Michael Schønwandt on Das Rheingold When did you first experience Das Rheingold on stage? I saw Das Rheingold for the first time in London in 1976 during my time as a student. There were two complete Ring cycle productions being staged; the English-language production at the English National Opera, conducted by Reginald Goodall; and Götz Friedrich’s production at Covent Garden. Das Rheingold was to me the most inaccessible of the four operas; I was familiar with parts of Die Walküre but I knew very little about Das Rheingold, which proved to be the most magnificent of the four from a stage perspective. Later I saw Harry Kupfer’s version while I was in Bayreuth to conduct Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, but I have never actually conducted Das Rheingold before now. It’s not really an opera one is often asked to conduct on its own – usually it’s the entire Ring cycle or nothing. Are there any advantages to not having conducted Das Rheingold before? The advantage is that I have a fresh and open approach to Das Rheingold, which is also because I don’t have a distinct Furtwängler recording playing in my head, for example, but am attempting to find my own way into the music. The other day I sat listening to the entire score as well as some of the old Knappertsbusch recording which proved very inspirational and which I was certain would resemble my version...but I found that I had moved light years away from it. It was actually very healthy for me to make this discovery. Top   Print What has changed your first impression of the music? Primarily the fantastic partnership I have with Kasper. When I see what he wants done with a scene, I begin to mentally rearrange things. I think that’s very important with a score like Das Rheingold, which is very much about creating musical theatre. How does the music of Das Rheingold differ from that of the rest of The Ring cycle? Das Rheingold is pure chamber music both in the orchestra pit and on the stage. Beginning with the three Rhinemaidens sets the tone for ensemble playing right from the start of the opera. It’s no coincidence that you find proper concert excerpts for the three remaining Ring operas but that it is almost impossible to extract a piece from Das Rheingold and call it "Alberich’s Aria" or "The Rhinemaidens’ Trio". If any of the four operas can be considered an ensemble piece, this is it, and it has its own unique tonal universe. Das Rheingold was actually written long before Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and every now and then you will hear echoes of previous Wagner operas such as Tannhäuser and Lohengrin – but for me, Das Rheingold points firmly and primarily towards Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Das Rheingold has a great deal more recitative than the other three Ring operas. In Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung Wagner takes a broader approach, and the leitmotifs are more symphonically integrated than in Das Rheingold. In Das Rheingold they are still a bit flat. Wagner shines a flashlight here and lights a candle there – and I also believe that the fragile chamber music structure leads directly toward an opera such as Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Top   Print When did you begin work on Das Rheingold? I started reading through the score more than three years ago, right after our first meeting to discuss the concept for the entire Ring production. I began to really work with it last season when we put on Die Walküre and I took the music along on holiday to the south of France. The first thing I do is to try to get an overview of the work – I leaf through it a few times and attempt to understand the basic framework. I then delve deeply into the details, layer by layer. I make notes during the process, though not as many as some of my colleagues. Actually, I only really get to know a score when I’m standing in front of the orchestra elbows-deep in the music. The last big push occurs there, and it’s something I really look forward to! Top   Print The four operas Das Rheingold Die Walküre Siegfried Götterdämmerung Articles Kasper Bech Holten: Mythologies Interview with Michael Schønwandt: On Das Rheingold Kasper Bech Holten: In Eternal Opposition Nila Parly: The Women of Das Rheingold Gallery See the photos from Das Rheingold Biographies The Ring Team... Cast See the cast Biographies are available at www.kglteater.dk Das Rheingold is sponsored by the Bikuben Foundation