'Ring' revolt in LA
The singers portraying Siegfried and Brünnhilde, John Treleaven and Linda Watson, in the Los Angeles Opera's production of Wagner's "Ring" cycle have publicly denounced the production, designed by the German visual artist and director Achim Freyer, as "artistically flawed and physically dangerous for performers," David Ng writes in the Los Angeles Times:http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-ring-problems-20100514,0,6390533,full.storyFreyer's "avant-garde" production outfits the singers in masks and bulky costumes and places them on a steeply raked stage. Watson is quoted as calling it "the most dangerous stage I've been on in my entire career. . . . Your whole neck is tipped wrong. It's very painful to do it for hours."