The current “Der Ring des Nibelungen” at Staatsoper Berlin came into being in October 2022 directed by Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov and due to be conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Sadly, though, Maestro Barenboim, had to pull out of the production because of severe health issues, a great blow to all, but so disappointing for Barenboim in his 80th year.  

However, I was tremendously pleased to attend the première of Tcherniakov’s “Ring” and I’m pleased as punch to be back at Staatsoper’s inviting and beautiful Palladian-style theatre on Unter den Linden inhaling once more Tcherniakov’s outstanding and thought-provoking Ring cycle. 

This time round, though, the baton falls to Swiss-born conductor, Philippe Jordan. No stranger to the “Ring,” he worked as assistant to Jeffrey Tate on his cycle at the Châtelet and conducted the complete cycle in his home city of Zürich in 2008. (Interestingly, Jordan also acted as an assistant to Daniel Barenboim at Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1998 whom he described as “the greatest musician alive. I learned a lot from him probably most of the things I know today.”) 

And no stranger to Staatsoper Berlin either, Tcherniakov worked with Barenboim on “Tristan und Isolde: in 2018 and, a year later, on Prokofiev’s “Betrothal in a Monastery.” But this is his first “Ring” which follows hard on the heels of Deutsche Oper Berlin’s new cycle, first seen in 2022, too, directed by Norwegian director, Stefan Herheim. He’s another newcomer to Wagner’s epic tetralogy who, incidentally, was a disciple of Götz Friedrich, a formidable and well-respected director and, indeed, a “Ring” superstar! 

Rheingold

The action in Tcherniakov’s Ring takes place in the clinical and regimented confines of a research institute named ESCHE (Experimental Scientific Centre for Human Evolution), appropriately forming an acronym of the German word for “ash-tree” in which Wotan, of course, broke a holy bough to fashion his spear.   An eye for detail, too, Tcherniakov also conjured up a grand and magnificent set along with his chums offering more than a hint to DDR architecture featuring simplistic linear-designed contemporary furniture with wall coverings to match while one wooden-paneled room (the meeting room) displayed a total of six golden-sculpted busts of philosophers considered ancestors and role models of the ESCHE institute. Their names: Albertus Magnus, Pierre-Louis Maupertius, Charles Darwin, Alexander von Humboldt, Gregor Mendel and Gregory Bateson. And with the Humbolt University lying in the shadow of Staatsoper, the red-marbled wall covering employed in the meeting room equates to that used in the foyer of the university. 

From an engineering point of view, the set was cleverly designed swallowing up the length, breadth and depth of Staatsoper’s vast stage area either moving on a horizontal level highlighting the multiple-room conurbation of the research centre or vertically apropos Nibelheim and Valhalla while rotating in respect of such smaller scenes as Hunding’s house and so forth. 

The whole show, often featuring penetrating white neon-strip lighting designed by Gleb Filshtinsky, highlighted a typical lighting scenario found in laboratories, medical centres and so forth (nearly setting off for me, though, a migraine!) while adding a touch of colour to the overall stage picture fell to costume designer, Elena Zaytseva.  

For instance, Wotan looked quite dapper in a tight-fitting lemon-green suit with matching waistcoat wearing a bright-red tie; Brünnhilde’s bright-colored tops complemented well her dark leggings set against her sleek straight cut mid-length blonde hairstyle. Meanwhile, Siegfried’s pastel-colored long-sleeve jumpers set him above everyone else, fitting his moronic-type character so well and Erda’s found elegantly attired in a light two-piece pastel-colored blue suit. Then there’s the lab staff. Whiter than white! Get the picture? 

A strong and formidable cast was headed by Tomasz Konieczny in the pivotal role of Wotan. Harboring a warm and rich-sounding bass-baritone voice he’s boss of ESCHE and, to coin a Tom Wolfe phrase, he’s Master of the Universe firmly in control as befitting his godly status.   He thirsts for knowledge and power by garnering scientific data (his “gold” so to speak!) through an elaborate and detailed assortment of experiments surrounding the human condition (mind-boggling!) and its behavioral patterns which resurrected in my thinking the human medical experiments carried out on selected prisoners of the Third Reich. 

