1	Kupfer’s Wagner Productions This follows from “STAGING WAGNER” an earlier talk for The Wagner Society in Queensland by Graham Bruce
2	Wagner & myth: Many of Wagner’s operas are based on myth and should be seen as allegories. “myths tell of primordial events and these become a model of all fundamental human activities in the form of an archetypal event that is constantly repeated.” (Borchmeyer 2003: 214) Wagner’s essay “The Wibelungs: World History from Legend” suggests that this is Wagner’s view. c.f. Cosima visiting the London docks in 1877: “This is Alberich’s dream come true, Nibelheim, world dominion, work, everywhere the oppressive feeling of steam and fog.”
3	Myth: production implications: The function of the staging 1.Setting & costumes (a)Retain the (literal)mythical setting & allow the audience to make the allegorical leap (b)Make the allegory clear via – - specific historical setting OR - “timeless” setting Early Bayreuth tradition: (a) helmets, armour, caves, mountains, horses, etc Post-W.W.2 Bayreuth: (b) Wieland Wagner’s timeless, stylised settings Chereau Ring, 1976: (b) set in C19 industrial era
4	Early Bayreuth
5	Early Bayreuth
6	Early Bayreuth
7	Wieland W: Die Walküre
8	Wieland W: Die Walküre
9	Chéreau: Das Rheingold
10	Chereau: Siegfried Act 1
11	The Function of the Staging 2. Performance (a)Enhance the mythical or“timeless”setting via stylisation of movement and character interaction -Bayreuth pre-W.W.2 era -Wieland Wagner era (b)Humanize the narrative via naturalistic action and intense interaction between characters: -Chereau Ring - the stagings by Harry Kupfer
12	HARRY KUPFER Did not work directly with Felsenstein but greatly influenced by F’s Berlin productions. 1981: chief director at Komische Oper Productions: 1978: Der Fliegender Holländer (Bayreuth) 1981: Meistersinger (Komische O.) 1986: Zauberflöte ( “ ) almost prevented by the DDR cultural bureau -scheduled to direct Ring at Vienna State Opera but cancelled because concept too provocative 2002: Turn of the Screw (Komische O. farewell)
13	Kupfer’s later Wagner stagings 1988: Ring at Bayreuth In Berlin, at Staatsoper: 1992 (?): Parsifal 1993-6 Ring 1996: Lohengrin 1998: Meistersinger 1999: Tannhäuser 2000: Tristan 2001: Der Fliegender Holländer
14	Kupfer & the Staging of Myth The 1988 Bayreuth Ring: 1. SETTING (designer: Hans Schavernoch) Seems to strive for both a “timeless’’ and a contemporary historical setting: _ - a vast “road of History” set - a location which has been devastated by a world-wide catastrophe - a high tech world of lasers, television, and communication devices
15	Kupfer: Die Walküre, 1988
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18	Kupfer: Siegfried ‘88
19	Kupfer: Siegfried ‘88
20	Kupfer: Das Rheingold, ‘88
21	Kupfer: Götterdämmerung, ‘88
22	Kupfer: Götterdämmerung, ‘88
23	Kupfer: Götterdämmering, ‘88
24	Kupfer on setting the Ring “The subject matter of the Ring….addresses itself to such fundamental issues as the survival of life on this planet. After all, this grand saga is an allegory, which means it is perfectly possible to bridge the gap between the world in which it originated and every other age” “the idea was that[the setting]should make sense forwards and backwards – a future age which takes its bearings from ours , but also incorporates a retrospective view, so that in the end a kind of timelessness emerges.”
25	Felsenstein & “singing actors” “Singing human beings”: the heart of music theatre is to turn music-making and singing on the stage into a communication that is convincing, truthful, and utterly essential. Music theatre exists when a musical action with singing human beings becomes a theatrical reality that is unreservedly believable.” Felsenstein, 1963. Learning a role: “the longer a singer does this without a precise dramatic conception,the more the vocal preparation of a role, through force of habit, will turn into a vocal exercise; singing and acting become two separated functions which hinder each other.”
26	The 1988 Kupfer Ring: 2. Performance Performance style a continuation of the Felsenstein tradition of “Realist Music Theatre” Clear portrayal of the human relationships among gods, giants and dwarfs K’s detailed work with singers brings out the human frailties of these mythical beings It makes the “allegorical leap” for us out of the mythical world into the contemporary.
27	Implications for Musical Direction Wieland Wagner’s stylised 1960’s Rings were mainly conducted by Karl Böhm. Böhm took a straighforward, long-spanned approach, avoiding the highlighting of detail. This seconded the stylised, “timeless”approach of Wieland. Kupfer’s conductor, Barenboim, reflected the detailed, psychological interaction of the singers favoured by Kupfer. The dramatic highs and lows were seconded by great flexibility in speeds; by pauses and numerous crescendi and diminuendi.
28	Kupfer:Ring cycle, Berlin, 2002 “Kupfer (Bayreuth) operated on a horizontal axis; Kupfer Berlin on a vertical axis centred around the World Ash, branching throughout the tetralogy, serving as the anchor of the world. The setting is semi-abstract and the World Ash serves as a metaphor for the destruction of the human world, specifically man’s destruction of nature, becoming increasingly withered until it ultimately dies. Wotan fashions his spear from the ash and from then on the world becomes increasingly technological.” Mostly Opera blog
29	Kupfer: Berlin Das Rheingold
30	Kupfer: Berlin Das Rheingold
31	Kupfer: Berlin Die Walküre
32	Kupfer: Berlin Die Walküre
33	Kupfer: Berlin Götterdämmerung
34	Kupfer: Berlin Götterdämmerung
35	The Continuance of the “Realist Music Tradition” Holten’s Copenhagen Ring Excerpt: Erda/Wotan scene in Siegfried Act 3 Keith Warner’s London Ring, 2007 Herheim’s Bayreuth Parsifal, 2008
36	Challenging the “Realist Music Theatre”Tradition Such productions challenge the sanctity of libretto and music as the major source of staging concepts; “non-narrative” approaches: - Ruth Berghaus: Frankfurt productions of Parsifal (1982), Ring (1985-87) - Katharina Wagner: Bayreuth production of Die Meistersinger in 2007.