L.A. Opera puts on a thought-provoking 'Siegfried'

The operas in Richard Wagner's "Ring of the Nibelungen" have been subjected to some interesting and unusual settings over the years.

And it seems that especially in the past 30-40 years, most opera houses (with the Met and Seattle being notable exceptions) have tended to favor producing nontraditonal stagings of these four operas. And, quite honestly, Wagner's massive tale of gods and superheroes and the path they take that eventually leads to the destruction of Valhalla lends itself naturally to broad interpretation.

But sometimes it's also led to some outrageous and controversial settings — just think back to the "Ring" at Bayreuth in the 1970s with Brunnhilde and her Valkyrie sisters dressed as biker babes roaring onstage on Harleys, and Hagen's cohorts wearing stormtrooper uniforms.

Even if this staging goes way beyond what Wagner himself imagined, it's compelling and effective and makes for good theater.

The newest opera company to tackle the "Ring" is Los Angeles Opera. Since last season it has been staging the four operas individually, culminating in a complete cycle of the "Ring" next spring. So far, "Das Rheingold," "Die Walkure" and "Siegfried" have been performed; "Die Gotterdammerung" will be played in April.

L.A. Opera's "Ring" has received a lot of national attention. Part of that attention has been focused on the cost — a staggering $32 million for the four operas, a huge amount of money for any opera company.

But the main thrust of the national spotlight has been on the production itself, with critics both loving it (the Los Angeles Times' Mark Swed, for one) and hating it (almost everybody else). With L.A. Opera's general director Placido Domingo's blessing, the conceptualization of this "Ring" is the brainchild of stage director Achim Freyer (who was also involved in the stage, costume and lighting design).

What has made this "Ring" stand out from other nontraditional stagings is Freyer's fantastic, allegorical and super-symbolic concept. It throws everything that you have come to understand about these four operas (assuming you're a Wagnerian) out the window.

In its place, Freyer has created his own world in which nothing is what it seems. Is it fantasy? Is it science fiction? Is it just a dream? It can be all of that; it just depends on how the viewer perceives it.

With all the buzz that's been sweeping the "Ring," I decided I needed to go to Los Angeles and see it for myself.

I was there last month and caught the last performance of "Siegfried." And it was quite an experience. I've seen the complete "Ring" before in Europe, as well as performances of "Siegfried" and "Die Walkure" by several companies in the United States and Europe, but nothing from those past performances compared to L.A.'s "Siegfried."