Reviews and Rememberances
“It seems only yesterday that it was an impossible dream to present the
Ring in America in its complete form. Back in 1953, when it was my good
fortune to work at Bayreuth, my first viewing of the Ring had an impact
on me which lasted a lifetime. Bringing the Ring to America has been a
great privilege and the most fulfilling accomplishment of my entire
life.”
— Glynn Ross, Program Introduction to the fifth Ring Cycle.
“Mr. and Mrs. Jan Kwist came from South Carolina in a camper truck, with
a tuxedo for him and a long dress for her. William Cord, a Californian,
timed his open heart surgery a few weeks ago so he could be here…They
are among the thousands of people converging here this week to attend
the opera. The opera? In Seattle? This city at the Northwest corner of
the nation, best known for Boeing 747’s, sourdough, and sockeye salmon,
has casually mounted one of the most ambitious operatic projects ever
taken in the United States.”
— New York Times, July 1975
“Once we did [the Ring], we were on the map. Even the Germans recognized
it. Richard Wagner in wildern Westen was one of the headlines in
OpernWelt.”
— Archie Drake [Company member, Gunther in both German and English Rings
from 1975 to 1980), 2001 interview conducted by Jonathan Dean.
“For opera buffs, it has been a smash. Night after night the murky
doings onstage have had the audience standing and cheering in the
3,000-seat Opera House.”
— Associated Press, August 1977
“With swashbuckling frontier brashness, the Seattle Opera is presenting
its fourth annual complete cycle…”
— Newsday, July 1978
“They cheered. They bravoed. They flung carnations on to the stage and
stood applauding for 20 minutes on the final night, refusing to go home.
This was the kind of mass frenzy which broke out at Seattle Opera’s
performances of Wagner’s Ring Cycle this summer, as if a new religion
had come to town.”
— The Standard, August 1981