Act I: Siegfried | The Ring Cycle

Opera North’s acclaimed concert staging of Wagner’s Ring cycle, filmed in Leeds, UK, June 2016.
Wagner’s unparalleled orchestral scene-painting reaches new heights in Siegfried. The youthful hero, fearless and free, forges an unbreakable sword from the shards of the weapon that belonged to his father, slays the dragon Fafner, seizes the ring from the dragon’s hoard, and braves a ring of magic fire that encircles the sleeping maiden, Brünnhilde, whom he awakens to love.
CONDUCTOR: Richard Farnes
STAGE DIRECTOR AND LIGHTING & PROJECTION DESIGNER: Peter Mumford
FILM DIRECTOR: Peter Mumford
SIEGFRIED: Lars Cleveman
BRÜNNHILDE: Katherine Broderick
MIME: Richard Roberts
WANDERER: Béla Perencz
ALBERICH: Jo Pohlheim
FAFNER: Mats Almgren
WOODBIRD: Jeni Bern
ERDA: Claudia Huckle
Find out more » www.operanorth.co.uk/the-ring...
#ONRing

[@jgesselberty]

A perfect way to stage these monumental works on a budget, without making them look cartoonish.

[@leighwalton1608]

What a terrific Mime by Richard Roberts. The acting in this whole production is great fun to watch.

[@SimonBostic]

Simply phenomenal singing and playing. Better than many by larger, more celebrated companies. Lars Cleveman was outstanding as Siegfried. Wonderful climax from Brünnhilde at the end to crown a great show. Thank you for posting the entire cycle on here. I am so grateful.

[@mhwharp]

Stunning, beautifully done, Mimi steals the opera.

[@spacepunk2001]

Apparently at the debut performances of Siegfried, Mime dazzled everyone and also stole the show.

[@susannevollmer2347]

It should be noticed: all the singer worked without interventions by the conducter, he stands behind them.💥👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@mariod7473]

Terrific production and direction. Loved this in 2016 and loved it today...

[@Johnny.Gutierrez]

I've got very impressed by Mime's performance. He usually is preformed as a disgusting dwarf, here is much more like a sharp and greedy one.

[@asrieldreemurr1988]

I agree

[@Johnny.Gutierrez]

@@asrieldreemurr1988 :D

[@ewmbr1164]

Indeed Mime is. Sharp. Greedy. With fatal consequences, slaughtered by a witless kid.

[@susannevollmer2347]

@@ewmbr1164 Giant kid💪

[@acac4847]

This is my new favorite thing in the world. Thanks!

[@canman5060]

Best Mime performance ever !

[@Alix777.]

This is wonderful, thanks a lot Opera North

[@ValzainLumivix]

Mime is really good, pleasantly surprised!

[@wei-pingzeng36]

Sigfried is a foster parent's nightmare

[@philipcash9261]

I know Im randomly asking but does anyone know of a way to get back into an Instagram account?? I was dumb lost the account password. I would appreciate any tips you can give me

[@jadenjasper3471]

@Philip Cash instablaster :)

[@susannevollmer2347]

@@philipcash9261 replace it

[@kamion53]

as Mime is the foster child's nightmare.☺

[@AtiqZabinski]

Mime is the archetypal earthly parent, endlessly demanding gratitude for having carried out the work entailed by a decision they made themselves, and in which the child had no say.

[@whiteeyesclosed]

imagine this animated

[@kamion53]

Or illustrated as a cartoon by P.Craig Russell - The Ring of the Nibelung part 1 and part 2. I mosttime read these books when listerning to the opera, because how good the singers are they almost never match the image of a god, maiden or young hero.

[@canman5060]

Make this epic Ring as graduation exam for student of conducting !

[@andpeggy6048]

Have mercy

[@607]

I love the interruptions.

