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0044007304396
Format: Box set, Classical, Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
Number Of Discs: 7
Number Of Items: 7
Publisher: Deutsche Grammophon
Release Date: 2002-10-14
Running Time: 941
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
Theatrical Release Date: 1990 |
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