Opera director Francesca Zambello brought a revelatory Ring Cycle production to SF Opera in 2011-complete with gold-panning 49ers and corporate CEO-types. How can you put a new spin on such an idolized classic, without seeming too desperate for that illusive (and often counterproductive) quality, “relevance”? But with its sweeping powers and gorgeous score, this archetypal work-with its mythic quests, clashes of Teutonic titans, flashes of chthonic magic, and vivid, often weird chromatic score-continues to fascinate, drawing thousand of jet-setting Ring-lovers to minutely compare each production.
With its Lord of the Rings-inspiring premise, instant recall of rampaging Rubenesque women in Viking helmets and/or murderous Iroquois helicopters, “ Kill the Wabbit” musical themes, and dark echoes of nationalism and anti-Semitism, it’s an indelible cultural touchstone.Ĭonsisting of four full-length operas, the Ring Cycle was first produced in the period from 1848 to 1874: Wagner wrote the libretto and the music in an act of volcanic auteurism, helping to bolster the contemporary myth of the heroic genius, among other fustier notions. And quite possibly no work comes with greater baggage than Richard Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle ( opening at SF Opera Tue/12 and continuing through July 1, accompanied by some lively programming). ALL EARS With great art comes great baggage.
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