The Colon Ring; Wagner in Buenos Aires; a film by Hans Christoph von Bock

MAJOR 712808                 93.00

This fascinating documentary is as complex and contorted as the most unbelievable of opera plots. The Colon Opera House in Buenos Aires decided to mount a shortened Ring Cycle. There have, over the years, been many attempts at this, the Birmingham Touring Opera version by Jonathan Dove being particularly successful. On this occasion however, it was decided to stage the work in a single day, reducing the score to just over seven hours.

So far, so good, but the way the house went about it reflects a clash of cultures on a grand scale. Having invited Katharina Wagner to direct, and ordered the sets and costumes, they failed to have everything in place when she arrived to start rehearsals. A Wagnerian storm blew up and, in the end, she walked out. Valentina Carrasco was brought in, with a totally fresh approach, but restrained by having to work with the same basic set and costumes. Running parallel to this was the arrangement of the score. Rather than preparing it well in advance, the cuts and re-orchestration were happening hour by hour during rehearsals, with the result that individual members of the orchestra did not have the same scores in front of them, and many were riddled with mistakes.

That the outcome was so successful seemed far more luck than judgement, but it certainly makes for a fascinating film. BH