[@lukevankleef4245]

This act is basically ''Elder Abuse: the opera''

[@wessel175]

Very very very good. He missed a few hammer strikes, but that's all I can say

[@asrieldreemurr1988]

who

[@timmellin2815]

Just got back from today's Act 3 / Ride of Valkyries and Wotan's meltdown.....morning rehearsal at Hollywood Bowl for Sunday's perf. Version is set in cyberspace and with green screen chromakey onstage....maidens dressed in racing car suits with wings and goggles; they ride virtual motorcycles w/ jet exhaust, thru the air. Think the film "Tron" and that's the effect, as the performers are chromakeyed onto the virtual skyscape that is leftover after cyberspace is destroyed. So the performers are live behind the orchestra but the theater projection screen has the visual focus. Effects can be played with...Wotan can be normal size & his daughter tiny, so he gets right in her face then catches her w/ his hand like a fish and then slings her across the sky, where she lands in her sad state, but back at full size again. Dudamel conducts. Unusual approach, to say the least....if in the L.A. area...it's Sunday night at the Hollywood Bowl.

[@asrieldreemurr1988]

I feel for mime Siegfried is a jerk

[@AtiqZabinski]

Well, that is a natural reaction until Mime gradually reveals what an utter creep he is, and you realize that growing up Siegfried must have intuited his true character even without having another soul to compare him too. The whole dynamic between them is a brilliant portrayal of adolescent rebellion. But then in Götterdâmmerung we find Siegfried totally willing to abduct a woman and force her into marriage, ironically the very crime against his mother which earns our dislike of Hunding in Die Walküre. So yeah, Siegfried is a jerk.

[@wei-pingzeng36]

@@AtiqZabinski excellent psycho analysis. Totally agree. Siegfried sold his first love.

[@kingetzel2755]

@@AtiqZabinski - The saga this is based on doesn't necessarily have "good" or "bad" characters so much as antagonists or protagonists, or perhaps "heroes" and "cowards". In the original poem Sigfried deceives Brünhilt into marrying Gunter and later uses an invisibility cloak to pretend he's her husband while having violent sex with her.

[@mikhailvasiliev6275]

He's a hero written by Wagner. I hope you're not surprised.

[@paulfreeman4900]

I like these semi-staged productions. Less time for singers to act like actors. They are singers first and actor second. It may go against Wagner's concept of Gemankunstwerk but the pacing is better realised.

[@davepounds3100]

I am really enjoying this production, I have read half of "The Ring of Truth" by Roger Scruton and , I believe, come to a better understanding of the Ring trilogy. BUT OH what an opportunity missed in not doing it in English. It seems to me that the whole story is carried by the music and the words are secondary, and if so, why not let us all understand them...??? I am too old to start learning German, worse case scenario, leave the arias in German, and the recitative in English...??? Just a thought..........dave

[@AtiqZabinski]

Are the English subtitles going too fast for you to read them?

[@ewmbr1164]

There is a Ring recording on Chandos, in English. Conducted by the legendary Wagmer conductor Sir Reginald Goodall. But then, it is a recording, not a video production. To produce Wagner in English is indeed a good suggestion. The tale is timeless, and as great a parable on the human condition as any, if not one of the greatest.

[@susannevollmer2347]

Wagner wrote and composed it, so that sound of the text-words and the music are perfect together. But in english is a whole "Ring" an older production by director Götz Friedrich. Ì`m sure you can by it records, dvd.

[@johannschneider6372]

As a german, I do have some problems with that Mime ... Maybe the choice of Roberts wasn't the best, something's missing for me, something in voice.

[@susannevollmer2347]

Becouse you are a german???? Perhaps you always saw Zednik-Mims? But Zednik is austrian singer. I like Roberts singing and acting!

[@johannschneider6372]

@@susannevollmer2347 Means, because I am able to read Wagner's letters ands ## notes about the character and the aim of Mime and because I can get the whole phrasing of his lines, I do net need to translate anything. Mime has, like nearly no other figure in the Ring, a fascinating, character-corresponding libretto.

[@susannevollmer2347]

@@johannschneider6372 Oh, thank you for giving me this answer. I never noticed Wagners letters. Mime is nasty dwarf, but I can enjoy seeing him without masc and costume he is much nearer this way. My favorit character is Loge!

[@susannevollmer2347]

@@johannschneider6372 Think we realy need a new ways to act Mime.

[@bradycall1889]

Sorry if this makes me sound like a spoiled person who wants perfection, but I was disappointed that the one who took the role for Siegfried isn't the right person for the role. Not even close.

[@mikhailvasiliev6275]

If you're gonna complain about Siegfried's casting, complain about Siegmund's too.