On the opera stage, the performance of Richard Wagner's tetrad "The Ring of the Nibelungs" has always been regarded as a major cultural event. This masterpiece took 26 years of creation to condense Wagner's lifelong talent. The social outlook and musical aesthetics contained in it have left a lasting discussion topic for future generations, and its interpretation is extremely difficult. Undoubtedly a well-deserved epic masterpiece, this series is also regarded as a touchstone for testing a theater's opera production capabilities.
After successfully producing and performing more than 70 operas, as well as many Wagner operas, the National Center for the Performing Arts is about to embark on the journey of "The Ring". On August 13, the National Center for the Performing Arts announced in Beijing that it will present the series' premiere "Daiss Rheingold" on August 28, 30, and September 1 and 3. It will be hosted by National Center for the Performing Arts Music and Art Director Lu Under the baton of Jia Jia, Stefano Boda, an artist who is extremely active on the world's opera scene today, is in charge of the overall performance, bringing together many of the world's first-line opera singers to present a unique NCPA version of "The Ring".
Presenting Wagner's concept of "Total Art"
"The Ring of the Nibelungs" (hereinafter referred to as "The Ring") is an important work created by Wagner in his later period and the pinnacle of his artistic career. The work consists of four serial dramas, namely "Das Rheingold" on the eve, "Valkyrie" on the first day, "Siegfried" on the second day, and "Twilight of the Gods" on the third day, which fully embodies the composer's The concept of "total art" has had an important impact on the development of Western opera.
"The "Ring" series is a career that any powerful theater in the world must complete." Zhang Yao, deputy director of the National Center for the Performing Arts, said, "The National Center for the Performing Arts has successfully completed more than 70 productions of operas, as well as many Wagner productions. After trying the opera, we have formed a solid opera production system and accumulated rich experience in opera production. We are confident that we have the responsibility to launch this immortal work and lead the Chinese audience to fully understand this masterpiece of Wagner."
conductor. Lu Jia, Music and Artistic Director of the National Center for the Performing Arts
This round of performances will be conducted by Lu Jia, the famous conductor and Music and Artistic Director of the National Center for the Performing Arts, and will lead the National Center for the Performing Arts Orchestra. "The reason why Wagner occupies an important position in the history of music and even philosophy is that his description of human nature is very profound through his music, and there are many details in his music." In Lu Jia's view, " The music of "Ring" is all-encompassing, and Wagner's use of the overall instrumentation is subtle and clever. Its scale and harmony are very different from the composer's previous operas. "Judging from the rehearsals in the past few days, this play is very shocking, including the performances on the stage. The two giants are very tall and walk on stilts. Although these are superficial presentations, they reflect Wagner's world view behind them. , through several Wagner operas produced by the National Center for the Performing Arts and the "Ring" series, we can slowly understand this giant in the history of music."
This version of the production invites one of the most active directors on the world's opera stage. Operated by Stefano Borda. Following the Grand Theater version of "Romeo and Juliet", he will once again take on multiple roles, including director, choreographer, stage design, costume, lighting, and multimedia design, taking a global view of the creation of the overall opera art. "To me, opera is a holistic art, which includes philosophy, aesthetics and other disciplines, and is all-encompassing." Stefano Boda and Wagner's "holistic art" ideas are quite similar, "I direct operas The way is to bring all the elements together to form a unified and unique perspective, giving the plot coherence and creating a complete atmosphere. I feel that my approach is particularly consistent with Wagner's point of view: he pursues the totality of art, while I. Pursue the unity of art and fight against the high degree of segmentation and division of labor in the modern world. Opera is a holistic art. We hope that we can jointly explore the meaning of life through the world of opera.”
Director Stefano Boda
The performance is extremely difficult, which is a good improvement for his career
Among the "Ring" tetralogy, "Das Rheingold" is the shortest, but it has the most characters, and each The characters' personalities were clearly and distinctly presented in the two-and-a-half-hour non-stop performance. The thoughtful gods, the giant brothers Fafnir and Fasolt, their role settings and personalities have set the tone in this play and run through the entire tetrad.
In terms of the cast, The play brings together outstanding Wagnerian actors from around the world. Egil Silins, who plays Wotan in the play, has collaborated with the National Center for the Performing Arts for the fourth time. He had previously performed in the NCPA's production of Wagner's opera "Lohengrin." " and "The Flying Dutchman" and other dramas. Christian Franz, who plays the role of the god of fire in the play, Christian Franz, has frequently performed in Wagner's operas on the international stage and is known as the "heroic tenor poet." ”. At the same time, Robert Bock, Wang Chuan, Bettina Ranch, Tanya Kuhn, Niu Shasha, Thomas Thomason, Arnold Bezuyan, Andrea Silves Tralee, Guan Zhijing, Qin Kanru, Xu Xiaoying, Zhang Yajie, etc. will perform on the same stage.
will return with his strong singing skills to participate in the "Ring" series. Egil Silins said that it is a great honor. In his opinion, " The quartet of "The Ring" is very difficult and full of expressions of different emotions in music. It is a very high challenge for the orchestra, the conductor and the singers. "I have had many. I have played the role of Vota for the first time. This role is never boring to me. I can discover new details every time I sing it again. Because the stage designers, stage designers, designers, orchestras, directors, and colleagues who work with me are all new every time I collaborate, so they can give me a new perspective on this role. "
Xu Xiaoying, who plays the water fairy Vikunde
Xu Xiaoying, who plays the water fairy Vikunde, also feels the same way. "Before playing this role, I did a lot of homework and made many beautiful fantasies in language, music, and body, but On the first day of rehearsal, this beautiful illusion was completely shattered by our director. He makes our bodies as beautiful as those of dancers. "This is an almost impossible task in Xu Xiaoying's opinion. Not only that, the water fairy she plays has no legs. Therefore, she has never stood up since she took the stage. "We need to roll and crawl on the ground. Sometimes, there will be scratches and bruises, but in fact we are not afraid of tiredness or hardship. For me, it is a good improvement in my career.
Zhang Yao, deputy director of the National Center for the Performing Arts, said that after "The Ring" and "Das Rheingold" are staged, the other three films in the series, "Valkyrie", "Siegfried" and "Twilight of the Gods" will also follow. Completed, the entire performance is expected to be completed in 2026.
photography / Gao Shang
text / Beijing Youth Daily reporter Tian Wanting
editor / Qiao Ying
