World-renowned conductor Daniel Barenboim (left) and Cogut Center director Michael Steinberg are continuing a musical collaboration begun at Brown in 2006.
Steinberg to advise European opera houses in joint ‘Ring’ production
Michael Steinberg, director of Brown’s Cogut Center for the Humanities, is helping two of the world’s most prestigious opera houses, La Scala and the Berlin State Opera, stage a joint production of Richard Wagner’s epic “Ring Cycle.”
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March 12, 2009 |
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Staging a new production of Richard Wagner's monumental four-opera “Ring Cycle” is nothing less than a massive undertaking. Both the story and the length of Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring Cycle) are of epic proportion. The story of the four-part music drama centers on an all-powerful ring – crafted from gold from the Rhine River -- and follows generations of gods, heroes, giants and other mythical creatures in their various attempts to capture it. A full performance lasts about 17 hours, meant to be played out over four long nights.
In celebration of the Wagner bicentennial in 2013, Milan’s La Scala Opera and the Berlin State Opera are partnering for a joint production of "Ring Cycle" that will be premiered in four parts over four years, beginning in May 2010, followed by complete cycles in late spring 2013. The internationally renowned conductor Daniel Barenboim and Belgian director Guy Cassiers are leading the project and have brought in Michael Steinberg, director of the Cogut Center for Humanities at Brown, as an advisor.
Steinberg says Cassiers and Barenboim wanted a scholar of history, not only of Wagner productions, but also of the social issues Wagner raises in his epic work. Though not his official title, Steinberg likens his role to that of a “dramaturg” in European theaters: one who provides the literary, historical, and conceptual foundation to specific realizations in the production. He will be meeting several times each year with the directors in preparation for the performances.
Steinberg’s association with Barenboim began about six years ago when Pamela Rosenberg, director of the Berliner Philharmoniker, introduced the pair. Their collaborative relationship grew after Steinberg helped bring the young Arab and Israeli musicians of Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to Brown in December 2006 for four days of events, conversations, and performances. Steinberg now serves on U.S. board of the Barenboim-Said Foundation and continues to work with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, conducting summer seminars at the group’s base in southern Spain.
“The Divan is a totally different project from La Scala, with Barenboim as the significant common denominator,” said Steinberg. “His wish, in both contexts, is to bring in a larger academic and intellectual dimension to his projects. That’s the partnership between the two of us, which has been a lot of fun.”
Steinberg plans to involve his students in the process as well. His spring 2010 music course will focus on "The Ring" and he plans to set up a virtual classroom, so students can interact with members of the production team in Milan and Antwerp. He hopes to also bring students to Milan in the future and to invite the director to Brown.
“The mantra of the Humanities Center is the integration of teaching with research projects, with humanities teaching as a laboratory - a paradigm that’s old news in the sciences, but fairly new to the humanities,” Steinberg said. “This cooperation pushes all the buttons that I think a Humanities Center and curriculum should.”
Steinberg predicts there will be even more partnerships between arts organizations and universities during the global economic crisis. “Brown is talking about concentrating on its core mission right now and so are the arts organizations. We’re all in the same boat,” he said. “The practical side of humanities and arts education means connections to the realization of their core mission of finding and understanding what is most valuable in human life. For theaters, music venues, museums, and other organizations, it means being on the cutting edge of things people want to know and learn about and that’s where they need us.”
In celebration of the Wagner bicentennial in 2013, Milan’s La Scala Opera and the Berlin State Opera are partnering for a joint production of "Ring Cycle" that will be premiered in four parts over four years, beginning in May 2010, followed by complete cycles in late spring 2013. The internationally renowned conductor Daniel Barenboim and Belgian director Guy Cassiers are leading the project and have brought in Michael Steinberg, director of the Cogut Center for Humanities at Brown, as an advisor.
Steinberg says Cassiers and Barenboim wanted a scholar of history, not only of Wagner productions, but also of the social issues Wagner raises in his epic work. Though not his official title, Steinberg likens his role to that of a “dramaturg” in European theaters: one who provides the literary, historical, and conceptual foundation to specific realizations in the production. He will be meeting several times each year with the directors in preparation for the performances.
Steinberg’s association with Barenboim began about six years ago when Pamela Rosenberg, director of the Berliner Philharmoniker, introduced the pair. Their collaborative relationship grew after Steinberg helped bring the young Arab and Israeli musicians of Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to Brown in December 2006 for four days of events, conversations, and performances. Steinberg now serves on U.S. board of the Barenboim-Said Foundation and continues to work with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, conducting summer seminars at the group’s base in southern Spain.
“The Divan is a totally different project from La Scala, with Barenboim as the significant common denominator,” said Steinberg. “His wish, in both contexts, is to bring in a larger academic and intellectual dimension to his projects. That’s the partnership between the two of us, which has been a lot of fun.”
Steinberg plans to involve his students in the process as well. His spring 2010 music course will focus on "The Ring" and he plans to set up a virtual classroom, so students can interact with members of the production team in Milan and Antwerp. He hopes to also bring students to Milan in the future and to invite the director to Brown.
“The mantra of the Humanities Center is the integration of teaching with research projects, with humanities teaching as a laboratory - a paradigm that’s old news in the sciences, but fairly new to the humanities,” Steinberg said. “This cooperation pushes all the buttons that I think a Humanities Center and curriculum should.”
Steinberg predicts there will be even more partnerships between arts organizations and universities during the global economic crisis. “Brown is talking about concentrating on its core mission right now and so are the arts organizations. We’re all in the same boat,” he said. “The practical side of humanities and arts education means connections to the realization of their core mission of finding and understanding what is most valuable in human life. For theaters, music venues, museums, and other organizations, it means being on the cutting edge of things people want to know and learn about and that’s where they need us.”