The outside of the Coliseum is decked in scaffolding but it has all disappeared from the auditorium. The Italian season has been and gone, and with it the permanent set; the English National Opera's thoughts are now turning to the next major project - a Ring cycle that will be completed in four years.
Each of the works in the tetralogy will be performed in concert before the whole thing is staged by Phyllida Lloyd. The four performances of The Rhinegold that have just begun will be followed by The Valkyrie in a year's time, and the whole cycle will be given in concert in autumn 2002.
The company's previous Ring, conducted in the 1970s by Reginald Goodall and verging on mythic status, was always going to be a tough act to follow, and it's right that ENO should approach its successor with prudence. To underline the totally fresh start, they have commissioned a new English translation from Jeremy Sams, rather than go back to the Andrew Porter version that served the old production so faithfully. This first sample of Sams's text promises well indeed - direct, unfussy and not too colloquial, it nicely reflects the internal rhymes and alliterations of Wagner's original. The thrilling performance under Paul Daniel got an amazingly high proportion of the words across, and suggested that the cast are already growing into their roles.
These are more than just concert performances, though. The orchestra is in the pit, with percussions and harps spilling over on to the stage; the singers deliver from a raised platform between them. There's basic lighting, some atmospheric smoke and signifying costumes - Wotan has his eyepatch and greatcoat; Alberich sports a donkey-jacket, spectacles and natty hat. The words are delivered kabuki-style towards the audience rather than another character. It is powerful and generates far more dramatic intensity than the last Wagner seen in London, the Royal Opera's woeful Tristan three months ago.
With minor exceptions the singers have been expertly chosen. If Matthew Best's Wotan - already familiar from Scottish Opera's ongoing cycle - comes across more as a bullying gangland godfather than a god, that extra dimension may well come later; there's no doubting he has the vocal resources to round things out. Andrew Shore's Alberich - knotted, intense, and physically imposing - is inspired casting, as is Susan Parry's insistent Fricka; the prospect of her big scene in Valkyrie is something to relish. Loge is a gift of a role for a performer of Thomas Randle's stage presence, and he gives it real sardonic edge. As played by Mark Richardson and Stephen Richardson,Fasolt and Fafner become real characters, with real emotions for once. There is a nicely contrasting trio of Rhinemaidens (Linda Richardson, Christine Rice, Rebecca de Pont Davies), a luscious sounding Erda (Patricia Bardon) and surely the tallest dwarf ever in John Graham Hall's lucid Mime.
The orchestral playing, lumpy at first, settled down well, and by the end of the second scene the dramatic trajectory was fixed. After that, Daniel made sure the tension never faltered.
• Further performances tomorrow, Friday and February 6. Box office: 020-7632 8300.
