Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2024 June 17

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June 17

First performance of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen in Russia

Re-named section heading for better archiving purposes MinorProphet (talk) 09:10, 17 June 2024 (UTC)

Calling all Perfect Wagnerites. Full confession: I'm currently singing in the chorus of a professional production of Die Götterdämmerung. Anyway, I was listening to Glazunov's orchestral fantasy/symphonic poem The Sea (Russian: Mope), Op. 28, which he wrote in 1889 aged around 24. I was struck by some fairly obvious musical references (WP:OR?) to Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. My question is: when was The Ring first performed in Russia? I haven't come across any obvious answer. I can read Russian. Details of theatre, soloists, conductor etc. would be welcome. Russian Wikipedia seems not to be forthcoming. The first complete performance of The Ring cycle took place in August 1876 in the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. Glazunov may have already seen the orchestral scores before any performances had taken place in Russia: the full score of Die Walküre had been published in 1874, and those of Siegfried and Götterdämmerung in 1876.[1]. Any further info on Wagner's influence on Glazunov would be welcome. MinorProphet (talk) 00:50, 16 June 2024 (UTC)

I note in passing from his article that "Belyayev took Glazunov on a trip to Western Europe in 1884. Glazunov met Liszt in Weimar . . . .", so he may have seen Ring performances in Germany and would certainly have been able to obtain a copy of the score.

This reference says that Das Rheingold was first performed (as part of The Ring) in Russia, in St. Petersberg, on 11 March 1889. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 188.220.136.217 (talk) 05:34, 16 June 2024 (UTC)

"When only 19, he was taken on a trip to Western Europe and Africa. On the way back to St. Petersburg, Glazunov met Liszt in Weimar and heard a performance of Parsifal at Bayreuth."^[2] But, "Continuing their pilgrimage the two Russian friends visited Spain, Africa and finally Bayreuth, where they heard "Parsifal". Wagner's influence upon Glazounov does not date, however, from this time, but from Neumann's performances of the "Ring" at Petrograd in 1889."^[3]  --Lambiam 17:33, 16 June 2024 (UTC)

Straight from the mouth of the horse:

Über Genf gelangten wir nach Bayreuth, wo ich zum erstenmal den Parsifal hörte. Noch in Rußland hatte ich in frühem Alter Tannhäuser und Lohengrin gehört, von denen ich begeistert war. Die Musik des Parsifal kam mir dagegen seltsam vor, der zweite Aufzug geradezu unangenehm. Ich kannte nur die Einleitung zum Parsifal, welche mich in Bayreuth zu Anfang überraschte durch den Reiz einer überirdischen Klangfülle. Während des ganzen folgenden ersten Aktes langweilte ich mich, sehnte mich fort wie aus einem Gefängnis und war glücklich, als ich während der Pause an die frische Luft entrinnen konnte, ja ich freute mich sogar, als ich einen Leierkasten hörte.
Der zweite Akt, mit Ausnahme einiger Episoden (dem Chor der schönen Jungfrauen Klingsors), marterte mich mit seinen scharfen Dissonanzen und rief in der Nacht sogar Albdrücke hervor. Im dritten Akt, ungeachtet meiner Müdigkeit, hatte ich große Freude an der Musik. Im allgemeinen behielt ich – wegen des Unvorbereitetseins auf den letzten Umbruch Wagners – einen schweren und unangenehmen Eindruck. Ich glaubte damals noch nicht an das Genie Wagners. Das geschah erst später – 1889 –, als ich mich auf Wagner vorbereitete, indem ich zusammen mit Rimskij-Korsakow die Proben zum Ring des Nibelungen besuchte. Zur gleichen Zeit wie bei mir vollzog sich auch bei ihm ein Umschwung in seiner Einstellung zugunsten Wagners.^[4]

Translation:

