Life and Leisure

The Ring sparkles

By Raymond Zhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-10 07:50

A scene from Goetterdaemmerung, The Ring of the Nibelung. The Cologne Opera will fly in 315 artists and 30 containers of props for its grand presentation in Shanghai. Photos Provided to China Daily

A full cycle live production of Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung to coincide with the Expo will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most opera fans. Raymond Zhou reports

Impresario Wu Jiatong remembers clearly when the idea first dawned on him to stage Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung. It was around New Year's day in 2008 and he was taking Markus Stenz on a river cruise along the Huangpu River. Enjoying the impressive skyline of Shanghai, he muttered: "We should do The Ring for the Shanghai Expo."

Stenz is the chief conductor of Cologne Philharmonic, which was touring the city, but he is also music director of Cologne Opera, which performed an internationally acclaimed production of the opera in the first half of the decade.

The Ring is the holy grail of Western opera. A theater that mounts the 16-hour, four-night event is tantamount to a city hosting the Expo in terms of cultural bragging rights.

Wagner took 26 years to finish the tetralogy, and it premiered in 1876. The Chinese debut came at the 2005 Beijing International Music Festival, 129 years later. It was a Nuremberg Opera production.

"That one was not big in scale. So, it traveled well," says Wu, who is general manager of Wu Promotion Co. "The Cologne Opera production is much bigger. It won't be scaled down."

The props and stage scenery alone fill up 30 containers and will travel by sea. Up to 315 artists from Cologne Opera will fly to Shanghai. Even if all tickets for the two cycles - a total of eight nights - are sold out, it will barely cover the operating costs on the Chinese side.

A scene from Walkuere, The Ring of the Nibelung.

Yet, money is not a major concern for Wu. When he talks about the project, his face is animated and he exudes passion. His company has been in business for almost 20 years. Every year it is responsible for some 400 performances, sending Chinese troupes to Europe and bringing European artists to China. One tour to Vienna by traditional Chinese musicians had more than 600 members, including a huge contingent of family members and fans. But The Ring ranks as the most monumental production, logistically, and is also the most prestigious.

Wu had to seek help and he found three partners: Shanghai Entertainment Group, Shanghai Grand Theater and Xinmin Media Group. Each has taken on some of the jobs involved in this massive endeavor. For example, finding enough hotel rooms for 5,000 room nights during the Expo season is a challenge.

When the curtain rises on the stage of Shanghai Grand Theater on Sept 16, it will be a historic moment for Qian Shijin, artistic director of the theater.

"Between 1949 and 1976, Shanghai saw only one Western opera in full production. Between 1977 and 1998 there were 21 Western operas and operettas, averaging one every three years. When Shanghai Grand Theater opened in 1998, we had nine full productions before the new millennium - in a year and a half. Now we have new offerings, both operas and musicals, every year."

Still, a Ring cycle is not something to be taken lightly.

"I took three nights to read the complete libretto," Qian says. "The Chinese translation is provided by the Taiwan Wagner Society - gratis."

There were literally thousands of organizational decisions to make. Instead of the customary one-hour intermission in Cologne, Shanghai will shorten it to half an hour, providing enough time for a snack.

Since the Cologne staging has moved the story from the mythical past to the modern era, 87 prop guns will be used. But China has strict gun controls, even for the fake ones used on stage. To get permission, the theater had to apply to the Ministry of Culture, which, in turn, coordinates with the Ministry of Public Security, before the guns could receive Customs clearance.

Qian says a representative from Cologne Opera, a security guard of the Shanghai theater and an independent supervisor must be present when the box containing the guns is opened and again when they are counted and packed away.

The fire department must approve the use of real fire, a key plot in the music drama. In many productions, the fire is simulated because local codes forbid the use of real fire. The Cologne version calls for the real thing, and German stage technicians insist on bringing their own flammable material. "We'll see how it comes out," Qian says.

To educate the public about this cultural milestone, the organizers are running a series of lectures on Wagner and his magnum opus, some of which are being edited into television documentaries and airing on the Shanghai Oriental Television Arts & Humanities Channel.

The performance on Sept 24, the last show of the two cycles, will be aired live to allow those outside the theater a taste of Wagner's magic. Cologne musicians have drastically reduced their fees to make the broadcast possible.

All this would not be possible without support from the Cologne municipal government and its citizens. The German side pays the cost of the production and shares the cost of transportation. According to the Chinese organizers, a major hiccup occurred when the Cologne mayor who championed this project was removed from office. His decision had to go back to the city council for approval all over again. It helped that Cologne Opera House is being renovated, making an overseas tour feasible.

The idea, from Cologne's perspective, is that once Wagner's music is heard in Shanghai, its residents and Expo visitors will become aware of the charm of the city by the Rhine.

The Cologne Philharmonic Orchestra will be playing at the Expo's European Square, on Sept 25. It then travels to Macao to take part in the Macao International Music Festival (Oct 3). The Cologne Opera will give three performances of Mozart's Don Giovanni at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Sept 29-Oct 1.

For classical music fans, a live Ring cycle will be an once-in-a-lifetime experience. Ask Verna Parino from San Francisco, who will most likely be the oldest member in the Shanghai audience. The 93-year-old has booked her tickets for the first cycle. She says that after 57 full cycles in 30 cities of 18 countries, she will make a "new discovery" in Shanghai.

For most Chinese, Cologne's Ring of the Nibelung at Shanghai Grand Theater will add sparkle to the Oriental Pearl that is Shanghai and the crown that is the 2010 World Expo.

(China Daily 09/10/2010 page18)