Barry Emslie, Review of Kupfer ‘Ring’ DVD

When Young Siegfried approaches Brünnhilde’s rock he sings ‘nun offen steht mir die Straße’ (now the road is open to me). In Harry Kupfer’s Bayreuth Ring we are to believe that this is the ‘road of history’ on which supposedly the whole concept rests. However, this ‘road’ is hardly a concept at all; rather a structuring device that creates a stage picture running from front stage to back, emphasised by an exaggerated, but effective, narrowing perspective. Kupfer’s ‘Konzept’ is to be found elsewhere.