Schneider-Siemssen
on Das Rheingold (Salzburg Easter Festival and the Met,
1967-72)
"Then came Rheingold.
My "Ring" ellipse was the one I had devised as symbol for the entire cycle. With
no clearly recognizable body, it was to some extent fissured, with different parts
in the original position. In the first picture there was a great rock piece in
the middle of the stage: in this rock was the golden treasure, the Rheingold.
Everything, including the rocks was like a split stone planet under water, as
were Wagner's orders.
In the depths of the Rhine river.
A transparent scrim was placed in front of the entire stage, and on this surface
were projections of rippling water. This water looked incredibly real, a powerful
current. And then there was Karajan's idea, which I found to be wonderful: There
are three Rhine maidens... but we needed six girls: three, who sang from an unseen
place, and three dancers, who could move like mermaids in the water....
...they were each positioned on a sort of hovering pulpit, rigs that might be
used by camera operators in film studios. The three dancers were strapped in by
one leg so that the audience did not see it and the other leg performed the swimming
movement. In that empty space it looked like clear, light, flowing river water,
on which sunlight came from above. Each of the three had an area of the stage,
where they could move together in without touching.
And then a precisely timed sequence began. Timing was naturally very important,
and was a part of the performance, which fascinated Karajan. If one of the three
singers stepped out at a place in the rock, one of the dancers disappeared. If
two of the three singers were visible, two of the dancers disappeared. The singers
were positioned so they were clearly audible. The dancers had to learn the whole
text as well, because while they were swimming they, had to lip sync exactly what
the singers were singing in order to reinforce the illusion that they were singing
while swimming.
Most important was the look of the water, but that was really easy. Two scrims
were pulled in opposite directions from one another. On these scrims were projected
forms of fine delicate wave lines that produced unique reflections. The continuous
movement of the scrims gave the impression of flowing water. There were at least
12 units used for this. The elements were very simple: Two scrims with a little
painting, a series of projections, which were directed towards different places
appearing to be continuously transforming. All movements are choreographed in
a specific way, so it looked like flowing water with all it's changing highlights
from the sunlight penetrating from above. It produced a charming picture, which
was easily transformed. Just as it would look with light falling on flowing water."
In Nibelheim,
the underground empire of the dwarf Alberich. Here Karajan had the brilliant idea,
not to let Alberich run around, as is almost always the case. He should be enthroned
high on his mountain of gold, his gigantic gold mountain, which the Nibelungen
see he has torn from the rock in the water. Only his head stands out from the
gold... and during his transformation into the giant serpent he becomes the mountain
to some extent, the mountain lives. A few stagehands are hidden inside and during
the transformation a sort of reptile skin comes over the outside, so that it hides
the gold. And as it moved it gave the uncanny impression of being a huge snake
slithering around. The whole thing was supported with projections which is typical
for me... it was really unearthly...
And by most accounts, the effects were unforgettable - surely what
Wagner himself might have imagined in his dreams.
[From
G. Schneider-Siemssen in conversation with K. Pahlen: Die
Bühne, mein Leben
, Selke Verlag 1996;
(The Stage, My Life
- English translation by James Mulder, in press)]
