\n<\/p>\n
What began as a flippantly offered pipe dream, on second thought sounded too good to resist.<\/p>\n
Kent Nagano was leading the period-instrument ensemble Concerto K\u00f6ln in concert performances of Mozart\u2019s \u201cIdomeneo\u201d in 2016 when one musician suggested he come back for more, and with new repertoire. Because Nagano was conducting the \u201cRing\u201d at the time, he lightheartedly said, \u201cHow about Wagner?\u201d<\/p>\n
They laughed at the idea of taking on Wagner\u2019s four-opera, 15-hour epic, Nagano recalled in a recent interview. Not just playing it, but devoting years of research and practice to a historically informed performance of it. Then they realized that this was rich terrain; installments of the \u201cRing\u201d had been given this treatment before, but they didn\u2019t know of any complete cycle. Now, after years of study and partnerships across universities, orchestras and cities in Germany, Nagano and his collaborators are in the middle of presenting their findings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
And just in time: In 2026, it will be 150 years since Wagner premiered the full \u201cRing\u201d at his festival in Bayreuth, Germany. Each year until then, Nagano and the Concerto K\u00f6ln \u2014 with the addition of Dresdner Festspielorchester for \u201cDie Walk\u00fcre\u201d \u2014 are touring installments of their historically informed \u201cRing\u201d operas: last year, \u201cDas Rheingold,\u201d<\/a> and now \u201cDie Walk\u00fcre.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Heard in the acoustically generous Concertgebouw in Amsterdam<\/a> on March 16 as part of the NTR ZaterdagMatinee series, \u201cDie Walk\u00fcre\u201d took on such clarity that no supertitles were necessary to understand the singers. And, yes, the score sounded different from a typical modern performance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n This is Wagner without constant vibrato, and sometimes without traditionally operatic singing. But mostly, the difference in sound comes from the instruments themselves, both originals from the 19th century and reproductions. Historical, often temperamental winds and brasses have a milder timbre, similar to the gut strings used throughout the orchestra, which here is tuned to 435 hertz \u2014 Wagner\u2019s preference, slightly lower than the frequency of 440 Hz used by most players today.<\/p>\n The result may sound shockingly quiet to listeners who have come to equate Wagner with immensity. Culture \u2014 cinema, Broadway, pop concerts \u2014 is often so loud, it distorts our expectations for acoustic music, which is also louder than it was in the past. Conductors, helped by powerful modern instruments, often inflate Wagner, forcing singers to nearly bark to be heard. Audiences, in turn, get to hear a \u201cRide of the Valkyries\u201d that matches \u201cApocalypse Now.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s not necessarily a bad thing; interpretation is the essential ingredient of a living art form like opera. And you can look at historically informed performance as just another mode of interpretation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Nagano didn\u2019t arrive at his approach alone. His \u201cRing\u201d has an organizational arm, called Wagner-Lesarten<\/a>, or Wagner Readings, which has brought together minds from music, science and history to approximate the composer\u2019s musical world. (Much of the research and its results are or will be available to the public, through discussions, publication and, eventually, recordings.)<\/p>\n In the interview, Nagano said period performance with the \u201cRing\u201d isn\u2019t easy, because the work doesn\u2019t represent a moment in history so much as a rapidly changing era in music. \u201cIt was written during quite a large period of time,\u201d he added, referring to a gestation period of more than two decades. \u201cThere were major developments of instrumental technique and vocal stylistic development.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n