Wagner Project

The set of the new production of Wagner's Ring at Staatsoper Berlin "is the ESCHE laboratory (a pun on the Welt-Esche, or ash tree, from which Wotan carves his spear), where Wotan and his staff are running a series of elaborate experiments on human behaviour. There is a “Stresslabor” and a “Schlaflabor” (sleep lab), and an entire floor filled with caged rabbits (approved by animal welfare organisations). The set looks like a million euros, which is what it is rumoured to have cost. Room after room is exposed as the set slides, rotates and rises or sinks. All of the renovated Staatsoper’s state-of-the-art stage machinery is tested to its limits. The outcome is breathtaking.

"And Tcherniakov is right — the story of the Ring is also the story of one gigantic and doomed social experiment. Do you really need the magic elements to tell the tale? Tcherniakov does away with almost all of them. Wotan has no spear; Siegfried neither horn nor sword; Froh’s rainbow bridge is a magic trick with handkerchiefs; there is no Rheingold. Brünnhilde draws her own fire with chalk on the backs of chairs from the conference room before dozing off in the sleep lab. Her horse, Grane, is a plastic My Little Pony with a red mane; the Waldvogel (wood-bird) seems to have come from the same branch of Toys “R” Us, and is wielded by one of Wotan’s many white-coated underlings. There is neither love potion nor truth serum to account for Siegfried’s infidelity and confession."

Q: Why bother? Why stage the Ring in a way that makes the entirety of the lyrics nonsensical? If production after production seeks some sort of edginess by putting the cast in modern street clothes, isn't that choice itself clichéd and tired? If the producers have such incredible disdain for Wagner's work, why not simply hire a living composer to write something more to their obviously strong preferences?

Full review: https://www.ft.com/content/a5f68968-67cf-4f04-8259-b8fd3996b87f

A RAGNARÖK OF ONE'S OWN

My new article begins with Igor Stravinsky's reaction to Richard Wagner's mythical operas, discusses the suspension of critical faculties in fandom's quasi-religious worldview, examines the fundamentalist mindset of modern political discourse, and concludes with a possible way out of this mess.

Read it at https://www.norsemyth.org/2020/12/a-ragnarok-of-ones-own.html

"The Ring of the Nibelung" (2000)

This stop-motion movie condenses Richard Wagner's 17-hour Ring Cycle into 29 minutes. It looks amazing. Check it out!

Watch it here:
https://youtu.be/unLaq0DFLkk

For more like this, subscribe to NorseTube, The Norse Mythology Channel:
https://youtube.com/user/NorseTube

TYR'S JUKEBOX
Wagner's 15-hour Ring Cycle in 2.5 minutes

Opera houses are closed all over the world, so this week's music feature gives you a concentrated opera fix by condensing Richard Wagner's 15-hour, 4-opera "Ring of the Nibelung" into under 3 minutes.

Watch it here: https://youtu.be/AgzZ_nLOJJE

For more mythic music, movies, and TV, subscribe to NorseTube: The Norse Mythology YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/NorseTube

Wotan in Chicago: Interview with Eric Owens

Today was to be the final performance of the Lyric Opera of Chicago production of Richard Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung, the culmination of a series of new productions begun in 2016.

On March 13, the Lyric canceled all performances due to coronavirus issues, but you can still read my in-depth and wide-ranging interview with bass-baritone Eric Owens, who played the role of Wotan (Odin).

Interview is here:
https://www.norsemyth.org/2018/10/wotan-in-chicago-interview-with-eric.html

Happy May 1 to all!

FREYA NIGHT LIGHTS
"What's Opera, Doc?" (1957)

Years ago, The Norse Mythology page had weekly features including Tyr's Jukebox (music videos) on Tuesdays and Freya Night Lights (movies and TV) on Fridays. May 1 seems like a good time to bring this back!

We begin with the timeless tale of a tragic love affair between a noble hunter with spear and magic helmet (magic helmet? magic helmet!) and an achingly beautiful Valkyrie rabbit (in drag).

Watch it here: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x35sg3h

My new column uses Stravinsky's critique of Wagner's mythological operas as religion to examine today's cultic thinking. As Trump devotees protest health measures and Biden supporters cancel , we must embrace critical thinking or bring on our own Ragnarök.

Read it here:
https://wildhunt.org/2020/04/opinion-a-ragnarok-of-ones-own.html

Myth and Legend in Wagner's Tannhäuser
https://www.norsemyth.org/2015/02/myth-legend-in-wagners-tannhauser-part.html

Five years ago today, I presented a lecture at Chicago's Lyric Opera on mythological and legendary aspects of Richard Wagner's opera Tannhäuser.

Follow link to read my three-part series based on the presentation.

BRÜNNHILDE THE LITTLE MERMAID

The beautiful film "Ponyo" by Hayao Miyazaki ("My Neighbor Totoro," "Kiki's Delivery Service") is a modern remix of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" with elements of Norse mythology (via Richard Wagner's "Ring of the Nibelung").

It features a mermaid named Brünnhilde whose parents are a mystic wizard and a sea goddess, with a tip of the hat to the Valkyrie, Odin, and Erde. When she falls in love with the young human boy who finds her *cough* Siegfried*cough*, she must decide whether to give up her magic and become fully human.
There's also a fantastic riff on "Ride of the Valkyries."

Definitely check it out!

Archive: Library of Congress
Title: Brünnhilde
Summary: Photograph shows cat dressed in Viking helmet and shield
Published: 1936
Subject Heading: Animals in human situations
Copyright: Adolph E. Weidhaas, Old Greenwich, Conn.

"This is trash bin material. As long as people like this keep having children, we’re going to have people like this on the planet. It’s just steeped in ignorance."

Eric Owens, Wotan in Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Wagner's Ring Cycle, on racist reactions to African-Americans playing Norse gods

https://www.norsemyth.org/2018/10/wotan-in-chicago-interview-with-eric.html

"In a lot of ways, [Wagner] was quite a detestable person, and he would be none too pleased to see me performing Wotan."

Eric Owens on playing a Norse god in Lyric Opera's Ring Cycle, the mythic opera series by the genius composer and rabid anti-Semite

Read my candid interview with the African-American star of "Siegfried," which opens tomorrow: https://www.norsemyth.org/2018/10/wotan-in-chicago-interview-with-eric.html