The Palau de les Arts production of Wagner's Ring Cycle is a hit in the United States
28.04.2014
– American critics are praising La Fura dels Baus' production, directed by Zubin Mehta, during its performances in Valencia.
– The Valencian arts center has practically recouped the costs of the production by renting it to opera houses in Seville and Houston.
Valencia. The co-production of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen ( The Ring of the Nibelung ) is a triumph in the United States with the premiere of the Das Rheingold production at the Houston Grand Opera.
The American opera company, with over sixty years of history, has chosen La Fura dels Baus' production for its first foray into Wagner's Ring Cycle . Thus, the second opera, Die Walküre , will be presented in the 2014-2015 season, Siegfried in 2015-2016, and Götterdämmerung will premiere in the 2016-2017 season.
The premiere has become a cultural event, not only for the local press, but also for major media outlets in the state of Texas, as well as national newspapers such as the prestigious Wall Street Journal . Critics, for the most part, note that the staging of Wagner's Ring cycle elevates the opera company to new artistic heights.
Initial reactions highlight Padrissa's work in combining technology, science fiction, and elements of the 'furero' language to recreate the Wagnerian universe.
CultureMap describes the Palau de les Arts co-production as “the epitome of early 21st-century opera production.” It emphasizes that La Fura dels Baus has created “a Wagner that is fun, magnificent, tremendously symbolic, and always otherworldly.” Houstonpress, for its part, calls it “a dazzling spectacle of music, voice, and stage presence,” while the Houston Chronicle describes it as “a theatrical coup.”
With the rental of Wagner's Ring Cycle to the Houston Grand Opera, the Palau de les Arts has practically recouped the production costs of this production, which has already been seen at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, which will close the Valencian Ring cycle performances next June with Götterdämmerung .
Emblem of the Palau de les Arts
The premiere of Das Rheingold , The opening of Wagner's Wagnerian opera on April 28, 2007, and the performance of Die Walküre on April 30, with Zubin Mehta conducting, marked the beginning of the most emblematic, award-winning, and successful production in the history of the Palau de les Arts. National and international critics gave their full support to the Wagnerian adventure of the Valencian arts center, which, in its first season and with a newly formed orchestra, tackled the most complex work in the entire operatic repertoire.
That same year, the first two productions received the Franco Abbiati Prize from Italian music critics, as well as two Campoamor Lyric Theater Awards in 2008. In 2009, the cultural center made history again by becoming the first Spanish opera house, and the only one to date, to have staged two complete cycles of The Ring of the Nibelung in its own production. This feat culminated in 2010 with the Campoamor Award for Best Stage Direction, given to Carlus Padrissa of La Fura dels Baus for the Valencian Ring .
The main European newspapers have reviewed the production, including the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , Die Presse , Die Welt , Financial Times , Il Corriere della Sera , Le Figaro , Süddeutsche Zeitung , Sunday Times , The Stage , and Wall Street Journal Europe, in its various performances in 2007, 2008, 2009 and last 2013 at the Valencian arts center.
The high-definition recording by Unitel of the Tetralogy during its performances in Valencia, and its subsequent release on DVD and Blu-ray under the C Major label, has brought the production and the Palau de les Arts to the attention of audiences throughout the rest of Europe, the United States, and Japan. This exposure has been further enhanced by the film's screening in cinemas in Australia, the United States, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, as well as its subsequent broadcast on the German-language channels ZDF, 3Sat, and ÖRF , and the British channel Sky Arts .
Among the accolades received during its journey in the digital market, the Tetralogy has obtained an ICMA award from European critics, two mentions from the German Association of Record Critics, an 'Echo Klassik', the 'Choc' from the French magazine Classica , the 'Diamant d'opéra' from Opéra Magazine and the 'Diapason d'Or', considered the most significant independent European award for classical music.
