Wagner: Das Rheingold: Staatsoper Stuttgart (2002)

The First part of Wagner's magnum opus comes to DVD on TDK this month with a starkly contemporary feel. For the first time in the history of the ring cycle, each of Rheingold's four sections was given to a different stage-director, providing an exciting range of varying perspectives with a unified theme. Without a winged helmet in sight, this unique production casts Wotan as a coolly calculating businessman, with his wife a director on the board. The whole was directed by Joachim Schlomer and is sung in German, with subtitles. It was recorded live at the Staatsoper Stuttgart on the 28th and 29th December 2002.