Visually stunning
(THE TIMES)
Often seems just crass ... clumsy
(THE GUARDIAN)
Puzzling mixture of literalness and bleak, ineffective abstraction
(NEW YORKER)
The Bayreuth Festival production of Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelungen, staged by Sir Peter Hall with designs by William Dudley and conducted by Sir Georg Solti , was one of the most eagerly-awaited events in this year's operatic calendar. This new production, to mark the 100th anniversary of Wagner's death, was to be a ' romantic ' staging which remained faithful to Wagner's text.
Paul Vaughan talked to some of those involved in this production, plagued by technical problems and cast changes which perplexed the critics and the Bayreuth audience.
Producer BRIAN BARFIELD (A revised Kaleidoscope repeat)
(The Ring is on Radio 3 tomorrow at 3.0 pm)