We went via Geneva to Bayreuth, where I heard Parsifal for the first time. Back in Russia, I had heard Tannhäuser and Lohengrin at an early age, and was enthusiastic about them. The music of Parsifal, on the other hand, seemed strange to me, and the second act was downright unpleasant. I only knew the overture of Parsifal, which surprised me at first in Bayreuth through the charm of its unearthly richness of sound. During the whole of the first act that followed, I was bored, longing to be away like from a prison, and was happy when I could escape into the fresh air during the interval; I was even delighted when I heard a hurdy-gurdy.
The second act, with the exception of a few episodes (the chorus of Klingsor's beautiful maidens), tortured me with its sharp dissonances and even evoked nightmares in the night. In the third act, despite my tiredness, I enjoyed the music very much. In general, unprepared as I was for Wagner's latest upheaval, I was left with a heavy and unpleasant impression. At the time I did not yet believe in Wagner's genius. That only happened later – in 1889 – when I prepared myself for Wagner by attending the rehearsals of the "Ring of the Nibelung" together with Rimsky-Korsakov. At the same time as me, he too underwent a turnabout of his attitude in favour of Wagner.

 --Lambiam 18:57, 16 June 2024 (UTC)

That's fantastic, thanks very much to all as usual for your helpful contributions. The performances at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg were conducted organised by the singer/impresario Angelo Neumann (who knew the composer) with his travelling Wagner company. Neumann's company returned to Russia in 1891, this time staging The Ring in Moscow.[5] According to our Neumann article he conducted the first performances outside Bayreuth in Leipzig in 1878, where he also worked with Arthur Nikisch and the outstanding Anton Seidl,[6] who took the Ring to America but sadly died from food poisoning aged 47 in 1898 and never made any gramophone records. I concur with Glazunov in his judgement of Parsifal. I wasn't imagining the influences in Glazunov's The Sea: it was actually dedicated to Wagner, and even Rimsky-Korsakov said he had gone too far in adopting Wagner's musical idioms.[7] MinorProphet (talk) 21:20, 16 June 2024 (UTC)

Apparently, it was not Neumann but Karl Muck who conducted the four presentations of the whole Ring cycle with the Mariinsky Orchestra[8]. Another cycle was given in Moscow at the command of the Tsar. The production was the "very last bow of the travel-worn, battered replica of the 1876 Bayreuth production which had been on the road since 1882." As an aside, Alexander Benois directed the first home-grown Ring in 1900 at the Mariinsky, and the film director Sergei Eisenstein directed Die Walküre at the Bolshoi in 1940.[9]

Ain't the tinternet amazing? Following this lead[10] I found this review: "Vermischte Mittheilungen und Notizen". Musikalisches Wochenblatt (in German). XX (10): 123–4 [pdf 138]. 28 February 1889.

There was a 120-strong orchestra, with players from the Mariinsky Theatre and the Ballet, and some from the Bayreuth orchestra; prices were 10,000 rubles per night. "Das Künstlerpersonal, welches Director Angelo Neumann mit sich führt, besteht aus den Damen: Therese Malten, Therese Vogl, de:Marie Basta, Cornelia van Zanten, Orlanda Biegler, Antonie Schreiber [from Braunschweig], de:Anna Henneberg, de:Margarethe Lehmann, Marie Rochelle [dramatic soprano who had an affair with Adolf Wallnöfer q.v.][11], Katharina Rosen [possibly as Sieglinde][12], Bertha Thomaschek-Hinrichsen [married to Hans Tomaschek q.v.](Volume 10 of Dictionary of German biography Thibaut - Zycha p. 21), Celia Raditz und de:Josefine Christen, ferner aus den HH. Heinrich Vogl [sang Loge in Rheingold premiere, & most other Wagner tenor roles], de:Johannes Elmblad [possibly Fafner], :de:Emil Hettstedt (disambig) [bass-baritone], de:Siegmund Lieban [high baritone], de:Adolf Wallnöfer [tenor, sang in 135 Rings with the "so-called «Wandernder Wagner-Theater»" from 1880, Hans Thomaschek [baritone, sang in Rheingold in 1883 under Anton Seidl][13], de:Felix Ehrl, Oskar Niemann [tenor] und Siegfried Tausseg." The sets were by Carl Lautenschläger, originator of the first revolving stage in Europe.[14][15] Thanks again all for your impetus (impeti?) which helped me find some answers. :>MinorProphet (talk) 09:10, 17 June 2024 (UTC)

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