A new production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen is always a bit of an event and all the more so when it’s in the city where the work was composed.  Andreas Homoki’s production premiered and was recorded for video at Opernhaus Zürich in 2024.  I’ll be working my way through the whole cycle but here are my initial thoughts based on Das Rheingold.

It’s both surprisingly literal and not.  Homoki is pretty explicit about that.  He intends to show us all (or at least nearly all) the things Wagner describes though not necessarily as Wagner would have imagined.  So, Alberich literally turns into a dragon and a toad in Scene 3 but the setting for all four scenes is a 19th century mansion.  The rooms are massive and very white.  It’s a revolving set so the action progresses through different rooms allowing for slick prop changes in the room away from the audience.

It has a very 19th century vibe, especially in the costuming.  Only the Rhinemaidens buck the trend with white trouser suits.  Looking at photos in the booklet it looks like all white outfits are going to be used a lot.  But that aside, most of the characters are all suits and ties or dresses of appropriate cut.  Donner and Froh though get flannels and blazers complete with cricket bats.

I don’t know at this point if there’s really a concept.  What is clear from Homoki’s notes though is that it’s not an allegory about capitalism.  Maybe it’s more like how society goes astray the further it gets from Nature.  We shall see.

There are some really strong performances.  The trio of Alberich (Chris Purves), Wotan (Tomasz Konieczny) and Loge (Matthias Klink) are as good as any I’ve seen.  Maybe it’s partly that they don’t have to force the singing in the relatively small house but they are all lyrical singers and terrific actors.  Purves is much less of a caricature than some other Alberichs and he’s convincing frolicking in the Rhine and dealing with Wotan and Loge.  There’s something slightly unhinged about Konieczny’s Wotan; mad or manic I’m not sure.  One can see it in his eyes (he has two!).  Klink is brilliant.  He’s very, very funny but slightly sinister at the same time.

Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacker, as Mime, is pretty good and I look forward to seeing him again in Siegfried.  Claudia Mahnke is regal as Fricka which promises well for Die Walküre.  The giants (David Soar and Brent Michael Smith) are neither as big or as boomy as some but they work in this context.  There are no weak links in the other roles.

Gianandrea Noseda conducts with the Philharmonia Zürich in the pit.  It’s a very sprightly and virtuosic approach perhaps even sometimes at the expense of heft.  I’ve certainly heard much louder and more bombastic versions of the Transformation sections but I like this way of doing it.  There’s nowhere to hide either as the Transformation passages get no visual accompaniment.

Michael Beyer’s filming is straightforward and effective.  It’s well supported on Blu-ray by excellent picture and sound (DTS-HD-MA and PCM stereo).  The booklet contains a track listing, synopsis and a conversation with Homoki that covers the whole cycle.  Note this is only available as a four disk set of all four operas so the booklet covers them all.  Subtitle options are German, English, French, Spanish,Korean and Japanese.

It’s a good start.  I’m not really sure where the production is going but the performances augur extremely well.

For ease of access here are links to the related reviews and article:

Die Walküre
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung
Final thoughts on the Zürich Ring

Catalogue information: Accentus Music ACC60656 (4 Blu-ray disk boxed set)