In the spring of 1997,
the Metropolitan Opera in New York staged three performances of the Ring
Cycle. First introduced over three seasons from 1986 to 1988, this production
was presented as a complete cycle in the spring of 1989, and for the first
time since the 1938-39 season within the span of one week.
The production by Otto
Schenk with sets by Gunther Schneider- Siemssen was last staged at
the MET in spring 1990. By returning to the traditionalist way of
staging The Ring, it marked a departure from the contemporary, at
times too adventurous, stage interpretations of the work. Unsparing
in its deployment of special effects, it was a spectacular production
belittled by some critics as too literal, and because devoid of any
attempts at illusion, intellectually unchallenging and aesthetically
weak.
But the opera-going public loved it then, and the public loved it
now. They came from all over the world, as if seeking to experience
The Ring in its pristine purity - just the music and the drama and
the myth's universal themes of timeless value; and please, skip the
ideology and the sociology! Indeed, variations of the comment "But
they do silly things with it in other opera houses!" were heard
above the din of intermission ravings and rantings. And there were
expressions of sorry disbelief when word spread that this production
would be torn down to make way for a new one, and big sighs of relief
when the official word declared just the contrary - production to
be revived in the 1999-2000 season!
