A Pause in the ‘Ring’ Cycle

MILAN, Italy —  “Of course it has made everybody’s life different. The whole situation has changed.” Placido Domingo, seated in a quiet corner of Milan’s Grand Hotel Duomo on a recent evening, speaks with as much passion and resolve as ever, yet his tone is also reflective and circumspect. In Italy to sing at La Scala, the tenor is looking back at Sept. 11 and forward to the venture that has come to symbolize his role as artistic director of Los Angeles Opera: the first L.A. staging of Richard Wagner’s “Ring” cycle.

First announced in fall of 2000, the Los Angeles Opera “Ring” has loomed as one of the most venturesome projects on the opera world horizon. The production is being created in collaboration with a team of special-effects artists at Industrial Light & Magic and staged by German director Peter Mussbach.

It could cost as much as $60 million--but in all likelihood it will cost substantially less--with up to half of that amount the fund-raising responsibility of Los Angeles Opera. It was scheduled to begin in spring 2003, with the presentation of one or two operas each year at the Shrine Auditorium, leading up to the presentation of the complete cycle at the same venue in 2006.

But, says Edgar Baitzel, director of artistic operations at the opera company, “since the economy slowed down after Sept. 11, we think that our funding for the ‘Ring’ will take more time. We thought we might be able to get the funds secured within 24 months. It will take longer.”

Accordingly, the plan has changed. “We think the best idea would be to do the whole thing in a year, to save money,” Domingo explains. So there will be no Los Angeles ‘Ring’ until the entire cycle is presented in 2006.

So far, there are no plans to scale back the artistic innovations, but that could be in the cards. “It still has to be an extraordinary ‘Ring,’ either George Lucas or something similar,” Domingo says about the most expensive aspect of the production he envisions, estimated to account for roughly $30 million, or half, of the total costs. “I still want something in that direction, but we should start to look at alternatives, because if before it was difficult to find the money, I believe now it is going to be far more difficult because of Sept. 11. I do believe that practically it has affected everybody, but even [funders] who might not be affected might use it as an excuse.”

The attack and its wake--a steepening decline in the economy--came at a point when Domingo’s vision for the “Ring” had seemed to be on track. “We were looking forward and very positive,” Baitzel says from Los Angeles. “With ILM, we had finished phase No. 1, which was working with them and finding out if the artistic idea is really strong enough that it works.”

On the financial side, Los Angeles Opera announced in early September that it was close to completing a deal with a major co-producer outside the U.S.--an entity the opera declines to name, given the sensitivity of ongoing negotiations. The co-producer was, and remains, strategically necessary because of the expense of the ILM technology.

“If we have the co-producer in, we really might be able to pay for it,” Baitzel says. “We want to purchase the software from ILM so that we [have], let’s say, video rights for this event.”

Since last spring, Los Angeles Opera has been in discussions with the potential co-producer. “They were--and are--1,000% excited about our ‘Ring’ idea,” Baitzel says. “There is one problem, because we checked all their possible venues, and they are inappropriate for this ‘Ring.’”

Consequently, the co-producer decided to build a new venue. “They identified a piece of land and they commissioned a first draft of an opera house and that is now completed,” Baitzel says.

A great deal of progress was made over the summer, as witnessed by the architectural model for the new venue now in Los Angeles Opera’s offices. “If they build this building, it will be marvelous,” Domingo says. “We already have the design of the theater, and it is beautiful.”

Unfortunately, just as the project was about to reach an important juncture, the events of early September changed everything. On Sept. 11, another meeting with the potential co-producer about the venue was to take place. It was scheduled for 4 p.m. in Washington, D.C.

In the early morning hours, Baitzel headed for LAX, but his 6:30 a.m. flight was canceled for reasons unrelated to the events soon to take place. “I was looking into other flights, and at that very moment the attack was executed in New York, and suddenly all the systems froze,” he says. He was told simply that he couldn’t get a flight out until later, if at all.

Meanwhile Domingo was en route on a private jet from L.A. to New York, where he was scheduled to rehearse “Idomeneo” at the Metropolitan Opera that morning. When the attacks occurred, his plane was forced to land in Columbus, Ohio.

Back on the ground, Baitzel went home and tried to phone Washington. His calls would not go through. “So I switched on the TV, and I saw this disaster,” Baitzel says. “Of course, the meeting was canceled on Sept. 11. And since that time, we’ve had the huge problem with the economy.”

Just days earlier, Domingo had met with a delegation from the potential co-producer and, consequently, was not scheduled to take part in the Sept. 11 meeting. After the attacks, however, Domingo and Baitzel were in communication with their potential partner, whose interest, they were assured, was still strong.

But it soon became clear that collateral economic damage and general disruption in the arts world would mean Los Angeles Opera would have to change its plans.

The rescheduling was designed to accommodate increased fund-raising time. But it also carries with it an artistic advantage in the company’s eyes. “The structure of ILM is that they put together a creative team that works on one subject, and then they finish the subject,” Baitzel says.

The original schedule of operas spaced out over several years meant that ILM could not “assure us, if they have a team now working on ‘Rheingold,’ that they can give us the same team later for ‘Siegfried.’” Under the new plan, however, one team will deliver all of the opera software at once.

Time alone can’t guarantee that L.A. Opera will gather the co-producer and the rest of the support it needs to pull off the “Ring” of its dreams.

“If we find this kind of money that we need within the next 11/2 years,” Baitzel says, “then the ‘Ring’ will really happen in 2006, presuming that the co-producer is in position.”

When it comes to cementing the deal with the potential co-producer, though, there may be yet another advantage in rescheduling. Initially, the fast-track time frame in Los Angeles and the co-producer’s lack of venue meant the co-producer wouldn’t be able to present the world premieres of any of the “Ring” operas. Now that the time frame in L.A. has been stretched, Baitzel points out, “if the building construction is on schedule and can open by the end of 2005 or the beginning of 2006, then they will automatically ask for the right of two of those premieres.” The premiere of the cycle as a whole, however, would still take place in L.A.

“They are now putting together their numbers,” Baitzel continues. “In order to build this venue, they need probably $350 [million] or $400 million, which doesn’t scare them at all.”

However, Los Angeles Opera must wait on the decision. “Since we approached them, we have to give them the time that they need,” Baitzel says.

Meanwhile, fund-raising continues on other international fronts. “We have been approaching different German people and corporations,” Domingo explains. “And we might have big news soon, possibly in January.”

As positive as Domingo is about his singularly ambitious “Ring,” he strikes a note that is careful to mix commitment to a vision with realism. “What I never intended is to overwhelm the music with the power of the cinema,” he says. “I believe that it is very important not to overdo it, and because of that, the budget might also be slightly lower than what we were thinking.”

And he returns to the fact that given the uncertainties, he may have to back away from a cinematic production altogether--but not from presenting L.A.’s first “Ring,” as soon as possible.

“I don’t think we want to change it,” he underlines, “unless one day I have to give up and say economically this was impossible, so we are going to do a ‘Ring’ in any case, but a normal ‘Ring.’”

And then his charismatic optimism returns. “It would be a very easy way out, just to say that because of Sept. 11 we’re not going to do it. [The events of Sept. 11] will be something that we will never forget, but it is important to go on.”

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Jan Breslauer is an occasional contributor to Calendar.