The mighty Rhine is miles away in this production and when one first come across those adorable Rhinemaidens (Woglinde: Evelin Novak; Wellgunde: Natalia Skrycha; Floßhilde: Ekaterina Chayka-Rubinstein) they’re reimagined by Tcherniakov as white-coated lab assistants working as part of the ESCHE research team in the stress lab.  

Nonetheless, they still get up to their old tricks in teasing Alberich – the role so admirably sung and, indeed, so well-acted by Johannes Martin Kränzle – who’s wired up all over the show with sensors to his head and strapped down to a medical-type reclining-padded chair receiving experimental treatment by a fluorescent liquid being injected into his brain, I should imagine highlighting the workings of the central nervous system and the powers thereof. Close by, a group of students observe the proceedings through a video link created by Alexey Poluboyarinov who, indeed, had a big say in the production overall. 

Under tremendous pressure and boiling over with frustration, Alberich blows his top, breaks loose from his “bondage” and in an avalanche of vandalism and riotous behavior (shades of Frank Castorf here) grabs as much data that he could possibly manage in his hurried and confused state and buzzes off leaving the lab staff in complete wonderment and utter despair in respect of the loss of their work. A brilliant scene it certainly set the overall tone and stamped the credentials, I feel, of Tcherniakov’s directing style. 

It was captivating stuff all the way especially the journey to Nibelheim which certainly put to the test the theatre’s relatively brand-new hydraulic-lifting gear. The whole set moved slowly and gently into place without a hitch. And a nice touch to the overall scene witnesses Wotan taking the “elevator” to Nibelheim in tow with his fiery sidekick, Loge, the role so well played by Rolando Villazón, fashionably dressed and adorned with “shades” and behaving in his usual cunning and devious way. And when the deuce eventually catches up with Alberich, he’s furiously cracking the whip of his team of neurotically-charged scientific researchers in his underground den while beating Mime into submission impatiently driving him to fashion the Tarnhelm in double-quick time. 

Here, Stephan Rügamer comes into his own delivering a brilliant performance as Alberich’s downtrodden scruffily-dressed brother – a type of person one would casually come across in the iconic London bookshop of Foyles in Charing Cross Road in the Sixties perusing the Occult section. And, of course, to trick Alberich out of his “stolen treasure,” Wotan goads the poisonous dwarf to morph into a dragon and then a toad by utilizing the magical properties of the Tarnhelm. 

But in Tcherniakov infinite wisdom there’s no dragon or toad whatsoever, just the idea of these so-called creatures swimming about in Alberich’s confused and mindless head. The scene, in fact, was not too dissimilar to that portrayed in Valentin Schwarz’ production now in its third year at Bayreuth. However, I think it fared better here. It ended calamitously, of course, with Alberich quietly removed to the research centre by a couple of white-coated male lab staff while cursing the ground he stood on and cursing his own stupidity.  

The cast of this production just grew and grew upon one with Wotan’s long-suffering but loyal wife, Fricka, gracefully portrayed by Claudia Manke, delivering a commanding and convincing performance that leaped out into the auditorium. For instance, her feisty tête-à-tête with her disloyal husband about his extra-marital affairs, suitably carried out in his well-furnished wooden-panelled office at ESCHE, proved a memorable scene all round. 

And Fricka’s ill-fated sister, Freia, sung energetically by Anett Fritsch, brought to the fore her angst and anxiety as being a pawn in the game over the ransom money demanded by the giants as payment for building Valhalla, an issue causing so much distrust and friction between Fricka and Wotan.

The duo playing the giants proved more than their worth – no pun intended! Fafner (Peter Rose) got the better of his greedy brother, Fasolt (Matthew Rose) – brothers in crime only! – by the help of a handgun.  

Another bullet to the head and another nod to Frank Castorf, too, while Anna Kissjudit delivered an impeccable and forthright performance as Erda. Of the more junior roles, South African-born tenor, Siyabonga Maqungo, was heard to extremely good effect as Froh, while Roman Trekel made a strong impression in the companion role of Donner.  

Providing an idyllic setting for the preparation of the Gods’ journey to Valhalla, the courtyard of ESCHE provided the departure lounge with the contingent of the heavenly-bound passengers seen happily sitting comfy on circular benches surrounding a mature flowering tree, a representation, maybe, of the World Ash Tree. Who knows? Tcherniakov? 

