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Euroarts presents the hugely successful Ring cycle from the Staatsoper Stuttgart in a box set. The prologue Rheingold and all three subsequent nights (Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung) of the “stage festival”, as Wagner put it, will be cherished by Wagner enthusiasts and lovers of great theatre all over the world. “Four operas – four stage directors” was the artistic idea behind the 1999/2000 cycle in Stuttgart. Their focus on the individual operas of “Der Ring des Nibelungen” rather than the cycle enabled the stage directors – handpicked by the successful Stuttgart Opera team surrounding Artistic Director Klaus Zehelein – to express their individual insights into the well-known drama of Siegfried and Wotan. Audiences, Wagnerians, and music critics alike were all enthusiastic about the result. As the Financial Times said: “At a time when most are struggling to find something new to say about Wagner, Zehelein shattered convention by allocating the four operas to four different production teams. The results are astonishing as much for the unexpected harmony of the different approaches as for the strength of their diverse insights. Thus deconstructed, Wagner is less totalitarian, more dramatic. The Ring finally looks politically and psychologically modern again.” Directors Joachim Schlömer, Christoph Nel, Jossi Wieler and Peter Konwitschny and their outstanding cast (Angela Denoke, Luana DeVol, Lisa Gasteen, Robert Gambill, Jan-Hendrik Rootering, Wolfgang Schöne, Jon Frederick West et al.) managed an epoch-making artistic enterprise, which will maintain its place as a highlight of Wagner staging for years to come.















"Four operas – four stage directors” is the underlying concept “Ring from Stuttgart”. And by focusing on individualoperas rather than the entire cycle, they were better able to express their individual insights into the well-knowndrama of Siegfried and Wotan.

The hugely successful Ring cycle from the Staatsoper Stuttgart is now available on Blu-ray Disc, restored withgreat care for detail and fully remastered in HD.

“At a time when most are struggling to find something new to say about Wagner, Zehelein shattered conventionby allocating the four operas to four different production teams. The results are astonishing as much for the unexpected harmony of the different approaches as for the strength of their diverse insights. Thus deconstructed, Wagner is less totalitarian, more dramatic. The Ring finally looks politically and psychologically modern again.” Financial Times

Directors: Joachim Schlömer, Christoph Nel, Sergio Morabito, Jossi Wieler and Peter Konwitschny and theiroutstanding cast (Angela Denoke, Luana DeVol, Lisa Gasteen, Robert Gambill, Jan-Hendrik Rootering, Wolfgang Schöne, Jon Frederick West among others) managed an epoch-making artistic enterprise, which will maintain its place as a highlight of Wagner staging for years to come.

CAST

Das Rheingold
Joachim Schlömer, stage director
Jens Kilian, sets and costumes
Lothar Zagrosek, conductor
Recorded live at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, 28 September and 29 December 2002

Wolfgang Probst (Wotan), Motti Kastón (Donner), Bernhard Schneider (Froh), Robert Künzli (Loge), Esa Ruuttunen (Alberich), Eberhard Francesco Lorenz (Mime), Roland Bracht (Fasolt), Phillip Ens (Fafner), Michaela Schuster (Fricka), Helga Rós Indridadóttir (Freia), Mette Ejsing (Erda), Catriona Smith (Woglinde), Maria Theresa Ullrich (Wellgunde), Margarete Joswig (Flosshilde)


Die Walküre
Christoph Nel, stage director
Karl Kneidl, stage design and costumes
Lothar Zagrosek, conductor
Recorded live at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, 29 September 2002 and 2 January 2003

Robert Gambill (Siegmund), Attila Jun (Hunding), Jan-Hendrik Rootering (Wotan), Angela Denoke (Sieglinde), Renate Behle (Brünnhilde), Tichina Vaughn (Fricka), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Gerhilde), Wiebke Göetjes (Ortlinde), Stella Kleindienst (Waltraute), Helene Ranada (Schwertleite), Magdalena Schäfer (Helmwige), Nidia Palacios (Siegrune), Maria Theresa Ullrich (Grimgerde), Margit Diefenthal (Rossweisse)


Siegfried
Jossi Wieler & Sergio Morabito, stage director / dramaturgy
Anna Viebrock, stage design and costumes
Lothar Zagrosek, conductor
Recorded live at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, 1 October 2002 and 5 January 2003

Jon Fredric West (Siegfried), Heinz Göhrig (Mime), Wolfgang Schöne (Der Wanderer), Björn Waag (Alberich), Attila Jun (Fafner), Helene Ranada (Erda), Lisa Gasteen (Brünnhilde), Gabriela Herrera (Der Waldvogel)


Götterdämmerung
Staatsopernchor Stuttgart (Chorus-master: Michael Alber)
Staatsoper Stuttgart
Lothar Zagrosek, conductor
Recorded live at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, 3 October 2002 and 12 January 2003

Albert Bonnema (Siegfried), Luana DeVol (Brünnhilde), Roland Bracht (Hagen), Hernan Iturralde (Gunther), Franz-Josef Kapellmann (Alberich), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Gutrune), Tichina Vaugh (Waltraute), Janet Collins (First Norn, Flosshilde), Lani Poulson (Second Norn), Sue Patchell (Third Norn), Helga Rós Indridadóttir (Woglinde), Sarah Castle (Wellgunde)

Works on This Recording
1.
Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner
Conductor: Lothar Zagrosek
Orchestra/Ensemble: Stuttgart State Opera Chorus, Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1853-1874; Germany
2.
Das Rheingold by Richard Wagner
Performer: Roland Bracht (Bass), Esa Ruuttunen (Baritone), Wolfgang Probst (Baritone), Phillip Ens (Bass), Robert Kunzli (Tenor)
Conductor: Lothar Zagrosek
Orchestra/Ensemble: Stuttgart State Opera Chorus, Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1854; Germany
3.
Die Walküre by Richard Wagner
Performer: Jan-Hendrik Rootering (Bass), Robert Gambill (Tenor), Renate Behle (Soprano), Attila Jun (Baritone), Tichina Vaughn (Mezzo Soprano), Angela Denoke (Soprano), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Soprano)
Conductor: Lothar Zagrosek
Orchestra/Ensemble: Stuttgart State Opera Chorus, Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1856; Germany
4.
Siegfried by Richard Wagner
Performer: Attila Jun (Baritone), Wolfgang Schöne (Bass), Jon Frederick West (Tenor), Heinz Göhrig (Tenor), Bjorn Waag (Bass), Gabriela Herrera (Soprano), Helene Ranada (Mezzo Soprano), Lisa Gasteen (Soprano)
Conductor: Lothar Zagrosek
Orchestra/Ensemble: Stuttgart State Opera Chorus, Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1871; Germany
5.
Götterdämmerung by Richard Wagner
Performer: Eva-Maria Westbroek (Soprano), Roland Bracht (Bass), Franz Josef Kapellmann (Bass), Albert Bonnema (Tenor), Hernan Iturralde (Baritone), Luana DeVol (Soprano), Tichina Vaughn (Mezzo Soprano)
Conductor: Lothar Zagrosek
Orchestra/Ensemble: Stuttgart State Opera Chorus, Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1871-1874; Germany