The Netherlands has had its own Ring since the nineties, thanks to the much-discussed production of the Dutch Opera under the direction of director Pierre Audi and conductor Hartmut Haenchen. The registrations of the 1999 performances made in the Amsterdam Music Theater (broadcast by the NPS on Sunday afternoons) have been released on DVD by Opus Arte. Striking are the futuristic sets by Georg
… Tsypin, in which singers, orchestra and audience come closer together (and this while Wagner has done everything to make the orchestra invisible). Also beautiful are the costumes of Eiko Ishioka, which make the Walküre look like the logo of a chic car or motorcycle brand. This DVD recording of the second part of the tetralogy - Die Walküre - claims to be the first recording using the Neue Richard-Wagner-Gesamtausgabe. (HJ)more
