The production, designed by Canadian director Robert Lepage, uses a large-scale set of planks that raise, lower, and change angles as needed to facilitate the portrayal of mountain-tops, dark forests and Nibelung caves. It's an ingenious solution to the scenery challenges of Wagner's work.
However, the 45-ton set has to be rolled on and off the giant Met stage, and stored on one of the company's huge "side stages" to make room for Tosca, Carmen, and Boris Godunov. The sheer weight of the set has required a quiet construction effort at the opera house, adding 65-foot steel supports underneath the offstage area.
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Photo by Yves Renaud
© 2010 The Metropolitan Opera.