In the third work of Wagner’s epic cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Siegmund’s shattered sword is forged once again and kills the dragon that guards the ring. When Siegfried seizes the ring, he also receives its curse as he continues his fiery adventure of discovery and love. Filmed at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu in 2004, Harry Kupfer’s stunning production, first staged in Berlin, numbers among the greatest productions of modern times and is recorded in sumptuous surround sound.

John Treleaven, Graham Clark, Falk Struckmann, Günter von Kannen, Eric Halfvarson, Andrea Bönig, Deborah Polaski, Cristina Obregón
Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu / Bertrand de Billy
Stage Director Harry Kupfer


Repertoire Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen - Siegfried

Plus
Illustrated Synopsis and Cast Gallery.

Reviews
‘With Siegfried (May 16) and Götterdämmerung (May 23), the Liceu crowned the Ring cycle begun last season with complete success at all levels, beginning with Harry Kupfer’s clever production from Berlin. Bertrand de Billy, in his last performances as music director of the theatre, enjoyed a well-deserved personal triumph: …he found the grandiosity and nobility inherent in Wagner’s music as well as its lyrical qualities, and drew a fine response from the orchestra. Deborah Polaski (Brünnhilde, with a moving Immolation) and Falk Struckmann (Wanderer and also a wonderful Gunther) were the prime assets of the cast, but we should not overlook the vocal endurance of John Treleaven, a lyrical Siegfried, Graham Clark’s hyperactive Mime, or the luxury casting of Matti Salminen as Hagen.’
Opera (performance review)

‘…this is the third episode in a video "Ring" Cycle that promises to rank with the visually modernized Bayreuth set conducted by Boulez and the fantasy-medieval Metropolitan Opera set conducted by Levine. This production avoids identification with any historic period and plays the story out in a mythic environment. Music director Bertrand de Billy gets a powerful performance from the orchestra of Barcelona's Liceu opera house, and the singing is excellent throughout the international cast, notably from John Treleaven, Deborah Polaski and Graham Clark.’
Washington Post

‘Harry Kupfer famously demands a strongly physical style of acting from his casts. He gets remarkable results from this one: Siegfried’s (John Treleaven) awakening of Brünnhilde (Deborah Polaski) is a wonderful moment, and both principals also deliver superbly in the love duet that follows, with Polaski offering top notes of arrow-like accuracy. Falk Struckman’s imposing Wanderer, Graham Clark’s incisive Mime and Andrea Bönig’s gorgeously sonorous Erda all impress, as do Hans Schavernoch’s virtuoso sets. Bertrand de Billy secures a quality response from an orchestra whose playing, by Act 3, is on fire.’
Classic fM

‘Two veterans - Graham Clark and Günter von Kannen - perform with continuing ripeness and added colour … John Treleaven… has the tricky character - by turns brutal, gentle, dumb and intuitive - massively in focus… Deborah Polaski’s Brünnhilde has ideal physical intensity and vocal stylishness.’
The Gramophone

‘…Graham Clark at his most resourceful. Clark even makes some of his music sound lovely, and he never becomes tedious. He meets his equal in the Wanderer of Falk Struckmann, here giving his best performance… He is genial, rakish, capable of immense outbursts… each of his major confrontations, above all the one with the imposing Erda of Andrea Bönig, entangled in her own wisdom, is masterly. It’s with deep emotion that one sees him leave the stage, Oedipus-like, for the last time.
Deborah Polaski is … so consummate a singer and interpreter that she makes the final scene the climax of the work, as it too rarely is. Still looking fine, and moving athletically, she is capable of both a radiance and suffering which make her, for me, the most impressive Brünnhilde… her opening greeting to sun and light are marvellous because they express so much rapture. …compelling and thought-provoking…’
International Record Review

CAT NO: OA 0912 D
FORMAT: All Formats
REGIONS: All Regions
PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9
LENGTH: 256 MINS
SOUND: DTS SURROUND / LPCM STEREO
SUBTITLES: EN/FR/DE/ES/CA/IT
RELEASED: 01/05/2005
NO OF DISCS: 3