Trivial Pursuits: Mark Berry feels shortchanged by the newly completed ‘Ring’ at Aix

And so, this Ring, a co-production between the Aix Festival and the Salzburg Easter Festival, has reached its conclusion. I have not yet seen the Rheingold but have seen Die Walküre on DVD and Siegfried in the theatre. As with those previous dramas, the greatest achievement proved to be that of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Luxury casting seems an understatement for so virtuosic a force in the pit. There were very occasional slips. Almost inevitable from the horn players, even theirs were limited to a handful, really only serving to remind one that these were human beings: perhaps no bad thing in recounting the twilight of the gods.