Wagner’s “wordless version” of “The Ring” appeared in Shencheng and inaugurated the new Philharmonic season Two generations of “exchange” music masters left the most precious giftFlying into the homes of ordinary people
Caption:“Wordless Version” of “The Ring” debuts in Shanghai Photo by Chen Yulin
Wagner’s operas are known for their large pieces, especially “Big Mac”-level works such as “The Ring of the Nibelung”, which require a four-night “marathon” to perform in full, making many people want to go into the opera. audiences are discouraged. Tonight, the opening concert of the 2022-2023 music season of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra was held at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, but it chose to let the audience interpret Wagner in another way. Artistic director Zhang Yi leads the Philharmonic Orchestra to present Lorraine Maazel’s “Wordless Version” on for Shencheng music fans““The Ring of the Nibelung”, Zhang Yi, who had witnessed Mazel’s performance of this masterpiece and was deeply shocked, said bluntly: “I hope to share this precious gift in my memory with the audience through the baton and show it. The musical. The essence of this opera also allows the audience to interpret Wagner and approach Maazel in another way.”This is also the “wordless version” of “The Ring” for the first time in Shanghai.
In order to prepare for this performance, Zhang Yi spent several weeks in the rehearsal hall The day before the performance, he posted a group photo with Mazel backstage at the National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing in 2013 on his Moments. In the photo, Zhang Yi is like a little fan of chasing a star, leaning on the arms of the sofa. He is in the same frame as the idol, smiling brightly and contentedly, while Mazel, who is sitting in firm in the C position, cooperating with his head to the side and making a gesture of appearance. Those are two performances that Zhang Yi made fresh in the memory and surging: “I watched two performances in a row. Mazel brought 12 musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and joined the Concert Hall Orchestra of the National Center for the Performing Arts to form a hundred. performances. Yuren’s band makes it an unforgettable night for everyone in the audience. His understanding of Wagner and his handling of “The Ring” came naturally.”
Caption: A group photo of Zhang Yi and Mazel
German composer Richard Wagner began in 1848 and continued for more than 20 years. He composed and wrote the screenplay based on Nordic legends, and personally created the masterpiece “The Ring of the Nibelung”. The works include four complete sets of operas, “Rhinegold”, “Valkyrie”, “Siegfried” and “Twilight of the Gods”, which completely recount a tragedy caused by “The Ring”. Almost 16 hours of sensory experience, a huge plot structure that spans the three fields, a coherent symphonic texture and a surprising harmony innovation make the German-born “The Ring” stand out in the 19th century, when French opera was in vogue and became an epoch. -making “class aircraft carrier” “It is classic.
Caption:Photo by Chen Yulin in the performance of “The Ring without Words”
Wagner’s bold revision of traditional operatic music in the work is particularly interesting – he insists that music must obey the principle that the content of the play needs to be created, and he expands the orchestra to make its expression higher level, through a surprising number of “primary motives” The implantation and application of the band makes the band one of the important responsibilities for explaining the content of the plot. Thus, after Maazel adapted it into a “wordless version” of a large-scale orchestral suite, even without words or scenes, the pure symphonic interpretation still retains the stunning artistic sense of the opera itself.
Maazel’s adaptation of “The Ring” is worthy of painstaking efforts. Since he was commissioned by the Wagner Foundation in the 1960s, he has dedicated himself to creating the “wordless” version of “The Ring”, spending twenty takes that took more than a few years to complete this work in the 1980s. The most amazing thing is that all the notes and melodies in the “wordless version” of “The Ring” come from Wagner’s “The Ring”, and even the order of the four sets has not changed, but it will take 16 hours to be performed. The complete work has been compressed into 75 minutes, and the rooms are seamlessly connected without any sense of inconsistency. Zhang Yi was amazed: “Maazel’s familiarity with Wagner’s The Ring can be said to be very clear.”
Although this is not the first time Zhang Yi directed the “wordless version” of “The Ring”, his excitement is still evident, he said with emotion: “In 2013, when I saw Mazel, I was not expected this to be her last time. On the Chinese stage, I did not expect it to die in a hurry in the second year. Although I knew that I would perform this work sooner or later, I did not expecting it to be so quick.” In 2016, in tribute to Mazel, Zhang Yi held the baton in Beijing. The China National Symphony Orchestra completed the “wordless version” of “The Ring”. After 6 years, he brought the Philharmonic to present this work in Shencheng, Zhang Yi said: “Whether it is for symphony fans, or people who especially love Wagner, the ‘wordless version’ of The Ring is a precious gift. A. a gift that should not be missed.”
(Xinmin Evening News reporter Zhu Yuan)
Editor: Zhao Yue
