Exceeding the Baggage Allowance: Hermann Grampp appreciates the level of detail found in Stefan Herheim’s ‘Ring’, but feels that it lacks a coherent vision

Stefan Herheim undertook a heavy burden when consenting to produce the Deutsche Oper’s new production of Richard Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen, which was first performed in a full cycle in November 2021. ‘Flight’ and ‘refugees’ admittedly form one of the most powerful themes of our time – and of history, for that matter – and Wagner’s Ring is certainly one of those works that admirably, almost alarmingly, responds flexibly to radical approaches taken by new generations (or as Peter Sellars so aptly put it: ‘Wagner is always ahead’). The abundant use of suitcases as a symbol of flight allows the formation of impressive sculptures, sometimes evoking the image of a ruined antique theatre, at other times creating claustrophobic, confined spaces. However, this approach does not withstand the test of the full cycle.