My initial reaction immediately after the performance was that it was not at call impressive or involving although there were, finally, some good things in Scene 4. However, I feel that I need to either see it again or, ideally, as part of a whole cycle, to begin to get a hold on the concept (if there was one). I felt similarly when seeing the Herheim Ring in Berlin last year. After Rheingold it seemed incoherent and irritatingly baffling but, after having seen the whole cycle and starting to put the parts together, I was able to begin to see the start of the main ideas – but I think I need to see the whole cycle again in order to be sure.
It a very similar feeling with this and so I do not want to; be too harsh – or even, in some senses, begin to try and make complete sense of it. That will have to wait – a fair time I think as it is not until 2025 that there is, it seems, going to be a complete cycle.
However, it did frequently seemed very under-directed (almost incompetently so in some places; Erda delivering her warning from the corner back of the stage surrounded by unexplained extras for example.)
Likewise, first scene in the Rhine was in almost complete darkness and with barely any attempt to depict the actions and situations so vividly shown in the music.
In Scene 4 there were some good touches such as Fafner momentarily mourning the brother he has killed, the grim interrogation of Alberich with the oil (?) used on him getting smeared all over Wotan as a striking visual symbol of his corruption by the Ring. And near the very end, Loge angrily ripping off the long, white cult-like robes the Gods were all dressed in was effective stagecraft. These were good thoughtful details, but they seemed random and not part of a clear vision -at least at this first viewing.
The massive crocodiles were baffling; the entry in Valhalla was depicted in a deeply weird and extraordinary way and what was with Loge eagerly licking a plate in the closing moments? Enquiring minds want to know.
Therefore, I think it is a question of reserving judgement – but matters may become clearer when I see Die Walkure in early ’25.