Anyhow, it was one of the very few hints of Nature to be seen in the whole of this production. They were lapping up and thoroughly enjoying the Donner & Froh magic show (for one night only!) conjuring up an odd assortment of close-up pyrotechnical wizardry and such other luminous distractions. 

Donner’s happy as Larry charging all over the show with his sledgehammer clearing thunderous storm clouds with each gallant knock paving the way, hopefully, for the Gods to enjoy a turbulence-free journey to Valhalla. On the other hand, Froh, his timid and well-mannered brother, is seen holding his special guests in the palm of his hand performing the multi-coloured handkerchief illusion which conveniently fuses together to form one long silk scarf thereby representing the rainbow bridge. Clever stuff, eh! Crafty Loge, though, lurks in the realm of the shadows, his secret world, lights up a fag deciding that the lofty height of Valhalla is not for him. 

Walküre

I lovingly remember Guy Cassiers’ Ring with Simon O’Neill and Anja Kampe brilliantly stamping their authority on the demanding roles of Siegmund and Sieglinde in “Die Walküre“ therefore I found it delightful to witness seeing Kampe returning to Staatsoper reprising the role of Brünnhilde. For sure, a seasoned and spirited performer, she sang and acted with such consummate ease and in complete understanding of this most challenging of Wagnerian roles that was simply joyful to witness. 

And a relatively newcomer on the Wagnerian stage for me, Lithuanian soprano, Vida Miknevičiūtė (who, like Kampe, sang in the cycle’s première in 2022) proved a real treat. A spirited, athletic and incredible performer, she delivered a brilliant reading of Sieglinde working in tandem with American tenor, Robert Watson, as Siegmund, her long-lost twin brother. The beast of their respective lives, Hunding, fell to Dresden-born bass, René Pape, a master of suspense and a master of this role who, incidentally, made his Staatsoper Berlin début way back in 1988. 

A strange quirk to this production, though, and there were many surrounds the killing of Siegmund. He was simply struck down by a group of foresters coming home from the hunt presumably headed by Hunding with Wotan casually looking on. Another case of the libretto telling one story and Tcherniakov telling another. But that’s his style and from my standpoint it fits okay with me. 

The representation of the Fallen Heroes bound for Valhalla fared differently, too, highlighted and clearly depicted just by their mugshots and personal data created in a passport-type format flashed regularly on a wide-angled video screen housed in ESCHE’s lecture theatre which also provided the setting for the scene featuring the famous Ride of the Valkyies with the Beloved Sisters attending a lecture on warfare. Interesting! And Hoyotoho, too! 

And as for Brünnhilde’s punishment over her disobedient behavior towards Wotan in respect of the feud between Siegmund and Hunding, her banishment was rather a low-key affair employing no ceremonial procedure or burning rock as is the norm. But inventive, independent as ever, the Warrior Maiden creates a circle of wooden chairs nabbed from ESCHE’s lecture theatre, daubs the backs of them with a red marker – and that’s the nearest you get to a flame!  

Continuing this charade, she then re-enacts a dance-like ‘fire’ sequence within the circle stretching her arms and fingertips to the limit imitating flickering flames. When they subside, Wotan gently leads her from the circle to stand alone on a black-draped bare stage pondering her misfortune before he finally dispatches her to the research centre’s sleep lab where she’s kept under constant surveillance (a nod to DDR interference here) in a glass-covered room.  

Covered by a sheet of silver foil (representing her breastplate) she forms part of ESCHE’s overall experiment focusing on the workings of one’s inner self and, in all probability, the subconscious mind, free, of course, from the stresses and strains of daily life during sleep. By her side is a small plastic toy that is none other than her loyal steed, Grane. The waiting game begins. 

Siegried

And it begins in “Siegfried,” the third instalment of the Ring, which sees conniving and cunning old Mime working at full stretch to keep Siegfried on side. We first meet this “heroic” character of the Ring, the role so triumphantly and handsomely sung by Austrian heldentenor, Andreas Schager, bored stiff hearing Mime whining on and on about the ‘motherly’ role he undertook in bringing him up. As befitting his naïveté, Siegfried acts in a juvenile and boorish way sportily turned out as an over-enthusiastic backpacker wearing a light-blue tracksuit. 

