Der Ring In Minden
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Der Ring in Minden'' was a project to stage Richard Wagner's cycle ''
Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the . The compo ...
'' at the
Stadttheater Minden Stadttheater Minden is a municipal theatre in Minden, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The theatre has no ensemble, but stages some productions of its own. It became known for a Richard Wagner, Wagner project culminating in ''Der Ring in Minden''. ...
, beginning in 2015 with ''
Das Rheingold ''Das Rheingold'' (; ''The Rhinegold''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86A, is the first of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nib ...
'', followed by the other parts in the succeeding years, and culminating with the complete cycle performed twice in 2019. The stage director was
Gerd Heinz Gerd Heinz (born 21 September 1940) is a German stage, film and television actor and a stage director. He was also active as an academic teacher and theatre manager (Intendant). From 1989, he turned more towards opera. He staged a drama by Thomas ...
, and
Frank Beermann Frank Beermann (born 13 March 1965) is a German conductor. He was Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) at the Chemnitz Opera for several years, and has worked freelance at international opera houses from 2012. He has conducted premieres and recordings of ra ...
conducted the
Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie The Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie (North West German Philharmonic) is a German symphony orchestra based in Herford. Founded in 1950, the orchestra is one of the ''Landesorchester'' of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, along with the ''Philhar ...
, playing on the stage of the small theatre. The singers acted in front of the orchestra, making an intimate approach to the dramatic situations possible. The project received international recognition and was compared favourably to the
Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival () is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special ...
.


History

In 1999, a project to show stage works by
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
was begun by the Richard-Wagner-Verband in Minden, the
Stadttheater Minden Stadttheater Minden is a municipal theatre in Minden, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The theatre has no ensemble, but stages some productions of its own. It became known for a Richard Wagner, Wagner project culminating in ''Der Ring in Minden''. ...
and the
Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie The Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie (North West German Philharmonic) is a German symphony orchestra based in Herford. Founded in 1950, the orchestra is one of the ''Landesorchester'' of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, along with the ''Philhar ...
.Udo Stephan Köhne: Jubiläumsmagazin des Stadttheater Minden 2008/2009
Jutta Hering-Winckler Jutta Hanna Edith Hering-Winckler (born 21 November 1948) is a German lawyer and patron of music. Since 1977, she has been head of a law firm in Minden as a lawyer and notary. Since 1999, she has been president of the Richard Wagner Society in ...
, the president of the Richard-Wagner-Verband, was the driving force of the Wagner project, and particularly the ''Ring'' in Minden. The first work presented was ''
Der fliegende Holländer ' (''The Flying Dutchman''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 63, is a German-language opera, with libretto and music by Richard Wagner. The central theme is redemption through love. Wagner Conducting, conducted the premiere at the Königliches Hofthe ...
'' in 2002, followed by ''
Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; ), often stylized "The Tannhäuser", was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1265. His name ...
'' in 2005, staged by
Keith Warner Keith Reginald Warner (born 6 December 1956) is a British opera director, designer and translator. Early years Warner was born in Finchley, North London and then studied English and drama at the University of Bristol from 1975-78. He subsequent ...
and conducted by
Frank Beermann Frank Beermann (born 13 March 1965) is a German conductor. He was Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) at the Chemnitz Opera for several years, and has worked freelance at international opera houses from 2012. He has conducted premieres and recordings of ra ...
. After ''
Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wo ...
'' in 2009 and ''
Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...
'' in 2012, the ''Ring'' project, aiming to present the complete ''
Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the . The compo ...
'', opened in 2015 with ''
Das Rheingold ''Das Rheingold'' (; ''The Rhinegold''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86A, is the first of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nib ...
''. It was followed a year later by ''
Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86B, is the second of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was ...
'', in 2017 by ''
Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...
'', and in 2018 by ''
Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86D, is the last of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). I ...
''. In 2019, the complete cycle was presented twice. In 2019, the ''Rheingold'' production was presented in a
concert version A concert performance or concert version is a performance of a musical theater or opera in concert form, typically without set design or costumes, and mostly without theatrical interaction between singers. Concert performances are commonly pres ...
as the opening of the
Kissinger Sommer The Kissinger Sommer is a classical music festival held every year in the summer in the city of Bad Kissingen in Bavaria, Southern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986. At the beginning the focus of the festival was on the improvem ...
festival supported by the state of
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
.


Stage and team

As the pit of the theatre is too small for a Wagner opera, the orchestra was positioned at the back of the stage, separated by a gauze curtain from the singers acting in front. Depending on the lighting, the orchestra and the conductor could be visible or hidden. The singers acted close to the audience as in a play, many of them playing several roles. Throughout the Wagner project, Frank Beermann conducted the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, a symphony orchestra which normally plays no operas. The stage and costumes were designed by Frank Philipp Schlößmann, who was the stage director for
Tankred Dorst Tankred Dorst (19 December 1925 – 1 June 2017) was a German playwright and storyteller. Dorst lived and worked in Munich. His farces, parables, one-act-plays and adaptations were inspired by the theatre of the absurd and the works of Ionesco ...
's presentation of the Ring Cycle at the
Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival () is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special ...
from 2006 to 2010. In Minden, he had designed the set for ''
Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...
''. Schlößmann designed a large ring, illuminated in different colours, as a portal to the stage, with a smaller ring appearing at times in the background. A spiral staircase on the left made the balcony accessible from the stage, and sparsely used elements such as stylized tree trunks suggested scenery. The director of the ''Ring'' was
Gerd Heinz Gerd Heinz (born 21 September 1940) is a German stage, film and television actor and a stage director. He was also active as an academic teacher and theatre manager (Intendant). From 1989, he turned more towards opera. He staged a drama by Thomas ...
, who focused on the psychological relations between the characters. He had the funeral march for Siegfried played without a background, as a symphonic poem on violence. In his version of the final music, all performers return to the stage, turning their back to the audience and listening to the music, which has the last word ("das letzte Wort"), leaving questions of resignation, end of the world or hope for renewal open.


Reception

The performances were attended and reviewed internationally, including by the Austrian ''Online Merker''. Reviews by Eleonore Büning in the ''
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...
'' (FAZ) compared the productions favourably with those of the Bayreuth Festival and noted that singers made their way to Bayreuth from Minden. Reviews also appeared in the '' Neue Musikzeitung'' (NMZ) and the ''Online Musik Magazin'' (OMM), among others. The project was described as meeting Wagner's thought of the "birth of drama from the spirit of music" ("Geburt des Dramas aus dem Geist der Musik"), by singers who cultivate a "German
belcanto , )—with several similar constructions (, , , pronounced in English as )—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing, and whose definitions have often been misunderstood. ''Bel canto'' was not only seen as a vocal technique ...
" with clear diction. The project has been summarized as "Das Wunder Minden" (Minden Miracle).


Parts, roles and performers

The following table shows the four parts of the tetralogy ''Der Ring'' and some singers of leading roles. Most were the same in the first performance and in the complete ''Ring'' in 2019, but changes are shown in a second column, as listed on the project's website and in the summary reviews in the ''FAZ'' and the ''Merker''.


References


External links

*
Stadttheater Minden
deropernfreund.de {{italic title 2019 in music Der Ring des Nibelungen Stage productions of plays