Wagner;Richard Das Rheingold | 
| Director: Brian Large
Actors: Donald McIntyre, Martin Egel, Siegfried Jerusalem, Heinz Zednik, Hanna Schwarz
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
Category: DVD
List Price: CDN$ 29.95
Buy New: CDN$ 16.79
as of 5/20/2012 02:03 CDT details
You Save: CDN$ 13.16 (44%)
New (7) Used (2) from CDN$ 8.99
Seller: moviemars-canada
Sales Rank: 38,868
Format: AC-3, Classical, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), German (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), German (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 0
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 164 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 044007340585
UPC: 044007340585
EAN: 0044007340585
ASIN: B00092ZAO0
Release Date: August 2, 2005
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
From Amazon.com
This is a beautifully conducted and thoughtfully staged performance of the first opera (the prologue) in Wagner's Ring Cycle. As soon as the clouds of mist have dissipated, while the daring, long-held opening chord is still reverberating, the screen clears to show not only the River Rhine and the three maidens (dressed like prostitutes in this production) assigned to guard the gold hidden there. It also shows an enormous dam (not mentioned in Wagner's text). This is the underwater base of a hydroelectric plant, and its presence tells us two things immediately: that this production takes the story out of the vaguely medieval fantasy world in which Wagner had placed it, and that a basic theme of the four-opera cycle would be power. Alberich, the Nibelung, is willing to renounce the love of women, after stealing the gold from the Rhine, to become the ruler of the world. Another basic theme is greed. The cast is uniformly excellent. The approach of stage director Patrice Chereau carefully balances realism, symbolism, and fantasy. The two giants (Matti Salminen and Fritz Hübner) tower over the gods who are waiting to enter the newly constructed Valhalla; Loge (brilliantly played by Heinz Zednick) appears in a burst of flame; the subterranean lair of the Nibelungs looks something like a prison and something like a mass-production sweatshop. In contrast, the gods look like members of a rather aimless leisure class. Freia, the goddess of youth (Carmen Reppel), whose fate is one of the basic items in the plot, is presented as a lovely but helpless beauty queen. Pierre Boulez conducts this episode. like the entire cycle, with power and precision. --Joe McLellan
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