By now, Wotan and Alberich are seen as bad-tempered, crotchety old duffers. Wotan’s propped up by a walking-stick, Alberich’s struggling on a Zimmer and Mime’s not doing so well, either – the trappings of old age! However, with youth on his side, Siegfried’s on a high and gets straight down to business forging and shaping Nothung on Mime’s makeshift ‘smithy’ – in this case his writing-desk. He’s also found prancing about the place smashing to smithereens such old childhood dream toys as his Lego collection (a scientific conception, mind you!) and practically everything else he could lay his hands on.  

Donner would, no doubt, have been jealous! Maybe members of The Who, too, as the scene’s reminiscent of a show ending by this progressive rock band renowned for smashing and destroying their instruments at the conclusion of a gig. 

However, searching for his “bride-to-be” at the sleep lab (an excellent setting, I thought, for Brünnhilde’s lying-in-state) Siegfried incurs many interruptions and slimy characters along the way. For instance, one being Fafner, who seems to have lost his marbles after greedily stuffing his mind too full of knowledge that made him incapable of enjoying the ‘gift’ of his ill-gotten gains. 

He’s found bound and straitjacketed but soon finds his dead-end with bumptious old Mime next on Siegfried’s list. His saving grace, Der Waldvogel, is represented by a small plastic hand toy operated by lab assistant, Victoria Randem, who sang so enchantingly utilising featherlight movement to imitate a bird in flight thereby guiding the fearless young Siegfried to the Warrior Maiden on the burning rock. 

But there was no burning rock – just the idea of it. Wagner is quoted as saying that “imagination creates reality” therefore in this production that statement rings true. There was room for one’s imagination to run wild. However, the last scene of Siegfried proved a winner all the way with Anja Kampe and Andreas Schager coming together as one delivering a superb, glorious and heart-wrenching ending.  

“Wonder Girl” performed brilliantly Brünnhilde’s ‘Big Sleep” number delivering a dramatic and soulful reading of “Heil dir, Sonne! Heil dir, Licht!,” while “Wonder Boy” rather bemused by the goings-on around him casually stands beside her with hands stuffed in his tracksuit pockets looking rather perplexed and amused. 

Then the famed couple, solemnly declaring their eternal love for each other, put all the vocal energy that exists between them into a majestic rendering of that great and telling number ‘Leuchtende Liebe, Lachender Tod’ (Radiant Love, Laughing Death) to a thunderous reception from a packed and appreciative house of seasoned and knowledgeable Wagnerians. 

Götterdämmerung

When one arrives at “Götterdämmerung the Norms (Marina Prudenskaya, Kristina Stanek, Anna Samuil) are by now crotchety old women hobbling about fudging in their handbags dressed in the comfy style of old grannies bent over and crippled with arthritis and, like Wotan, aided by walking-sticks.  

There’s no evidence of them weaving the Rope of Destiny recalling the halcyon days of Wotan’s reign and predicting the fall of Valhalla. But as they enjoy afternoon tea in Siegfried and Brünnhilde’s well-furnished, custom-designed apartment, where the famed couple are enjoying a brief life of domestic bliss, a crash of their decorative bone china teacups indicates the breaking of the rope thus culminating in the end of their wisdom and foretelling the end of the Gods. 

Therefore, if in “Das Rheingold” Wotan thirsts for knowledge and power by garnering scientific data in the pursuit of his “golden” dream in “Götterdämmerung,” Tcherniakov takes the drama to a higher level by introducing a ring of gold (or the idea of a ring?) the physical object of Hagen’s desire in stark contrast to Brünnhilde who relishes it as a true symbol of fidelity. 

That great emotional scene featuring Waltraute explaining and pleading with Brünnhilde to return the ring to the Rhinemaidens to end Alberich’s evil curse was well-executed. Stubborn and proud as ever, Brünnhilde did not budge from her stance as for her the ring’s not about power and domination but about humankind, a token of love, devotion and faith from her all-conquering hero, Siegfried.  It’s a scene I greatly favour and admire in the whole of the Ring cycle and Lithuanian mezzo-soprano, Violeta Urmana, delivered a powerful and terrific performance with no holds barred which fractured my emotional shield and innermost self. In a bizarre sort of way, I dreamily (and briefly) found myself part of the show holed up in the stress lab as a pawn in one of ESCHE’S experiments of the mind. The power of a good performance! 

