Work in progress – the timeless Wagner

Thoughts about how long the “half-life” of a Wagnerian production might be, what possibilities the latest technology offer in terms of staging works of total art based on myths that pervade society and how much distance there is between perfection and a museum piece. A 2019 interview about the renewed Ring with Hartmut Schörghofer, conducted by Anna Tóth.

– This production was very successful when it was first created. How “perfect” did it seem to you at the time?

– A work like Der Ring des Nibelungen is always going to be a work in progress. This is evident in the way that Richard Wagner worked on the cycle. He interrupted his work in the middle of Siegfried, worked on other projects (Tristan, among others) and only later did he resume working on completing the Ring. A once-in-a-century work like the Ring is closely tied to the biography and circumstances of everybody who is involved in it. The Ring is a mirror of the times. That’s what makes it so timeless. Every interpretation and every staging have had their validity at the moment they were created but they are also bound to a “half-life”. It seemed to me, in the first decade of the 21st century, that we needed to generate a reading of the Ring which was especially synchronised with the performance site and situation, which utilised the possibilities of the new visual media to clarify the psychological connections of the protagonists and to elucidate the emotional tug of war that is interwoven in the Ring mythology. The technical possibilities were well advanced by that time. A lot of imagery still had to be produced using analogue methods then. By now we have much more advanced video and animation technology. This is also used in the new version. For me, personally, the concept of perfection is alien because it assumes a measurable standard value, which doesn’t exist in art. The Ring is perfect as a work of art because it unconventionally defines its own value parameters. As an artist, one can only approach the Ring in forever new ways, and according to the state of one’s own knowledge and that of one’s particular time. One must have humility towards this work because it is bigger than us. It is just one of those very rare masterpieces which arise from the most personal feelings of their creators and therefore demand the most personal feelings from their interpreters. Naturally, I took full advantage of all the technical possibilities which were available at the time. But that wouldn’t justify giving it the “perfect” label. As an artist, I am convinced that classifiable perfection is just one small step away from musealization.

– When did you first think that any changes were needed to the original concept?

– It was clear to me, right from the beginning of the work, that the Ring had a “half-life”. And that’s a good thing. Because, only in that way is it guaranteed that future generations will grapple with this work for themselves. In the subsequent productions, small changes were made time after time, and the existing video imagery was replaced with other imagery. And this was also possible because of a modular overall approach to the material and its interpretation. Back then, we quite consciously incorporated Wagner’s workshop concept into our design. The master himself wanted the Bayreuth première production to be continuously worked on. He was aware that this work could not be created in one single train of thought. It’s too multi-faceted and complex for that. Nobody today experiences the Ring as a 19th century opera. The material, the overall dramaturgy and psychology have too much to do with our subcutaneous attachment to the mythological and magical.

– Do you still intend to do as you said earlier, to make the production something for everyone, not just the Wagner buffs?

– I myself am a great Wagner buff. I am emotionally driven to capture an audience for this composer and his inimitable art. From the background of my own biography and both my professional and private development, I am completely convinced that art is inseparable from life. Art concerns us all and plays a seemingly enlightening role within a democratic social structure. It is a preparation for our individual autonomy which we should use to turn a human fellowship into a responsible society. Both as a director and as stage and costume designer, it is my aim to bring every work with which I am entrusted closer to many people, to give them access, mentally and emotionally, to a fascinating cosmos. Communal experiences like the ones we find in every cultural area are an essential element of the history of humanity. Art is still the evening camp-fire around which we all collect to listen, shoulder to shoulder, to a story or a song together so that at some point we may begin to spin it further in our heads or join ourselves with it.

– Were there any priorities in regard to the changes?

– I already mentioned the possibilities of the latest video technology and it was clear that we wanted to use this in the new version. In comparison to the first version of the Ring, we developed an overall concept on the visual level which sweeps through all four parts. It is based on the four natural elements (water, fire, earth and air) which have a central significance in all pagan religions (which the Ring mythology also refers to). The myth itself as a fifth element is picked out as theme. The Ring came into being at a time when Europe was in a state of change. Germany, especially, then disintegrated into small states, was looking for national unity. So, a shared root was sought using history, intellectual history, ethnology and linguistics. They felt they had found it in the Middle Ages and in Nordic mythology. However, the scientific methods of the 19th century were not that well-developed so that numerous misunderstandings and errors crept into the theory of a collective nation. Later, this “Germanic artificial entity” was to have devastating political and human consequences. Today, too, we are facing a similar problem. We have a European Community, but at the same time – due to the different cultures and languages which live together in a relatively crowded space on our continent – national and cultural independence, I would call it “national individuality”, is a huge issue. There’s a widespread underlying fear of the loss of self in favour of an economic community. Wherever fear prevails, irrationality can gain traction. There’s currently a boom in “history” in film (both feature films and documentaries). We want to reassure ourselves by looking back to the past. We are looking for case studies, for guidelines. In a time of confusion, we’re looking for stability and orientation. Mythology is fascinating but it is also dangerous. It delivers a self-contained world view which is perfect in the terms of its own laws. But one should never forget that a myth is formed over centuries. And the myth sometimes over-simplifies things in an objectionable way. That is what makes it appear immutable and eternally valid. A major concern to me in the new interpretation of the Ring was to make us all aware of how mythological patterns interweave and operate underneath our rational threshold of perception. We need to work on the myths which have come down to us, accept them as part of our psychology but also scrutinise them so that we can grow with them and eventually grow beyond them. The Ring is actually a ‘laboratory’ situation which makes us aware of mythological downfalls. The global conflagration at the end of the Götterdämmerung is not the end, but a beginning. Now it’s our turn, as humans, to learn from the mistakes of the gods.

– How long had you worked together with Christian Baier before you began to collaborate on the Ring?

– Dr. Baier and I have known each other for many years. We met first in Dortmund at a production with Christine Mielitz. Since then, we have been connected by friendship. – Was the concept developed together with Ádám Fischer again?

– Staging the Ring without intensive collaboration with the music director would be careless. The Ring is an absolute work of art. The special performance site and the presentation form, which was specially developed for it, absolutely demand that the musical direction, production, setting and video design should be optimally coordinated. For me, I’m enriched as an artist and as a human by the exchange of thoughts and concepts with Ádám Fischer.

From this great artist, one can learn what it means to be on fire for a subject. He is an advocate for the music, the work, the musical intentions but he is also enough of a realist to know that there is no such thing as ‘Art’ per se. A demand must be placed on each of us who deal with art that we create singular and unique art experiences for the audience. That obliges us all to fulfil our artistic and human obligation to deal even more intensively with the works with which we are entrusted. And to keep them alive for both the people of today and for future generations.

– What do you expect from this new version? Performances which will transmit Wagner’s ideas even more powerfully or a production which will be even more impressive, more fascinating for the audience?

– They cannot be separated from each other. A production which is fascinating for the audience is generally the result of an optimal transmission of the work’s intentions onto the stage. Der Ring des Nibelungen, in particular, does not leave its interpreters with any other choice. That is just the nature of an absolute work of art.