> Not even Flagstad with Furtwangler?
Probably, but I can't say for sure, because I can only judge by recordings, and the sound technology in those days was not so good. :(
> And Gwyneth Jones with Boulez in the "marxist" ring really
> doesn't quite deserve the bad press
Agreed (she appears as one of the Rhinemaidens in the Solti, by the way, and Joan Sutherland is the Woodbird in the Solti recording Siegfried -- luxury casting if there ever was such a thing!). The Boulez/Chereau Ring was recently released on DVD, and I can definitely see what the fuss was all about, because the dramatic performances are superb (though I don't necessarily agree with all of Chereau's interpretations of how the characters should act). That said, I have a hard time with placing the Ring in Wagner's own time, which is roughly what Chereau did. It is, in fact, an accurate representation of what Wagner was really thinking allegorically (it turns out that -- at least at the time he wrote the Ring libretto -- he was one of us, and in fact he was on the lam from the authorities after participating in the 1848-49 Dresden uprising alongside Mikhail Bakunin), but as a result the Chereau interpretation comes off as too literal-minded for my tastes.
> Also, wasn't Brunnhilde in Wagner the ultimate suicide
> bomber?
There was a production that did just this fairly recently, but I forget where -- somewhere in western Europe. Meanwhile, I am planning on seeing my first live "Ring" starting this March, when the Washington National Opera puts on "Das Rheingold," with the other three to follow in successive years. The publicity says that it is an "American"-themed Ring. I suppose I'll soon see if Valhalla will take the shape of the Capitol or of the White House, with the predictable result when Goetterdaemmerung comes along a few years from now. That, quite frankly, would be fucking awesome -- but I doubt opera houses (especially in this country) are that daring.
- - - - - - - - - - John Lacny http://www.johnlacny.com
Tell no lies, claim no easy victories