Wagner in a wheelchair

Peter Konwitschny directs Das Rheingold in Dortmund (***½) [live]

Goden in de luwte van de joert © Thomas M. Jauk

There can be no doubt, in the third scene of Das Rheingold Wagner wanted to capture the demonic spirit of the industrial age. In Nibelheim, a ring is forged from the stolen Rhine gold that grants its bearer unlimited power. At that moment the gold is still pure beauty, not yet caught up in the fatal cycle o…