Masking Success: Simon Williams reports on a satisfactory continuation of the Los Angeles ‘Ring’ cycle

The latest production, Siegfried, in Achim Freyer’s ongoing staging of the Ring at the Los Angeles Opera provides abundant evidence, if any is needed, that Ring cycles work best if they evolve over several months. Freyer’s technique has nothing to do with the seamless totality of the Gesamtkunstwerk, nor is it overly concerned with unfolding a coherent, linear action. In Rheingold and Walküre this was a source of some confusion as the stage was littered with images and symbolic fragments that seemed to have little to do with the story. But the production of Siegfried is sparer, offering less to puzzle over and greater clarity.