Ring Odyssey

"If Wagner had written a symphony in a parallel universe instead of a sixteen-hour Ring, it might look like my Ring Odyssey". With these words, the new music director of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Joseph Swensen, introduces this selection from Der Ring des Nibelungen for soprano, tenor, bass-baritone, male choir and orchestra, which he composed based on Wagner's monumental tetralogy. The American conductor admits that Wagner appeared to him during a performance of Tristan suddenly as a "dreamer" full of "humility, tenderness, vulnerability and generosity". Swensen made it a point to follow the chronology of the operas and respect the original music: "My solemn promise to Wagner was that I would not change or add a single note to his masterpiece, except occasionally a solo timpani stroke that indicated the passage of time. A fascinating traversal, recorded during a memorable concert and performed by exceptionally dedicated singers and instrumentalists.