And always waiting his chance and thirsting for power, the beastly role of Hagen, menacingly and strongly sung by Stephen Milling, now finds himself “poacher-turned-gamekeeper” and boss of ESCHE. He soon gets down to work stamping his authority on the institute. He changes its pace, changes its ways of working and changes the whole damn shooting match to suit his quirky needs.  For instance, he introduces a gymnasium to keep the staff fit, well and proper for duty with Siegfried and Gunther kitted out as members of the centre’s basketball team while Gunther’s sister, Gutrune, portrayed by Mandy Fredrich in a carefree way and whirlwind manner, comes across as a ‘glam’ movie star being manipulated and charmed in every conceivable way by Hagen while her weak-minded dithering-looking brother feels the heat of Hagen’s aggressiveness. 

The brutal and cynical killing of Siegfried, in fact, takes place in the gymnasium with Hagen utilising the coloured-spiked team flag as his chosen weapon, thirsting more than ever to get his hands on the ring at any cost.  

Reverently, the Ring’s eponymous hero is laid out in the stress lab (a perfect resting-place!) providing one of the greatest scenes of this production inasmuch as during the playing of Siegfried’s Rhine Journey, a large core of mourners from ESCHE slowly come together to keep a vigil. A deeply thoughtful moment, the scene resembles a Living Picture such as those painted by Dutch Old Masters of the Golden Age. 

Tcherniakov’s ending followed the overall pattern of the rationale of his production as he axed the grand and opulent flaming procession usually associated with Siegfried’s Rhine Journey. It’s left to the orchestra who, with Jordan driving them on, paint their own picture of this most moving and delicate scene. 

Denouncing the Gods for their guilt in Siegfried’s death, Brünnhilde quietly and reverently removes the ring (her legal inheritance) from her husband’s hand tossing it into thin air. Where was the Rhine? Seemingly remorseful and full of guilt, Hagen quietly leaves the research centre to live another day, Maybe, in the hope of redeeming himself for his wrongdoing. And the idea of ‘redemption’ lies at the heart of Wagner’s philosophy. 

Brünnhilde follows him from the research centre. The earth goddess, Erda, waves her goodbye by utilizing the wings of a toy bird. But for Brünnhilde it’s goodbye to all that recalling from my perspective Robert Graves’ 1929 autobiography, Good-Bye to All That, pointing to the passing of the Old Order and a new beginning following the cataclysm of the First World War. As such, the end of the Gods and Valhalla similarly heralded in a New Dawn, too. 

The German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, who had an ambivalent relationship with Richard Wagner, said: “Life is worth living, says art, the beautiful temptress. Life is worth knowing, says science.” I think that this philosophical statement helps to sum up Dmitri Tcherniakov’s production.  

Interestingly, too, Tcherniakov projects on screen at the very end of “Götterdämmerung” Wagner’s Schopenhauer-influenced version of the Immolation Scene which, in fact, he never used. It describes the fleeing of Brünnhilde from the visionary world of delusion and witnessing the end of the world. The text passage comes from the so-called ‘Schopenhauer Schluss’ of the textbook of Götterdämmerung entitled ‘Siegfried’s Death’. It was published in Wagner’s “Gesammelte Schriften und Dichtungen” (Collected Writings and Poetry) in 1872. The quoted version dates from 1856. 

I was impressed by Philippe Jordan’s work in the pit right from the start of the cycle to the very end. He kept a strict tempo that fulfilled all the nuances of Wagner’s wonderful and inspiring score that was simply delightful to hear in the opulent surroundings of Staatsoper’s Neo-classical designed house situated on one of Berlin’s greatest thoroughfares, Unter Den Linden. 

For instance, that mesmerizing 136-bar prelude in E flat major to “Das Rheingold” saw Jordan keep a tight rein on the tempo thus overseeing a serene, comfortable, warm opening so delicately and evenly portrayed by Staatskapelle Berlin. And in the big production numbers, too, such as The Ride of the Valkyries, Siegfried’s Rhine Journey and Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene, the players responded well to his direction. His interpretation and phrasing of Wagner’s wonderful and intriguing score was paramount in every respect. Exceptional, in fact. Bravo!