AOW 29

Das Rheingold

Over spring break I had the opportunity to attend the production of Das Rheingold at the Metropolitan Opera. It is the prelude to Wagners Ring Cycle. Besides the no less than perfect portrayal of their characters by the singers and the mastery of the orchestra, I found the set to be stunning. Das Rheingold takes its audience through a series of fantastical settings. They were able to do so with a fluid balance with technology and video. The set consisted of a single floor that was suspended between the stage and ceiling. The floor was designed to be able to rise and lower,and bend and roll as was needed. The opera has no intermission which kept alive the fluid changes between scenes. The first scene begins with the floor rising and bending like waves, giving the audience a sensation of being immersed in water. The next scene brings the audience into the clouds with the gods. The way the stage moved made it seem like you were watching a film that was doing a pan view upward. The most remarkable scene was when the floor turned into a staircase to bring the gods down from the heavens. The catch was that part of the stairs were vertical so that the audience felt as if they were looking down onto the characters. It was almost like looking into an escher painting. The fluid use of technology allowed the producers to make the audience feel more involved or immersed into the production.