[no1maestro]

Just thought I'd take a second to post this note to give other viewers the opportunity to comment on this new and quite different production. I considered myself to be a traditionalist with my Rings but over the years I have come to appreciate at least something from each of them including Boulez, Mehta's newest and even this new Met offering.

I'm still in the middle of this new Met production and will have a better grasp of it by the end of the week. I'd love to hear your opinions. Thanks!

[coverto]

I saw the cycle in the spring and thought it was great. The set design based on the "Big Machine," or whatever they called it, does have its quirks - during the "Seigfried" performance I attended the projector temporarily malfunctioned and projected a giant Microsoft Windows logo onto the set - pretty embarrassing! And one could say the "Ride of the Valkyries" looked a little odd with all those sopranos straddling those bobbing wedges.

But overall, I think the Lepage production still came off fresh and had a lot of charm. I found it far preferable to a more traditionalist option. Not sure who's on now, but the singing was for the most part marvelous - Byrn Terfel's Wotan had all the fearsomeness and all the vulnerability. Katherine Voight's Brunnhilde delivered the pyrotechnics and fun. And Eric Owens plumbed the bitter depths like no other Alberich I've heard - a bit of a show stealer.

The big thing missing, of course, was James Levine, and Fabio Luisi was an efficient, if not far-reaching hand.

You're in for a treat. Or being halfway though, I guess you already know that.

[no1maestro]

Coverto,

Thanks for the reply. I wish I had had the chance to see it "live" as you did. I have found that I am just not tied to the traditionalist "tag" anymore.

My first exposure to the music of the Ring was as a child in my own home. I picked it for study in my teenage years under the tutorage of a wonderful eighth grade teacher. Since then it has been a study of a lifetime for me and I edited down the Solti version to five hours to instruct my own students. Over the years I tended to use each "new" version of the video productions and , as such, used all of the versions eventually.

I now watch and listen to each Ring for it's own peculiarities and for the music first!

[woodsyi]

The preview of the '13 Ring or the "review" of the '12 Ring video is fascinating.  I like the new techno-savvy props and set.  I have always wondered if anyone would be ambitious enough to do a full blown Hollywood production of the Ring in the tradition of Star Wars.  I think I see a glimpse of it in this production.  I wish I can see it live but I can't do the whole cycle from DC.  I don't see the '13 Ring cycle on the HD simulcast schedule.  I will just have to "settle" for the Blu-ray discs in my house.  It's in surround sound as well as stereo.  It will be interesting to hear it in surround.

P.S.  I just ordered it from Amazon Market Place as it's out of stock at Amazon.  But it's actually cheaper at the market place even with shipping.

[django11]

I watched a bit of this on PBS as Robert Lepage is another in a generation of Quebecois overachievers.  It is visually stunning although I must admit that to me the music is the aural equivalent of watching the lawn grow.