[From www.sfcv.org]

Yes, the "Ring," the cycle that big opera companies in San Francisco,
Los Angeles, and elsewhere wish to produce, but cannot afford.  But
leave it to tiny Berkeley Opera, which presents an offbeat, adventurous
repertoire on an annual budget of just over $100,000, to tackle the
"Ring." Well, some of it, at least.

SF Classical Voice has learned that Berkeley Opera will open its 2004
season in March with four performances of David Seaman's four-hour,
one-night performance of "The Ring." This is a snappy title for a radically
abbreviated version of Wagner's "The Ring of the Nibelungen" which, of
course, takes four evenings and up to 16 hours.  The rate of compression
is not all that impressive in comparison with Anna Russell's 15-minute
version, or the Reduced Shakespeare Company's "The Complete works of
William Shakespeare (abridged)," which reduces/abridges the Bard's entire
galaxy to 80 minutes.

Seaman's production, directed by Peter B.  Wyrsch, is different from
the hilarious "RSC" Shakespeare and the Anna Russell sendups in its
serious intent.  In Europe, it was performed by singers from Welsh
National Opera, Covent Garden London, and Royal Scottish Opera; Mary
Lloyd-Davies sang Brunhilde.  Seaman conducted an ensemble of eight
singers and 12 musicians, presenting a digest of the story, a careful
compilation of the music.  There have been favorable reviews in German
newspapers, including "Die Welt," which complimented the "high-class
chamber music-quality...an emotional, sharpened sound...an intelligent
artistic performance."

Seaman said of his project: "The first thing that Wagner completed was
the libretto for `Gotterdammerung,' which covers everything from the
rise of Wotan to his downfall, thus indicating that Wagner's first
intention was to convey the whole saga in one opera.  Maybe if he had
had the concise musical mind of a Webern he could have achieved it..."

According to reports, the production has a great many Teutonic
Regietheater touches, including the "Kolnische Rundschau" description:
"The Waldvogelein tweets about as a freaky bird, in a canary-yellow
jacket, bowler on her head as she shows an androgenous Siegfried the
road to love...  Mime forges little tones on the triangle...  The
foster-father presents his child the wonder weapon Nothung in a violin
case... A plastic bag as Tarnkappe(magic hood), a wiggling balloon snake
as monster..." Did I say "Teutonic"?  The Germans (who call the measles
a disease from France) say that this "Ring" is "very British."

The London-born Seaman is co-founder and music director of the 29-year-old
Pocket Opera Company (which is not affiliated with Donald Pippin's
26-year-old Pocket Opera in San Francisco), active with opera companies
in Dusseldorf, Coburg, and Nuremberg; he is now on the staff of the Welsh
National Opera, Cardiff.

Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
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